1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



467 



spring. "When the puncturing operation is per- 

 formed, the earth is, of course, to be replaced over 

 the roots. The above remedy seems to me very 

 plausible in theory, tliough it looks like a small and 

 insigniticant operation, (such, however, are often the 

 best,) and for those who have cause for exjieriment- 

 ing, it can be very easily tried, with the assurance 

 that if no good results from it, no harm can follow. 



I have found sow ing gyj)sum on fruit trees, when 

 in blossom, ver\- beneficial in inducing the fruit to 

 set. Sow when the leaves and blossoms are wet 

 M'ith dew or a moderate rain. Its effects upon the 

 quince woidd probably be ccpially beneficial as on 

 pears, jilums and apples, though we cannot speak 

 with certainty on the matter. Salt for quince trees 

 I have found very beneficial, 

 in March. Yours truly 



Elmwood, "iug, 13, ISoo. 



Apply over the roots 

 W. Bacox, 



UNKNOWN TONGUES-LANGUAGE 

 OE ANIMALS. 



We make the following extracts from an article 

 on this subject in Putnam for August: 



How easily spiders are made to know the voice of 

 their master, is familial" to all, from many a sad pris- 

 oner's tale. When the great and l)rilhant Lauzun 

 was held in ca2)ti%'ity, his only joy and comfort was 

 a friendly spider. She came at his call ; she took 

 her food from his finger, and well understood his 

 word of command. In vain did jailors and soldiers 

 try to deceive his tiny companion. She would not 

 obey their voices, and refused the tempting bait 

 from their hand. Here, then, was an ear not only, 

 but a keen power of distinction. The despised lit- 

 tle animal listened with sweet affection, and knew 

 how to discriminate between not inisimilar tones. 

 So it was with the friend of the patriot, Quatermere 

 d'ljonville, who paid, with cajitivity, for the too ar- 

 dent love of his country. He also had tamed spi- 

 ders, and taught them to come at liis call. For, 

 when the French invaded Holland, the ])risoner 

 managed to send them a message, that the inunda- 

 ted and now impassable country would soon be 

 frozen over so that they would be able to march 

 over the ice-bridged swamps and lakes, for the spi- 

 ders, true barometers as they are, had taught him 

 to read, in their queer habits, the signs of apj)roach- 

 ing weather. The frost came, and with it the 

 French ; Holland was taken, and the lucky proph- 

 et set free. The spiders, alas, were forgotten. 



Even the "hateful toad" has been the captive's 

 friend and companion, and shown itself endowed 

 with a fine ear and remarkable talents. They come 

 out of the dark night of their holes, when their self- 

 chosen master's voice is heard. They take files 

 from his hand ; but what is the strangest of all, they 

 actually learn to measure time; for more than one 

 well-authenticated instance sjjeaks of their having 

 ai)i)eared only at stated times, when the jailor was 

 absent and all was safe. 



The language which animals s])eak, by means of 

 fi-iction or concussion, is naturally the least known 

 of all. We see the eager ant rushing homeward to 

 tell the news of an invasion ; she meets a friend, 

 their antennin touch and i)lay with each other, in rap- 

 id succession. The messenger returns, the latter con- 

 veys the news by the same means to others, until 

 the whole army is informed. Here we see, not an 



instinctive feeling of dread, but a clear, undoubted 

 communication of facts. So among bees ; the in- 

 stant the queen dies, the sad event is made known 

 throughout the hive. No sound, percej)til)le to hu- 

 man ear, is heard, but the antenntc move with siir- 

 prising effect, and, as the result of a clear act of vo- 

 lition. It is not a sensation, merely, nor an instinc- 

 tive action, but it has all the signs of special pur- 

 pose. How they speak, we know not ; this only is 

 certain, that their language is not lilvc that of the 

 deaf and dumb, with whom signs represent letters 

 or words. 



The cricket, even, is not without its note of utter- 

 ance, and although a purely mechanical sound, it 

 has its sweetness and charm, so that Milton could 

 speak of being — 



"Far from all resorts of mirth 



Save the cricket on the hearth." 



It ])roduces a loud, clear sound, by a quick vibration 

 of the elastic skin between its wings ; and from the 

 time when the Athenians wore golden cicada in 

 their hair, to our days, when the cricket on the 

 hearth is the proverbial image of home comfort, its 

 simjjle note has been dear to the heart of man. The 

 true cricket, however, speaks only in the sunny time 

 of love. The male begins in his hermit-cell, as May 

 ap])roaches, to produce a low, inward note of long- 

 ing. As the sun rises higher, and summer advan- 

 ces, liis shrill song becomes louder, until he finds 

 the desired companion. Then he returns to his sol- 

 itarj- life once more, and his voice dies away by de- 

 grees. Dean Swift has left us a humorous descrip- 

 tion of the ciu-ious note of the death-watch beetle. 

 The little fellow, in liis narrow cell, falls in love; 

 immediately he begins to thump liis head against 

 the ground, and uses such energy in his demonstra- 

 tions that he leaves deep marks in the softer kinds 

 of wood. The ])owerful stroke produces a loud 

 somid, the infallible presage of death to superstitious 

 man, the soft music of love to the female beetle. If 

 other males are within hearing, they all join in the 

 concert with furious knocking, and such is their 

 jealousy or zeal to answer, that even the ticking of 

 an innocent watch excites their -flTath and their loud- 

 est notes. 



PRICES OF FLOUR FOR 20 YEARS. 



In the Months or January, KEnRUABT, March A.vr) April. 



Rkmauks. — The above were the prices at Alba- 

 ny, we suppose, as we cut the above fix)m the Jour- 

 nal of tilt Aew York Agricultural Society. At 

 Boston, ])riees have ranged consideraI)ly hi^er 

 than the highest in this table, having in the course 

 of the last six months been as high, at retail, as $14. 



