NEW ENGLAND FARMEP. 



385 



hills extending in a magnificent sweep, and display- 

 ing all the richness and verdure of woodland scen- 

 ery. 



The interior of the Rotunda is ornamented with 

 alto relievos sculptured, in stone panels and with 

 historical paintings. The subjects of the sculptured 

 panels are, 1st, The preservation of Captain 

 Smith by Pocahontas; 2d, The landing of the 

 Pilgrims at Plymouth; 3d, The conflict between 

 Daniel Boon and the Indians; and 4th, Pcnn's 

 Treaty with the Indians. 



The paintings, by Trumbull, which fill the large 

 panels, are, 1st, The Declaration of Independence; 

 2d, Surrender of Burgoyne ; 3d, Surrender of the 

 British Army, commanded by Lord Cornwallis, at 

 Yorktown, in Virginia, October 19, 1781; and 4th, 

 The Resignation of General Washington at Annap- 

 olis, Dec. 23, 1783. 



Another panel has been filled by an exquisite 

 painting of the Embarkation of the Pilgrims, and 

 another no less beautiful of the Baptism of Poca- 

 hontas. As will be seen, these paintings represent 

 the most intensely interesting historical scenes, 

 and the eye of the visitor is riveted to them as by 

 a charm. They are worthy the study of days, in- 

 stead of the hurried moments usually devoted to 

 them, and the visitor, wearied with the ascent to 

 the dome and the inspection of the various halls 

 and rooms, turns again to these pictures to refresh 

 his mind Avith a last look and fix them upon his 

 memory. 



The Hall of Representatives is a magnificent 

 apartment, in the form of an ancient Grecian the- 

 atre ; is ninety-five feet in length, and sixty in 

 height. Twenty-six massive columns and pilasters 

 of Potomac marble, the capitals of which are of 

 Italian marble, executed in Italy, suppont a mag- 

 nificent dome. The Senate Chamber is serni-circu 

 lar in its form, 75 feet in length, and 45 feet high 

 The Library, (which is now a mass of ruins,) the 

 Supreme Court Room, Speaker's Room, and the 

 Room of the President of the Senate, are all in a 

 style suitable to the parts we have mentioned. 



The government is now adding two new wings 

 to this already imposing and magnificent struc 

 ture, and it was of this, and the grounds about the 

 building, that we intended to speak when we be 

 gan this article. These wings will occupy the 

 whole space between the present building and the 

 streets upon which the grounds abut, so that when 

 completed, the windows of the Senate Chamber on 

 one side, and those of the House of Representa- 

 tives on the other, will look directly down upon 

 the street where the carriages and teams are con- 

 stantly passing, and where noise and confusion 

 would constantly interrupt the business of the ses 

 sion. They must have more room. The present 

 grounds about the Capitol comprise thirty acres. 

 These are laid out with taste, ornamented with 

 pools and jets, and filled with most of the trees 



common to our climate, and the whole surrounded 

 with a substantial iron fence upon a stone base- 

 ment. 



There is no longer need of parsimony in the con- 

 struction of our public buildings or in the embel- 

 lishment of their grounds. They should be construc- 

 ted and ornamented in a style and spirit corres- 

 ponding with the magnitude and ability of the na- 

 tion. The Capitol of these States should represent, 

 in some degree, their extent and power. In order 

 to accomplish this, the government should at once 

 purchase and add to the public grounds about the 

 Capitol, fifty or one hundred acres, taking in the 

 squares on the north and south of the Capitol and 

 extending down East Capitol Street one or two 

 squares. This should be done now as a matter of 

 economy. It will be done at some time, and if de- 

 layed the expense will be enormous, if the pur- 

 chase is postponed until the squares are filled with 

 buildings, and become highly improved. 



We make these suggestions hoping that others 

 will roll on the ball, believing that in noticing this 

 portion of Uncle Sam's homestead we have not 

 travelled out of our legitimate sphere. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 THE JOINT WORM. 



BY PROF. T. W. HARRIS. 



Simon Brown, Esq. : — Dear Sir, — It would give 

 me much pleasure, in complying with your request, 

 to be able to point out any effectual remedy for the 

 damage done to the growing wheat of the South- 

 ern States by the joint worm. F. G. Ruffin, Esq., 

 the editor of the Southern Planter, informs me 

 that the ravages of this insect "have been more 

 aggravated this spring than ever before, ruining 

 many wheat crops utterly, and curtailing others 

 to at least one-third of an average crop." My 

 means for studying the history of this insect have 

 hitherto been very small, having been limited to 

 the specimens of diseased wheat straw sent to me 

 by Mr. Ruffin last March. I was not aware of the 

 existence of the insect at the South, and of its ra- 

 vages, before accidentally reading the Albany Cul- 

 tivator for October, 1851, containing an article up- 

 on it by Dr. Asa Fitch, of Salem, N. Y. This ar- 

 ticle led me to suspect that the insect might be 

 the same as that which attacks barley straw in 

 New England, a suspicion that has been fully ve- 

 rified both by myself and Dr. Fitch. But the his- 

 tory of the barley insect is confessedly imperfect, 

 no opportunity for completing it having occurred 

 to me since the publication of my first account of 

 it, on the 23d of July, 1830, in the old and excel- 

 lent New England Farmer. 



A large portion of the diseased wheat straw, 

 sent to me by Mr. Ruffin, was transmitted to Dr. 

 Fitch, in the hope that, between us, something 

 definite concerning the origin of the injury might 

 be obtained. Both of us, however, have come to 

 the same result, which does not, as yet, extend 

 the bounds of our knowledge. About the first of 

 May, insects began to come forth from the dis- 

 eased straw, and continued to issue during ten 

 days or a fortnight. Their appearance was pro- 

 bably accelerated by the straw being kept in a 



