NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



53 



•with the smell of honey passing into the miller trap, 

 draws the millers, with a perfect rush, into that 

 bourne whence no traveller returns. 



Should this be acceptable to the editor, I am 

 willing to state the cause of bees dying and leaving 

 honey ; and the cause of bees killing their drones ; 

 and also how wax is made, and of what material, and 

 for what purpose the bee bread is used. 



Yours respectfvillv, 



E. E. CREW. 



Shout Creek, IIaerison County, Ohio, 1849. 



Remakks. — We shall be pleased to hear further 

 from friend Crew, on the subjects proposed. We 

 must say, however, that his "miller trap" does not 

 strike us favorably, if we rightly understand its con- 

 struction ; for wn think the millers will find it a very 

 convenient entrance, through which tViey, or their 

 progeny, the worms, can find access to the honey. It 

 is of little consequence whether the moths escape or 

 not, after they have deposited their eggs where they 

 can do miscliief. Ed. — Ohio Cultivator. 



THE POTATO ROT. 



Dr. Richardson, of Maryland, flatters himself that 

 he has discovered the cause of the potato rot, as ap- 

 pears in the following communication to the agricul- 

 tural conmiittee of the Maryland State Agricultural 

 Society, which is published in the American Farmer 

 for November : 



Baltimore County, Oct. 10, 1849. 



Gentlemen : After three years' constant attention 

 to the subject, I flatter myself I have discovered the 

 cause of the potato rot. The rot is produced by the 

 deposition of the egg, and the destruction of the pith 

 or heart of the vino, (by consequence, the circulating 

 capillaries,) by the larva of an insect. This insect is 

 of the curculio or weevil genus : as there are many 

 species of the curculio in this state, for distinction I 

 have called this the curculio magjia. The first deposition 

 of the egg is from the 5th to the 10th of June. (This 

 accounts at once for the acknowledged fact, that verj' 

 earl J' planted potatoes suffer little with rot, if they do 

 not altogether escape it — and why ? Simply because 

 they have got their growth before the vine is poisoned 

 by the insect.) 



I have seen no eggs deposited later than the 20th 

 August ; ten days after the egg is deposited it hatches ; 

 the larva is then very small. The egg is generally 

 placed in the vine about 10 or 1.5 inches from the 

 root. The larva always eats doAvnward, but seldom 

 goes below the surface of the earth : it feeds for four 

 or five weeks ; it then ceases to eat, and, if I may use 

 the ter7n, cocoons, and undergoes its metamorphosis. 

 The larva is about a line and a half in length, per- 

 fectly white, with a brown head : it completes its 

 change in about three weeks. If this is early in the 

 season, it leaves the vine, mates, and deposits its 

 eggs ; if late in the season, it remains quiescent in 

 the stalk ; it, as all the other varieties of curculio, 

 hibernates in the ground. I this day had the honor 

 of exhibiting to the agricultural committee the potato 

 in the ditt'crcnt stages of the rot, both incipient and 

 perfect — the diseased capillaries in the vine and in 

 the tubes — the destruction in the vine by the course 

 of the larva — its exuvia, as also the curculio, in its 

 perfect state. I regret that from the impossibility of 

 preserving the specimens of the green vine, I was 

 unable to show the commcnecment of the disease, 24 

 hours after deposition of the egg, extending in 48 

 hours from the wounded part, by the capillaries to 

 the corresponding capillaries in tubes — as also the 

 continuance of the disease — although the egg had 

 been destroyed by preparatory insects of the order 

 Neuroptern, within 24 hours after its deposit. There 

 have been in Ireland, independent of the jiilscry and 



disease, 250,000 deaths from the potato rot: in thig 

 countrj', a loss of many million bushels. The estimated 

 product in the United States is 114,000,000 bushels ; 

 the average loss, since this disease has occurred, is 

 about one third : how important, then, to discover the 

 cause of this immense loss, and a remedy for the evil ! 

 That there is a rcnied)^ attainable, I have no doubt, 

 from many data in my possession — still, as it would 

 require a large outlay of money, and much time spent 

 in examination and experiments, no i)rudei-it person 

 would be justifiable, without aid, in making the neces- 

 sary inquiry. CHARLES llICIIAilDSON. 



The next thing is, to find a preventive. This may 

 be as difficult as to save wheat from the ravages of 

 the weevil. It is hoped Dr. Richardson will be ena- 

 bled to go on with liis expcrunents, by having the 

 requisite funds suppUed. 



COMPARATIVE ESTIMATE OF DIFFERENT 

 KINDS OF CATTLE FEED, 



Hay is the food for cattle during winter. If they 

 can get good hay enough during the cold season, they 

 do very well. It is not ahvays that the farmer has a 

 sufficiency of this for his stock, and hence it is use- 

 ful to know the comparative value of other articles 

 which may be used as substitutes for it. It is also 

 more agreeable, and we think more profitable, to 

 mingle other articles with hay. We have prepared 

 from various sources the following table : 



Taking good hay as the standard, 100 lbs. of hay 

 equal 



276 lbs. Carrots ; 

 300 " Ruta Baga ; 

 317 " Mangold Wurtzel ; 

 201 ♦' Potatoes; 

 494 " common Turnips. 

 By calculating 60 lbs. for a bushel of any of the 

 above roots, it will be seen that one ton of hay equals 

 91 bushels of Carrots ; 

 100 " Ruta Baga ; 



106 " Mangold Wurtzel ; 



67 " Potatoes ; 



165 " Turnips. 



From this it will be seen how miich fodder you get 

 of each, per acre, compared with good hay. 



In regard to straw, experiments have estabUshcd 

 the following estimate as very near the truth. 100 

 lbs. of hay equal 



272 lbs. new "Wheat Straw ; 



166 " Barley Straw ; 

 169 " Pea Straw ; 



94 " Clover Hay. 

 — Maine Farmer. 



GOOD TOOLS. 



Mr. Editor : I think that the old adage, that "He 

 must indeed be a good workman who can afford to 

 work with poor tools," is one which embodies an 

 important truth. If we farmers employ a mechanic 

 — a mason or a house carpenter, for instance — to 

 execute a "job of work," we of course expect that 

 he will come provided with proper and efficient tools. 

 Should he come with but half the implements requi- 

 site for the proper and successful performance of the 

 work confided to his hands, wc should not hesitate 

 to demur, and should be perfectly justified in dismiss- 

 ing him and procuring another in his stead. But 

 how is it on our farms? Are wc always as jealous 

 and watchful of our interests there? How often, 

 indeed, is it, that our " helps" arc required to plough, 

 to mow, to reap and hoe, with implements which 

 ai-e not only " out of fashion," but too clumsy and 



