No. 8. 



Experience Teaches. 



243 



that the above flattering' results from actual 

 experiments will be of themselves ample 

 apology for the strong terms in which I have 

 expressed my opinion of the advantages af- 

 forded in the construction of "Hall's Self- 

 protecting Hive." Apis, 

 Chester Co., Feb. 5, 1842. 



To tlie Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Experience Teaches. 



Mr. Editor, — I am a constant reader of 

 the Cabinet, and a general approver of its 

 contents, but have not hitherto been able to 

 subscribe to one of its leading doctrines, viz. 

 that blight is only an effect, and not a cause ; 

 indeed the time has been, when the idea was 

 to me preposterous; and even very lately, 

 when I witnessed my rose-trees covered with 

 insects, my fruit-trees loaded with worms, 

 and my wheat destroyed by the Hessian fly, 

 I have often exclaimed, if these animals be 

 not the cause of the disease, I can never 

 again believe my eyesight; and if seeing is 

 not believing, I know not what is. But all 

 at once I am become a firm believer in the 

 doctrine, and my conversion has been brought 

 about by the agency of the testimony above 

 alluded to, namely, the evidence of my eye- 

 sight, and I must tell you how it happened. 



You must know I am very fond of flowers, 

 and have plants in pots which I, too, nurse 

 with a parent's care — that is, I often spoil 

 them by indulgence and over-caressing. Now 

 it so happened that they were left so long 

 abroad in the autumn, that one morning I 

 found them looking very blue from the effects 

 of the night exposure, although no frost had 

 happened; upon this, I removed them to an 

 upper room in the house where were three 

 windows, and plenty of light and warmth, 

 but with all my care and attention, I soon 

 found them covered with the aphide insect, 

 and showing signs of deep disease. I washed 

 them with warm water; gave them air and 

 sun, and cleared the leaves from vermin, but 

 all to no purpose, for although the young 

 shoots advanced a very little in growth, every 

 new leaf was clothed thickly with small 

 aphides which continued to grow with their 

 growth and strengthen with their strength ; 

 so that, at last, I gave up the hope of cleans- 

 ing them from a mass of corruption, and was 

 often tempted to throw away the whole of 

 them. At length I determined to take them 

 into winter quarters, and fitted up for their 

 reception a shelf in my bed-room, after the 

 plan mentioned at page 42 of the present vol- 

 ume of the Cabinet, and here they have been 

 preserved from frost, although their appear- 

 ance has been deplorable, their leaves and 

 young shoots having been constantly covered 

 with living blight, which was renewed as of- 



ten as removed, in a surprising manner. The 

 result has been the death of several of the 

 plants, and the rottenness at heart of some 

 others, with a falling away of almost all the 

 old foliage. But about a fortnight ago, I ob- 

 served a freshness in the appearance of the 

 young shoots, which caused me to examine 

 them closely, when I found that the unsea- 

 sonable warmth of the weather had induced 

 a partial spring, and that new buds had begun 

 to make a start ; while the aphides, which 

 had hitherto been in active health and vigour, 

 were almost motionless, and had become pale 

 and of a sickly hue; and repeated after ex- 

 aminations have exhibited a regular return 

 of health in the plants, with as regular a state 

 of decay of the animalculag; and on this day 

 there is not a living aphide on any of the 

 plants; anew start of vegetation — arising 

 from a return of the circulation of the sap — 

 having operated just in the way described ; 

 rendering the juices unfit for the support of 

 a tribe of beings which can exist only on pu- 

 tricity. The young siioots of the plants are 

 now hung with the dead carcasses of the 

 aphides in the shape of little white shells, but 

 not a single living insect can be found ! The 

 plants are throwing out young shoots from the 

 stalks, and those of them that are dead at the 

 heart of the top-shoot are making fresh heads 

 all perfectly free from vermin, although it 

 was found impossible to clean them while in 

 a state of sickness by any artificial means 

 whatever. The sap now circulates, and no 

 longer exudes through the pores of the plant 

 to serve as food to a race of beings which are 

 created, I am now convinced, for the purpose 

 and the only purpose of feeding on putricity 

 — to clear all away and renew the face of 

 nature. 



This little circumstance has opened an im- 

 mense field for reflection ! I am amazed with 

 the view which it unfolds, and shall take 

 every opportunity to investigate so very sin- 

 gular and astonishing a provision of nature. 

 Its beautiful simplicity, united with a wisdom 

 of purpose absolutely profound, overwhelms 

 the contemplative mind, and creates a feeling 

 of awe and reverential devotion which is quite 

 unspeakable, and surpassing human thought. 

 I shall return to a re-perusal of the articles 

 on this subject contained in the Cabinet with 

 increased interest, and with the expectation 

 of deriving from it a never-ending source of 

 delight. Subscriber. 



Jan. 12, 1842. 



Money is coveted because it can command 

 labour; but of what use would it be, if labour 

 would not be commanded by if? What 

 would it avail to possess the riches of Potosi, 

 if thereby we could not acquire the products 

 of agriculture 1 



