INSTEP. 



IRRI&A1ION. 



weevil and grain weevil, as well as this spe- 

 cies, belong to the Curculio family. 



7. Agrotis clandestine!, cut-worm. 



8. JEgeria exitiosa, peach tree borer, female 



9. Galierea cereana, bee-moth, p. 1 68. 



10. Caravus Goryi, which may be taken as 

 representative of a large family which feeds 

 upon other insects, caterpillars, etc. 



11. Coccinella borealis, which in its larva and 

 perfect state, feeds upon the aphides so destruc- 

 tive to roses and other plants. 



12. Trogus fulvus. The members of the ex- 

 tensive family (Ichnemonidce) to which this 

 species belongs, commit great havoc among 

 caterpillars and grubs. 



INSTEP. In farriery, a name given to that 

 part of a horse's hind-leg which reaches from 

 the ham to the pastern joint. 



INSURANCE. One means of security 

 against fire. The farmer being constantly sur- 

 rounded by much combustible matter, should 

 never, when possible, omit rendering himself 

 *afe by insuring his stock of every kind in 

 some public office, instituted for this pur- 

 pose. 



In England, the legislature has wisely afford- 

 ed very considerable facilities to the insurance 

 of farming stock, which, by an act of Parlia- 

 ment, is exempted from duty. " The Farmer's 

 Insurance Institution" of London insures it at 

 Is. 9(i. per cent., without the average clause; thus 

 easily repaired are the ravages of the incen- 

 liary, of accidental fires, and lightning. 



INTEGUMENT. The outer covering or 

 .kin of an animal : it is also used in the same 

 ense as a synonyme for Testa, for the husk or 

 exterior covering of seeds. 



INVENTORY (Fr. inventaire; Lat. inventa- 

 rtww). A detailed account taken of any thing 

 upon a farm. Inventories of the various kinds 

 of farming stock should be taken annually, at 

 the close of the year. See BOOK-KEEPING and 

 APPRAISEMENT. 



INVOLUCRE, or INVOLUCRUM. In bo- 

 tany, the bractes (or small leaves placed near 

 the calyx, or the peduncle or pedicil) which 

 surround the flowers or the umbels. Involucels 

 are the partial involucres of umbelliferous 

 plants. (Paxton's Bot. Diet.) 



IRIS (from iris, the rainbow ; alluding to the 

 variety and beauty of the colours of the flower). 

 This extensive genus has long been, as it still 

 continues to be, a great favourite in the flower 

 garden. "The sword-leaved sorts (says Sweet) 

 do best in a light loamy soil, and increase freely 

 by suckers from the roots or by seeds. The 

 tuberous-rooted ones are more difficult to cul- 

 tivate, and thrive best in a mixture of loam, 

 peat, and sand, as does also the tribe to which 

 /. persica belongs, as 7. alata, I. caucasica, I. reti- 

 rulnla, &c. The common bulbous species do 

 well in any garden soil, the more sandy the 

 better." /. tuberosa is aromatic as well as 

 emetic and purgative, and /. versicolor and /. 

 verna are used in the United States as cathar- 

 tics. (Paxton's Bot. Diet.) Two species of iris 

 only are indigenous to England, 



1. The yellow water iris, or flower-de-luce 

 (/. pseud-acorns'), which grows wild in ditches, 

 , and rivers, and forms a handsome orna- 



ment for the banks of ponds and streams, 

 blowing from three to six large, bright yellow 

 flowers in July. The root is horizontal, de- 

 pressed, brown, very astringent ; the stem 3 or 

 4 feet high ; leaves erect, ribbed, grass-green. 

 The disks of the larger segments of the flowers 

 are pencilled with dark purple. 



2. Stinking iris, or Gladwyn. Roast-beef 

 plant (7. fcetidissima). This species grows in 

 groves, thickets, and under hedges, but it is 

 rather rare. Dr. Withering, however, observed 

 it to be very common in England in all the 

 southwest counties. It is a perennial, grow- 

 ing to about 2 feet high ; the leaves are dull 

 green, exhaling, when rubbed, a scent com- 

 pared to that of roast beef, to which it is no 

 compliment. The flowers, which appear in 

 May, are dull, pale purple, pencilled with dark 

 veins. Seeds orange-coVoured, polished. (Eng. 

 Flor. vol. i. p. 48.) 



Miller only mentions 19 species of cultivated 

 irises, but there are now nearly 100 known 

 species and varieties. Two or three only are 

 much admired as ornamental flowers. The 

 /. xiphium is a bulb from Spain, blowing blue, 

 white, yellow, and violet flowers in June. The 

 Persian iris blows a fragrant flower in March 

 and April ; plant the bulb in October, in a pot 

 filled with equal quantities of fine mould and 

 sand, and house it during frost. The dwarf 

 iris is ornamental in clusters in a garden ; it 

 grows only three inches high, and blows in 

 April. Part its roots in autumn. The Siberian 

 iris blows in June, and likes a moist situation; 

 it bears flowers whose falling petals are blue, 

 and the upright ones dark purple ; its stem is 

 tall, and its leaves are narrow. 7. susiana, or 

 fleur-de-lis. The plant is tuberous rooted, loves 

 a good soil, and should be removed every three 

 years. It flowers handsomely in June, bearing 

 varieties of pale blue, deep blue, and striped 

 or bluish-white flowers. Its odour is feeble, 

 but it is fetid. These are the most favourite 

 rinds in gardens. The I. florentina, which is 

 ccasionally seen in our gardens, yields the orris 

 root, which is the dried and peeled rhizomes 

 of the plants. Orris root is prized chiefly on 

 account of its odour, which resembles that of 

 he violet. It is added on this account to tooth 

 powders and hair powder. A hazardous cus- 

 ;om prevails of giving the entire root to infants 

 to gnaw during teething, from which fatal re- 

 sults have followed. 



The wild flag, Colour-changing flax (Iris Vir- 

 giniana'), is common on the margins of ponds 

 and in miry places in the Middle States. Dr. 

 Bigelow remarks that the root of this is a vio- 

 ent emetic. Seven or eight other species of 

 ris are enumerated in the United States. (Flor. 

 l^estrica.) 



IRON-WOOD (Carpinus ostrya). See HORN- 

 BEAM. 



IRRIGATION (Lat. irrigio, to water). In 

 agriculture, the watering of the earth, to in- 

 crease its productiveness. The term, however, 

 s confined to that species of flooding which 

 consists of spreading a sheet of water over a 

 ield or meadow, in such a manner that it can 

 >e easily withdrawn. 



Irrigation, or the artificial watering of the 



