NEW ENOL.AND FARMER. 



PUBLISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL, AT NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Agkicultural Warehouse.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



VOL IX. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, JULY 3 0, 183 O. 



NO. 2. 



(s; vD sa sa w li? i£ ^ ^ ^ :i CD sr s 



FOn THE XEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Eilracls from a piper entitled 'Some qccoutil of 

 the Insect known by the name of the Hessian Jly, aid 

 of a parasitic insect ihatfeedson it. By Thomas Sai^' 

 [Journal Acad. Nat. Sciences, I. p. 45, &.c, accori- 

 panicd by a plate.] 



'Tlie well knowu destroyer of the wheat, h.s 

 received the uame o( Hessian fy, in coiiseqiicn<e 

 of ail erroneous siip|)Osition that it was impoit<d 

 in some straw with the Hessian troops during lie 

 revolutionary war. But the truth is, it is absolut;- 

 ly unknown in Europe, and is a s|iecie« entirey 

 new to the systems. The insect described by At 

 Kirpy, in the Trans. Lin. Soc. of London, vol. iv. 

 p. 232, and named by him Tipida Tritici, i 

 without doubt of the same genus with this, bit 

 specifically distinct. The Hessian fly belongs 

 the order Diplera, (containing the tWD-wingel 

 flies,) and genus CecWomi/ia, which includes iusecS 

 resembling little long legged gnats. The Hessiai 

 fly is thus named and described. 



Cecidomyia destructor. Head and thorax black 



rous, polished, ovate-acute. — Length one tenth of quor was carefully skimmed of all impurities vvljich 

 an inch. gathered and swam on the top. When the sugar 



This is often mistaken for the Hessian fly, in ! was dissolved, after letting it settle for a few hours, 



with black hair. Length rather more than three 

 twentieths of an inch.' The eggs are elongated 



consequence of being found in whcat-field.s in 

 vast numbers during the devastation committed 

 there by that insect ; and many have been de- 

 ceived by the specious circumstance of its evolu- 

 tion from the pupa itself of the destroying larva, 

 under their own observation. The parasite in- 

 sect, after the business of propagation is perform- 

 ed, throws off its wings as a useless incumbrance, 

 in this respect resembling some species of the ge- 

 nus Fornica, to which also it bears some resem- 

 blance in jioint of fonn and appearance ; this has 

 led many to suppose that the Hessian fly is in 

 reality no other than a kind of pissmire in the ap- 

 terous slate. But the truth is the parasitic Ccra- 

 phron belongs to that vast tribe of insects includ- 

 ed by Linnseus under the genus Ichneumon. True 

 to the manners of its kind, the jiarent deposits her 

 eggs within the bodies of the larva of the Ceci- 

 domyia destructor, through a puncture made by her 

 acute oviduct for the purpose ; the young, when 

 isclosed from the eggs, feeding securely within 



wings black, tawny at base; feet pale, covered "''^'^ ^'•"Jy °^'''e larva, at length kills it, but not in 



general until after its change into the pupa state 

 Protected by this indurated covering the parasite 



Somewhat cylindrical and of a vellowish color.i ""^ergoes its change, and appears in the perfect 

 The grub or larva is whitish, Without feet, andr'""' "''°""''° '='"*''■ I'a" "fJi'ne. It seems prob- 



able that this insect prevents the total loss of our 

 wheat-crops, by restraining the increase of the 

 Ctcidomyia within certain bound. The Ichneu- 

 mon Tipid(£ of Mr Kirby is congeneric with this, 

 but is doubtless specifically distinct.' 



when taken from the culm is almost inert, exhibit 

 ing very little motion to the eye. If i^; 'h" 

 twentieths of an inch in length, and one twentieth 

 in thickness. The pupa resembles the mature 

 larva, but is of a dark reddish brown color ; and 

 appears perfectly inert. 



' The history of the changes of this insect is 

 briefly this. The eggs are deposited by the female 

 in different numbers from one to eight, and jier- 

 haps more, upon a single plant of wheat, and in 

 so doing the parent e.thibits another instance of 

 that provident care for her offspring, which is so 

 strongly evinced by many of the insect race. Tlie 

 egg is not placed at the axilla of either of tlje 

 leaves indifferently, but displaying some portion 

 of botanical knowledge, the fly carefully insinu- 

 ates her elongated oviduct between the vagina of 

 the inner leaf and the culm nearest the root of 

 the plant, where the larva, when excluded from 

 the egg, will be in immediate contact with the 

 culm, from which alone its nourishment is deriv- 

 ed. In this situation with the body inverted, the j 



FOR THK NEW ENGI.AHP FARMER. 



DOMESTIC WINES. 



Mr Fessendf.n — The great difficulty of jiro- 

 curing foreign wines free from adulteration, should 

 encourage families to make at home such wines as 

 can be obtained from our own fruits. They 

 would have the great advantage of being pme, 

 and if properly manufactured will cost but a trifle. 

 Any fruit of an agreeable flavor may be used for 

 wine ; it is conceived that the proportion of the 

 quantity of fruit, may be raised according to cir- 

 cumstances, the sugar being the article which will 

 give body and strength to the liquor; and the 

 fruit being used principally to impart to it color, 

 taste, and flavor. 



Currants make a favorite wine ; and the propor- 

 head being invariably towards the roots, the infant I tion of juice may be varied, so as to suit circum- 

 larva passes the winter. The pressure and punc- ! stances. When fruit has proved scarce, I have 



ture of the insect, in this state of its being, upon 

 the culm, produces a longitudinal groove of some- 

 times sufficient depth to receive almost one half 

 of the side of its body. When several of them 

 are contiguous on the same jilant the pressure is 

 unequal, and the destruction of the plant ensues. 

 The perfect fly appears early in June, lives but a 

 short time, deposits its eggs and dies ; the insects 

 from these eggs complete the history by prepar- 

 ing for the winter biood.' 



The parisite of the Hessian fly belongs to the 

 order Hymenoptera, and genus Ceraphron. It is 

 thus described by Mr Say. 



' Ceraphron destructor. Black, granulated ; feet 



u.sed but one gallon of juice to three of water 

 last year I had plenty of currants, and to eighteen 

 gallons of juice, I added only eighteen gallons of 

 cold water; and one hundred pounds of coarse.st 

 brown sugar which cost five and one half cents 

 per pound. I believe that the name of that kind 

 of sugar in the stores, is Molasses Sugar ; it is 

 the foot of the hogsheads of brown sugar, where 

 the sirup settles, it is decidedly the best to make 

 currant wine, provi<led it is clean, and from sugar 

 of a good grain ; it makes the most substantial 

 and best wine. The above juice, water, and su- 

 gar were put together into a half hogshead tub, 

 in a cool cellar, and well stirred two or three times 



and bnae of the antennae whitish ; abdomen glab- a day until the sugar was entirely dissolved, the li- 



it was decanted into three small casks, putting 

 first in each two quarts of the best French brandy. 

 The bungs were put in inmiediately, but not dri- 

 ven tight, and the vent holes left opened. The 

 bungs and the pins of the vent holes should be 

 stopped tight, as soon as it can be done without 

 running the risk of having the casks burst ; open- 

 ing the vent once or twice a day as long as it ap- 

 pears to be needful. The weather in common 

 seasons is so hot at the time of the currant vint- 

 age, that every precaution should betaken to check 

 the fermentation, and bring it to a close entirely, 

 as soon as possible. Any want of attention in 

 that respect may turn the liquor to acidity, or ren- 

 der it ultimately loeak and turbid. After the casks 

 are stopped close they ought to remain undisturb- 

 ed until the beginning of March, and then before 

 the high winds of that month take |)lace, the wine 

 may be decanted into casks, or better yet, into 

 demi-johns, which are inofR handy for use ; and 

 will keep the liquor in better order. If tlie wine 

 has been made carefully, andthe fermentation duly 

 checked, it will decant in March perfectly clear, 

 but if it should happen not to be the case, isin- 

 glass is the best Ingredient to clear it v.'illi. 



The greatest trouble in making currant wine Is 

 to press out thejuice ; even with the assistance of 

 a press, the labor of it is considerable. This I 

 lave avi^nv--. oflate years by baking them slijrhtly, 

 the fruit is put u|) into large red earthenware 

 pots, commonly called pail pots, covered over 

 with a paper, and put into the oven of a temjiera- 

 ture full as hot, as it is after taking out the bread. 

 The pot may remain there till the heat of the 

 oven is spent, and the currants will be found to 

 have yielded their juice, and a small pressure 

 over a sieve will separate it from the grounds. 

 The time and labor saved are not the only ad- 

 vantage resulting from this method, but thejuice 

 so obtained, being in a great measure elaborated 

 by the heat of the oven, has less tendency to 

 ferment than in its natural raw state. The fruit 

 should be perfectly ripe when gathered, which is, 

 when the stalks have turned yellow, when the 

 berries and leaves begin to fall, that is in general 

 about the fifth of August. 



There are other fruits besides Currants which 

 would make pleasant wines ; the small wild cherry 

 could answer well for that jiurpose. The color, 

 richness, and flavor of its juice would certainly 

 be very favorable, and by baking, the juice could 

 be easily obtained ; the latest Black. Mazzard and 

 the Raspberry might also be made to answir a good 

 purpose. 



Peaches will make an excellent wine, and the 

 best sort for that purpose, I conceive, would be 

 the common red peach. It is a great bearer and 

 comes on late to ripeness, when the state of the 

 atmosphere is well calculated for the vinous fer- 

 mentation. The flavor and color of that juice 

 would be well adapted for wine. On the 19th, 

 Sept. 1827, a storm began which lasted three 

 days, and took down most of my peaches, they 

 were bruised and broken, and unfit for any use ; 

 this gave me the idea to try to convert them into 



