390 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



SWARM OF INSECTS. 



Messrs. Editors : — In the New England Farmer 

 of June 12th, I noticed an article describing an 

 uncommon swarm of insects. The numbers which 

 appeared were remarkable — the column being a 

 quarter of a mile in width, and twenty feet in 

 thickness, comprising, in the language of the writ- 

 er, "countless millions." 



The insect alluced to, doubtless belongs to the 

 order Neuroptera, which includes the Dragon-fly, 

 May-fly, Day-fly (Ephemera,) &c. This was prob- 

 ably the May-fly, called in some sections the Shad- 

 fly. In answer to the question, "Where did they 

 come from?" it may be said they came from 

 water, where they, (as do many other tribes,) pass 

 their first stages, including the egg, larva and pu- 

 pa. When they have reached the perfect, or fly 

 state, they leave the water, and after preparing 

 for anew generation, die. 



It is not often that so many are seen at once, 

 as mentioned in the article referred to, though 

 they are often seen in large numbers near still 

 water, which is favorable to their propagation. 

 The reason that they appear and vanish so sudden- 

 ly, js, the periods in which they pass through the 

 various stages are very exact. The eggs are all 

 produced nearly at the same time— are all proba- 

 bly deposited in the space of two days — the larva 

 are all hatched together, and reach the point of 

 maturity together, and of course appear in the 

 winged state at the same time. The same thing 

 is observable, more or less with most insects. 



The fact of the insects all going in the same di- 

 rection, as mentioned — to the southwest — I will 

 not undertake to explain. Precisely the same 

 thing fell under my own observation in regard to 

 the same insect, about twenty years ago. 



There is something mysterious in these flights 

 of insects, and also in the migrations of some of 

 the sm dler animals. Locusts, or grasshoppers, 

 frequently go off suddenly, taking to the air all at 

 once, and all flying in the same direction. Many 

 years a»o a remarkable flight of the Dragon-fly 

 (Libeltu/a) was noticed from Massachusetts to 

 Pennsylvania. Innumerable hosts of them filled 

 the air for the space of an hour or more. They 

 passed to the west, their course inclining a little 

 to the north. 



Grey squirrels, when they have been very 

 abundant in a district, often gooff in one direction, 

 travelling day and night with great speed, swim- 

 ming streams and even broad lakes, and crossing 

 all obstacles, so far as practicable, that obstruct 

 their line of march. 



Who can explain this impulse ? — Boston Culti- 

 vator. 



Remarks. — Since writing the article which called 

 out the above remarks, we have seen another exo- 

 dus of the same insects, in countless numbers, 

 travelling in the same direction, and still intent of 

 being somewhere very soon, as the others were ; but 

 they appeared about 5 o'clock in the afternoon. 



EST The Rural New-Yorker, published by D. D. 

 T. Moore, the man who knows how to make five 

 hundred blades of grass grow where none grew be- 

 fore, is just as bright and beautiful as ever. No 

 wonder the ladies fall in love with it, and will 

 have it. 



Xlletlianics' Drpartment, 3Uts, $Ct. 



VENTILATED CARS. 



The following is a more particular description 

 of the new invention for keeping cars free from 

 dust, than we have before seen. It is condensed 

 from a description by the Hartford Times. If 

 cars can be constructed so as to be free from dust, 

 the greatest of annoyances of railroad travelling 

 will be obviated : 



"The invention consists, first, in a row of three 

 large circular ventilators placed in the top of the 

 car at equal distances apart, and flaring open so 

 as to catch a great deal of air from the rapid mo- 

 tion of the car. At the height of the ventilators 

 there is not much dust, as it does not generally 

 rise so high in any considerable quantity, but 

 what little enters tl em is caught and deposited in 

 a reservoir partly filled with water and ingenious- 

 ly attached to the bottom of the ventilator. The 

 air thus purified from dust and cinder, rushes into 

 the car through the ventilators, in consequence 

 of the rapid motion. To make the arrangement 

 still more effectual, the windows of the car have 

 been altered, so that instead of opening perpen- 

 dicularly, they open sideways like a door. Each 

 window consists of two parts, shutting together at 

 an obtuse angle, which projects a few inches out- 

 ward from the side of the car. One part of each 

 window is closed, and deflects the passing dust 

 from the car, while the other is slightly opened 

 inward, so as to permit a constant current of air 

 received from the ventilators to pass out and repel 

 the external dust. The invention is pronounced 

 entirely successful by the Times. Mr. Paine, the 

 water-gas man, is the inventor." 



Axes. — The most extensive axe factory in Ver- 

 mont is that of Brooks & Brothers, at Beman's 

 Hollow, on New Haven River. The ordinary manu- 

 facture amounts to a hundred and twenty-five 

 axes per day, and runs often to a hundred and 

 fifty. If consumes a hundred and fifty tons of 

 anthracite yearly, and eighty tons of American 

 iron. The steel, twenty tons, sometimes ordered 

 direct, is from the Messrs. Sandersons, at Sheffield. 

 Twenty-five workmen are employed, and fifty tons 

 of grindstones are used annually. — Brattkboro' 1 

 Eask. 



Iron Flowers. — A "fancy piece" has been pre- 

 pared for the Prussian Exhibition by the Renard 

 Works. It is a vase of polished coal, as solid as 

 black marble, holding a large bouqet of flowers 

 made of sheet iron — leaves, petals, and stems, all 

 perfectly graceful and natural, but sable as night. 

 The effect is singular — the complete imitation hav- 

 ing not the least resemblance to nature, unless 

 there are such blossoms on the banks of Acheron. 

 It is Flora in mourning. 



Iron Paper. — At the Prussian Industrial Exhi- 

 bition, Count Renard, a large proprietor of iron 

 works, exhibits sheet iron of such a degree of ten- 

 uity that the leaves can be used for paper. Of 

 the finest sort the machinery rolls 7<I40 square 

 feet of what may be callad leaf-iron, from a cwt. 

 of metal. A bookbinder of Breslau has made an 

 album of nothing else, the pages of which turn as 

 flexibly as the finest fabric of linen rags. As yet 



