466 



NEW ENGLAND FARMEK. 



Oct. 



of heat and rr ■ /sture in the soil, this goes on 

 from two and a half to three months, when the 

 insect gets wings, and the vine has attained its 

 full growth. 



The insect has all this time been working at 

 the tuber (Fig. 2,) absorbing much of its nutri- 

 tive juice, and injecting a poison, which at first 

 appears in spots, as seen at a, Fig. 4, These 

 rapidly spread to blotches, h, daily becoming 

 more rotten, as c, and at last leaving very little 

 of the sound potato, d. 



The winged insect, tired of his dark under- 

 ground quarters, moves a few stories higher, and 

 settles himself upon the leaves of the vine, as 

 seen at 1. They naturally attack the leaves and 

 main stem, which, having their juices taken from 

 them, wither and die, leaving little save their si- 

 licious and carbonaceous skeletons, and produc- 

 ing the appearance of the rot. The best evi- 

 dence that a poison is also injected into the plant, 

 is found in the fact that fungi in great abundance 

 make their appearance, and these, as is well 

 known, are generally the result of putrefactive 

 fermentation. 



Sometimes, in cold and stormy weather, the 

 insect again descends and feeds upon the potato, 

 which by this time is covered with fungi also. 

 In the winter they emigrate, and nestling among 

 the warm leaves of the mullen plant, endeavor 

 to keep alive until the succeeding spring. Mr. 

 Henderson has been engaged observing these 

 insects since 1850, although for five years previ- 

 ously he had investigated the causes of the po- 

 tato rot. On page 382 of the present volume of 

 the Scientific American, we gave a brief outline 

 of Mr. H.'s discoveries, from the Buffalo Com- 

 mercial, which was the first newspaper that gave 

 an extended notice of these facts. 



Feeling the importance of the subject, we have 

 given this much space to it, knowing that the 

 maj(^-ity of our readers will look with eagerness 

 for Mr. H.'s simple remedies, which are, killing 

 the egg by sprinkling quick-lime upon the seeds 

 — preventing its development by deep planting, 

 by hoeing up well round the vines, and filling 

 up the cracks in the soil by pressure — or by pre- 

 serving an old Scotch method of planting, which 

 is as follows : The ground is plowed about a 

 foot deep, the manure put in, with three to four 

 inches of soil on that, and then the potato plant- 

 ed. Crops set in this way have never failed, the 

 vines sometimes being attacked, but the tubers 

 always remaining sound. We hope that many 

 of our readers will set to work and experiment 

 on this matter, and although the bug is very ac- 

 tive and lively, he may be caught by shaking the 

 vine quickly and picking him up." 



FKOG SHOWERS. 



It may not here be out of place to give the in- 

 terpretation of frog showers, as now most gener- 

 ally received by most competent judges. The ac- 

 tual fact, that considerable spaces of ground have 

 been suddenly covered with numerous small 

 frogs, where there were no frogs before, has been 

 proved beyond a doubt. Some have called in the 

 aid of waterspouts, whirlwinds, and similar causes, 

 to account for their elevation into the regions of 

 air, and some have even thought that they were 

 formed in the clouds from whence they were pre- 



cipitated. It has generally been in August, and 

 often after a season of drought, that these hordes 

 of frogs have made their appearance ; but with 

 Mrs. Siddons, we will exclaim, "How got they 

 there ?" Simply as follows : The animals have 

 been hatched and quitted their tadpole state and 

 their pond at the same time, days before they 

 became visible to, or rather observed by, mortal 

 eyes. Finding it unpleasant in the hot parched 

 fields, and also running a great chance of being 

 then and there dried up by the heat of the sun, 

 they wisely retreated to the coolest and dampest 

 places they could find, viz.: under clods and 

 stones, where, on account of their dusky color, 

 they escaped notice. Down comes the rain ani 

 out come the frogs pleased with the chance. 

 Forthwith appears an article in the county pa- 

 per ; the good folks flock to see the phenome- 

 non. There are the frogs, hopping about ; the 

 visitors remember the shower, and a simple count- 

 tryman swears the frogs fell in the shower, and 

 he saw them fall ; frogs, visitors, countrymen, 

 editors, are all pleased, and nobody undeceives 

 them, nor are they willing to be undeceived.-^ 

 Buckland's Natural History. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CROPS OF THE SEASON. 



Four weeks ago, there was reason to expect a 

 superabundant harvest from our fields. The corn 

 had started into luxuriant growth. The potatoes 

 never promised better. The onions were fair and 

 bright — less.marred by insects than was expect- 

 ed. Now, how changed the aspect ; if rumor is 

 to be credited, one-half our hopes are cut off. 



One of our best cultivators informs us that he 

 had ten acres of onions, from which he expected 

 4000 bushels to the acre, at least ; and shall now 

 be satisfied to get half this quantity. A blight 

 has come over them, from what cause he knows 

 not, unless it be the superabundant moisture, 

 and almost frosty nights, and his fields look dis- 

 couraging. 



So true is it that man may plant, and industry 

 cherish the growth, but to a power beyond the 

 control of man must we look for the increase. 



Sept. 1, 1858. Essex. 



Wine from Wild Grapes. — Among the good 

 things which are furnished from Pomona's king- 

 dom, we occasionally find a glass of wine of con- 

 siderable merit. A bottle from Mr. S. H. Allen's 

 untamed vintage, at Shrewsbury, Mass., has just 

 been broached, of which we have drank sufficient- 

 ly deep to pronounce excellent. We have rare- 

 ly tasted better from any source. 



Wine from Currants. — A bottle of currant 

 wine from E. C. Purdy, Esq., of Somerville, an 

 account of which was given by him last week, 

 was also opened and found to be excellent. Mr. 

 Purdy's mode of making his wine has some nov- 

 elties, and may be found worthy of adoption. So 

 with generous wine, and the kind remembrances 

 of friends, we find ourselves greatly sustained on 

 one of the hottest and most oppressive days of 

 the seasoii. 



