366 



NEW ENGLAND FARIVIER. 



Aug. 



He informed us that friends in Illinois, near 

 Chicago, have repeatedly urged him to sell his 

 farm in Vermont and try the West. He has vis- 

 ited there occasionally, having just returned from 

 a trip through Michigan to Illinois, at the time of 

 our interview. We give the result of his observa- 

 tion, and his conclusions as to the comparative 

 advantages of Vermont and Illinois, in his own 

 words : — 



"It is generally thought," he said, "that the West 

 has great advantacres over New England for farm- 

 ing. I made considerable inquiry out there about 

 farms, crops, the price of land, &c., but I cannot 

 see wherein they have the advantages that are gen- 

 erally conceded to them by farmers in New Eng- 

 land. In the section I visited, improved farms 

 are held at $50 to $(150 per aire, with not near as 

 good buildings as we have here in this section 

 of Vermont on farms that can be bought to-day at 

 from $20 to $;50 per acre, with plenty of water of 

 the best quality, good roads, good schools and 

 good improvements generally. 



"Then again. Western farmers do not raise as 

 much per acre of most kinds of grain as we do. It 

 is true that their land is worked more easily than 

 ours, but it is less favorable to the production of 

 grass. Hence they plough more land than we do, 

 and consequently have less pasturage. Most of 

 the stock that I saw there this spring was poor. 

 This may not be the case in other sections, and 

 probablj' is not among farmers who make a busi- 

 ness of fattening cattle. 



"When 1 left home I felt rather discouraged by 

 my unusually large loss of sheep during the past 

 winter. But I found that the mortality among the 

 flocks in Illinois had been so much greater than 

 with me, that my loss seemed trifling in compari- 

 son. Individual farmers, in the vicinity where I 

 visited, who commenced the winter with from 400 

 to 500 sheep have lost nearly their entire flocks, 

 from the scab and grub in the head, as is gener- 

 ally supposed. Wool growers both East and West 

 are becoming much disheartened. 



"I hope that young farmers who are thinking 

 about going West will look at all these things 

 thoughtfully before they start. 'Distance may 

 lend enchantment to the view,' but it may cost 

 something to learn that 'all is not gold that glit- 

 ters.' " 



In reply to our question whether the advance in 

 the price of land or other causes had mad« the 

 chances for success on the part of young men v/\\o 

 are now beginning life without capital less favora- 

 ble than they were when he began business for 

 himself, Mr. Balis remarked that he thought not ; 

 he believed that so many young people ai-e now 

 leaving the farm for other pursuits that the oppor- 

 tunities for industrious, reliable young men who 

 are contented to remain on the farm, were never as 

 good as now ; and he said that he knew of fine 

 openings in his own neighborhood, and elsewhere, 

 for those who are willing to work and to live eco- 

 nomically. 



POTATO BUGS. 



The losses sustained by. farmers in conse- 

 cpence of bugs and insects appear to be in- 

 creasing as tbe country grows older. One re- 

 sult of these losses must be a more general 

 study of the habits and character of these in- 

 sects. Inquiries or complaints are often 

 made of iJie grain weevil, tJie cut worm, the 

 potato bug, &c., while there are often a great 

 variety of these insects. A long article was 

 published last year in the American Entomol- 

 ogist, an excellent illustrated monthly publica- 

 tion, at one dollar per year, on potato bugs, 

 in which ten different bugs were described, 

 with cuts of each. The Utica Herald gives 

 the main facts of that article in the following 

 brief abstract : — 



In the United States there are no less than 

 ten distinct species of bugs that prey upon the 

 potato plant ; and many of these ten species 

 are confined within certain geographical limits. 

 The habits and history of several of these va- 

 rieties vary as widely as does that of the hog 

 from the horse. Some attack the potato in 

 both the larva and the perfect or winged state ; 

 others in the winged or perfect state alone, 

 and yet others in the larva state alone. 

 Some of these insects raise but one brood of 

 young every year, while three of them raise 

 two or three broods ; each generated by 

 females belonging to the preceding brood. 



Three of the ten feed externally upon the 

 leaves and tender stems, while two burrow, like 

 a borer, exclusively in the larger stalks. Al- 

 most every one of these has its peculiar insect 

 enemies ; and a mode of attack which will 

 prove successful with some of them, will very 

 often turn out worthless when employed 

 against others. And here it occurs to us to 

 suggest that when a writer or editor talks of 

 the potato bug, he give its scientific name, to 

 avoid confusion. This failure of writers to 

 give a name by which all can distinguish the 

 individual species — as well of insects as varie- 

 ties in plants — is the cause of much misunder- 

 standing and prolonged discussion. 



We are enabled in this abstract to give only 

 the names and present some of the more com- 

 mon characteristics of the different families of 

 these pests. 



First we will take the "Stalk Borer." (Gor- 

 tyna Nortila Garence.) Its larva is not pecu- 

 liar to th*» potato, as it also infests tomato, 

 dahlia, aster, and other garden tlower-stalks. 

 The larva leaves the stalk the latter part of 

 July, descends a little below the surface of 

 the earth, where it changes in about three 

 days into the chrysalis state, and emerges as a 

 perfect moth from the last of August to the 

 middle of September. 



The potato stalk weevil (Baridus trinota- 

 tus), according to Dr. Harris, is a more pecu- 



