366 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



and are probably the best market gardeners in 

 the vicinity of Boston. StraAvberries are raised 

 by them hirgely, and the subject for discussion 

 at our next meeting is, ^' Strawherry Culture." 

 Knowing that you take a deep interest in all 

 that tends to promote the welfare of the farmer, 

 we thought in well to let you know what we are 

 doing. W. J. Underwood, 



Secreiary of Belmont Agricultural Library Association. 



Belmont, June 3, 1858. 



Remarks. — Send us, occasionally, Mr. Secre- 

 tary, brief reports of some of your discussions. 



A NEW DEVASTATOR. 



A new and alarmingly destructive worm be- 

 gan devouring forest leaves of oak and maple 

 trees in August last, here and elsewhere, as I 

 have heard, in Berkshire county, Mass., and 

 worked steadily till frost killed the foliage. They 

 have begun here already, again. 



I send you in the accompanying box, a speci- 

 men of a butterfly which has been numerous here 

 since June began ; a constant, nimble flyer, nev- 

 er seeming to stop to rest but for a moment upon 

 some flower for which it seems to care but little ; 

 and then he is off in multifarious evolutions 

 among and around the branches of trees. I have 

 taken notice that in our adjoining oak forest the 

 insect abounds, sailing and fluttering high like a 

 bird. The body has a general resemblance to 

 that of the full-grown worm of last year. 



Under the butterfly lie, (as I suppose) the eggs 

 and young worms hatching, on an eaten, shriv- 

 elled oak leaf — the oftspring of the fly. Please 

 handle and inspect with care. The leaf with the 

 eggs glued to the underside of the leaf, r found 

 with a branch I cut ofl' and hung in my chamber 

 some days since. To-day I see the worms are 

 apparent and dislodged from their cells. How 

 they may be when they reach you, I cannot fore- 

 see.* The dry state of the leaf may already have 

 arrested life, and no further development take 

 place. In another leaf, webbed together, is an- 

 other worm showing further advance, and giving 

 proof in color and stripes, so far as I can judge 

 by the naked eye, of being the same species of 

 insect Avhich made so general and rapid devasta- 

 tion of our forest foliage last year. 



If this insect is multiplied in projjortion to the 

 butterflies, the trees attacked must be made quite 

 bare by early autumn, if Divine Providence does 

 not interpose to pi'event. I ask information, if en- 

 tomologists or observers of facts can give it, as 

 to the history of this insect. Till the summer of 

 1856, no insect of this sort had been known or 

 heard of in this vicinity. 



A further query : have not the martin birds, 

 king-birds and swallows greatly diminished in 

 numbers, and consequently insects in proportion- 

 al variety and number augmented ? I am sure 

 that the race of martins, king-birds, great fly- 

 catchers, are rare among us. 



Yours truly, Jonathan Lee. 



* Further inspection shows the eggs are unhatched and that 

 distinct, small insects, which I cannot define, I mistook for the 

 worms. The other leaf is a valuable specimen of iha leaf-eater. 



Remarks. — We have examined the eggs, 

 worm and butterfly you sent, with interest and 

 care. The worm is still living, while we write 



this, but the leaf upon which he was placed hav- 

 ing become dry and hard, he probably resorted 

 to the beautiful butterfly's wing for a little meat 

 diet, he did not consume it, however, merely cut- 

 ting it off very smoothly and leaving it. But 

 what is it ? The butterfly is gorgeous, with his 

 brilliant tints of gamboge, yellow and drab, 

 crossed by lines of black. The green worm looks 

 somewhat more familiar, although we do not re- 

 cognize him as peculiar to any particular fami- 

 ly of plants. Please accept our thanks for this 

 favor. The curious may inspecct these new 

 "tormentors" by calling at our "oom. 



There seems to be no diminution in the num- 

 ber of bii'ds where we have visited in New Eng- 

 land. Martins and swallows of several kinds are 

 about our buildings in numbers, and the robin, 

 Baltimore oriole, cherry birds and others, are 

 sufficiently numerous to take about all the fruit 

 we can produce in spite of us. 



DISEASED cows. 



I have a four years' old cow who gave a little 

 bloody milk when she calved last year, but was 

 good the rest of the season ; she ^ras fed on hay 

 and grass only. When she calved this year she 

 lost three of her teats, or nearly so. The milk 

 was not bloody or stringy, nor the bag caked, but 

 seemed to perish away. Is there a cure, and 

 how? 



I have another cow, same age, who has given 

 milk two years past ; last fall she appeared to 

 have a knot in her bag, but by applying a wire I 

 pushed it back a few^ times and it went away, and 

 this spring when she calved two of her teats 

 were grown up entirely about six inches up th"e 

 bag. I made a hole through them and one gives 

 a little milk, but it comes down very slowly. Is 

 there any cure for such a difliculty ? 



East Poultney, Vt., 1858. W. Dayton. 



Remarks. — We probably cannot do much to 

 help our correspondent out of his difficulty. 

 CoM's are quite subject to inflammation of the 

 udder soon after calving. The causes of this 

 disease are various ; exposure to cold, allowing 

 the cows to get into too high condition ; feed- 

 ing with grain just before calving ; a careless 

 habit of not milking the cow clean, leaving a por- 

 tion in the bag to become a source of irritation 

 and inflammation in the part. We know of 

 nothing better than to keep the bag perfectly 

 clean with soft warm water, and the application 

 of some sweet, pure oil, and to administer three 

 times a day four drops of aconite, on meal wet 

 with water. 



It is not often that we hear of two or three 

 cows in a single small herd affected so seriously 

 as these appear to be, and the natural suggestion 

 is that there must be some local cause for it, 

 such, for instance, as lying upon a damp floor, 

 where openings in the planks allow a cold draft 



