1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



485 



The bark borer is undoubtedlj' of the same 

 family with the borer from the larva? of the two- 

 striped saperda (saperda hivittatti) which attacks 

 the apple tree, quince, white ash, mountain ash, 

 locust, and various species of thorn, at or near 

 the ground. Young trees from one inch to four 

 inches in diameter, are preferred by the bark 

 borer, and if they are crooked, or lean to the 

 north or east, they are more liable to be attacked. 

 The grub seems to poison the tree, and the bark 

 dies faster than it eats. 



At this season they have not got through the 

 bark, and are from one-fourth to one-half inch 

 in length, and are usually found doubled like a 

 fish-hook. Their location is ascertained by the 

 dead, black look of the bark, and if they are not 

 dislodged, your tree is ruined. My method is to 

 cut them out with a sharp knife and then wash 

 the tree with a liquid recommended by Prof. 

 Mapes, which is made by the following recipe : 

 Sal Soda 1 lb. Water 1 gal. 



Heat the sal soda to a red heat, then add the 

 water. J. R. Walker. 



Springfield, Vt., Aug. 20. 



KATN ■WATBR-.-UNDER-DRAINS, ETC. 



The following article is full of useful truths, 

 but the writer, in enumerating the sources from 

 whence the soil receives water, has failed to no- 

 tice that portion received from dews and from 

 condensation upon the surface of cold particles, 

 from the atmosphere circulating in the soil. The 

 fact that the surface evaporation of water reduces 

 the temperature of soils, and that such less is 

 prevented by under-draining, is fully proved. 

 The loss of ammonia and nitric acid iiy drainage 

 water is, however, over-stated, as, when the drains 

 are sufficiently deep, the loss of these ingredi- 

 ents is no greater than would occur in undrained 

 lands by the same ingredients sinking below the 

 level of roots, while in the drained lands the re- 

 ception of nitric acid and ammonia from the at- 

 mosphere is increased much more than equal to 

 the quantity parted with by the water. 



Whatever be the sources of the influence ex- 

 erted by the rain upon the soil, if, is only as the 

 soil enables it to reach the roots of plants that 

 it can act for good. Let us, therefore, consider 

 the means of its access to the plants growing on 

 the soil. 



Water can get into the soil in three ways — 

 1st, as rain falling directly on its surface; '2nd, 

 as in the case of spring- water, rising from below, 

 where there is a direct connection between the 

 soil and a reservoir at a higher level ; 3rd, by 

 that surface attraction of mutter for it, v;hich, as 

 exhibited by porous substanci s on v.-uter lying 

 beneath them, is called capillary attraction. And 

 it is plain that any attempt to drain a field must 

 be guided by all three of these considerations. 

 The quantity of the rain-fall, added possibly to 

 an additional supply from beneath, and both held 

 with more or less tenacity by capillary attraction 

 within the soil, is the agent which you wish by 

 means of drainage, we will not say to get rid of, 



but to direct to useful ends in the growth of your 

 plants. 



Again — water can leave the soil in three dif- 

 ferent ways: 1st, by running over its surface ; 

 2nd, by evaporation from the surface; 3rd, by 

 percolation through its substance. And let us 

 consider what the water does and does not do 

 when escaping from the land in each of these 

 several ways. 



1. — In the first, when running over the surface 

 of the land, it is of course inoperative. It is 

 wanted to dissolve food out of the soil and feed 

 the plants upon it. It is wanted to bring its own 

 supplies, such as they are, from the air for the 

 nourishment of these plants. It is wanted to 

 break up and comminute the soil by its passage 

 through it. It is wanted for the sake of its own 

 dissolved oxygen and carbonic acid, as well as 

 for the same ingredients in the atmospheric air 

 which follows it in its passage downwards, both 

 of these substances acting usefully in the labo- 

 ratory of the soil. And it is wanted especially 

 in the spring time for the sake of the tempera- 

 ture of the spring showers, which, if thty could 

 !get into the land, would warm it. None of these 

 [things can it du. It runs ofl:'the surface without 

 I penetrating it, and its influence as well as want 

 of influence are shown in the case, which often 

 ■ happens, of rain-water falling on a frozen field. 

 If it could gain a; cess to the substance of the 

 !soil, the whole furrow slice would at once be 

 thawed, and we should have vegetable growth 

 I recommencing earlier. If it could make its es- 

 jcape through the soil instead of over it, we 

 I should avoid those suiface currents which wash 

 jthe finer particles into the furrows and the ditch- 

 es. The J'ertilizing influence of a constant sur- 

 iface current seen in the water meadows is per- 

 fectly consistent with the mischievous influence 

 I of the state of things with its occasional surface 

 I currents seen in every undrained field. The 

 iformer coexists along with an escape of water 

 ; through the soil, for a constant drainage is as 

 necessary as a constant water supply to success- 

 jful irrigation. 



2. — But let us now consider what the water 

 idoes during its escape by evaporation. In the 

 I first place it is worth while rememl)ering as be- 

 ling among the comparatively indefinite results of 

 evaporation from the surface of the soil, thut in 

 [this way great loss ensues of the nutritive sub- 

 t stances which the water held in solution. It is 

 I very true that some theorists contend for what 

 I they call the leaf- feeding of plants, and urge 

 jthat all the benefits of cultivation during the 

 [growth of plants arise from the extension of 

 ithis evaporation, by which the leaves of the 

 [growing plants thus obtain a more abundant 

 [Supply of food; but we believe that our object 

 I in cultivation should rather be to increase the 

 stores of food within the soil, and that tillage 

 operations have this tendency by increasing the 

 quantity of absorbent surface within the soil 

 which is exposed to the air. 



The principal result, however, of the loss of 

 water by evaporation is indicated by the fact that 

 during the conversion of every pound of it into 

 vapor, as much heat is consumed and lost as 

 would be produced by burning 2 or 3 ounce.s of 

 coal ; and when you think that an ordinary rain- 

 fall amounts to 3000 tons per acre per annum, 



