226 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JANUARV 30, 1833. 



rior. It afterwards enters the soil, forms a cocoon 

 of a coarse, silky substance, coveretl with particles 

 of earth, changes to a chrysalis, and comes forth 

 the next summer a perfect insect. The insect, 

 thus disclosed, is nearly related to the peach-tree 

 borer, and belongs to the same genus. It has been 

 described* by the name of JEgeria Cucurbita, the 

 trivial name indicating the family of plants on 

 which the larva feeds. It is conspicuous for its or- 

 ange-colored body, spotted with black, and its 

 hind legs fringed with long orange-colored and 

 black hairs. From the tenth of July till the mid- 

 dle of August I have seen it hovering over the 

 vines, and occasionally alighting upon them close 

 to the roots to deposit its eggs. From what is 

 known of its habits^ periods, and place of attack, 

 it is probable that smearing the vine around the 

 roots with blubber, repeatedly, during the mouth 

 of July, may repel the invader. 



So far as my own observations extended, the 

 annual and perennial flowers that embellish our 

 parterres and pleasure-grounds seem less exposed 

 to insect depredations, than the produce of the 

 kitchen-garden. One of our greatest favorites, the 

 rose, often has its foliage sheared by the leaf-cut- 

 tor bee, which uses the scalloped fragments in the 

 fabrication of its patch-work nest. That general 

 despoiler, the rose-bug, which receives its name 

 from its fondness for the petals of the rose, will be 

 noticed in another place. For tire extermination 

 of the Aphides that infest this and other plants, in 

 the garden, the parlor, or the green-house fumi- 

 gations and decoclions of tobacco, or solutions of 

 soap, may be used with advantage, as already 

 recommended. 



Housed plants are considerably hijured by an 

 oval bark-louse, the Coccus Hesperidum of Linna;- 

 us, which has been introduced from abroad. It 

 looks like an inanimate scale adhering to the plant 

 and is furnished witii a proboscis beneath the 

 breast, through which it draws the sap and de- 

 prives the jjlant of no inconsiderable portion of its 

 nutriment. By piercing them with a pin they can 

 be made to quit their hold in the early stages of 

 their life; but later they become inunovably fixed, 

 the males in order to undergo their last metamor- 

 phosis, and the females for the purpose of deposit- 

 ing their eggs. The body then hardens and be- 

 comes a shell, under which these operations take 

 place. Subsequently the males, which are very 

 small, and furnished with wings, issue backwards 

 from their shells ; but the females perish without 

 acquiring wings, leaving beneath them the eggs, 

 vchich their lifeless bodies shelter till they are 

 hatcJied. Another foreign bark-louse, called the 

 mcalij-hug, is naturalized in our greeu-houses where 

 it does much injury. It is the Coccus Adonidum, 

 and is at once distinguished from the former by 

 the white dust with which it is covered, and by 

 the cottony substance with which it envelopes its 

 eggs. Bark-lice of w^j^^kind may be destroyed by 

 the apphcation of a ley of ashes, or a solution of 

 potash. 



An infinite number of noxious insects invade 

 our fruit-bearing trees and shrubs. It will be pos- 

 sible to notice but a few of them. Passing by, 

 t'lerefore, the minute bugs which revel upon the 

 juices of the raspberry and strawberry, and make 

 themselves known only by their abominable odor 

 when crushed ; — the ants, wasps, and flies which 

 unite to rob us of our ripe grapes, cherries, peaches 



and pears ; — the saw-fly, an imported insect, 

 whose gregarious larvee devour the leaves of the 

 gooseberry ; — the JEgeria* also a foreigner, which 

 in the caterpillar state, perforates the stems of 

 the currant-bush ; — the muscle-shaped bark-louse 

 which adheres to the limbs, and the moth whose 

 caterpillar lives in the fruit, of the apple-tree, both 

 ajiparently introduced from abroad ; — passing by 

 these, and a host besides, we must advert oidy to 

 some of the insects, whose threatened, repeated, 

 or extensive ravages render them peculiarly, obnox- 

 ious to the lover of good fruit. 



From a period of high antiquity, the culture of 

 the grape has occupied the attention of civilized 

 man. In regions favorable to its growth, it forifis 

 a very considerable portion of the daily food of 

 the inhabitants ; to the well it is one of the most 

 wholesome and nourishing of fruits, and to the 

 sick and feeble the most innocent and grateful. 

 As a staple conunodity it is an ini])ortaut source of 

 national wealth and happiness, affording employ- 

 ment and support to a great pojjulatiou engaged 

 in its cultivation and in the manufacture and ex- 

 portation of its valuable products. The insects, 

 which prey upon this noble i)lant, have always 

 been viewed with great solicitude, and, at times, 

 the most vigorous individual and united eftbrts 

 have been made for their destruction. In our 

 own country, where the foreign vine is now suc- 

 cessfully cultivated, and the native sorts have 

 already been brought to yield a profitable vintage, 

 some progress has been made in devising and put- 

 ting into execution the means of limiting the rav- 

 ages of insects. The more perfect our knowledge 

 of these insects, and the more general and united 

 our pursuit of them, the greater will be the suc- 

 cess that will crown our eflbrts. 

 [To be continued.] 



The Couunittee of the Massachusetts Horticul- 

 tural Society, on the products of the kitchen gar- 

 den, make the following report, as the result of 

 their examinations of the few truly iine vegeta- 

 l)les offered for premium the past unpropitious 

 season. 



To Mr Lema.v, of Watertown, for the best 

 Forced Cucumbers, $2,00 



To N. Davenport, of Milton, for the best 

 Early Dutch Turnips, $2,00 



To Richard Wap.d, of Roxbury, for the best 

 Lima Beans, $2,00 



To Capt. Daniel Chandler, of Lexington, for 

 a specimen of the Scymetar Pea, from Scotland, 

 being a new variety, rather earlier than the com- 

 mon Marrowfat, (piite as prolific, and of a more 

 dwarf habit, so as to answer well without stick- 

 ing, a gratuity of $2,00 

 For the c'ommitfee, J. B. RUSSELL 



» New England Farmer. Vol . VII. p. 33. 



From tlie Farmer's Chronicle. 

 FENCES. 



It is a most erring policy, that induced farmers 

 under the name and notion of economi/, to inclose 

 their grounds with temporary and defective fen- 

 ces. It is in truth the very worst of economy, or 

 rather, the very reverse of economy. It would be 

 well for those who feel inclined to negligence, or 

 to be governed by the "do-for-the-preseut" doc- 

 trine, to open an account of debt and credit with 

 their fences for a few years: and if that should not 

 cure them, they might be given up as incurable. 



* ^geriu. tipuli/ormis. F. 



Perhaps some of our readers might be edified 

 by a sight of such an account at any rate, if it 

 should not happen to suit their own experience, is 

 may give them some idea of this sort o{ Book-keep- 

 ing : and here it is. 

 "^"Cornfield FENCE Dr. 



To corn destroyed by horses, cattle and hogs at 

 different times, supposed 100 bushels, say $25. 



To time lost in stopping hog-holes, repairing 

 fences and mending water-gaps say si.x days, in 

 harvest — $5. 



To wounding one of the plough horses, in 

 breaking over the fence, by which his services 

 were lost for 10 days when they were most want- 

 ed, say, $5. 



To price of a hog of my neighbor Hodge, for 

 which I had to pay, having dogged it in my corn- 

 field, so that it died, $3. 



To time lost in attending a law suit, about said 

 hog, and costs of suit, $5. 



To loss of a valuable Dog which I supposed 

 Hodge had killed, in revenge for the killing of his 

 hog ly said dog, but which I could not prove, $5. 



To perpitual loss of Hodge's friendship, which 



had hern steadfast for twenty years amount 



not known. 



To th( spoiling of my young horses. Smith's 

 cattU^ and Hodge's hogs, so that I shall never be 

 abl(! to fence them out effectually liereafteri — loss 

 not known. 



To keeping me in bad humor, fretted and crab- 

 bed narly all summer, — damage incalculable. 



Tital, exclusive of the three last items, $48.00. 

 Crelit, 



5y 500 rails, the number wanting to make 

 th( fence good : but which as they must be fin- 

 isled next spring, are only saved for one year, so 

 iltU the interest on their cost is the only saving — 

 cost $10 — interest at 10 per cent, is $1. 00. 



By labor which would have been required to 

 put the fence in good condition ; say $10 at most, 

 hut which having still to be done, is only entitled 

 to a credit to the amount of interest as in the 



former case $1. 00 



Total $2. 00 



Balance against bad fences $46. 00 



And the said debtor (bad fences) being utterly 

 insolvnl, the whole amount is irreparably lost ; 

 except, that it has taught a lesson which may be 

 useful hereafter. SYLVESTER SLOVEN. 



What came to pass in the ease of neighbor 

 Sloven, has happened to many others and will 

 continue to happen, until proper attention shall be 

 paid to what should be a farmer's first concern, 

 good enilosnres. Nothing can be more unbearably 

 provoking, than after having toiled all the season 

 to raise a good crop, then to have the whole de- 

 stroyed in a single night. 



But besides the security and actual gain of good 

 fejces, nothing more than this contributes to the 

 neatness and good appearance ofa farm, and with- 

 oui this it is impossible to do away a repulsive 

 and condemning aspect of a slovenliness which 

 indicates any thing rather than good husbandry. 



Bnt if he is censurable, who neglects the enclo- 

 suies about his fields, meadows and pasture grounds 

 what shall we say of him whose very garden — a 

 spot which should of all others be iocrcrf and secure 

 is constantly "])rofaned by vandal swine," and suf- 

 fered to be trodden down by the " beasts of the 

 field ?" If he attempt his defence by saying 

 ihcre is nothing in his garden worth protecting wo 

 taj this too is his fault, and no less a one than 



