JNEW ENGLAND f 



PLI1?L1SHEL) BY \V1I,LIAM NICHOLS, ROGKUS' BUILDINGS, COKGRKSS STUKKT, HOhJl'ON" THOiMAS G. KKSSKNlJKNTlnTrroU 



Vol. III. 



SATUIIDAY, AUGUST 21, 1824. 



ISo. 4. 



CEarrtsponftcncr. 



Talfie EdJur of the Xur England Fnimer, 



Sir, — I was plenscJ t'- >tvJe l>v the nccoimts 

 'roVn tlio northern [liirls of tlie L'liilod Slates as 

 published in vo'ir laic papers, that the frosts 

 there had not been so sevorc as at this place, 

 and liiitlipr to the South West. Hiid the iVosts 

 theie been severer than with us in proportion 

 to the!r latitude, their aoTirullnral produce 

 would have been so sfenerally cut oli' as lo have 

 occasioned a distres^ina: srarcil}'. 



Their accoun's routirm my opinion, that the 

 frosls were aer.eratod by the clouds risinjj higli 

 in the cold atmosphere, similar to Iiail storms 

 in the heat of summer; the currents of air are 

 very arbitrarv or unsteady in their directions, 

 either horizontal or vertical, as has been expe- 

 rienced by such as have taken voyages of 

 pleasure in balloons. 



The frost on the 15lh of June fell so very 

 uneven ard spotted that some hills of Indian 

 corn were totallv killed and never grew more, 

 ivhile others next to them did not appear lo 

 have been damaged. In other places, there 

 would be large patches of the points of the 

 leaves ki'led— such plants appeared stationary 

 for <cme lime, and are yet more backward and 

 smaM than those which show no marks of the 

 frost — and what is very remarkable, such patch- 

 es as showed marks of the I'rost abound with a 

 large proportion of stalk* on which there are 

 no sells for ears, in some jd-,ice:i whole hills to- 

 gether, and not a sign of an ear to bo seen. — 

 Crops of corn vvitii us will be vsi'v light, and 

 perhi'.ps so late as lo be hurt with the eailv 

 frosls. Wheat and rye with us ware generally 

 more or less winter killed. Such as survived 

 grew well ; I believe the frost bad no ellect on 

 it, unless a tetidency to promote a red rust on 

 the wheat. Oats, I am of opinion, from ail ap- 

 pearances, were damaged or retarded' in their 

 growth, and flax the same. Potatoes, miless in 

 some spots where the tops were killed, appear 

 to be promising, but late. 



In gardens the (rost has been a very great 

 dam ige, particularly to cucumbers, squashes, 

 melons, pumpkins and beans. In some places 

 in narrow valleys, they were generally all kill- 

 ed. I have some of each kind that survived 

 the frost, but none that promise to do much ex- 

 cept the beans; where ihe leaves were not to- 

 tally killed they recruited, flourish and do well. 



Darwin tells us, that plants and vegetables 

 renpue ; and my vines that survived the frost 

 continue to linger and die, as with some disor- 

 der similar to a consumption of the lungs. 1 

 do not expect to have any unless some late cu- 

 cumbers that I planted since the frost. 



Ballads, peas, onions, radishes, beets, carrots, 

 ysarsnips and cabbages never promised better. 

 The frost did not appear to hurt any of them. 



As to fruit, I believe all the peaches and 

 plums were killed with the frost on Ibc 2Gth 

 of May as also most of the apples which had 

 the blossoms open. I have observed for a num- 

 ber of years that late apples blossom before ear- 

 ly, and sour before sweet. As all tiie blossoms 

 were Dot opened the 26th of May, I was in hopes 



I ol' a sulKciency of early sweet apples being letl ; 

 jbut the frost on Ihe 15th ol" June tell so spotted, 

 I and left so very few ajiples of any kind to ob- 

 j serve from, that 1 have little dependence on 

 my oivn ideas; but by what 1 can observe, natu- 

 ral Iruit on young thrifty trees withstood the 

 frost best. 



Darwin says, that every kind of apple has its 

 period of life or existence — that grafting is but 

 the elongation of |i)e same tree — that several 

 kinds to his knowledge had terminated or de- 

 ceased. 1 believe he is correct : for several 

 kinds of apples that flourished when I was young 

 will no longer grow to bear on any tree where 

 they are graf"led, but the limbs soon die. 



Several of the best kinds of apples that I have, 

 I raised froin the seed: and I recommend it to 

 the consideration of your farmers, whether a 

 young kind of apple, as well as tree, will not 

 withstand frosts better than such as are decim- 

 ing with age. 



1 hope to see some further observations and 

 remarks from your northern correspondents. 

 SAMUEL PRESTON. 

 Stockport, Pa. Aug. 7, 1824. 



THE OAK-PUUNER. 

 To the Editor of Ike JN'ew England Farmer, 



Sir, — A few days since I accompanied Ihe 

 Hon. Judge Lincoln to view the ravages of a 

 worm in the extreme branches of the white and 

 black oak trees left for shade on his larm. — 

 Limbs from half an inch to an inch and a half in 

 diameter were severed from the trees, and cut 

 as smooth and as regular as could be done by a 

 tine saw. Upon exninining the fallen branches, 

 near the part severed, the worm was discover- 

 ed in a lively, active state. On every limb a 

 small shoot was noticed, perforated from its ex- 

 tremity to the main branch. This appeared of 

 recent growth, and indicated that the nit was 

 deposited in or near the soft end at the top; 

 from whence, in its progress to maturity it eat 

 Its way through this soft and succulent twig in- 

 to a harder substance. 



Previous to this examination, I took up a limb 

 from under a pear tree which I supposed had 

 been sejiarated with a saw. On my return I 

 examined it, and found it had been cut by the 

 same worm. 



I have sent you, enclosed in their habitations, 

 several of this voracious tribe, that you may as- 

 certain whether they are the same which in- 

 fest trees in your neighborhood, under the ap- 

 pellation of borers. 



Respectfully yours, kc. 



O. FISKE. 



Worcester, Aug. 10, 1824. 



BK.MARKS By THE EDITOR. The inscct abcfve de- 

 sc: iljed has formerly excited the attention of some of 

 the most stieutific cultivators in this vicinity. In the 

 Massachi'sells Agricultural Repository for January, 

 1819, vol. T. No. 3, page 308, is a paper communicat- 

 ed l)y that eminent naturalist, Professor W. U. Peck, 

 which we believe contains the substance of what is 

 known respecting this Wood Cutter, or Oak-Pruner. 

 The following is au extract from the communication al- 

 luded to. 



j " For s<:veral years past the ground beneath the bhtck 

 and white oaks, has been observed to be strewed with 

 ; small branches of those trees from eighteen inches to 

 ^ two feet in length. Mr. Sullivan assures me that he 

 I has found Ihem five fi et in length, and one inch in di- 

 anicfer. The faliing of these branches is occasioned 

 1 by the larva or grub of an insect, which when its feed- 

 ing or larva st;ite is nearly completed, eats away Ihe 

 wood in a circular direction, Uavirg only the bark en- 

 tire ; this is broken by Ihe first strong breeze, and the 

 branch with the larva in it falls lo Ihe ground. IVom 

 this efl'ect of its labours, it may be called the Oak- 

 Pruner. 



" At the meetingof the Board of Trustees at the seat 

 of Gorham Parsons, Esq. on the i'od of July laft, the 

 Hon. Mr. Sullivan produced several branches of oaks, 

 which contained larvcc. Five of these I brought h"m«, 

 reduced them to four or five inches in length, and in 

 order to determine whether the larvae descended into 

 the earth, threw them into a vessel nearly fdled with 

 light garden mould, covering the vessel with a piece of 

 window glass, both to prevent the escape of the perfect 

 insects, if any should be disclosed, and to retard the 

 drying of the mould. 



" I imagined that as the larva is enclosed in the fall- 

 en branch nilb a sulEcient supply of nutriment to car- 

 ry it through the feeding stale, that it was intended it 

 should enter the earth when that slate was passed, and 

 that it was impellij by instinct to cut off the branch, 

 that it might be brought in safety to the ground before 

 it was quite ready to quit the wood ; but my conject- 

 ure was erroneous ; there must be some other reaaoQ 

 for this process. 



" A degree of humidity is necessary to favour the de- 

 velopement of the parts of the perfect insect while it is 

 in tlie nympha state ; in the body and larger branches 

 of trees the moisture is sufficient for this purpose ; but 

 in these small branches, which are killed, the moisture 

 would be exhaled by the action of the sun and wind 

 it they remained on the tree, whereas by their falling 

 and being thus placed nearly or quite in contact with 

 the moist earth, their humidity is preserved. It was 

 not precisely with this view that the prepared branches 

 were treated as above-mentioned ; but the purpose was 

 attained. The vessel was kept in a warm room, the 

 wood was kept moist, and one perfect insect made its 

 appearance in November, another in December; but I 

 believe they would not have been disclosed till sprin", 

 if the branches had remained abroad. 



"The insect belongs to a tribe composed of a num- 

 ber of genera called capricorn-beeties and wood-eat- 

 ers. The genus of which it is an undescribed species, 

 is named by Fabricius, stenocorus. Linnaeus would 

 have called it cerambyx. It is of a dull brown colour, 

 a little brighter on the under side, every where dotted 

 with impressed points, and sprinkled with short whitish 

 hairs which lie close to the surface ; these give it a 

 grayish hue under the magnifier. The antennae are 

 about as long as the whole insect, tapering a little from 

 the base to the point, and have ten joints, of which the 

 second and third terminate in a small spine. The 

 thorax is even without any promintnces ; and the ely- 

 tra or wing cases have each two points at the apex. — 

 Individual insects differ considerably in magnitude, 

 from four and a half to six-tenths of an inch in length. 

 Their form is slender ; the largest is only 12-100 of aa 



