460 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



better way of putting a stop to the ravages of the 

 leaf-rollers and bud-moths, that infest many of 

 our fruit-trees and flowering shrubs, could be dis- 

 covered." 



We are not sure which of these insects troubles 

 our correspondent, but perhaps the foregoing de- 

 scription from Mr. Harris' book will enable him 

 to decide for himself. 



The little black bug alluded to had probably no 

 connection with the worms, and may be a *"viend. 

 "We shall be glad to hear from any one who has 

 observed the work of these caterpillars. We hope 

 that, like many other insects, after having had 

 their day they will disappear. 



APPLES ON A BROKEN LIMB. 



I have a fine thrifty Baldwin appl ". tree in my 

 orchard ou which scarcely an apple can be seen, 

 except on a limb which was nearly broken from 

 the tree la^t fall in gathiring the fruit. This limb 

 hangs full of line large applts. How do you ex- 

 plain this ? E. A. Davis. 



Buckland, Mass., July 30, 1869. 



Remarks. — We explain it on the same prin- 

 ciple that we account for the same result when 

 produced by taking out a ring of bark from a 

 limb, or by bending and fastening down a branch. 

 But exactly what that principle is it is not quite 

 so easy for us to say. We are not deeply versed in 

 the mysteries of fruit or vegetable growth. Our 

 old fruit books say that by breaking or twisting 

 the limb or removing a ring of bark, the sap 

 which would otherwise have returned to the body 

 of the tree or its roots, and have been mingled with 

 the common stock of its fluids, is retained in the 

 limb, which thus having more than its rightful 

 share is enabled to set fruit, though the other por- 

 tions do not, as the general stock of the sap is de- 

 voted t;) repairs or improvements in wood, &c., de- 

 manded by the exertions of the tree in maturing 

 the previous crop, or in answer to other calls on 

 its vitality. 



BONES, AND CLAM AND OYSTER SHELLS. 



I have had good success in making a fertilizer 

 from hones according to Dr Nietiols' receipt, as 

 follows: Take 100 pounds of boues beaten in j-mall 

 fragments ; paek them in alternate layers, with a 

 compound made ( f 100 pounds of wood as^hcs, 25 

 pounds of lime and 12 pounds sal soda; pack in a 

 tight cask and keep wtt. The bones will be re- 

 duci d ill a few weeks, and s-h )uld Ite thoroughly 

 mixed wiih loam several weeks before ubing. 



Now I would like to ask if claiu and oyster 

 shells can be made valuable by any such nuans, 

 or by usmg viiriol, as it is used lor bones? In 

 what way may these shells be made available to 

 the best advantage ? How should ground oyster 

 shells he usi d tor manure ? Do the phosphates 

 abound in shells f p. 



Franklin, Mass., July 29, 1869. 



Remarks. — The above inquiry was submitted to 

 Dr. J R. Nichols, editor of the Boston Journal of 

 Chemistry, and we take much pleasure, and per- 

 haps a little pride, in publishing his brief but com- 

 prehensive reply. The Dr. says : — '-Clam and 

 oyster shells are composed mostly of carbonate of 



lime, and are therefore valueless as fertilizing 

 agents. Bones are composed of phosphate of lime, 

 the phosphoric acid being the agent so useful to 

 crops. Clam and oyster shells cannot be dis- 

 solved in caustic alkalies, they dissolve in sul- 

 phuric acid, forming gypsum, or sulphate of lime. 

 "Clam and oyster shells are of no value to agri- 

 culture. They have no more effect, upon crops 

 than the dust or chips taken from the yard of the 

 marble worker. Marble and shells are nearly 

 identical in composition, and both are unworthy 

 of consideration by farmers." 



BUGGY PEAS. 



Can you or any of the writers for the New Eng- 

 land Farmer inform me how to prevent bugs in- 

 juring seed peas. I have some choice kinds that 

 I wish to save until next year. By so doing you 

 will oblige A Constant Reader. 



East Abington, Mass., July 28, 1869. 



Remarks. — Mr. Harris teils us in his book on 

 "Insects Injurious to Vegetation," that while the 

 pods are young and tender the pea beetle hacks 

 into it, curculio fashion, and deposits an egg 

 directly over the pea. Erom this egg a very small 

 grub is hatched which makes its way into the pea 

 by a passage so small as to be scarcely visible, and 

 which closes up as the pea grows. Sometimes 

 every pea in a pod will be found to contain a wee- 

 vilgrub or worm. It changes to a "pupa" during 

 the autumn, and by or before spring becomes a 

 beetle, gnaws a hole through the thin hull of 

 the pea, and is ready for another season's work. 

 How much the flavor of green peas that we so 

 much relish is owing to the large number of these 

 little insects they contain, is a question that we 

 are not asked to decide. We are asked how to 

 prevent this worm or "bug" from injuring seed 

 peas. Having taken up its residence in the pea, and 

 the entrance-way being closed behind him, he is 

 pretty securely erjoj ing his feast, and undisturbed, 

 will consume most of the "marrow" of the pea, 

 but he generally leaves the germ of the future 

 sprout untouched. Hence"huggy peas" will mostly 

 sprout and grow. We have heard that if peas are 

 put into a bottle or jar, with about half an ounce 

 of gum camphor to each gallon of peas and corked 

 tight, the insect will be killed hy sufiocation. They 

 are also scalded in hot wa'er, sometimes ju-t be- 

 fore planting, to effect the same object. As the 

 insect is limited to a certain period in the spriiig 

 for depositing its eggs, peas for seed are often 

 sown later in the season, but in our hot summers 

 lute sown peas do not always succeed well. A 

 gentleman in Rensselaer county, N. Y., however, 

 sowed them on the tenth of June, six years in suc- 

 cession, and did not find an insect in them during 

 that period. 



— The live stock statistics of Ohio, just completed, 

 show that in 1868 there were 20,085 more cattle, 

 319 more mules, 1,416,205 more sheep, and 356,625 

 more hogs than are returned for taxation in 1869, 

 and a gain of 4,203 horses. 



