430 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



everywhere in search of his food. We are aware 

 that many people have an antipathy to this inno- 

 cent little animal. To "conquer" such "prejudices" 

 would not only be a virtue on the score of humani- 

 ty, but would be found to pay in a pecuniary sense, 

 which relieves the case of those contticting points so 

 embarrassing to some minds. 



The frog is an eater of insects to a considerable 

 extent, but as most of the species stay near water, 

 they take comparatively few of the insects most pre- 

 judicial to agriculture. But some kinds of frogs by 

 no means confine their carniverous propensities to 

 insects ; they swallow young ducks which go on the 

 water, or chickens which happen to come near it 

 Probably they would not eat insects enough to make 

 it an object to harbor them ; and to feed them with 

 ducks and chickens would be altogether too expen- 

 sive, even if we should adopt the custom of the Gal- 

 lic epicures and turn the carcass of the frog to the 

 best account. 



That repulsive animal, the skiivlc (Mephitis ameri- 

 cana,) destroys many insects. He appears to be 

 particularly fond of beetles and crickets, but eats 

 the larvae of various insects. The May-bug, or 

 June-bug (Melolontha vulgaris,) both in the larva) 

 (in which it is called the "white grub") and perfect 

 state, is much sought after. The skunk digs out 

 the insect, and' the slight excavations it makes in 

 doing this are frequently seen. It is doubtful wheth- 

 er this animal would ever commit depredations on 

 the poultry-yard, if he could obtain insects enough. 

 At any rate, in situations remote from the farm- 

 buildings, he is very useful in his ordinary mode of 

 life. 



Bats live on insects, taking them, like the swal- 

 low, on the wing. So far as we have observed, they 

 feed chiefly on small flies and moths which are in 

 the air "between sunset and dark." — Boston Culti- 

 vator. 



For the New England Farmer. 



HOTES OF THE WEATHER. 

 Mr. Editor : — A stormy day is a good lime to 

 write about storms, and every farmer knows the 

 value of a rain storm in haying. The electric dis 

 turbances of the atmosphere have been sudden, and 

 almost constant, for about a week, producing peals 

 of thunder every day, and vivid flashes of lightning 

 by night. Steam power has been employed as it is 

 in all storms; for Prof. Espy says, "All storms are 

 produced by steam power." Heavy cumuli in dense 



in all quarters above the 1 the 



with the great storm cloud to equalize the temper- 

 ature of the air over a vast extent of country, while 

 the watery accumulations stored up for days past 

 in the portals of the sky, fall by the force of gravi- 

 ty upon the earth. The rain commenced at nine, 

 A, M., and continued through the day without in- 

 termission until four P. M. 



The direction of the upper strata of clouds has 

 been somewhat peculiar ; all the clouds for several 

 days have had a direction from South-west to North- 

 east, which is quite different from the ordinary 

 course of clouds, which is from West and North-west. 

 To-day the clouds are rolling up from South-east in 

 a manner that betokens a heavy storm. A South- 

 west or South-east wind brings rain in large quan- 

 tities oftener than winds from North or West. The 

 amount of rain was seven-tenths of an inch, a quan- 

 tity of no great magnitude, only about half as much 

 as fell last Sunday night between nine and eleven 

 o'clock, during a thunder storm, but it was proba- 

 bly much more extensive. D. BUCKLAND. 



Brandon, Vt., July 23. 



MAESHALL P. WILDER. 



The New York Tribune, in speaking of the late 

 national trial of agricultural implements at Syra- 

 cuse, New York, mentions Col. Wilder in the fol- 

 lowing just and complimentary terms: 



The president of the National Society, Col. M. 

 P. Wilder, of Massachusetts, has deserved a still 

 more emphatic acknowledgment. He is not in 

 public life, and we believe does not aspire to be ; 

 he has by diligence in business acquired a compe- 

 tence, and has attained an age at which most men 

 in comfortable circumstances are inclined to throw 

 aside the cares and labors of active life, and enjoy 

 that repose for which they have honorably struggled 

 so long. Yet Col. Wilder continues to give his 

 time, his means, and his best energies, to the cause 

 of agricultural progress, Vt'ith the enthusiasm of 

 youth and a constancy befitting the prime of life. 

 Long may he live to pursue his career of honorable 

 usefulness, and at its close may a fit successor be 

 found to follow in his footsteps. 



Remarks. — We have known Col. Wilder long 

 and well; long enough and well enough, we believe, 

 to understand something of his inward life, some- 

 thing of those springs of action which keep him in 

 field, intelligent and buoyant, when most men 



masses have been formin^ 



horizon, while the cirrus at the zenith thickened [have left the work which they did not feel obliged 



with a threatening aspect. The electric distuil)ance I ^^ accomplish. The great cause in which he labors 



has induced small columns of heated air to ascend, 

 until the vapor condensed by the cold and s])read in 

 the upper regions of the atmosphere, producing a 

 local storm, while charges of electricity were dra.vn 

 from one cloud to another dtff"erently electrified, or 

 from the clouds to the earth, shivering in their 

 mighty course whatever might chance to attract 

 them ; while vegetation has made rapid progress 

 toward the perfection of the crops. 



To-day the heavens wear a different aspect. The 

 morning was ushered in with the whole firmament 

 covered with heavy cumuli approaching nimbus, 

 the threatening forerunner of extensive rain, while 

 the thunder has ceased, and the air is cooled down 

 to sixty-two degrees under the storm cloud ; all at- 

 mospheric disturbance is at an end, or has combined 



so indefatigably, is not merely one of to-day, to ben- 

 efit only those who co-operate with him, but one to 

 bless millions, one that underlies and sustains all 

 others, and that is the foundation of all national 

 prosperity and wealth. He is energetic and prompt, 

 lays his own plans with remarkable sagacity and 

 foresight, or comprehends those of others at a glance, 

 and when his conclusions are made, executes with 

 a bold and master hand. His pecuniary means, as 

 well as his personal efforts, are freely used to carry 

 forward any enterprise in which he has engaged, 

 sometimes to a very considerable amount, even 

 where the object is a common one, and his personal 



