NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



133 



of the cells in his march, wiihout s;a> mg to eat 

 them one by one, the deslrnction lie occasions 

 is scarcely In be conceived. 



" When its time of'chnnjre apiiroacbei, it con- 

 tracts its body within its donble cnverinff, and 

 there chancres into the nvmph slate ; whence, 

 after a pri'Ver time, it comes forth in the form 

 of a moth, with granulated horns, and a crooked 

 proboscis. 



" The Bees know their enemv in this new 

 form, and destroy all the moths iboy can meet 

 Ttith. They are seldom so lortiinate, however, 

 as to kill the »vhole race as soon as produced; 

 and, if only one escape, it is able to lay a found- 

 ation orre\eiis:e Cor the death of its Brethren. 



" .\11 the flies of the moth kin<l lay a vast 

 mimher of ep:gs ; and the yoimg ones produced 

 from those of one surviving female, of this spe- 

 cies, are sufficient to de»iroy many huney-ccjmlis, 

 na\, many hives of them. The moth produced 

 by this catorpillar flies but little ; but it is very 

 nimble in avoiding danger by running, which it 

 does with great swiftness." 



This insect has been extending its ravages 

 from south to north, for several years past, and 

 in its progress must soon pass the nortlieru 

 bounds of "the United Statfs. Probably, like 

 many other insects, its existence will be 6nly 

 temporary. Mr Van Schaick says, 



" In the county of Greene, where I first ob- 

 served it in 1813, the havoc it spread throBgh- 

 out its course was wide and annihilating. 



"• In a single instance, one Farmer had up- 

 ivards of" thirty hives destroyed that year. 



" In 1813, I observed it in the counties of 

 Ixenselaer and Saratoga, when it first made its 

 appearance there, where its ravages \tere 

 qually destructive. 



"On inspecting a number of hives (snys\\e'^ 

 1 found its eggs deposited in every |)art of then*, 

 but most generally, and in vast numbers, under 

 the rims, and in the crevices of the floors or 

 stands, nearest to the hives; as if the little in- 

 sect had anticijiated the wants of its progeny, 

 and determined to fix it where its sustennnce 

 should be abundant. But in d'.ing: so it does 

 not appear to act solely for ihe benefit of its ofi- 

 spring; tor, whilst the worm destroys the wax. 

 ■and detaches the honey from the cells, the flv 

 devours the latter, where it can do so with itri- 

 purily. 



H* adds, " On examining several hives, 1 have 

 found caterpillars and chrisalides, and the re- 

 mains of each in large clusters, enveloped in 

 webs suspended therein, and apparently the 

 only tenants which occupied the desolated hive. 



" The great desideratum (a« he well ob 

 serves) is how to destroy the tinea, or how 

 -prevent its intrusion into the hives. 



For destroying it, he observe*, " the mo-t ef- 

 fectual method which I have vet observed, is to 

 raise the hive about an inch above the floor and 

 prop it there, when, the moment the Bees dis- 

 cover their unmasked enemy, whether in th 

 shape of eggs, or of caterpillars in different sta- 

 ges of formation, they attack them with fury, 

 jind toil incessantly until they have destroyed or 

 removed every vestige of them off the huard. 



He further very judiciously recommends the 

 construction of the floor or plank on which the 

 hive stands, and also the rim of the hive, to be 

 " of such materials and dimensions, as would af- 

 foid DO place oi' concealmenl for the fly or its 



eggs." For these purposes, therefore, let the 

 plank bo planed smooth, its cracks all stopped, 

 and then either painled, or white washed with 

 lime ; and then let the rim be pared off to an 

 edye, -so that it can afford no coverinrr uiidcr- 

 neatb. between the edge and the plank. Let 

 the p(\<j;e be also painted, and its crack* slopped. 



V/ith these precaution*, and with the further 

 improvements, suggested and put in practice by 

 Dr Loa', which we shall now mention, wo are 

 fully convinced that the ravaijjs of t'lis, and ev- 

 ery other cree|>ing insect, upon the hive, may 

 be effectually prevented. 



His method is to suspend the hive, by a cord 

 fastened in the top, and have the pi. ink forming 

 the floor moveable up and down. During cold 

 weather, the plank is brought up close to the 

 rim, to keep Ihe Bees sufficiently warm ; but on 

 the approach of Spring, or when the weather 

 has become suitably moderated, the plank is let 

 down about four inches, and kept in that situa- 

 tion during the warm or growing season. At 

 (larlicular cold sjiells, during the first of the 

 Spring, or latter end of the Fall, the floor, no 

 doubt, ought to be raised up, until the return of 

 warmer weather; but it should only be ke|)t in 

 this position while the comfort of the Bees re- 

 quires it. 



Communicalcd for /he Jlmerican Farmer. 



PHILADKLrUlA SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING AGRICULTURE. 



Staled .1ifC/(no-, Si pi ember 19. 

 The following Communications were made : 



1. On some of Ihe Diseases of Sheep, by 

 Dr S. L. Howell, of New Jersey. The diseas- 

 es occurred in a large flock of merinos, chiefly 

 imported. With the exception of worms in 

 the frontal sinuses of the head, and the sore in 

 the claws of the feet, the complaints proceeded 

 from too full feeding on Indian com during win- 

 ter. Many ewes lost their Iambs from this 

 cause. Ample experience has confirmed the 

 theory of Dr H. Breeding ewes ouaiht not to 

 be allowed to grow too fat ; and even store sheep 

 intended to be kept over winter, should be at- 

 tended to in that respect during the summer; 

 fnr, if permitted to grow very fat by feeding on 

 rich pasture, and afterwards to fall away during 

 winter, their health often suffers, and the qual- 

 ity of the wool invariably deteriorates. These 

 effects may be prevented by extra food during 

 winter, but this is attended with expense and 

 trouble. The great object in sheep-breeding 

 should be to keep the flock in as equal condi- 

 tion as possible, but not fat, all the year round : 

 in the grass season, by confining them to a short 

 bite; and during the winter, by a steady and 

 measured allowance of Indian corn as often as 

 circumstances require, in addition to good soft 

 hay. The sore in the feet was confined to 

 those sheep that had been kept on wet pastures. 

 It was easily cured by washing the part with 

 soap and water, and then applying sturgeon's 

 oil to it. 



In the head of one ewe that died during the 

 winter, from lambing, twenty w orms were found, 

 of d.fferent sizes. These worms certainly are 

 produced by a well known fly, and yet Dr H. 

 (bund m !he head of a lamb that died the latter 

 end of March, then one month old, a species of 

 worm, and in the usual place. 



2. Mr J. Vanderkamp sent some remarks of 

 the late Mr Faul Busti on the cultivatioD of the 



white mulberry tree ; and also his journal of 

 the progress of the silk worm, from the vivifi- 

 calion of Ihe egg, to the formation of ihe co- 

 coons; accompanied by a neat model of a silk 

 reel imported from France. 



'i. Mr VVm. Short sent specimens of cocoons 

 and sewing silk from Hamilton county, State of 

 Oliio. The worms had been fed on the leaves 

 of the common native mulberry. He stated that 

 he had been informed, that tJie raising of the 

 silk was attended to with zeal in the north east 

 part of Ohio, and that the sewing silk made 

 there served as a substitute for coin, being bar- 

 tered for the articles wanted by the farmers, 

 who are attentive to this useful branch of do- 

 mestic employment. 



4. Three volumes of Memoirs were receiv- 

 ed from the Royal Society of Agriculture at 

 Paris, for the years 1822 and 1823. The pre- 

 ceding volumes are in the library of the Socie- 

 ty- 



The Minister (or the department of the Inle- 

 riour, Mons. Corbiere, annually opens a public 

 meeting of the Society by a discourse on some 

 subject connected with its pursuits. The vol- 

 umes contain among many useful papers on oth- 

 er subjects, several on the diseases of domestic 

 animals, and the application of water from 

 springs, rivers, and wells, to land: numerous 

 engravings are given, to illustrate the modes ot" 

 irrigation proposed, and actually in operation in 

 different parts of France. 



5. Dr Ghirardi, of Florence, who attended 

 the meeting of the Society, presented the third 

 volume of the Transactions of the Imperial 

 Academy of .Vgriculture and Economy of that 

 city. Many of the papers are ofa local nature, 

 but there are some of general import on ma- 

 nures, — on insects that infest wheat, and on reg- 

 ulating the courses of rivers, and their applica- 

 tion to the purposes of irrigation. 



6. Count Von Hazzi, on the part of the Eco- 

 nomical Society at Munich in Bavaria, sent 

 three volumes of the Weekly Journal publish- 

 ed by that association. They embrace every 

 subject connected with agriculture and domes- 

 tic economy, and the papers are accompanied 

 by cuts and lithographic engravings, when ne- 

 cessary for illustration. The preceding volumes 

 were received some time since. 



MANAGEMENT OF PIGS. 



The importance of the following experiment 

 with respect to the treatment of hogs, copied 

 from a late London newspaper, has mduced a 

 member of the Society for promoting Agricult- 

 ure, to request that it maybe published in this 

 [laper, for the attentioa of our Americatt 

 farmers. 



"The following experiment was lately made 

 bv a gentleman of Norfolk. Six pigs of the 

 Norfolk breed, and of nearly equal weight, were 

 put to keeping at the same time, and treated 

 the same as to food and litter for about seven 

 weeks. Three of them were left to shift for 

 themselves as to cleanliness; the other three 

 were kept as clean as possible by a man employ- 

 ed for the purpose, with a currycomb and brush. 

 The last consumed in seven weeks fewer peag 

 by Jive hishels, than the other three, yet they 

 weighed more when killed by too stone and four 

 pounds, upon an average, or six stone twelve 

 pounds upon the whole." 



