1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FAR^VIER. 



217 



into the human body, except through the dan- 

 gerous and every way exceptionable practice 

 of eating raw meat. Nei hi r are we safe by 

 simply abstaining altogether from pork. The 

 flesh of wild duck, and probably that of many 

 other animals hiiherto unsuspected, and sup- 

 posed to be peculiarly cleanly, may prove to 

 be as dangerous as that of the hog, provided 

 it be eaten rav or only partially cooked. — 

 Amtrican Entomologist. 



EXTKACTS AND BEPLIES. 



LICE ON FKUIT TREES. 



I would like to inquire of you, or through your 

 Vitluahle payjer, if lice on young fruit trees will kill 

 thu tree ? If so, what is the best way to destroy 

 them, and what time of the year is the best ? 



I have a young orchard that has been set eight 

 years next spring, and they have not Iwrne any as 

 yet. It is set on a rich, light soil. Last spring the 

 ground was seeded down ; bt fore that it was used for 

 a gardtn for a number of years. 



James Pollakd. 



Ludlow, Vt., March, 1869. 



Remarks. — The aphides that collect on the ends 

 of the growing branch are sometimes called "lice," 

 hut we suppose our correspondent alludes to the 

 much more formidable insect called the bark-louse 

 or scale. It is described by Dr. Fitch, of New 

 York, "as a little brown scale, one-eighth of an 

 inch long, the shape of on oyster shell, fi^edtothe 

 smooth bark, resembling a little blister. This 

 scale is the dried remains of the body of the female, 

 covering and protecting her eggs, from a dozen to 

 a hundred of which lie in the cavity under each 

 scale. These eggs hatch the latter part of May, 

 and the young lice diflFuse themselves over the 

 bark, appearing as minute white atoms, almost in- 

 visible to the eye. They puncture the bark and 

 suck the sap from it. The females soon fix them- 

 selves and become stationary. They die and be- 

 come overspread wi>h a substance resembling fine 

 blue mould, which, wearing otF, the little oyster- 

 shaped scale again appears in July. They some- 

 times become so multiplied that the bark of the 

 trunk and limbs is everywhere covered and 

 crowded with them, and if the tree is weakened by 

 borers, (ire blight, or other disease, these bark- lice 

 thus muliipljing, kill it. In years past, over all 

 the country adjacent to Lake Michigan, every 

 apple-tree has been destroyed by this insect." 



Their presence is generally considered to indi- 

 cate a want of healthy action in the tree. If this 

 is correct we should look for the causes which 

 produce this unhealthfulness. You say the trees 

 stand on rich, light soil, which was used for a gar- 

 den. Possibly the early growth of your trees was 

 too much forced, or the subsoil may be wet or 

 otherwise unfavorable to a due expansion of the 

 roots. Trees at eight years are not old enough to 

 bear much. Sometimes a wash of strcng soap- 

 suds applied with a stiff brush such as is used for 

 scouring floors, as soon as the weather is warmer, 



say in April, and repeated two or three times dur- 

 ing the summer, will effect a change for the better 

 in the appearance of the trees. la the American 

 Fruit Cullurist, by Mr. Thomas, a mixture of equal 

 parts of tar and linseed oil applied warm, not hot, 

 early in spring, is recommended. It is said this 

 mixture does not close the pores of the bark as grease 

 would, but it forms a varnish, which soon becomes 

 hard, and when the tree begins to grow it cracks 

 and peels off, carrying the baik lice with it. 



Dr. Fitch, in his Treatise on Insects, mentions 

 another remedy, which he couiidtrs very effica- 

 cious, prepared as follows : — Leaf tobacco is 

 boiled in a strong lye until reductd to an imptilpa- 

 ble pulp, and '.his is then mixed with soft soap 

 (which has been made cold, and not boiled), the 

 whole mixture becoming of the consistence of thin 

 paint; this, when applied, does not easily wash 

 from the tree, as lye, tobacco water, &c., would 

 alone. One application with the brush to every 

 part, will protect trees two years. A young 

 orchard of one hundred and fifty trees, required 

 two men a fortninght to go over every part, branch 

 and twig, ihrough the orchard. The trees grew 

 thriftily, and were perfectly free from lice, while 

 others in every direction were dying from their 

 attacks. 



MANURE AND Mt'CK LAND. 



Can you or any of your contributors inform me, 

 through the Farmer, what is the best dressing to 

 b3 applied to muck-land which is well drained, 

 and the mode of applying it ? Is there any mate- 

 rial which can be economically applied to such 

 land a^ a substitute for manure ? Hill. 



Mtthuen, Mass., 1869. 



Remarks. — We cannot tell you what the best 

 manure is for muck land that is well drained, but 

 can strongly recommend wood ashes as the first 

 thing which we should apply, if we could obtain 

 them. Spread ten to fifteen bushels per acre, for 

 two or three years in succes.-ion, and we think you 

 will perceive a striking change in its products. 

 Composted manures may be used with advantage, 

 but as they cannot be spared, use superphosphate 

 or lime or some other special fertilizer. Spread 

 broadcast in moist weather two, three or fourh un- 

 dred pounds per acre. 



■WHY FARMERS SHOULD WRITE. 



I can subscribe most heartily to the experience 

 and confi-ssion of a farmer in the February number 

 of the Monihly Farmer, as to a frequent inclina- 

 tion to reply to or comment upon the various sub- 

 jects discnsi-ed in your columns, and as to a gen- 

 eral neglcit of doing so in consequence of a con- 

 stant press of other duties and of a feeling of ina- 

 bility. But after reading your remarks therewith, 

 together with the lecture you gave me in your 

 January issue, I have made up my mind to bother 

 you occasionally. I think if we farmers will once 

 break through the ice we shall not find it so hard 

 to get time now and then to put a new idea or bit 

 of experience on paper, and with the time and will, 

 will surely come the ability. The fact is, farmers 

 as a class do not understand each other well 

 enough; they are greatly given to bashlulness, 

 and difladeuce, with a spritikling of self-conceit. 



