48 



Disease of the Pear Tree. — Dana's Muck Manual, 6fC. Vol. VIII. 



before August has passed. This little bee- 

 tle, which is only one-tenth of an inch in 

 length, was named Scolytus Pyri, the pear 

 tree Scolytus, by Professor Peck ; it is of a 

 deep brown colour, with the antenna? and 

 legs rather paler, or of the colour of iron 

 rust. The thorax is short, very convex, 

 rounded and rough before ; the wing covers 

 are minutely punctured in rows, and slope 

 oft' very suddenly and obliquely behind ; tiie 

 shanks are widened and flattened towards 

 the end, beset with a few little teeth exter- 

 nally, and end with a short hook; and the 

 joints of the feet are slender and entire. It 

 is evident that this insect cannot be retained 

 in the genus Scolytus, as defined by modern 

 naturalists; but the condition of my speci- 

 mens will not enable me to determine with 

 certainty to which of the modern genera 

 they are to be referred. The minuteness of 

 the insect, the difficulty attending the disco- 

 very of the precise seat of its operations be- 

 fore it has left the tree, and the small size 

 of the aperture through which it makes its 

 escape from the limb, are probably the rea- 

 sons why it has eluded the researches of 

 those persons who disbelieve in its existence 

 as the cause of the blasting of the limbs of 

 the pear tree. It is to be sought at or 

 near the lowest part of the diseased limbs, 

 and in the immediate vicinity of the buds 

 situated about that part. The remedy sug' 

 gested by Mr. Lowell and Professor Feck, 

 to prevent other limbs and trees from being 

 subsequently attacked in the same way, con 

 sists in cutting oft' the blasted limb below 

 the seat of injury, and burning it before the 

 perfect insect has made its escape. It will 

 therefore be necessary, carefully to examine 

 our pear trees daily, during the month of 

 .Tune, and watch for the first indication of 

 disease, or the remedy may be applied too 

 late to prevent the dispersion of the insects 

 among otiier trees. — Harrises Insects of N. 

 England. 



Dr. Harris was instructed to roport on the Insects 

 of Massachusetts injurious to Vocetation, and the me- 

 thod he has exhibited in tliis difficult task, can only be 

 appreciated by those who are somewhat acquainted 

 with the habits of the insect tribes. — Hovey's Magazine 

 of Horticulture. 



Treatment of Cacti. — The chief point 

 in the managing of these plants, is to allow 

 them an alternate period of growth and rest. 

 They should bo grown in a mixture of lime, 

 rubbish and loam, with a little cow duntj, 

 and in well drained pots. In summer they 

 should be fully exposed to the sun, and well 

 watered: but from October to March, they 

 should be kept perfectly dry. — Gardener's 

 Chronicle. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Dana's Muck Manual, and RufBu's 



Essay. 



I HAVE been so well pleased with the good 

 sense running through the following article, 

 which I find in the July No. of the North 

 American Review, that I am induced to 

 forward it to the Cabinet. Agriculture is 

 often said to be a matter of fact operation, 

 and book farming is much laughed at. So 

 it may well be, when theory is made en- 

 tirely to supersede actual experiment, and 

 is persisted in, when facts contradict it. 

 But I have long been of the mind, that the 

 farmer who looks into the writings of those 

 who theorise and speculate upon the dift'er- 

 ent modes of operation that are brought into 

 play, even in such simple things as planting 

 potatoes and cutting wheat, will not be like- 

 ly to raise any fewer of the one, nor to make 

 any more mistakes in gathering the other, 

 than his neighbour who eschews all instruc- 

 tion, and takes statu quo for his motto. I 

 am well satisfied from my own experience, 

 and my own errors, that on the subject of 

 manures — I have more particular reference 

 to their use — there is abundant room for 

 farmers to be instructed. To buy manure, 

 runs away with a great deal of our cash : 

 and if bought, what is the best kind ? To 

 make it — to husband it, and to use it to the 

 best advantage, are considerations of the 

 first importance. We may toil early and 

 late, but we can hardly give attention to a 

 subject on our farms of more serious import- 

 ance than that of manures. And this is my 

 excuse for troubling you with this article. 



A. N. 



Mount Holly, N.J. 



" Great improvements have been made of 

 late years, in the application of science to 

 the arts, and for other tiseful purposes, and 

 in no department have the beneficial results 

 of such an application been more manifest 

 than in that of agriculture. People are wil- 

 ling to undergo the labour of making them- 

 selves acquainted with new views and facts 

 promulgated by scientific men, and to incur 

 the expense of reducing them to experiment, 

 when the advantages from a successful trial 

 will be tangible, and the results immediate. 

 Hence comes the eagerness with which Dr. 

 Liebig's recent publications have been re- 

 ceived in this country, as evinced by the 

 rapid sale of large editions. Not all the 

 persons who buy them are capable of judg- 

 ing of their scientific merits, nor is it neces- 

 sary that they should be. A practical test 

 is at hand, which any one can apply. A 

 trial soon determines the worth of the re- 

 puted discovery, or novel application of 



