1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



549 



bled with vermin ; I have never seen any lice in 

 my roost since they have been there. 

 Meridtn, 1857. W. H. Yale. 



FASHION. 



BT JOHN G. B AXB. 



What impious mockery, when with soulless art, 



Fashion, intrusive, seeks to rule the heart ; 



Directs how grief may tastefully be bnrne ; 



Instructs Bereavement just how long to mourn, 



Shovs Sorrow how by nice degrees to fade, 



And marks its measure in a riband's shade ! 



More impious still, when through her wanton laws, 



She desecrates Religion's sacred cause ; 



Shows how the narrow road is easiest trod, 



And how genteelest worm may worship God ; 



How sacred rites may bear a worldly grace, 



And abasement wear a haughty face ; 



How sinners, long in Folly's mazes whirled, 



With pomp and splendor may "renounce the world;' 



How "with the saints hereafter to appear ;" 



Yet quite escape the vulgar portion here. 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE CAHKEE WOEM. 



As the season is near at hand when the first de- 

 tachment of the army of the canker worm begins 

 its march, a brief statement of the best method of 

 combating them, that I have yet tested, may be of 

 service to some of your readers. 



It has heretofore been a matter of surprise to 

 many growers of fruit, that the grub of this pest 

 should so easily pass over the coating of tar, even 

 when freshly applied to the trees. But at the time 

 of day when the observation is usually made, espe- 

 cially if a warm or fair day, or if a warm finger is 

 applied to the tar, the progress of the grub would 

 seem to be difficult, and indeed they are often com- 

 pletely arrested by this method ; but the instinct of 

 the grub is so strong that the effort to ascend the 

 trees is continued at all hours, day and night. If, 

 however, the experiment is made early in the morn- 

 ing,or at night, it will be found that a feather, if light- 

 ly passed over the coating of tar, will not adhere, 

 and when this is the case, the insects can pass over, 

 and if a little of the tar should adhere to them, it does 

 them no injury. For this reason, as well as for the 

 injury which is frequently done to the trees, I have 

 abandoned the use of tar altogether, and have adopt- 

 ed a substitute which is cheaper, requires less fre- 

 quent application and is much more efficacious. The 

 substitute is rosin varnish mixed v/ith whale oil, in 

 the proportion of one quart of oil to five gallons of 

 the varnish. This mixture I have tested the past 

 year on both fruit and ornamental trees with great 

 success. 



The mode of application is as follows : Procure a 

 sufficient quantity of strong tailor's list, of good 

 width ; cut it in pieces to go once round the trees 

 to be protected, dip each piece completely in the 

 mixture, draw it firmly round the tree, and secure 

 it with a small nail or tack ; in large ornamental 

 trees or old fruit trees with a rough bark, a suffi- 

 cient space should be first shaved down in order to 

 secure a close fit ; once a week, or subsequent to 

 heavy rains, an application of the mixture should be 

 made with a brush to the lower edge of the list, and 

 this can be done much more rapidly than any appli- 

 cation of tar. In addition to the saving of time 



and money, there is a much greater certainty in the 

 application of this mixture, for the smallest particle 

 on the grub will eventually destroy it, should he 

 be able to pass the Rubicon of the saturated list. In 

 order to give the lower edge of the list a projec- 

 tion from the tree, it would probably be an im- 

 provement.to place first, under the list, or around 

 the tree, a narrow strip of cotton batting, or any 

 substance which should give the lower edge of the 

 list a projection of half or quarter oi an inch from 

 the tree. I believe it is ascertained that the grub 

 of the canker-worm commences to ascend the trees 

 in October, and continues through the winter and 

 spring. Yours, e. H. 



EXTEAGTS AHD EEPLIES. 



PURPLE WASP. 



If your correspondent, "John Dunlap," should 

 carefully open, at intervals, a single cell, instead of 

 destroying the whole fabric, he would discover 

 many interesting facts in regard to these insects. 

 He would find that after they have constructed a 

 cell and made it delicately smooth inside, they de- 

 posit an egg at the farther end. They then catch 

 the spiders, and fill the remainder of the cell with 

 them, previously rendering them torpid by some 

 process best known to themselves. A maggot or 

 grub soon hatches from the egg. It sustains its life 

 by devouring the spiders, which, owing to their tor- 

 pidity, are unable to make resistance. 



At about this season of the year the grub has 

 finished his growth, devoured the stock of spiders, 

 with perhaps the exception of a few limbs, and is 

 changed into 'the chrysalis state. It remains in this 

 condition till warm weather returns next year, 

 when it comes forth a perfect insect. H. J. F. 



Cambridge, Oct., 1857. 



CUTTING BUSHES. 



"Cutting bushes in the old of the moon, when 

 the sign is in the heart, in summer, will kill them." 

 When a young man, I read this and determined to 

 test it on a field of thirty acres, covered with shrub 

 oaks. For this purpose I engaged a lot of hands 

 to help me on that day, which occurred in August. 

 We went over the whole, and subsequently found 

 it even so. To this day the field is clear of bushes. 

 I am not so confident as to the effect of the moon 

 or signs ; but when the root is weakened by the 

 growth of the season, and by the flow of the last 

 sap after cutting all ofl" in a hot day, I can see it is 

 a deadly business. Let your Pawtucket subscriber 

 try it, and he will find it a well-timed job for the 

 intruders. So sa>s many years' experience of 



Lancaster, 1857. Benjamin Willaed. 



A NEW GRAIN OR GRASS. 



I send to your place a specimen of what was to 

 me a new grain, with a request that you would give 

 the name of it, and such information of it as you 

 possess. B. G. Davis. 



Concord, JV. H., Sept., 1857. 



Remarks. — The grain was duly received and ex- 

 amined, but we have not yet been able to determine 

 its name, or any reliable information in relation to 

 it. 



