VOL. XI. NO. 31. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



245 



so a molh ;* auother caterpillar,! called here the 

 apple-vvonn, that feeds in the centre of the apple 

 and causes it preirmtureiy to fall, ati insect well 

 known both iu England and France; the tent- 

 inakins insect, called here, by way of distinction, 

 ibo caterpillar,^ \vh\ch is also an imported species ; 

 and the misnamed Ameriran blis^hl,§ au Aphis 

 clothed with a cottony fleece, whidi has. been 

 known in this country comparatively but a. short 

 time. Not to detain you by any further remarks 

 upon these insects, I will only state, that the apple- 

 worn is not, as has been asserted, the young of a 

 curculio, nor of the beetle or May-bug ; but tliat it 

 proceeds from a moth, of which an account, by 

 Joseph Tufts, Esq., was printed iu the Journal of 

 the Massachusetts Agricultural Society, || and that 

 it has also been described by the Europeau natu- 

 ralists Rose] and Reaumur. These worms orcater- 

 pillars instinctively leave the fruit soon after it falls 

 from the tree, and retire to some place of conceal- 

 ment to become pupa; ; in order, therefore, tc get 

 rid of these noxious vermin it is necessary daily to 

 gather wind-fall apples, and make such immediate 

 use of them as will ensure the destruction, or f re- 

 vent the metamorphoses, of the insects. 



A sketch of the history of the common catsr- 

 pillar of the apple-tree lias already been givau. 

 Crushing them while young and within their en- 

 campments, is the best mode of dostroyiug thiui. 

 the use and merits of the brush, invented by Col. 

 Pickering, are too well known and appreciated to 

 require any additional recommendation. ' II is 

 much to be wished, that some penalty coald be 

 enforced against those who neglect to employ the 

 ■appropriate means for destroying cateriiillarj in 

 the proper season, and thus expose their ntigh- 

 bors' orchards tp cominued depredations. ^ 



It is highly probable that the cankerworrn ttothll 

 will prove to be identical with the PhalcEnwbru- 

 mata, or winter-moth of Europe ; their extarnal 

 appearance and habits correspoiul, and the difer- 

 euce in the season of their occurrence iu the Jpr- 

 fect state may be occasioned only by dili'orenc* of 

 climate. The cankerworm is very irregular iq its 

 visitations. For a long period our orchiirds may 

 be entirely exempt from attack, and then, duing 

 several successive years, immense numbers Ivill 

 appear, overspread fruit and forest trees, and(de 

 prive them of their leaves at midsummer, wlien 

 the loss is most serious in its consequences. It is 

 state<l,** that whole forests have perished, when 

 thus stripped of their sheltering foliage. Aliliost 

 all insects, in the perfect state, are furnished ivith 

 wings: this insect is an exception; for, as you 

 well know, the female is witliout them ; a depri- 

 vation that fortunately confines the individual within 

 a limited space, and renders the migrations of the 

 species slow and precarious. It was for a while 

 sni)posed, that these insects rose from the earth 

 only in the spring ; but it is ascertained that many 

 of them do also appear iu the auluum or early 



* Tinea rortica/is. F. 



t Tort.ix poniaria. F. Sec Uoscl, Vol. I. Class IV. PI 13. 



J Boinbljx castrcTisis. L. 



5 -iphii la]iig:era. F. Eriosoma Mali. Leach. 



11 Vol. IV. p!" set. 



11 PhaUena (GeomHra) vernaia. Peck. See liis Prize Es* 

 «ay, pulllished m ilie ■' Papers of Ihe Massachiisells AgrlniUu- 

 ral Sociely" for 1796. See a'so the Rev. Noah Alw.iier's 

 Prize Essay, ibid.; Dr. IMiicliell's Kcniarks on Ihe Canker-, 

 Worm, in tlia " New York Ma-azinc," Vol. VI. p. "iOl, wiih a 

 plale ; Dr. R. Greene on Ihe same insect, la ," The Medical 

 and Agricultural Register"' lor 1806, p. 1J4. 



»• Kalm. Travels, Vol. II. p. 7. 



Part of winter. In this vicinity* more were seen 

 ^'uring the month of October, 1831, than in the 

 '"nsuing spring. Irregularities in the period of the 

 'ast development of insects are not unfrequent, and 

 they are evidently designed to secure the species 

 from extinction. Complete exemption from the 

 ravages of the cankerworm will depend upon keep- 

 ing the wingless females from ascending the body 

 of the tree to deposit their eggs. Many ex|)edients 

 to this end have, at various times, been suggested ; 

 lint on trial none have stood the test of experience 

 so well as the application of tar around the trunks. 

 This should be used both late in the autumn and 

 early in the sprinjg, according to rules which are 

 sufficiently understood. Attempts have been madef 

 to destroy the insects in the pupa state by turning 

 up the soil, and exposing them to the action of the 

 frost, and by covering the earth an inch thick, and 

 to the extent of three or four feet around the tree, 

 with lime.t Should this practice supersede the 

 tiecessity of tarring, it will not only be an import- 

 ant saving of time and expense, but will am|)ly re- 

 munerate the farmer by the improved condition of 

 tlio land, and the greater atiiount of the fruit. 

 [To bo continued.] 



CUIiTURE OP SIIiK. 



From the Report recently submitted to the 

 House by Mr Wheelock of Warwick, we learn 

 that this important branch of industry, is becom- 

 ug an object of increased attention, and, that suc- 

 cessful eflbrts in raising it have been made in al- 

 most every County of the State. The consump- 

 tion of this article in the United States is believed 

 to amount to no less than $10,000,000 annually ; of 

 which Massachusetts alone is believed to copsume 

 not less than $300,000. One acre of full grown 

 Mulberry trees, it is calculated, will produce S200 

 worth of silk — and the Committee are further led 

 to believe that a gr^at portion of the labor of pro- 

 ducing the article, "requires only the efforts of 

 females, children and aged persons, in and about 

 their homes, and that the atiiount of such in this 

 Commonwealth is very considerable, and that a 

 field is here opened for a species of industry 

 which at present is scarcely available at all, but if 

 slightly encouraged might greatly add to the gen- 

 eral mass of productive employment and wealth. 

 Almost every farm in this Comtnonwealth is cajia- 

 ble of being made to produce the leaves of the 

 wliite mulberry-tree, which by a natural process, 

 are converted into the rich and dtirable material 

 of Silk. Every farmer might raise in his family, 

 at least, enough of tliis article to pay his ta.xcs, 

 without materially iuterforing with the requisite 

 labors of the fartu, or diminishing the usual a- 

 tnount of other agricultural productions." If ea('li 

 farmer in this State would devote a little attention 

 to the raising of the mulberry-tree, and allow his 

 daughters to raise the silk-wortns, the profits to the 

 State in a few years would amount in the aggre- 

 gate to many hundred thousand dollars. Millions 

 of dollars worth of raw silk are itnportcd into 

 France and England every year. The Committee 

 recommend a bounty of one dollar on every pound 



* I noticed their occurrence iu l,he au"umii in Caniltndge, 

 where, in the open winter of ISSJ — 31 , an intelligent friend oh- 

 sctved them ascending in every month. 



tSce a paper by tlie Hon. John Lowell in the fourth volume 

 of "The Mass. .^t i.epos. ;" also, one l>y Mr. Roland How- 

 ard, in " The New England Farmer." Vol. IV. p. 31)1 ; and 

 Pro;cssor Peck's comuiunication, iu " The Mass. Agr. liepos." 

 Vol. IV. p. U'J. 



} Mass. Agr. Repos. Vol. IU. p. 317. 



of Silk reeled in this Commonwealth, that is capa- 

 ble of being manulactured into various silk fabrics; 

 also a bouiity of one dollar a hundred on whitf; 

 midberry-trees, transplanted in a proper manner 

 for the growth of the leaf The art of reeling 

 from the cocoons is rather difficult and discourag- 

 ing at first; so that without some public aid few 

 will be found to tmdertake it. To obviate this 

 diffictilty the proposed bounty is recommended. — 

 Boston Traveller. 



ROBERT HAL,r,'S OPINION UPON EDUCATING 

 THE LOWER CLASSES. 



Some have objected to the instruction of the 

 loiver classes from an apprehension, that it would 

 lift them above their sphere, make them dissatisfied 

 with their station in life, and by impairing the 

 habits of subordination, endanger the tranquility of 

 the state; au objection, surely devoid of all force 

 and validity. It is not easy to conceive in what 

 manner instructing men in their duties can prompt 

 them to neglect those duties, or how that enlarge- 

 ment of reason which enables them to comprehend 

 the true grounds of authority and the obligation of 

 obedience should indispose them to obey. The 

 admirable mechanism of society, together with 

 that subordination of ranks which is essential to its 

 subsistence, is usually not an elaborate imposture, 

 which the exerci.se of reason will detect and ex- 

 pose. — This objection implies a reflection on the 

 social order equally impolitic, insidious, and unjust. 

 Nothing, in reality, renders legitimate governments 

 so insecure as extreme ignorance in the people. 

 It is this which yields them au easy prey to seduc- 

 tion, makes them the victims of prejudice and false 

 alartns, and so ferocious withal, that their inter- 

 ference in the time gf |)ublic commotion, is more 

 to be dreaded than the ertiption of a volcano. 



WATER WHEEL,. 



Mr. Joel Eastman, of Bath, N. II. has lately 

 made an improvement in water wheels which is 

 likely to supersede most others iu use. It is con- 

 structed likf, Ihe ordinary gig wheel — and runs in 

 either a verticul or horizontal position. The wheel 

 is inclosed in aspiral shell, to prevent the water from 

 being thrown oft' by its centrifugal force directing it 

 towards the shaft in the centre, whence it is dis- 

 charged. We are infortiied, by those who have 

 seen it in operation that the water exerts a power 

 on a wheel of tliis description, to an equal degree 

 that it would on an overshot, and to nearly twice 

 that of a tub or reaction wheel. Mr. E. has ob- 

 tained a patent for his improvement, and appointed 

 Messrs. McCord & Ilines, mill-wrights, of Sandy 

 Hill, Washington co. N. Y. agents for the States ^f 

 Delaware, New Jersey, and New York, (Clinton 

 and Essex counties excepted.) From the ease 

 and cheapness of its construction, there can be 

 little doubt of its going into general use. — 

 Genius of Temperance. 



The notion of the Indian loxia lighting up its 

 nest with a glow-worm, has usually been consider- 

 ed a popular fable, but the conductors of the Library 

 of Entertaining Knowledge state, that an infor- 

 mant of theirs, a gentleman long resident in India, 

 tried various experiments on the subject, and 

 always found when he took away the glow-worm 

 out of a nest, that it was rc])laced by the bird with 

 another, which was not used for food but was stuck 

 on the side of the nest with clay for a lamp. — 

 KnoxviiU Reporter. 



