480 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



quarts ; in 1858, sixteen and one-sixth quarts. It 

 seems to us that the lowest number is a large 

 one. 



Then follow papers on "Experiments with dif- 

 ferent Manurt-s on permanent Meadow Land," 

 on "Draining," on "Potatoes," on "Winter Fruit,"' 

 on "the Culture of the Cranberry," on the " Wheat 

 Midge and Hessian Fly," on " Wheat and Chess," 

 and then one on the "Edible Fishes of New 

 York," by Robert L. Pell. This report gives a 

 brief account of the fish common to the rivers 

 and inland streams of the State in a very attrac- 

 tive style. Mr. Pell cultivates fish — as well as 

 apples — and says, — "I am convinced that an acre 

 pond, well stocked with pike, would yield more 

 profit than a ten acre lot under ordinary cultiva- 

 tion." 



A short chapter is devoted to the New York 

 State Agricultural College, and then comes a 

 long, practical and interesting chapter upon Fen- 

 ces, by S. Edwards Ladd. The subject is dis- 

 cussed under various appropriate heads, and em 

 braces every kind of fence resorted to, including 

 wire, stone, picket and hedge fences. 



Following this are one or two hundred pages 

 of miscellaneous matter, and the volume closes 

 with the fifth report on the noxious and other in- 

 sects of the State of New York, by Asa Fitch, 

 entomologist to the Society. 



We have now, briefly, brought to view the va- 

 ried contents of this interesting and highly use- 

 ful volume. It has not been made by an indi- 

 vidual, but by many individuals, and the extend- 

 ed interest that has been secured to produce such 

 a work must be a lever of great power in the 

 State. To say that the work is as good as its 

 fellows that have preceded it, would l)e saying 

 much ; but in some respects it is better. We 

 hope the Society will continue its surveys of 

 counties. 



Mr. Secretary Johnson will please accept our 

 thanks for the volume which has enabled us to 

 make these remarks, and to complete our set of 

 this highly-valued work. 



OYSTERS AND STAR FISH. 



The oyster beds in Providence river have suf- 

 fered severely from the attacks of star fish, which, 

 in some instances, have destroyed hundreds of 

 dollars worth of oysters. The manner in which 

 the star-fish contrive to carry off" the delicate 

 morsel contained within the shells of healthy 

 oysters, has been more or less a conjecture. By 

 many it has been supposed that the star-fish 

 closes its arms over the shell, and so starves the 

 oyster to death by refusing to let it open its 

 mouth for food. An old supposition was to the 

 eflect that the star-fish succeeded in inserting a 

 ray or finger into the gaping shell, and if it found 

 the bivalve too strong for it, got rid of the diffi- 



culty and the ray at once, conscious of its power 

 of reproducing another ; which conclusion may 

 have been drawn from the fact that the star-fish 

 readily parts with its rays to preserve its body, 

 reproducing them again very speedily. Star-fish 

 have been detected in the act of sucking the 

 juices of bivalves through perforations, and also 

 with their mouths applied to the edges of the 

 valves. From the apparently paralyzed state of 

 the bivalves found in such situations, it has been 

 conjectured that the star-fish introduces some 

 deleterious secretion within the valves, and thus 

 leaves the moUusk torpid, and deprived of the 

 power of closing its valves against the attacks 

 of the destroyer. But it is not on living prey 

 alone that the star-fish feeds. Is seems to assist 

 materially in cleansing the sea from dead and 

 decomposing animal matter. A human tooth 

 has been found in the stomach of a star-fish. Its 

 mouth and gullet are admirably adapted for se- 

 curing the animal substances on which it feeds. 

 When the prey is apparently disproportioned to 

 the parts into which it is to be conveyed, the 

 (Tsophagus, or gullet, together with parts of the 

 stomach itself, can be protruded and everted, so 

 as to draw the desired food into the cavity by 

 the application of the inverted surface to it. 

 Thus small shell-fish are swallowed whole, and 

 specimens still living have been found taken 

 from the cavity. — jYewport Mercury. 



ABOUT BAEKS. 



The careful attention of the reader is called to 

 an article in another column, on the form and 

 manner of constructing barns — a suliject of the 

 first importance to tlie farmers of New England. 

 We do not mean to be understood as assenting 

 to all that "J. W. K." says in his article — it may 

 all be right, but we should rather see a barn so 

 constructed before recommending them to others. 

 His ideas, however, strike us quite favorably, 

 and when we once had him "in our leanto," some 

 years ago, had we known that his mind run so 

 strongly to barns, we certainly should have de- 

 tained him an hour or two to discuss them. 



That our barns are too expensive in their first 

 cost, too liable to rapid decay, and inconvenient 

 in their arrangement, we have long been con- 

 vinced, and our correspondent has our hearty 

 thanks for giving the subject so much considera- 

 tion, and for giving us an opportunity to com- 

 municate his views to the public. 



LICE ON CATTLE. 



Take white oak bark, boil it in water — making 

 a strong decoction ; wash the animals on the 

 back and on the sides. In twenty-four hours 

 the lice will be completely tanned. Tanner's oil 

 is also first-rate. 



Remarks. — If you try this, use it with moder- 

 ation, as all decoctions of this kind are of a pow- 

 erful nature. You would not like to tan the whole 

 creature while living. 



