18G 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



if this be the case, must we sit still and do noth- 

 ing? — by no means, a beginning must be made. On 

 thought, we are much inclined to the opinion of 

 some other men on this subject — men, too, who 

 have given the subject a good deal of study. And 

 they say that they place very little confidence in 

 what the State may do in founding an agricultural 

 college with an experimental farm attached. They 

 had much rather depend on private enterprise and 

 means, where the institution could be kept free 

 from the influences of politicians or any set of men 

 who would do more to cumber its progress and give 

 a few heavy salaries to professors and assistants, 

 for a small amount of labor performed. We are 

 inclined to think with others, that if we succeed at 

 all in this business we must commence in a small 

 way at first, with a few students, on an economi- 

 cal plan. Everything about the school and farm 

 should be made as systematic as possible. Should 

 an institution or college of this kind be heavily 

 endowed from the State, and then through want 

 of the right kind of management go down in a few 

 years, such a shock would be given to the cause 

 that it would not recover again in the next twen- 

 ty-five years. We are not of the opinion that the 

 importation of foreign teachers would be of much 

 consequence to our schools, to any great extent. 

 The truth is, the man must be made and manu- 

 factured on the spot, and there is plenty of mate- 

 rial to work on, if it can be only formed into the 

 right shape. And another thing is, the friends of 

 agriculture must not expect too much from an in- 

 stitution of this kind: It must take some time be- 

 fore a school of this kind can show to the commu- 

 nity around any great results from its operations. 

 After all the talk in the States and Legislatures 

 on this subject, there is not one of them that knew 

 just exactly what they Avant, for the good rea- 

 son that not any of them has had the practical 

 knowledge necessary to know what to want. But 

 then a beginning must be made, and where there 

 is a will to do, there will be a way provided. All 

 talk and no action, is not the practical thing to 

 carry it out. But action, and energy, and interest, 

 must all be combined together, to carry this mat- 

 ter forward to success. And if the friends of this 

 scheme will act, we shall see something yet. 



Yours truly, L. Uurand. 



Derby, Conn., Feb. 25, 1852. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



An excellent communication from "S.," dated 

 Feb. 8, was mislaid, (not forgotten) and conse- 

 quently no reference made to it. We thank friend 

 "S." for the interest he manifests for us, and are 

 confident he will appreciate our motives in placing 

 his communication on file, for future use or refer- 

 ence. His communications on other> topics will be 

 gladly received. 



G. F. F., Grantham, N. H. — Make your cur- 

 rant bushes bear well by selecting the right kinds 

 first — not the common red or white, but what are 

 called the Red Dutch or White Dutch. Give them 

 a good deep, rich soil, keep the \ eels and grass 

 away, and you will have no cause of complaint for 

 want of crop. Do not allow the bush to produce 

 suckers, or to grow into a thick clump and get 

 covered with moss ; nor propagate by suckers. 



Some persons prefer training the bushes into the 

 form of trees. They look neatly in this way, but 

 require considerable watching and care, and will 

 scarcely produce so large a crop as you will get 

 from the bushes — but the fruit will be larger. All 

 superfluous wood should be cut out late in the au- 

 tumn. A change of bushes once in five or six 

 years is also advisable. 



THE ORCHARD CATERPILLAR. 



BY LEVI BARTLETT, ESQ. 



In the Farmer of the 14th inst., I notice an ar- 

 ticle on the orchard caterpillar, by H. of Bedford. 

 His history of the spring caterpillars which feed 

 upon the apple and cherry tree — or rather upon 

 the leaves of those trees — is quite correct. They 

 are a very different insect from the summer, or 

 web caterpillars, that have become so abundant 

 within a few years past. The elm, ash, cherry, 

 and many other kinds of trees, besides the apple, 

 were disfigured by their large webs the jxxst sea- 

 son. The eggs from which the spring or early 

 caterpillars are hatched, are deposited by a miller 

 or moth "transformed from the caterpillar." The 

 eggs are placed around the limbs aud twigs, form- 

 ing a kind of ring or bracelet ; this ring consists 

 of three or four hundred eggs, in the form of short 

 cylinders, standing on their ends, close together, 

 and covered with a thick coat of brown varnish. 

 They remain in a dormant state from the time they 

 are deposited by the winged moth in July or Au- 

 gust, till about the time of the unfolding of the 

 apple and cherry leaf in the latter part of April or 

 beginning of May. They continue in the caterpil- 

 lar state about seven weeks. Their habits, rava- 

 ges, and the unsightly appearance of their nests, 

 are so generally understood, that nothing further 

 need be said upon these points. Many of the eggs 

 can be removed from the lower limbs of the trees 

 by searching for them in the winter or early spring. 

 Those that escape and hatch out, should be de- 

 stroyed soon as the nests are seen. For this pur- 

 pose a spiral brush is the most effective instrument 

 I have ever \ised for ridding my trees of these 

 "useless intruders." A mullen head tied to a 

 pole answers as a substitute for the brush ; its 

 rough surface readily winds up the silky nests with 

 its occupants, and they are easily crushed. 



Going over an orchard two or three times in this 

 way with the brush, will rid it of the spring cater- 

 pillar. The summer, or web caterpillars, are 

 hatched from eggs laid by the parent moth, (a 

 winged insect,) in a cluster upon a leaf netir the 

 extremity of a limb. They are hatched from the 

 last of June till the middle of August, some broods 

 being earlier, and others later. The young cater- 

 pillars immediately begin to provide a she Iter for 

 themselves by covering the upper side of the Leaf 

 with a web, which is the result of the united la- 

 bora of the whole brood. As they increase in size, 

 they enlarge the web. Thus they go on increas- 

 ing the size of the web, and devouring only the 

 upper skin and pulpy portion of the leaf, leaving 

 the veins and lower skin of the leaf untouched. 

 Toward the end of August and during the month 

 of September, they leave the trees and disperse, 

 wandering about till they find suitable places for 

 shelter and concealment. Here they wind their 

 cocoons and remain through the winter. In the 



