Vol. 1.— No. 27 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



21a 



hill some miles above Wyalusing, near the Sus- 

 quehanna river ; and from that little boundary, 

 southward throughout the lower parts of that state, 

 wherever the soil and timber were suitable, these 

 insects were sufficiently numerous. 



Along the Cayuga lake, however, that was not 

 ■' the locust year," nor did these insects appear a- 

 mong us till the summer of 1814, showing a dif- 

 ference of 3 years between this neighborhood and 

 the south-eastern parts of Pennsylvania. I am 

 also told by persons who lived about 8 years ago 

 in different places in the northern parts of Tomp- 

 kins county that the locusts were then there in 

 great numbers. 



A complete history of this insect ought to have 

 a, map of the different districts in which it comes 

 forth in different years. 



As far as my observations have extended, the 

 locust is not partial to beech and maple lands, but 

 confines itself chiefly among the oak and hickory. 

 It is evident however, that since our forests have 

 been partially removed, it has extended its limits 

 eastward from the Cayuga lake. In 1814 a lo- 

 cust was a rare thing on my farm, but this sum- 

 mer their singular notes were no novelty. This 

 we ascribe to the great increase of the few that 

 wandered hither 17 years ago. In digging pit- 

 sand this spring near an apple tree which had 

 stood 25 years, we took up many that were down 

 in the subsoil. 



1. What is the food of this insect in its larva 

 state ? 



2. What has caused the locusts of one district 

 to differ in regard to time from the locusts of ano- 

 ther district 1 



3. If the locusts extend the boundaries of their 

 districts, do not these districts overlap ? 



4. May not the same tract of country be inha- 

 bited by locusts that observe different seasons ? 



6. May not the opinions held by some persons 

 hat the locusts appear once in seven years or 

 once in eleven years, be founded in fact in conse- 

 quence of this overlapping ? 



[Dr. Hildreth's article, from which D. T. fur- 

 nished us extracts, was in type before the receipt 

 if his communication — for which see first page.] 



TOR THE GENESEE FARMER. 



NAMES OF PLANTS. 

 I am partial to long received English names 

 of plants, such as apples, pears, cherries, straw- 

 berries, roses, lilies, pinks, tulips, &c. ; and in 

 common parlance such ought to be used wherever 

 these answer the purpose,, because there will al- 

 ways be people who are not botanists, and it is 

 polite to adapt our language to the comprehension 

 •if our audience ; but there is an affectation in fa- 

 vor of English names, which I feel no disposition 

 to countenance, and which aiming at greater sim- 

 plicity often descends to coarseness and vulgarity. 

 The efforts of Wintering, Gray, and others, to 

 anglicise the names of plants have produced no 

 valuable result. It appears that these attempts 

 have been founded on the preposterous notion that 

 in English name conveys more knowledge of a 

 newly discovered plant, titan a Latin name ; yet 

 it is plain that we want a new name for a new 

 thing. In the absence therefore, of old and long 

 established names.let us use those which arecom- 

 mon to the scientific world ; and it will be found 

 jn trial that no Greek nor Latin words are worse 

 on tho tongue, or more destitute of meaning than 



"false choak dog," or " mermaid beggar tick, 



I have been led into these reflections by the lists 

 of fine plants offered at the Horticultural Exhibi- 

 tions ; and it will appear by the following quota- 

 tions and remarks, that a little more care is neces- 

 sary to enable some readers in distant places to 

 understand what is meant. 

 From the proceedings of the New York Horticul- 

 tural Society. 

 " April 26 — Dr. Ireland presented a specimen 

 of Urticu." If noticed at all it ought to be noti- 

 ced intelligibly. There are not less than 32 spe- 

 cies of this genus, and which of these was exhi- 

 bited "i and why 1 for its beauty 1 or rarity ? 



" Mr. Neale presented 18 varieties of early tu- 

 lips — Phlox stolonifera and Alyssum saxatile.'' 

 This is the language which I like. To one (or 

 more) species of Phlox however, the name Lych- 

 nidea is applied by some who dislike hard words, 

 and sometimes it is softened, into Litch-lydia ! — 

 These provincialisms ought to be rejected. 



" Several bottles of cider — manufactured from 

 the crab-apple — colourless as water, and of a ve- 

 ry pleasant taste." What kind of crab-apple 

 was used ? The English crab or wilding, a^very 

 permanent variety of Pyrus malus (if it be not 

 a different species) perhaps has not been brought 

 into this country. The American crab (Pyrus 

 coronaria) is e distinct species, but I apprehend 

 it has never produced cider " colorless as water, 

 nor of a very pleasant" flavor. Hughes' Virginia 

 Crab is a famous cider apple, and only a variety 

 of the Pyrus malus or common apple. It is so 

 tough that on being pressed, it gives out the juice 

 like a sponge, very little (if any) of the pulp pas- 

 sing into the liquor. This is one of its excellent 

 qualities, and another is the great specific gravity, 

 and consequent richness of its juice. This kind 

 therefore, probably produced the cider, but it ought 

 to have been distinctly mentioned, as many per- 

 sons may understand by " crab apple" the Amer- 

 ican crab. 



" May 3. Mr. Neale presented Rosa sangui 

 nea." This is only considered a variety of Rosa 

 indica by good botanists, but here it is wrongly 

 marked as a distinct species. 



" A perennial Candituft, Iberis." This account 

 will be very obscure to such as know not that 

 Candituft is the English, and Iberis the scientific, 

 name of the genus. The latter ought to have 

 been in italics, and in parenthesis. 



" Mr. A. Smith — a double flowering apple." 

 Of what species ? Pyrus spectabilis from China 

 is semidoublc, and I have a semidouble variety of 

 Pyrus malus, but there may be other kinds. The 

 account is therefore of little value. 



" May 10. Mr. Neale presented a handsome 

 Ranunculus" — of what species ? Many species 

 of Ranunculus, are cultivated and considered 

 " handsome," as R. hortensis, R. asiaticus, R. a- 

 conitifolius, R. illyricus, &c. It would be grati- 

 fying to florists who cannot attend these exhibi- 

 tions (and for such I presume these accounts are 

 written) to be able to discover the sorts of flow- 

 ers which have been presented. 

 From the Exhibitions of the Albany Horticultu- 

 ral Society. 

 "May 17. Snow flake jonquils." Snow flake 

 as an English generic name is applied to the spe- 

 cies of Lcucojum ; but it ought not to be con- 

 founded with the jonquil (Narcissus jonquilla.) 

 * See Eaton's Manual of Botany. 



" Spina futrix." If Europeans judge of ou r 

 botanical attainments from the mutilated name F 

 which occur in our periodical works, they mus f 

 assign us low scats in the temple of science. I f 

 every letter of such names, is not written too 

 plain for mistake, for want of a competent inspec- 

 tor of the press, a jumble generally comes forth 

 Sometimes an unskilful attempt at correction is 

 made, and then we have " confusion worse con- 

 founded." A few years ago, a list of plants was 

 given in Silliman's Journal, and it appears that 

 the compositor mistook the u in Acorus (the gen- 

 eric name of the common calamus) and gave us 

 Acorns! 



Prcfcobly in our quotation Spiraa frutex was 

 meant, but I have not discovered the name after 

 searching for this purpose in thirteen botanical 

 authors. I hope the Secretary of the institution 

 will save us hereafter from the risk of guessing. 



" A fine collection of flowers, — from the gar- 

 den of Jesse Buel, — consisting of — jacobin." Is 

 this Senecio jacobea of Linnaeus 1 or Jacobea(n) 

 lily 1 as it is sometimes called. 



" Silician Lilac." This is probably a misprint 

 for Siberian, as we know of none hy the former 

 name. 



I shall close my criticisms with one more re 

 mark. The dogwood (Piscidia erythrina) Gen. 

 Parmer number 23, is a native of Jamaica, — a 

 hot house plant, — and consequently is not referri- 

 ble to our rural economy. None of the dogwoods 

 (corn us) of this region are considered poisonous. 



a. 



gj= Our correspondent is requested to continue 

 his remarks as occasion may require. 



To the Editor of the Genesee Farmer — 



I perceive by various papers that the important 

 question of saving seed corn from the ravages of 

 the destructive crows is yet a problem. 



I hope the following experiment will carry 

 conviction home to the minds of practical farm- 

 ers. E. WATSON. 

 Port Kent, (Lake Champlain,) June 29, 1831 

 Experiment. 

 I planted two acres of corn this spring, near 

 the haunts of crows, at the foot of a mountain 

 Three-fourths of the seed corn was thus prepa- 

 red : — The corn soaked in beef pickle, containing 

 salt petre, 8 hours ; then added in two ounces of 

 verdigrise to each bushel of seed, and soaked part 

 of it 3 hours longer. The residue was soaked 

 in beef pickle containing salt petre 12 hours ; then 

 rolled in plaster — the remains covered with soft 

 tar, then rolled in the plaster. 



The result was, that the crows made frequent 

 attempts to depredate upon the three-fourths soak - 

 ed in copperas water as above. They partially 

 destroyed 3 or 4 hills, and then abandoned the en- 

 terprise in utter despair. It is now in vigorous 

 growth. The part soaked in brine and covered 

 with plaster was destroyed in toto, and replanted 

 with potatoes. The part rolled in tar was about 

 one half destroyed. Comment will be superflu- 

 ous, such being the marked facts stated with cau 

 tion. 



By the Gentlemen's Magazine for 173 1 . 

 it appears that the number of newspapers 

 then in England was 40 — in America 2. 

 The number has now increased in Eng- 

 lang to more than 100. In the U. States 

 the number is probably more than 1500 .' 



