VOL. X. 



PUBLISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL, NO. 52, NORTH MARKET STREET, (at thk A.-kiculturji, War.house.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 21, 1832. 



NO. 36. 



ORIGINAL AGRICULTURAL ESSAYS. 



ANTS. 



Bjr the Kditor. 



These insects cohabit in numerous parties, anr! 

 maintain a sort of repubhc, not unHke that of bees. 

 Their nests are in the fortii of- an oblong sqiiaie 

 and contain paths which lead to different maga- 

 zines. Their method of constructing tliese liabi- 

 tations is truly vvonderful. Some ofthe ants are 

 employed in making the ground firm, by mixing 

 with it a kind of glue,to prevent iis crimibling and 

 falling upon them; others may be seen gathering 

 several twigs, wliich tliey use for rafters, by plac- 

 ing them over the paths to support tlie coverinn- ; 

 they lay others across, and upon these, rushes, 

 weeds, and dried grass, which they form into a 

 double declivity, and thus conduct the water from 

 their magazine. 



For provisions they secure everything which 

 to them is eatable, and we may often observe one 

 loaded with a dead fly, sometimes several togeth- 

 er with the carcase of a May-bug or other larn-e 

 insect ; and, if they cannot transport it, they con- 

 sume a part of it upon the spot, at least so much 

 as may reduce it to a bulk aderpiate to their 

 strength. They lay up hoards of wheat and other 

 grain, and for fear it should sprout from the moist- 

 ure of their subterranean cells, they gnaw off the 

 end which would produce the blade. It is re- 

 markable, that if one ant meets another which is 

 loaded, it will always give way, or will help it if 

 it be overburdened. Indeed, the strength of this 

 little animal is astonishing, as one of them will fre- 

 quently drag a bin-den many times heavier than 

 itself. 



On depriving a mouse or other little animal of 

 its skin, and jilacing it on an ant hill in a little box 

 perforated in several places, so as to admit a free 

 passage for the ants, it will be found, in a few 

 days, converted into the most perfect skeleton. 



The ant deposits her eggs in tlie manner of the 

 common fly, and from these eggs are hatclied the 

 lar^a, a sort of small maggot or worm without 

 legs ; which after a short time change into chrysa- 

 lids, usually called ants' eggs. 



The folloiving are among the methods of de- 

 stroying these destructive insects. 



Forsyth says, "you may destioy many of them 

 by mixing quick lime with soot, and laying it along 

 their roads, where you see them thickest ; but 

 where you can come at their nests, the best way 

 is to put a piece of quick lime into them and pour 

 as much water over the Hme as will slack it, the 

 heat of which will destroy- them — when you have 

 poured in the water, cover the lime with a turf or 

 a little earth, which will render it liioie effectual 

 by confining the heat. You may slack the lime 

 with a mixture of urine and soap-suds, which will 

 render it still more ellectual." 



If the walls of an apartment are washed with a 

 painter's brush, dipped in a solution made of four 

 ounces of corrosive sublimate in two gallons of 

 water, both the ant and the red spider will be 

 destroyed. 



When you find their nests or other collections 

 of them near home, you m.iy pour hot water on 



them. When a farmer manures his land, if he 

 uses aslic^ lime, or sea-sand, ho may be sure of 

 not being annoyed by ants. 



An English publication asserts, " Ants that fre- 

 quent houses and gardens, may be destroyed by 

 taking flour of brimstone half a poiuid, and potash 

 four ounces ; set them in an iron or earthern pan 

 over a fire, till ilissolved and united ; afterward 

 beat them to a i)owder, and infuse a httle of this 

 powder in water ; and wherever you sprinkle it 

 the ants will die or flee the place." 



Likewise, " corrosive sublimate mixed well with 

 sugar, has proved a mortal poison to them, and is 

 the most effectual way of destroying these insects." 

 Another remedy is as follows : Blake a strong 

 decoction of tobacco and the tender shoots of el- 

 der, by pouring boiling water on them ; then sprin- 

 kle fruit trees infested with ants or other insects, 

 with this decoction, cold, twice a week, for two or 

 three weeks, with a small brush ; which will eflect- 

 ually destroy the insects and preserve the fruit 

 and leaves. 



To preserve dishes of meat in cupboards, &,c, 

 against ants, it has been reconnnended to take a 

 wine glass well cleaned and place it in your cup- 

 board or safe, upside down, and put the dish or 

 plate which contains your meat, on it. It may be 

 here balanced with the greatest safety, and it is 

 said, will be preserved from ants, provided care is 

 taken that the meat and dish be free from them 

 when placed in that situation. 



Ants are unjustly accused ofdamaging fruit trees, 

 and are incorrectly supposed to be authors of mis- 

 chief accruing from the depredations of aphides, 

 alias plant lice, alias pucerous, alias vine freftcrs. 

 The excrements of these last mentioned insects 

 are sweet, and com])ose one kind of honey dew, 

 called svffusio mililn. Ants randile over trees 

 which are infested with these insects, for the pur- 

 pose of feeding on this sweet substance, and are 

 mistaken for the cause of honey dew, and the dis- 

 ease ofthe tree of which honey dew is a symptom. 

 The aphides, too, are often but erroneously sup- 

 posed to be the young progeny of ants, when in 

 fact there is no aflinity between these two species 

 of insects. Still, as ants feed on fruits, it may be 

 expedient to extirpate them by some of the above 

 mentioned methods. 



DWARF FRUIT TREES. 



Mr Fessenden— Observing in your No. 31 

 some queries respecting dwarf fruit trees, this may 

 inform that I have seen a garden bordered with 

 dwarf fruit trees, perhaps none taller than two and 

 a half feet ; the tops spreading very wide, and well 

 loaded with apples, pears, and peaches, many 

 touching the ground. The gentleman who ]>lant- 

 ed them being dead, I obtained no account how 

 the dwarfing was effected. 



I have since been informed, through a channel 

 worthy of credit, that the mode of making such 

 dwarf trees is very simple and easy. On the 

 linjbs of fruit trees there are what I call forked 

 twigs, (fruit spurs,) say two or three inches long, 

 that bear fruit. Take and graft them into a piece 

 of root; i)ut on the wax, and plant it in the gar- 

 den, and it will grow into a dwarf fruit tree. 



I have only tried one experiment, by setting 



such a forked twig in an apjde stock. It grows 

 slowly "enough for a dwarf tree and produced ap- 

 ples. 1 arti now too aged, feeble, and trembling 

 with the palsy, to graft any more. 



R.spcclfully, SAMUEL PRESTON. 



Stockport, Pa. March 3, 1832. 



( CIRCULAR.) 



Albany, Feb. 24, 1832. 



Sir— You will perceive, by the jjamphlet which 

 accompanies this, that a State Agricultural Society 

 has been organized, for the pin-pose of improving 

 our husbandry, horticulture and household arts, and 

 that you have been designated as one of a gen-eral 

 committee, to aid in the furtherance of these ob- 

 jects of public utility. 



Without presuming to dictate, or to limit the 

 exertions of the general committee, I would re- 

 spectfully suggest, that the following, among other 

 subjects, will particularly merit their attention. 



I. To encourage and promote the organization 

 of county, or local societies, of agriculture and 

 horticulture, as a means of exciting laudable emu- 

 lation, and of promoting habits of industry, econ- 

 omy of labor, and iiTiprovement in the moral and 

 social condition of society. 



, II. To add to the numbers and means ofthe 

 State societies, by soliciting names to their con- 

 stitution, and contributions to their funds. As the 

 society pays neither salaries nor perquisites, its 

 funds will be exclusively devoted to public and 

 useful objects; jind it is believed the members will 

 receive an t:V|iuv^alen^/or their subscription in the 

 publications .they will become entitled to. The 

 benefits which the society shall be able to dis- 

 pense, will therefore be measured by the extent of 

 its funds. 



As one ofthe most efiicient means of diffusing 

 information, and thereby increasing its usefulness, 

 the society contemplate the publication of a peri- 

 o'dical work, devoted exclusively to improvements 

 in the rural arts. The better to enable them to 

 fulfil their wishes in this respect, permit me, 



In the third place, to solicit communication.s, as 

 well from others as from the members ofthe gen- 

 eral committee, of well attested experiments and 

 facts. 



1. In Stock Husbandrj/ — In relation to the 

 breeding, management, habits, diseases and means 

 of prevciuion and cure, of all kinds of domestic 

 animals— methods of fattening, and choice of 

 breeds. 



2. In Tdlage Husbandry — In relation to the 

 cultivation of grains, grasses, field vegetables, and 

 other useful products— manures and their appli- 

 cation, including lime, gypsum and marls— rota- 

 tion of crops ; improved implements ; new article* 

 of cuhin-e ; draining ; fences, including live fen- 

 ces ; the orchard, and manufacture of cider. 



3. In Horiicidlure — In reference to the culture 

 of fruit atui ornamental trees, shrubs and plants, 



id methods of propagating them ; the diseases 

 to which they are inciilent, and the insects which 

 do tliem injury, and the methods of prevention and 

 cure; culinary vegetables, and the flower garden. 



4. In the Household Arts — Emiiracing house- 

 hold fabrics; rearing of silk worms; manufacture 

 of butter and cheese ; of domestic wines ; the 



