FARMERS' REGISTER— ODORIFEROUS SUBSTANCES, INSECTS, &c. 417 



exclusion of cattle and tillag"e, and expect to realize 

 the proMt above mentioned from them, they would 

 be disappointed, for in that case by crowdinf;" so 

 many on a Jarm, the lambs would not be so valua- 

 ble, and the sheep would not fatteii with facility, 

 which would lessen if not cut olT two great sources 

 of revenue. 



The result of my inquiries therefore is, that 

 those farmers who plough and sow and keep horses 

 and cattle, and only fill up the remainder of their 

 farms with as many sheep as they can keep well, 

 it is to their interest to have the common kind in 

 preference to the line sheep, because they can make a 

 profit on both mutton and wool. But on a farm in- 

 tended only for grazins:, and where we do not mean 

 to fatten either young or old, but keep sheep simply 

 for the sale of the wool, and wdien it is an object to 

 have as many on alarm as it can sustain, tlie Sax- 

 on and JMerino on account of the superiority of 

 their wool, are of course tlie most valuable. I wish 

 to have it borne in mind however, and hope to see 

 it generally carried into effect, that tlie native sheep 

 both in their mutton and wool are susceptible of 

 great improvement. JMuch more might yet be 

 said upon sheep and sheep husbandry tliat is inter- 

 esting to the farmer and wool grower, but whether 

 I shall undertake it, time and circumstances must 

 hereafter determine. 



A. 



ODORIFEROUS SUBSTANCES OFFENSIVE TO 

 INSECTS. 



From the New York Farmer. 



It is said that common mint strewed among 

 grain as it is mowed away in the barn, will pre- 

 serve it from being injured by vermin. Cam- 

 phor, when kept among bed clothes, will keep 

 away bed bugs and fleas. From these circum- 

 stances, together with the fact that we do not re- 

 collect of having seen plants strongly odoriferous 

 injured by insects, we are led to conclude that far- 

 mers might be benefitted by turning their atten- 

 tion to the subject. 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO FRUITS, AND FRUIT 

 TREES. 



From the American Farmer. 



Mr. Editor, — In your paper of the 18th inst. 

 you inserted, from the Richmond Enquirer, an 

 article headed "Fine Fruit;" near the end of 

 which, the writer, alluding to the worm which de- 

 stroys the peach tree by cutting it near the root, 

 says ; " It is generally believed, that if hogs are 

 suffered to run at large in the orchard, or if the 

 trees in the garden or yard are paved round, the 

 curculio (the insect which produces the worm) 

 will be arrested in its ravages." It is something 

 new (to ??ie, at least,) that the curculio and ''the 

 insect which produces the worm" in question, are 

 one and the same thing. I had always been taught 

 to believe differently, and do still think I am in 

 the right. The curculio is certainly the insect 

 which attacks the smooth skinned stone fruit as 

 well as the apple and pear, by depositing in the 

 young fruit an egg, which becomes a worm, and 

 most frequently causes the fruit to fall off before 

 maturity. Its greatest ravages are on the plum, 

 apricot, and nectarine. The peach does not suffer 



Vol. 1—53 



so much, being defended by the down on its skin. 

 When the fruit falls, the worm makes its way into 

 the earth, where it undergoes its various changes, 

 and the following year it comes forth a small 

 winged insect of the beetle kind, which ascends 

 the trees and begins to deposit its eggs in the fruit. 

 Hogs are of service by devouring-the fruit and in- 

 sect before the latter has time to secrete itself in 

 the earth. It is also useful to pave the yard or 

 garden around the trees, because then the insect 

 cannot penetrate into the earth, and perishes for 

 want of its natural asylum, besides being liable to 

 destruction from a thousand accidents. But the 

 worm which eats into the root and lower part of 

 the stem of peach trees, is a very different affair. 

 If you turn to Kenrick's New American Orchard- 

 ist, p. 238, you will find the following account of 

 it, and several modes of preventing its attacks. 



" The worm is produced by a fly which, from 

 the middle of June, to the first of August, depo- 

 sits its eggs on the bark of the tree, generally at 

 its root, whore the bark is tender. These are 

 soon hatched, and the worm shortly penetrates 

 lieneath the bark, where it commences its work of 

 destruction, devouring the sap-wood often around 

 the whole circumference of the tree, causing the 

 gum to exude, and often death. 



" IMuch has been written and said of this insect ; 

 yet the prevention is very easy, provided there is 

 a necessity for it, which is not the case in all soils 

 and situations. It seems with us only an occa- 

 sional evil, and tlie remedies are seldom required. 

 Whenever serious suspicions arise, let every tree 

 be carefully searched at the surface of the earth, 

 and the worm destroyed by probing with a pen- 

 knife or pointed wire. About the beginning of 

 June, form around the trunk of the tree a small 

 conical mound, to the height of eight inches or a 

 foot above the natural surface of the earth. Un- 

 leached ashes, which might be preserved for this 

 purpose, are without doubt the best and most use- 

 ful substance, and each tree will require about a 

 peck. But any thing else, even soil, is found to 

 answer. The design of this is to protect that por- 

 tion of the tree where the bark is most fender; let 

 this mound be levelled in October, and the bark 

 will harden again beneath where it was placed. 

 I am inclined to believe the potash wash before 

 described, would answer every purpose, as it does 

 with the apple tree if applied at the suitable time; 

 also the wash recommended by Mr. Lindley. The 

 Garden Compound, sold by Messrs. Russell of 

 Boston, and Ives of Si\lem, I am persuaded would 

 be effectual. Also coaZ /a?-. A gentleman of Nan- 

 tucket is trying the coal tar with his peach trees. 

 He is also trying it on the plank of his ships which 

 sail to the Pacific, to preserve them from the at- 

 tacks of the sea worm ; the odor it exhales is pow- 

 erful and lasting. 



"Another cheap, easy and effectual mode is 

 practised by Mr. Vose of Dorchester. About 

 the last of May, the soil is removed to the depth 

 of two inches round the trunk ; a composition of 

 clay, ashes, &c. is applied with a brush ; and over 

 this, stiff brown paper is wrapped around the tree 

 to the height of a foot, and the earth replaced. 

 Mr. Ellis, of New Jersey, has found that rye 

 straw bound round the trunk from the surface up- 

 wards is effectual ; and Mr. Wilson, of New York, 

 in his Economy of the Kitchen Garden, has re- 

 commended grafting clay to be applied round the 



