

rorToii 01' Til]-. 



I'ublishetl by Jou.n B. Rcssbh at K'>. 5:^ j\'(irili Market Stfcet, (opposilo Fauueil Hall). — Thomas 0. FEssEaiMtN, Editor. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1827. 



No. 40. 



P VPK|;LS ijiiclivo without doprcci:itinjj in oxccilcncc. — as lie had left his prc>, it was t'omi'l timt he had 



— .__- I About 1 or 5 years ago, oiy friend inquired of me inude an oppiiinjj into the body of the cut worm, 



n K.NCLAM) f'AiiMER. res-pectinfj the potatoes, snd on being infornied I throuufh which isoucd a pare of llic contents of tlic 



■ I that they continued ;;ood, he requested nie to fa- 1 abdomen. 



REE 'i'llIXGS OF GIIK,\T IMI'OR- ! vor him witli some for seed, statiiij^ that his liad 

 TANCK. ," iiiji oitl and become no butter thin oJ/ifc.?." IJis 



hill seeds of ull kinds be selected from request wjis granted with pleasure, and he inform- 

 of the greatest perfection. Plants for seed , od mc tliat they were "as good as the fu-sl." In 



the winter of l!?'2(.>, I purchased at Boston, a few 

 very larg-c Eng-lish potatoes (so called) whicli 

 were said to be very excellent. I gave them a 

 good chanco, and from the appearance of the 

 vines tlioy promised much, and my expectations 



bo of tlie best si,:e, shape and excellence 

 hould be planted at some distance from 

 nt of the same family, designed for seed, 



3 inferior plant of the same species should 



milled to flow or near them. 



hat plants of every description stand at a ' 'vere proportionably raised, But tliey fell sliort in 



istunce one from the other, so th.it the air 

 irculato freely about them, and that the sun 

 nve its proper infhience in bringing them to 

 tion.' The air and sun are absolutely ne- 

 y in por.'fecting the grovth of plants, which 

 ought to stand so ncax as to interfere witli 

 Mher. 



si".o, yield and e.vcellence, of tliose that I l.aii 

 long cultivated. R. GREEN. 



Maiisfdd, April 12, 1837. 



This was to lire a novel occurrence, and excited 

 further nttontiori. The new comer after a few 

 minutes, in which he appeared to enjoy himself, 

 n'oving leisurely from place to place with apparent 

 unconcern, attacked anoUier worm in the same 

 manner as before, aiul the same scene was exhib- 

 ited with the same results. 



It was astonishing to behold the rencounter, 

 and I determined to wait and see the end of the 

 play. The little creature as yet discovered no dis- 

 position to leave the field of battle, where all the 

 slaughter wus en one side, but appeared to amuse 

 himself as before, but in a short lime he seized « 

 third, and the like tragedy was again presented, 

 and the results the same. 



The hero by this time was satiated with feast- 

 ing, and discovered a desire to quit the ground ol 

 combat. Believing that this new insect was to 



INSECTS. 



Mu Editor — As insects seem to be increasing, 



both in variety and numbers, and as many are 



That weeds of every species be removed soon I ''f^st'^uf^t'^e ^o our plants and fruit trees, and as 



some arc subservient to man, would it not be use- 1 the cut worm, what the weasel is to the rat, and 

 ful to collect facts as they come to our knowledge j tiiat he might do mo essential service in his mode 

 concerning the different species? An acqiiain- Lf life, I let hini go in peace, and he entered the 

 tancc with their habits and modes of economy, earth from whence he came, and vef-y much to my 

 which arc different in difl'erent species, may lead s;itisfaction. 



to the discovery of " ways and means" of defence [ This contest brought to my recollection, that I 

 against those which destroy the fruits of industry. I had observed the cut worm, in the morning, ly- 

 Tho subject appears to be important, for from the ing dead on the surface among my plants, with a 



tlicy appear. No weed should be siificred 

 .ver in a garden, nor in its border. 

 •sc things are greatly neglected to the no 

 damage to the cultivator. The beauty of a 

 n depends very much on order and neatness, 

 oilier words, a place for even/ Ihitio^ end evert/ 

 in its place — keeping out the weeds and re- 

 ig every thing when decayed. Order and 

 CSS renler a garden, however humble in 

 respects, a delightful place ; but where 

 are neglected, ami noxious weeds are al- 

 ! to usurp the place of useful plants, it u.iiP 

 of disgust. 



ne persons seem not to care what seed they 

 , if it cost them nothin-g. They plant their 

 ns in snch a confused manner as not to ad- 

 e plough, if they wished it. They hoe once 

 .vice and then abandon their plants to the 

 y of the worms and weeds. What the in- 

 Icave, the weeds overpower and destroy, 

 ilie land is overloaded with seeds of the worst 

 , which will take some years for an industri- 

 nan to exterminate. 



'.r best vegetable productions will degenerate 

 ?s special care be taken to obtain seed of the 

 kind. 



novitiate in hi rticulture planted an English 

 lip and a Ruta Ba'ja. for seed, so near togeth- 

 hiit when the plants grew up, the flowers 

 3 nearly in contact. The farina of each mu- 

 affected the seed of each plant. The seeds 

 n ripe appeared good, and in the ensuing year 



planted. The seed of the English Turnip 

 luced turnips of a had shape, very different 



1 the parent root, but of a good quality. The 

 1 of the Ruta Bagn produced plants neither 



the one ner the oilier, worth little or nothing 

 fau;ily use. Facts of the like kind might be 

 liplicd, but this is sufficient, 

 he writer leceived from a fiiend at some dis- 

 e, about 20 years since, a few small potatoes, 

 ich were said to be not productive, small in 

 but of excellent quality. I planted them and 

 nd them the best that I ever tasted. By se- 

 ting the fairest and largest for seed, they grew 

 m year to year gradually larger and more pro- 



tender plant to the hardy and "tem-est repelling" 

 o;.'k, the marauders are making spoliations. 



If you think the following facts wiil add to the 

 kicro.ising stock of entomological knowledge, and I M;.,..<'-.?|4^ir.. ../.;, 7^ 1627 

 are worthy of a place in the columns of the N. K".' "' '•^^ 



Parmer, you are at liberty to insert them in that 

 vehicle of useful information. 



Last year, the cut-worms, so called, made great 

 havoc among my young plants, such as beets, on- 

 ions, peppers, &c. In consequence of which, I 

 sent my young man to make diligent search for 

 the enemy, and to put the insects into a plate of 

 a flower pot, that 1 might know the number. Af- 

 ter he had caught 40 or .50, he found, a little un- 

 der the surface, a singular insect, and called me 

 to see it. The insect was snch as I had never 

 before observed, about ^- of an inch in length, and 

 about J^ of an inch through the body, which was 

 smooth and of a shining jet black. The head was 

 small and armed with a pair of small curved horns 

 When passing over the little unevennesses of the 

 earth, the body moved close to the ground, like 

 that of a snake. He discovered no fear, but by 

 his movements much courage. The insect be- 

 longs to the order, Optora. 



Not knowing whether this black fellow was 

 friend or foe, I directed the young man to put him 

 with the worms, to suifer the same fate with them. 

 On being placed with the larvte, he seized with 

 his horns, a large cut worm, perhaps ten times his 

 own weiglit. The worm instantly appeared to be 

 in torture, writhing one way and the other, 

 twisting and turning, and thrashing the a-sailant 

 in every direction — but all in vain, the worm 

 could not disengage his enemy. However, the 

 conflict was short — the worm ceased to struggle, 

 and the stranger lay quiet for a short time, and 

 then disengaged himself from the larvse. As soon 



hole in the body ; and I doubt not that the causi^ 

 of death, wns that species of insect, which is the 

 subject of this paper. R. GREEN. 



CABBAGES. 



For the first 10 years after your correspondent 

 had become the proprietor of a garden, there was 

 no plant that he attempted to raise, attended with 

 so much difficulty, as that of the cabbage. The 

 strongest manure was used, and the plants well 

 tended, but every attempt failed of success. The 

 main root became clumped, and tlie smaller ones 

 full of large knots — the plants withered and died. 

 By the direction of an old gardener a different 

 course ivas pursued and for 20 years past has 

 never failed, and now there is no plant that he 

 can raise with more ease than the one above nam- 

 ed. During the said 20 years, one kind of cab 

 bage was principally planted — ^the seed was rais- 

 ed from time to time, generally from large heads. 

 The cabbage improved in size, growing larger 

 and larger, until they grew too large for the use 

 of a small family,"'^ and a smaller kind was substi- 

 tuted. 



The method pursued was as follows. After the 

 ground is well pulverised by the plough, dig holes 

 which will hold about half a bushel, and from 2^ 

 to .3 feet asunder — put into each hole about 2 

 qiiarts of fine old manure from the barn-yard and 

 from one to two pints of dry ashes — draw the 

 eart.li dug out back, and with a hoe mix or incor- 

 porate the whole well together and leave the 

 place a little concave. Place two plants in each 

 hill from 6 to 8 inches apart, and when they begin 



* The largest hard head that was measured, was 

 14 inches in diameter. 



