3G2 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



FuT the New England Farmer. 



OinOll MAGGOT. 



Messrs. Editoks : — Essex says he finds trouble 

 from the onion ma<i;got, and fears it is an increasing 

 difficulty; I think he is right in his belief, lam 

 no J)r. ilarris. or Fitz, but will tell him all I have 

 ascertained about the fly that blows the onion, and 

 the maggot. 



The maggots made their appearance in this sec- 

 tion abcut 18t30. Many thought soaking the seed 

 in hot water would pi event the evil, but my seed 

 was sown when I was told of the remedy; my or.- 

 wnc came up finely. It happened that a few old 

 -onions came up in the bed and grew very fast. After 

 about half that came up from the seed had been 

 destroyed, one of the old ones lopped down ; I took 

 it up by the roots, found it full of maggots, took 

 six or soven of the largest and placed them in a 

 clear glass bottle ; a ievi days after I had as many 

 •nice, clean flies. I took the bottle to the onion 

 bed and fo;i,":;d any quantity of the sam^ kind of 

 flies, and the same kind as I enclose to you, I 

 found, by watching them, that theydeposited from 

 three to a dozea eggs upon the onion top, a little 

 above the ground. About mid-dSy the eggs seemed 

 to be alive, and iTiOved down the stalk into the 

 ground, the top would soon wilt, and fall over. 

 They are not satisfr^d with destroying my onions, 

 !)ut take my cabbages and turnips; they worked 

 po bad in my turnips last year, I had none fit for 

 the table. 



If any plan can be devised to keep the fly from 

 the onion to])s it will prevent the maggot. 

 Coutoocookville, June 8, 16-37. J. B., JR. 



ing such a succession as will furnish him with fruit 

 the entire year. 



First on the list in spring time, comes the delic- 

 ious strawberry. But a little spot of ground is re- 

 quired for its cultivation for the use of the family. 

 Its healthful qualities are well known. Cities well 

 supplied with it are remarkably exempt from dis- 

 ease while the strawberry season lasts. We hare 

 accounts of wonderful cures, effected in ancient 

 times, by its use. There are niany varieties, but it 

 is not our purpose to note the best of these at this 

 time. 



Next in order comes- the raspberry — a most ex- 

 cellent fruit, and indispensable to every family. 

 Then follows the blackberry, the cherry, currants 

 and gooseberries. Then comes the apricot, the 

 peach, the nectarine and the plum. Apples and 

 pears also commence ripening early in summer, and 

 the wintervarieties, if properly stored, may be kept 

 till the appearance of fruit next season. Who will 

 not have this succession ? How much it would add 

 to home happiness I— Valley Farmer, St. Louis. 



FRUIT INSTEAD OF MSDICIHE. 



There is no doubt but that the, free use of good 

 fruit, is highly conducive to health, and indeed, al- 

 most indif-pensable to it. Much of the sickness in 

 the Western country is occasioned by the want of 

 jt. It is the great scarcity of good fruit that cre- 

 ates such a de.nand for physic, in our Western 

 c.juntry. The various fevers and bilious disorders 

 prevalent in the summer season, are more owing to 

 the want of it than to any other cause. And not 

 until fruit is generally cultivated, and used as an ar- 

 ticle of diet, shall we be rid of these disorders, which 

 are sapping the life fountains of thousands of our 

 firmers annually. And if fruit were administered, 

 in many cases, as an article of medicine, instead of 

 the physician's prescription, we have no doubt it 

 would be far better for the patient. 



Nature, in this, as in all other respects, has 

 bountifully supplied us with varieties, which, if 

 properly cared for, will enable us to enjoy a succes- 

 sion throughout the year. But fruit is not only 

 a necessary of life, — it is one of its great luxuries. 

 What is more enticing to the palate than luscious 

 &nit? And as an article of diet, nothing equals it. 

 Jt is easily raised, costs but little, promotes health, 

 and is liked by everybodj*. Most people content 

 themselves by cultivating but two or three varletie.s, 

 'i'iiis should not lie so. Fruit is more needed 



For the New England Fanner. 



FIRST WEEK IN ENGLAND. 



BY H. F. FRENCH. 



My Dear Brown:— If we could enable our 

 readers to see all that meets the eye, here in the 

 old country, without the perils and discomforts of 

 a sea-voyage, there would be a vast saving of time 

 and trouble to them indi\idua}ly. 



Though we may not have it in our power to give 

 others an accurate daguerreotype of our views, we 

 may, perhaps, make some approximation towards 

 such a result. No sane person would undertake 

 to give an opinion, based upon the observations of 

 a single week in a foreign land, but on the other 

 hand, none but an insane or very stupid person 

 could see what I have seen in the week past, with- 

 out being thoroughly impressed with the differ- 

 ences between this country and our own, as regards 

 the condition and character of the people, the land 

 and its cultivation, and the animals, with their uses 

 and treatment. A familiar sketch of my progress 

 for the week may probably be more satisfactory 

 to our readers at home, than any more elaborate 

 attempt. After the various perils of which I wrote 

 in my last letter, we met with no serious accidents 

 in our voyage, excepting that we lost our propeller 

 al)out six hundred miles from Liverpool, and were 

 obliged to go under sail the rest of the v;ay, and 

 that we had a storm in the North Channel that 

 came near wrecking our ship, followed by a calm, 

 which kept us two days in one spot ! I do not be- 

 lieve that, since the expedition of the Argonauts, 

 more perils and trials have been crowded into one 

 voyage than fell to our lot. However, we landed 



throughout the summer season than almost any, ^ ,. • i i r.« i • . . i r ..i 



other part of the year. And the varieties which j^^ Liverpool on the 22d mstant, and for the en- 

 ripen at this time are least cultivated. The farmer couragement of others, I will add, that I have had 

 ( innot take a step which will add more to his own not a moment of sea-sickness since we set sail, 

 joys, and to those of his own family, than by hav- though this was my first voyage. I had left home 



