KO. 9. 



THE FARMEBS' CABINET. 



HI 



to dislodire the intruder, when once it has 

 fastened the nunierous hooks with which the 

 mouth is surrounded, in the flesh of its vic- 

 tim. 



Upwards in the scale of the creation, w( 

 next come to the Insects; and herethe mi- 

 croscopic observer will find abundance of 



Fig 37. — Eye of Ike I/uutc-Fly. 



materials for his curiosity, for the most in- 

 significant being of this class, will afl'ord 

 hiia amusement for hours ; its eyes, wings, 

 lecfs, sting, horns, nay, the very down with 

 which its body is covered, present an inter- 

 esting and splendid spectacle. The eye of 

 theconuiion house-fly is formed of numerous 

 lenses, or magnifying-glasses, placed close 

 to each other, and curious both for their form 

 and arrangement. The engraving (37) re- 

 presents tlie order in which they are arranged 

 with reference to each other. The number 

 of these lenses in a single eye frequently 

 amounts to several thousands. The follow- 

 ing figures show the curious structure of the 

 foot of the same fly. The two broad flat 

 pieces seen beneath the claws act something 

 like suckers, and give the fly the power of 

 walking upon the ceiling, or upon glass, 

 without the danger of falling. 



Fig. 33. 



Fip. 39.— Foof nfthe Fly. 



The sting of the gnat, when its parts are 

 carefully separated and liighly magnified, 

 presents a terrible display of barbed darts 

 and cutting instruments; this weapon is 

 placed under the throat of the insect, and it 

 is curious and instructing to notice the man- 

 ner in which it is employed ; if the gnat uses 

 it for the purpose of penetrating flesh, the 

 darts are inserted, as well as the rest of the 

 apparatus; but if feeding on fruit, it only 

 thrusts in a little sucking tube, and by that 

 means extracts the juices. 



Fig 40. — Stin^. of the Gnat. 

 (To he continued.) 



Potatoes manured with pine leaves. — A 

 Southern paper states that pine boughs and 

 leaves make an excellent manure for pota- 

 toes. A farmer in New Jersey having a large 

 number of young pine trees growing near 

 his potatoe grounds, he gathrred a sufficient 

 quantity of the boughs to form a considera- 

 ble covering to a row of potatoes which he 

 was planting in drills. In the drill, on one 

 side of this he used lime for manure, and on 

 the other he put in marl. They were all 

 covered with earth in the same manner, and 

 received the same culture. On digging them, 

 those that were manured with the pine was 

 twice as large as the others, and double in 

 quantity. 



Lime. — As farmers are now engaged in 

 ploughing up their ground for winter fallow, 

 to receive the meliorating influence of the 

 frost and snowB, would it not be well to tura 



