528 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



lengthened lines of a brisrht clay color. It is 

 rather larger than the vitlata, and of a different 

 form. 



The Cantharis atrata, or black fly, is the most 

 completely black of all the species. But it is not 

 the fly we have among us, lor it is not more than 

 a halt" inch in length, nor is it found so olten on 

 the potato vine, as on some other plants. 



Besides these, Messrs. Say and Miichell, found 

 eome other species near the Rocky Mountains, 

 though they have not been submitted to satisfac- 

 tory trials. 



These flies are not annual visitants, but come 

 here and there occasionally. In the heat ol' the 

 day, they descend into the soil, and operate 

 on the vegetable fibre in the morning and eve- 

 ning. 



If you think these notices worthy the atten- 

 tion of your readers, they are at your service. 



Thos. D. Mitchell. 



AMERICAN BLISTER FLY AND PEACH TREE 

 GRUB DRIVEN OFF BY LIME — FISH OIL FOR 

 PEACH AND PLUM TREES. 



From tlie Kentucky Farmer. 



Lexington, Ky. 16ih yfug'"; 1841. 



Dear sir : — I saw, in your last paper, a short 

 notice of a fly that has been very destructive to 

 some kinds of vegetation in several counties^ It 

 has been noticed for some veara, but is greatly in- 

 creased in the present. The common name is 

 the American blister fly, and it is raid to be even 

 superior lor blisters to the Spanish. They first 

 attacked the potato fops in my garden, and utter- 

 ly demolished them, treated the beets in the same 

 way, and next commenced their depredations 

 upon cabbages and tomatoes, and would have 

 swept them in a lew days. They proceeded in 

 large numbers, and in a lew hours would strip a 

 cabbaae or tomato vine to shreds, 



i succeeded in slopping them and confipletely 

 driving them ofl' from every thing they attacked, 

 after I discovered the effect of the application, 

 which was very simple. I took common slacked 

 lime and sprinkled it early, before the dew was off 

 the plants and when damp from rain, upon all the 

 vines and cabbages, &c. upon which the flies 

 were feeding, and the instantaneous effect was, 

 to produce a great stir and early abandonment of 

 their quarters. In this way, 1 completely drove 

 them off, and have no doubt but that my potatoes 

 and beets might have been saved if I had applied 

 the lime in time. I of course made the same ap- 

 plication to any thing I thought it probable they 

 would attack, and I have been unable to discover 

 any injurious eflect of the lime. And while my 

 pen is in hand, I will give you the result of an- 

 other successful experiment with lime. I had 

 some young peach trees of fine kinds and last fall 

 noticed them turning yellow and preparing to die. 

 On examination, 1 tbund they were beset by the 

 orrub, and some of them with nearly all the bark 

 at the root eaten off. In the winter, during a 

 thaw, I removed the earth around the tree to the 

 lowest point I could find a grub, and destroyed all 

 1 could find, and applied lime Ireely where I had 

 taken out the earth, and left them in this way 

 until spring, when the removed dirt was returned. 



Some of the trees were so far gone that I thought 

 no medicine could heal them. This summer, 

 they are all green and as healthy as they can be. 

 I have heard of a successful protection from this 

 grub by using, spring and fall, an application, in 

 the same way, of the scrapings (rom ourcomnion 

 limestone turnpike roads. This is used by the 

 same person as an application to other fruit trees, 

 and with the finest effect. Fine crops of peaches 

 and plums are produced every year, by a gentle- 

 man of this place, and his trees are treated in this 

 way: In the fall, common fish oil is applied, (rom 

 a pint to a quart, to the root of each tree. In the 

 spring, before the bud starts, the same application 

 is made and the body of the tree rubbed with oil, 

 two or ihree times, at intervals of a week or ten 

 tlays, A piece ol flannel or cloth is tied round 

 the tree and saturated at the same time with the 

 oil. The whale oil soap, mentioned in some of 

 the papers, may be a more eflisctual remedy ; at 

 least I will try it. 



1 have spun this out longer than I intended. 

 Though to you and me a very interesting subject, 

 i am very sorry to say that the great bulk of your 

 readers care nothing about any remedy li>r the 

 ravages ot the grub, and would not use one ever 

 so simple and certain. R. Pindell. 



HIWE — MARL — TOP-DRESSING. 



Extracts from the Address of Gen. Tliomas Emory to tlie Agri- 

 cultural Society of Queen Ann's county, Md. 



I have frequently been jeered with the inquiry 

 of what possible benefit will internal improve- 

 ments be to the Eastern Shore of Maryland? and 

 making a long argument a short one, I have an- 

 swered — they will give vs lime for the improve- 

 ment of our worn out lands, if nothing else. 



Men are apt to deride things from a want of 

 knowledge; particularly are they so prone, when 

 a lack o( this useful commodity causes them to 

 believe they have all knowledge. 



I here, before this respectable society, at a mo- 

 ment of the deepest odium from taxation, levied 

 for the purpose, renew and proclaim my adhesion 

 to necessary works of internal improvement for 

 the whole state, with the Eastern Shore inclusive. 

 In doing this, I do not mean to give approbation 

 and approval to the humbug of certain offices in 

 the state, nor to the propriety of the expenditure 

 of many heavy sums of money which have been 

 disgracefully squandered by the legislature, or by 

 the corporations on worthless individuals, who 

 employ their wits only to learn how to fatten on 

 the public money. The people of the state, 

 moreover, cannot be too strict in watching the 

 conductors of the public works, and holding them 

 to the strictest accountability. This being done, 

 notwithstanding the losses and waste sustained, I 

 believe all the great works will hereafter, when 

 finished, pay a lair interest on their outlay. 1 

 have already glanced at some of the effects of 

 these public works, in restoring to Baltimore by 

 artificial means its lost trade, in arresting emigra- 

 tion from our borders, and in enhancing the value 

 of our lands, 1 will now come nearer home, and 

 add that it is a moderate estimate to suppose that 

 within the last twelve months, and at the begin- 

 ning of the trade, from one hundred to one hun- 



