402 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS. 

 To the EdiloT of the .Veto England Farmer, 



Sir 1 herewith send you in boxes some in- 



new leaf has slowly made its appearance. Fruit sg^ts, which, where I live do considerable mis 



VERMONT. 

 To the Editor of the New England Fanner, \ 



S,R,_In reply to yours of the 27lh "It- pur- 

 suant to the wi-.lics"of Mr. Predion anu others 

 •as communicated in the New England farmer 

 of the 19th ult. headed " The Season, 1 would 

 observe that the late frosts in Vermont, espe- 

 cially that of May 26tli, were somewhat alarm- 

 ing. Vegetables, as corn, beans, vines, &c. that 

 were up, appeared to be principally destroyed, 

 and in some few instances a second planting was 

 resorted to ; but in most cases the plants reco- 

 vered The leaves of the beach, oak, and some 

 other trees were killed, and in some instances, 

 it seemed for about twenty days, th.-.l new leaves 

 would never come ; but since which timej^the 



trees were not sufficiently forward here to sus- 

 tain injury. The month of May being in gene- 

 ral cold and dry ; though April was remarkably 

 warm. 



On the 15th June, 1 started on a tour tr Sara- 

 toga and Ballstown, N. Y. The weather was 

 so cold as to make it uncorafoftable travelling. 

 The whole distance, (70 miles) vegetation wore 

 a gloomy appearance. The crops of grass ex- 

 tremely thin and light, the corn yellow and 

 backward. The winter grain, as well as grass, 

 having been much winter killed by the frequent 

 thaws, and the enorraous and unparalleled depth 

 of ice that in February last apparently covered 

 the whole face of creation ; and which was suc- 

 ceeded by the most sudden and destructive fre- 

 shet, ever known in these parts ; these conside- 

 rations, added to the' " general depression" 

 seemed to fill the mind of the farmer with fear- 

 ful apprehensions. But on my return home, af- 

 ter fifteen days, the copious rains and a few ve- 

 ry warm days of from 80 to 94 degrees, had aW 

 tered the vegetable kingdom astonishingly. 

 Corn had assumed an entire dilTerent colour and 

 grown rapidly ; wheat crops are more promis- 

 ing than for several years past ; grass in gene- 

 ral is good, and notwithstanding the frosts and 

 cold weather; the fruit trees present a goodly 

 appearance ; and on the whole 1 do consider 

 that in Vermo.it and parts adjoining, the hus- 

 bandman has a fair prospect of a bountiful re- 

 ward tor his labour. 



Very respectfully, yours, &c. 



JABEZ PROCTOR. 

 Proctors ViUc, Ft. July 6, 1824. 



ward, but it is now growing luxuriantly, and if I to produce only about three fourths of a ton to, 

 the season continues favourable will produce ajan acre, was mowed on thelOth of July. On 



good crop. The crops 



of wheat, oats, barley I the 20lh of the same month it was ploughecl 



and potatoes never looked better. The gardens and sown with buck wheat, and clover and 

 arc rather late but the crops good, and have herd's grass seeds. A fair crop ol buck wheat 

 been the least injured by insects that I ever Was taken from the land m the autumn and the 

 Unew,-At present the prospects of the farmer meadow, this year, will give double the crop 

 are very flattering. . 1 °^ ^ay it did thelast ye^r. -Communicated. 



My residence is about two miles west of Con- 

 necticut River, in 44 deg. 11 min. N latitude 



Pawtxixet, R. I. July 13, 1824. 



Ryegme, Vt. July 6, 1824. 



J. W. ^Massachusetts Agricultural Society.- 



To the Editor of the JVeto England Farmer, 



Sir, — In compliance with the request of Mr. 

 Preston, in your paper. No. 47. 1 would make 

 the following general remarks. — The winter In 

 this region was uncommonly mild — but litUe 

 snow — the winter crops much injured by t^e 

 frost— grass was killed on flat land. The spriqg 

 has generally been cold and wet; on the mort- 

 ing of the 26th of May, the ground was frozen 

 so as to bear a person ; and ice was in sonip 

 places near a quarter of an inch thick ; the 

 beech leaves were killed in many places; th^ 

 cold continued till the middle of June ; there 

 was a slight frost on the mornings of the llth^ 

 12th, 13th, and 14th, and on the last day theri 

 were flakes of snow blown along by the windl 

 Since that time the weather has been warm) 

 with seasonable showers, and now crops of all 

 kinds look very promising. The cold weather 

 retarded the growth of Indian corn — it is back- 



chief. The Rose Bugs, so called here, devour 

 almost any thing on which they happen to alight. 

 This season, 1 have known them to take 

 young English cherry trees, and devour every 

 leaf. They have injured apples considerably, 

 and on some trees almost destroyed them. 

 They make their appearance about the time 

 that roses blossom, and when roses are gone, 

 they are almost instantly. Their size appears 

 to be always about the same.— Now some know- 

 ledge from whence they come, and whither 

 they go is desirable, and how they propagate 

 their species. 



Those lice, as 1 call them, 1 find upon young 

 shoots and grafts of apple trees, always accom- 

 panied with pismires, which sometimes destroy 

 the tender part. But the time in which they 

 make their first appearance, or when they go 

 away, I cannot tell. 



If you think this worth your notice, some in- 

 formation, through your valuable paper, would 

 be very agreeable ; if not cast it into the fire. 

 Yours with esteem, 



BEN OStjOOD. 

 Methuen, July 6, 1824. 



BT THE EDITOR. We cheerfully communicate the 

 little information we have been able to obtain relative 

 to the insects above referred to. We know nothing of 

 the natural history of the Rose Bug, and repeated in- 

 quiries have resulted in nothing definite or satisfactory 

 relative to " wheiice they came or whither they go." 

 We only learn that they are very voracious, and not 

 very nice in their selection of articles for food. They 

 not only devour the leaves of apple trees, but have, in 

 some instances, nearly devoured the young apples.— 

 Soap suds, lime water, tobacco juice, elder juice, and 

 other acrid or pungent substances, have little or no 

 effect on them. The only operation which seems to 

 disturb them is that of Meaking their bones, vi et ar- 

 juii, or grinding them to powder by main force. But 

 they sometimes appear in such multitudes that it is 

 impossible to make war upon them with any hopes of 

 success. 



The other insects are of the genus Aphis, and they 

 are generally known by the name of Plan/ Lice. They 

 are the same which cause what is called honey 

 ilew, and the pismires, which accompanied them were, 

 probably, attracted by that sweet substance. We 

 have already (page 262 of the present volume, under 

 the head Horticulture) given some account of these 

 animalculae. Soap suds, forcibly applied, is said to be 

 the best remedy against them. 



Expeninents in perpetuating Crops of Hay. — A 

 meadow, which had become sward-bound, so as 



FOR THE NKW ENGLAND FARMER. 



At a meeting of the Trustees of the Massa^^. 

 cpusetts Agricultural Society held July 10, 1824. 

 \ The Trustees having received by the ship 

 Bowditch, Capt. Caleb Curtis, one full bred 

 •Herefordshire Bull, of one year old, and a full 

 blooded Heifer of the same breed, raised by Sir 

 I. G. Cotl-rel, Baronet, and purchased by Ad- 

 miral Sir Isaac Coffin, and by him presented to 

 this Society — and also a four year old full blood- 

 ed beifer of the Short horned breed, raised by. 

 the celebrated improver of that breed, John 

 Welherell, Esq. also purchased by Sir Isaac Cof- 

 fin, and presented by him to this Society for the 

 amelioration of the breed of cattle of his native 

 Slate. It was voted, 



" That the thanks of the Trustees of this So- 

 ciety heretofore presented to Sir ISAAC COF- 

 FIN, M. P., and transmitted to him on bis an- 

 nouncing his intention to present these fine ani- 

 mals, be published in one or more of the papers 

 published in Boston, particularly the NewEng- 

 lanB Farmer." 



We congratulate the friends of Agriculture 

 upin this accession to our valuable breeds. VV« 

 now possess samples of the most improved stool 

 of tattle in Great Britain, and having both thi 

 parents, we can preserve them pure. To thi 

 end the Trustees have placed the Bull Admiral 

 with the Heifer of the same race, Annabella 

 under the care of Ezekiel Hersey IDerby, Esq 

 of Salem, for one year, where 'Jiose disposed ti 

 possess themselves of this stock inay apply. 



The Bull and Heifer of the harefordshiri 

 breed, remarkable for their qualitie: as bee 

 cattle, as well as milkers, are placed wr.h Johi 

 Prince, Esq. of Roxbury, for one year. Tht 

 property in these animals will be held by ihi 

 Society, and they will be so managed, as to givi 

 every part of the State, by turus, the advan 

 tage of them. 



We cannot omit to take notice of the grea 

 liberality of Sir Isaac Cofhn, in thus repeatedl 

 sending out, at great expense, the finest an 

 most approvedbreeds in Great Britain, nor ough 

 we to forget, on this occasion, the generou 

 present, made by his brother, Gen. Cgffin, of 

 fine Stud Horse of great bone, and power. — Sue! 

 acts of public spirit are of permanent, and lasl 

 ing value, and do honour to these gentlemen. 

 The Trustees think it their duty to preseo 

 their thanks to Capt. Curtis, for his great car 

 of these animals. Their fine condition on thei 

 arrival is the best proof of his attention to then 

 They appeared as if they had been just take 

 from a fine pasture. 



The pedigrees of these animals, are as fo 

 lo(vs: — Those conversant with the improve 

 breeds, will perceive, that there is no beltc 

 blood to be procured in England. 



