234 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



July 30, 1831. 



BOTTS IN HORSES. 



Horses in this, as veil as many other countries, 

 are subject to botts in the stomach, which often 

 proves fatal to them, by feeding upon, and inflam- 

 ing the coats of the stomach, which produces 

 pain and death. It is said, that there arc more or 

 less of these larva or botts, in the stomach of the 

 hbrse at all times ; but this must be a mistake, as 

 they are produced by winged insects, and pass 

 regularly through the different stages, as other 

 insects, and as the fly has a particular season for 

 depositing its eggs, so there is a proper season for 

 the transformation of the larva, to a perfect insect ; 

 at which season, it is reasonable to conclude, that 

 the intestines of horses are clear of them. 



The following description pf the fly, publish- 

 ed in the New- York Farmer, from Professor Ea- 

 ton, of Troy, may be interesting at this season. 



"Bott fly or Nitter. — While preparing a 

 Zoological textbook for the students, I had 

 occasion to examine the Nitter with consid- 

 erable attention, in the summer of 182G. — 

 The genus to which this fly belongs, con- 

 Cains more than a dozen species. Two spe- 

 cies are common about Troy, New-York, 

 and probably in all the Northern States, 

 which I will here describe. 



Class — Insteta. Order — Diplera. Ge- 

 mjs — Oestrus. 



Centric Character. — Antinnae (horns) dis- 

 jointed, very short, sunken, face broad, de- 

 pressed, vesicular, mouth a simple orifice ; 

 feelers two, two jointed, sunken, tail index- 

 ed beneath. 



Equi, (leg nitter) wings whitish, with a 

 black band in the middle, and two dots at 

 the tip. Deposits eggs on the hairs of hors- 

 es' legs in the month of August. From ob- 

 servations made during the three last sum- 

 mers, I believe these spfecies to be harmless. 

 si do not believe the bott is ever caused by it. 



Veterinus, (throat nitter botfly) wings with- 

 out spots ; body iron rust color ; sides of the 

 cliorax, and base of the abdomen furnished 

 with white hairs. A little smaller, and much 

 more agile than the leg nitter. Deposits 

 eggs in the skin under the throats of horses, 

 in the month of September, and with them 

 an acrid liquor which gives the horse the 

 pain of a bee's sting, at the instant of contact; 

 hence, this swift-winged species is the dread 

 of horses." 



Professor Eaton recommends to farmers 

 to make experiments with the botts in order 

 to ascertain the correctness of his statement 

 and observes : 



"Should it prove to be the species veteriniis, 

 we could safely adopt the following conclu- 

 sions : 



1st. That the nits deposited in the skin, 

 under the throats of horses become minute 

 Jarva, (maggots) and make their way to the 

 passage of the stomach folds, until they are 

 passed off by some fortunate cause. 



2d. Should it be thus demonstrated thai 

 the Bott is the larva of the throat-nitter, com- 

 mon sense would suggest an effectual pre- 

 ventive. A piece of oilcloth fastened un- 

 der the throat for three or four weeks, com- 

 mencing the last week in August, must be a 

 perfect defence." 



We think, however, that it is well to make use 

 of all preventives, such as keeping the nils off 

 (he horses' legs, either by scraping them off with 

 a knife or by the application of cloths dipped ill 



hot water, which, it is said, will destroy them. — 

 But all Veterinary Surgeons agree that the best 

 course to pursue, when horses are troubled with 

 botts, is to give them sweetened milk, and after a 

 short time, to drench them with common salt dis- 

 solved. As a preventive it is recommended to 

 salt horses often through the winter, by which, 

 most of the botts are made to pass off. Prevent- 

 ives should be attended to, as this noble animal 

 may not show any signs of being troubled with 

 botts until they have made such progress in de- 

 stroy ing the coats of die stomach, that till reme- 

 dies are in vain; therefore it is well at ali times, 

 to have horses supplied with salt, to keep them 

 in a healthy and thriving condition, 



THE WEATHER. 



The weather continues unfavorable for securing 

 hay and grain. Much rain has fallen within the 

 last week, and the streams in this part of the coun- 

 try, are unusually high for the season. As the 

 work at hay and grain is interrupted, We hope 

 that the farmers will recollect that this is the sea- 

 son for sowing turnips, planting out cabbage, cau- 

 liflowers, and celery for winter, innoculating fruit 

 trees, and removing weeds from the garden. All 

 these may be done when the ground is too wet to 

 work in the fallow. We know many farmers 

 who frequent public houses when the day proves 

 too wet for haying or harvesting. To them we 

 would say that Temperance is the order of the 

 day, and that to be seen at a public house, drink 

 ing, is no longer counted respectable, and it was 

 never a money making business, therefore stay at 

 home and add to your comfort and property by do- 

 in'' Uiose things abovementioned. 



FIGS. 



We arc requested to state that one of the figs, 

 lately produced and gathered in the garden of 

 Gen. Van Ness, in diis city, measured eight inch- 

 es and a quarter in circumference. It was care- 

 fully measured in the presence of several ladies 

 and gentlemen. — Washington Telegraph. 



Note Ed. — We have seen the fig trees in Gen. 

 Van Ness' garden, at Washington, and think 

 them as fine-as any we have seen in the United 

 States. They stand on the 'south side of a wall, 

 where they endure die winters of that latitude, 

 without protection. We have a small shoot pro- 

 cured from one of his trees in 1830, which has one 

 fig upon it at diis time, which bids fair to ripen 

 early. We have hopes that with a slight protec- 

 tion this will withstand the winters of Old Gene- 

 see. 



FLORAL CALENDAR 



Julij g9. — Four o'clocks (Mirabilis jalapa,) 

 and Balm (Melissa officinalis,') in flower. 



Our market well supplied with potatoes, green 

 corn, Cabbage, Broccoli, and most garden vegeta- 

 bles. 



Fruit. — Apples, Pears, and Apricofs of early 

 varieties ripe. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



I ' 'iversations on Horticulture, No. I" — "Ex- 

 perimenter" — "D. T." — and "Wayne" — will be 

 given in our next number. 



Erratum in No. 27, Page 212, col. 3. 

 For StyiteTCdecom real! Bept'-ndecinr. 



fX/°We are requested by Mr. Watson to 

 make the following material corrections in 

 his statement of the cultivation of 15 acres 

 rye, published in last week's Herald, viz : 

 that the trees and bushes were cut off previ- 

 ous to the commencement of the experi- 

 mens in 1826. In 1830, instead of six 

 pounds clover seed to the acre, read sii 

 quarts, equal to 12 pounds.— Keestville Her- 

 ald. 



The communication in which the above error 

 occurred was republished in the Farmer, page 105, 



MEXICAN DOMESTIC BEES. 



(Mtlipona Becchii,)— Captain Beechey, 

 when at Xalisco, obtained two hives con- 

 structed by these bees, which he brought to 

 England in II. M. S. Blossom. One of 

 them has been presented toM. Hurnber, and 

 the other to the Linnrean Society. They 

 are formed of hollow trees, a portion of 

 which, of between two and three feet in 

 length, has been cut off, and a hole is bored 

 through the sides into the hollows at about 

 the middle, and the ends of the hives stop- 

 ped up with clay. These hives are usually 

 suspended on a tree in a horizontal position, 

 with the opening into the cavity directed al 

 so horizontally, and are speedily taken pos- 

 session of by the bees. Their interior ar- 

 rangemeut differs materially from that of 

 the European bee, some of the layers of the 

 comb assuming a vertical and some a hori- 

 zontal position, the cells of the latter being 

 most numerous. All the combs, both verti- 

 cal and horizontal, are composed of a single 

 series oT cells applied laterally to each other, 

 and not, as in the European bee-hive, ot 

 two series, the one applied against the ex- 

 tremities of the other. The cells appear de- 

 stined solely for the habitation of the young 

 bees. The combs are placed together, at 

 some distance from the opening of the hives ; 

 and surrounding them are several layers of 

 »'»;, as thin as paper, irregular in their form, 

 and laced at some little distance from each 

 other ; externally to these are placed the 

 sacks for containing the honey, which are 

 generally large and rounded in form. They 

 vary in size, some of them exceeding an 

 inch and a half in diameter. They are sup- 

 ported by processes of w« from the wood to 

 the cavity, or from each other, and are fre- 

 quently placed side by side, ; but their indis- 

 position is altogether irregular, aud bear? 

 some resemblance to that of a bunch of 

 grapes. Some of the honey sacks are pla- 

 ced apart from the others, and form a dis- 

 tinct cluster. 



From this irregular position of the honey 

 sacks, a most important advantage is gained 

 by the cultivators of the Mexican hive bee, 

 as, in order to possess themselves of the ho- 

 ney, all that is necessary is, to remove the 

 plug from the end of the cavity employed as 

 a hive, and to introduce the hand and with- 

 draw the honey. The store of the labori- 

 ous bee is thus transferred to the proprietor 

 of the hive without injury, and almost with- 

 out disturbing its inhabitants. The end of 

 the hive is then again stopped up, and the 

 bees hasten to lay in a fresh store of honey. 

 A hive treated in this way affords, during 

 the summer, at least two harvests; 



The bee itself, by which this nest is con- 

 structed, is smaller than the European hive 

 bee; its abdomen especially being much 

 shorter. It is distinguished also from the 

 European race of hive bees by the form of 

 the first joint of its Mndej tcTsi, which rt that 



