390 



NEW ENGLAND EARMER. 



Aug. 



strong for some persons, in the great majority 

 of cases an occasional'visit to the coast is a cap- 

 ital restorative of vital power to those whose 

 nerves are exhausted by long sojourn in inland 

 towns. — Scientific American. 



ENTOMOLOGY. 



The word entomology is derived from two Greek 

 words, entoma and logos, which signify discourse 

 and insects, a term implying a knowledge of in- 

 sects. There are various classifications of the in- 

 sect tribes, and the arrangement has perpetually 

 varied since the days of Linnaeus, to the pres- 

 ent time. That able naturalist classes them from 

 the wings ; Fabricius, from the peculiarities or 

 contours of their mouths, and Latuillo from 

 their general physiological structure. KiRBY, 

 more recently, has adopted the locomotory or- 

 gans, or legs, as the basis of classification. Rol- 

 ler describes insects as "animals which have a 

 body consisting of one or more divisions ; artic- 

 ulated feet ; a head conspicuously distinct from 

 the body, on which are placed two movable horns 

 called antenna?. They breathe through air holes, 

 which are situated on the sides of the body, the 

 greater number having wings, in their perfect 

 state, and only a proportionably small number 

 are without them. 



"With the exception of certain groups, all in- 

 sects have six feet, and their bodies are divided 

 into a head, thorax and abdomen, by notches or 

 incisions ; hence the name insect is derived from 

 a Latin word, signifying to cut, ornotch. Before 

 they attain their perfect state, they are subject to 

 various transformations, which are called meta- 

 morphoses." 



Decandolle, and, if we mistake not, some 

 other writers, have estimated the num.ber of in- 

 sects that derive their nutriment from herbivor- 

 ous vegetation, or plants, to amount to not less 

 than one hundred thousand species. Some of 

 these are partial to feed only on one kind of 

 plant, while others devour indiscriminately al- 

 most every tender and sapid vegetable that falls 

 in their way. 



This is the case, to a certain extent, with the 

 grasshopper, and more emphatically so with the 

 locust, which, in the language of Scripture, may 

 be said to devour every green thing. It is a mat- 

 ter of deep regret, that a department of knowl- 

 edge so intimately associated with agriculture, is 

 so little attended to, and so imperfectly under- 

 stood. Of the habits, and even the names of the 

 almost innumerable insects that prey upon our 

 crops, we may be said to know comparatively 

 nothing. This is not as it should be. If we know 

 not the habitudes of our enemies, we shall scarce- 

 ly be able to contend successfully with them in 

 their attacks uuon our fields and fruits. 



While the loathsome cimex lectularius, com- 

 mon bed or chinch bug, which infests the do- 

 mains of the housewife — obtruding itself into 



"Scenes sacred to neatness and repose," 



is cautiously destroyed, the residue of the Hem- 

 ipterous family is allowed the free liberty of our 

 fields and gardens, carrying ruin and destruction 

 wherever they go. Patiently we replant where 

 they destroy, never reflecting that a few hours' 

 study would enable us, perhaps, to destroy them, 

 and preserve, uninfested, the produce of our toils, 

 and the beauty of our fields. 



The destruction of birds, which is encouraged 

 by many, is a practice that cannot be too severe- 

 ly deprecated, as it tends directly to the multipli- 

 cation of the vermin which prove so destructive 

 to many of our most valuable fruits and field 

 products. A single robin-»-it is said — will, in one 

 season, destroy as many worms as would, if per- 

 mitted to feed upon our vegetables unmolested, 

 lay waste whole fields. Yet these useful labor- 

 ers are massacred without pity or compunction. 

 It is to be hoped that our people will reflect up- 

 on this matter, and introduce a proper and eflPec- 

 tual corrective. It certainly behooves them to 

 throw around their crops every available protec- 

 tion, and as one of the cheapest and most efiicient 

 means of securing this result, we would recom- 

 mend the preservation and protection of birds. 



The Cultivation of Tea. — The Washington 

 correspondent of the New York Times says that 

 the Agricultural Bureau of the Patent Office is 

 making preparation to test the cultivation of 

 tea in this country. The seed will be preserved 

 in China specially for this purpose, planted in 

 glass cases and shipped in October. By the 

 time of their arrival here they will have sufficient- 

 ly sprouted to be set out in beds. After being 

 tested here, the plants, if successful, will be dis- 

 tributed among the Southern States. An order 

 for a great variety of seeds will also be sent to 

 Egypt in a few days, through a house in London. 

 This list includes wheat, barley, rice, clover, (Tri- 

 folium Alexandrium,) &c. &c. Arrangements are 

 also making to commence a nursery for the growth 

 of ornamental trees for the public grounds of this 

 and other cities. They can be supplied from a 

 public nursery at one-twentieth their present 

 cost. Such is the estimate of the Interior De- 

 partment. 



SoAP-SuDs FOR Currant Bushes. 

 in the Indiana Farmer says he has 



-A writer 

 done well 

 with currant bushes. He 'attributes his special 

 success to the fact that he has made a liberal use of 

 soap-suds and chamber-lye about their roots in 

 the summer time. Some of his bushes are seven 

 feet highi 



