1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMEE. 



363 



ern Maine and Vermont. I have not yet 

 heard of its doing any serious injury, but it 

 certainly will as its rapid increase proves its 

 accommodation to the New World. This pest 

 was rot needed, for we have now a very near 

 relative first described in your paper, by Dr. 

 Harris as long ago as 1829 (see New Engl.vnd 

 Farmer, old series, vol. 7, p. 402) under the 

 the name of Pier is oleracea. This insect has 

 somi^times plundered our kitchen gardens, — 

 turnips being apparently its favorite food. In 

 the cabbage butterfly, some distinct black 

 spots may be seen on the upper surface of the 

 front wings ; in the turnip butterfly, these 

 wings are pure white ; both species produce 

 two broods a year, — one in May and the other 

 in July ; the butterflies are of feeble flight and 

 can easily be taken in a scoop net and de- 

 stroytxl on the spot ; this is perhaps the best 

 way of keeping them in check. 



I should be glad to receive from Mr. Towles 

 specimens of the butterfly and worm which 

 have troubled him, and as full an account as 

 possii le of the nature and extent of its rav- 

 ages. You will see by the circular I send that 

 I am preparing an extensive work on New 

 England butterflies, and information or speci- 

 mens of the insects in any of their stages, will 

 be acceptable from every quarter. I hope, in 

 return, that agriculturists may find something 

 in my work to assist them. Very truly yours, 

 Samuel H. Scudder. 



Boston, May 81, 18Gy. 



Coloring Cheese. — Fashion governs the 

 style and color not only of our clothing and 

 our dwellings, but even of our food. As one 

 passes through our market, men and boys may 

 be seen dressing up in "Boston style" boxes of 

 strawberries that are received from the South. 

 The beat berries must be placed on the top of 

 the box in a neat manner to sell well. So with 

 cheese, there is a fashionable color, without 

 which it will not bring the highest price. In a 

 late article upon this subject in the Utica Her- 

 ald, Mr. X. A. Willard, although personally 

 objecting to color, says the market demands a 

 rich, even color and will not be satisfied with- 

 out it. As a matter of dollars and cents, not 

 of principle or taste, be advises manufactur- 

 ers to keep up the color. He has never heard 

 of a lot of cheese being condemned because it 

 was too nicely colored, but has heard of com- 

 plaints and losses because cheese was too pale. 

 He says : "We have reports from some ten or 

 a dozen factories in Vermont. They have 

 started well, and promise a fine make for the 

 season. But they ai-e making their cheese too 

 pale. They must pay more attention to color, 

 if they would command the highest figures." 



TIME OF CUTTIWa HAY. 



UNE and July 

 are the great 

 haying months 

 with us in New 

 England. In 

 many sections 

 the experience 

 of farmers dur- 

 ing the past 

 winter has af- 

 forded an ex- 

 pensive argu- 

 ment in favor 

 of the import- 

 ance of this crop. We 

 suppose that the barns 

 of New England have not 

 been as empty for many 

 years as they are this spring. 

 We see it stated that Levi 

 Snow of Dover, Vt., has 

 been feeding out hay this spring that has been 

 in the barn thirty-four years, and it came out 

 green, bright and sound. Cattle ate it as well, 

 and it was as good in every respect, as hay 

 grown last summer. It is important then that 

 this harvest should be secured in good order. 

 And although we discoursed last week at some 

 length on the best time and manner of secur- 

 ing this crop, we think our readers will find 

 something of interest in the following brief 

 abstract of tbe statements made at a discus- 

 sion of the subject of haying by the Massa- 

 chusetts Board of Agriculture during its ses- 

 sion at Amherst, last December. 



Mr. Hyde of Lee, and Dr. Fisher of Fitch- 

 burg, stated opinions, and facts of much im- 

 portance, that cannot fail to meet the approba- 

 tion of all sensible and observing men. The 

 more completely hay retains the properties of 

 grass, tbe better it is. The sugar and starch 

 in the juices of grass, constitute its most im- 

 portant elements. Its nutritive value depends 

 upon the amount of sugar and starch it con- 

 tains. As the seed stalk grows up and the seed 

 ripens, the sugar and starch are converted 

 into woody fibre, which can yield no nutri- 

 ment unless it is reconverted in the stomach of 

 the animal into starch and sugar. The grass 

 blade — the leaf— is its most nutritive part, and 

 when the blade is most fully developed, and in 

 its most succulent state then the grass is in its 



