282 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



the locust is bursting, it may be fouod of dimi- 

 nutive size in the bark, and 1 have picked out 

 hundreds with a knife. But fourteen diiys after 

 I have had to search for them in the zijoorf, where 

 it is difficult to destroy them, even with a flexi- 

 ble wire probe, as their course is rapid, and 

 seldom but a few inches in one direction. I am 

 not entomologist enough to know, whether these 

 are all of one species, The warts or excres- 

 cences on the plum-tree, are caused by an insect 

 different from either of the above, a description 

 of which you will find in the Agricultural Repo- 

 sitory.* That disease of the plum-tree is occa- 



insects, according to a writer in the Mass. Ag. Rep. 

 Vol. V. No. 1. paje 67, are true Caterpillars. "The 

 general color of the larva is red, approaching that of 

 the cherry, paler towards the sides," Sic. The locust 

 tree may, however, be infested with a " borer" of the 

 same species with that which Mr. Prince and others 

 have found in apple trees, &c. in addition to the Cat- 

 erpillar or Cossus Robinia, the technical name of the lo- 

 cust tree insect, which is the principal destroyer of that 

 tree. 



* Our correspondent has not directed to the particu- 

 lar part of the Ag;ricultural Repository, which gives a 

 description of this insect. Perhaps he may have allud- 

 ed to an article, bearing the signature of the late Pro- 

 fessor Peck,published in volume v. page 307, from which 

 the following is extracted. 



" The plum-trees, prunus domestica, have for a num- 

 ber of years been disfigured with irregular swellings on 

 the younger branches. The seat of this disease is in 

 the bark. The sap is diverged from its regular course, 

 and is absorbed entirely by the bark which is very 

 much increased in thickness, the cuticle bursts, the 

 swelling becomes irregular, and is formed into black 

 lumps, with a cracked, uneven, granulated surface. — 

 The wood, besides being deprived of its nutriment, is 

 very mucn compressed, and the branch above the tu- 

 mour periahes. Tile cherry tree is affected la a similar 

 manner. 



" When the Board of Trustees met at the seat of John 

 Lowell, Esq. in Roxbury, on the 27th of June last, 

 Mr. Pomeroy took from a cherry-tree in Mr. Lowell's 

 garden, a small branch diseased as above mentiofied of 

 the plum tree. On taking oS a thin slice of the tu- 

 mour, 1 found it was inhabited by living larva ; and 

 flattered myself that the disease of both trees arose 

 from the same insect. I brought the branch home 

 with me, and placed it in a large glass phial. On the 

 fith of .'uly 1 perceived that the larvae had left the tu- 

 mour, and were uneasy in the bottom of the phial. A 

 vessel of earth was immediately prepared, as mention- 

 ed above in the account of the pruner ; the larvae when 

 turned into it burii^d themselves instantly. On the 

 JOth of the same month, or twenty-four days from 

 their leaving the bark, the perfect insects began to rise. 

 They proved to be insects which I had long known to 

 occasion the fall of peaches, apricots, and plums, by the 

 Jarvse eating into the kernel of those fruits long be- 

 lore they had acquired half tlieir growth. 



" This insect belongs to the same genus with the 

 ihynchsnus sfrobi or white pine weevil, described in 

 the Massachusetts Agricultural Journal for January 

 1817, to a plate in whicli I would refer for a represen- 

 tation of the parts of the mouth. In that, the rostrum 

 or snout is nearly straight; in tlie present species it is 

 curved, so as to form the segment of a circle. All the 

 thighshave two small obtuse points on the under side. In 

 color it is variegated with white and red hairs ; the 

 ground color of the shelly coat on which they are 

 placed is dark brown. The thorax is contracted be- 

 hind the head ; its surface is iVfegular, much pitted, 

 •and has a raised longitudinal line ia, the middle, with 

 three small tubercles on each side of it, placed in a 

 triangular form. The elytra were marked with longitu- 

 dinal ridges, and on these are placed oblong tubercles, 

 of which there are ten or twelve ; four of these in the 

 middle of the elytra are largest, smooth, and of a 

 brown black color. On the under side the body is 

 pitted, or marked, with large impressed points, like the 

 top of a thimble. The first pair of feet is rather the 

 largest ; the second the smallest, and all sprinkled 



sioned liy a puncture in the tender branch, thro' 

 which a nit is deposited. The effect is similar 

 to that produced on some species of the oak, by 

 a similar insect, and to which we are indebted 

 for nut-galls. Some of our dwarf oaks produce 

 balls, enveloping the mai-got, of appearance simi- 

 lar to the nut-gall. It has been said, and my ex- 

 perience seems to verify its truth, that a large 

 sod of grass, placed downwards, in the crotch of 

 the tree, will prevent this malady, by interpos- 

 ing an obstacle to the ascent of the insect, which 

 it is inferred is unable to fl}'. 



The peach with me is a precarious bearer, 

 in consequence of the frequent destruction of 

 the blossom buds, by frost in winter or spring 

 before the petals unfold, but when the buds are 

 swelled, by the propulsion of the sap to the ex 

 tremitics, which is often the case in winter. It 

 has been said, that by retarding the flow of the 

 sap, until after the season of severe frosts, fruit 

 fulness is ensured. In confirmation of this fact, 

 ! can stale, that in travellmg sixty miles upon 

 the banks of the Hudson in April last, I found 

 the blossoms of the peach destroyed in all the 

 warm soils and sheltered situations ; and uninjured 

 in only three situations, all of which were ele- 

 vated and bleak, and two of them upon clay soils 

 Admitting the position to be correct, that we 

 can ensure a crop, by retarding the circulation 

 of the sap till near the first of May, how can this 

 circulation be kept back ? Can it be done by 

 keeping the ground frozen al)out the roots ? 

 This may be done by covering the earth about 

 the trunk with straw or manure, after the earth 

 is hard frozen, or by planting the trees on the 

 north side of a close fence or wall. We know 

 that nature, in her economy lays up in the 

 branches and buds of deciduous trees, in the au- 

 tumn, a stock of food, sulTicient to unfold the em- 

 bryo leaves and blossoms of spring. Can the 

 young progeny of buds derive nourishment and 

 growth from this food, without the consent and 

 aid of the trunk and roots? And can the latter 

 afford aid while bound in a torpid state by the 

 frost? A solution of these questions might very 

 much aid our endeavors to obtain this valuable 

 fruit with some degree of certainly. B. 



Albanij, March 10, 1824. 



with white and bright rust-colored hairs. The points 

 of the claws on all the feet are double. Figure 5, 

 shews the natural size of the insect, and figure 6 mag- 

 nified. 



" Mr. Pomroy was so obliging as to bripg me three 

 tumours cut from bis plum-trees, later in the season, 

 but the larvae had left them. Being, therefore, uncer- 

 tain whether the disease of the plum-tree is to be at- 

 tributed to this insect or to another species of the same 

 genus, I would call it the cherry weevil. It may be 

 distinguished by the specific name of rhynchaenus (ce- 

 rasi) femoribus dentatis; fulvo alboque variegatus, cl- 

 ytris tuberculis pluribus carinatis, quatuor in medio 

 raajoribus nigris.^' 



Inthe Massachusetts Agricultural Repository, vol. 

 V. p. 191, is an article, communicated by Justin Ely, 

 Esq. in which Mr. Ely asserts that " Mr. Yates, a re- 

 spectable farmer of Petersham, in Worcester county, 

 inlormed mc, that the insects which cause black bunch- 

 es on plum trees, are prevented by digging around the 

 roots in the spring, and putting in half a bushel of 

 ashes :uul covering them with earth." 



luR THE NEW ENOLAND FARMER. 



FRUIT TREES. 

 The season for setting out fruit trees is near, 

 and it highly becomes every one who possesses 

 so much as half gn acre of ground, immcdiate- 



iiridii 



ly to attend to this business, if he has bereti 

 fore neglected it. 



Almost every man who owns any land, m; 

 with suitable exertion and care, raise a suffici 

 quantity of various kinds of good fruit for 

 own use. 



An apple tree taken from the nursery 

 set in rich ground and properly managed, 

 frequently bear plentifully in eight or 

 years. 



The pear tree is as easily cultivated as (lui 

 apple tree, and will produce fruit in about tht 

 same time. 



The peach tree will bear in four or fivj 

 years from the stone, and has been known tf 

 bear the third year. But notwithstanding goos 

 fruit may be so easily raised it is lamentabl| 

 true that a large proportion of the people ar» 'ilJ«< 

 destitute of it, merely for the want of a little 

 attention and care. It is remarkable that thejp 

 folks are generally very fond of good fruit ani 

 always eager to obtain it if it can be had at the 

 expense of the toil and labor of others. ■* 



Such people are the worst kind of beggaiit 

 and ought to be frowned upon and sent awRji 

 empty by their more wise and industriotij 

 neighbors, — (or why should one be dependent 

 on another, year after year, for those luxuries 

 which are as easily to be raised by himself 

 by his neighbor. VV. 





To the Editor of the «Vf«' England Farmer, 



Sir, — 1 wish that you or some of your corres* 

 pendents would give some information throughflj 

 your paper relative to preparing lime to be usei 

 as a manure for »vheat — whether it is to be laJ^ 

 en from the cask and pounded fine and sown uft 

 slacked, or whether it is to be slacked with w»» 

 ter and then sown, and how much slacked Of 

 unslacked would be necessary to be sown oV 

 an acre. W. ' 



BY THE EDITOR. In Conformity to the request of out 

 correspondent we will give some directions relative tO' — 

 the use of lime, as manure, mostly taken from writersnl 

 established reputation. We should be happy to receive 

 communications from others who have derived know^ 

 ledge on this subj^ctfrom expericHce. t 



Sir John Sinclair says, " In general it may be obserM 

 ed, that strong loams and stubborn clays require a fuHt 

 dose of lime to bring them into action, as such soils an 

 capable of absorbing a great quautity of calcareous ma^ 

 Lighter soils require 1< ss lime to stimulate them^ 

 and may be injured, by administering a quantity of limM 

 retenlly calcmed, that would prove moderately benrJicM 

 t» Ittose of a he(ff*y nalmt.''''* ^R 



The author of Letters of Agricola says, " As an cx« 

 berent do«e of lime is pernicious, so anv quantity great 

 or small, is useless on poor and exhausted land. Dung 

 in this case would be beneficial ; but calcareous earlH 



hurtful and ineffective."! M 



" Mr. Evelyn advised to the mixing lime with turf !■ 

 alternate layt rs, to lie in heaps for months ; in whicH 

 time it will become so rich and mellow as to run lik^ 

 ishes. He thought it Avould nourish the soil more tha», 

 fused alone in a greater quantity, and without aD]| 

 danger of exhausting the vegetative virtue of the eartH 

 which should be preserved. If it were mixed with ||| 

 large proportion of clay, or with mud from the bottorf' 

 of ponds or rivers, it might be applied even to sandy and 

 ravelly soils without danger and to great advantage."^ 



" A truly practical husbandman of great experienc* 

 gives directions for the application of lime, which me- 

 rit attention. Let the whole q\iantity of lime, intend^ 

 ed to be used on any given field of moderate size, be 



Ike 



rt 



* Code of Agriculture, p. 500. 

 t Leller't of .Agricola, p. 277. 

 \ Deane^s J^ew England Farmer, p. 148. Wells & I, 

 Lilly's edilioi). 



