1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



26^ 



in the bark of ,the trees. They would surely be 

 detected on close inspection. And if they retire 

 into the ground, it is difficult to imagine that they 

 would not be destroyed, or at least delayed in their 

 transformation, by the overlying depth of sea- 

 weed. 



Allow nic to bring to your notice another sub- 

 ject which I have not seen adverted to in the col- 

 umns of the Farmer. The advantage of applying 

 lime to cultivated land has often been discussed ; 

 but when lime is naturally superabundant in the 

 soil, what then is the corrective ? In this quarter 

 there is land apparently formed of decomposed 

 limestone. On removing the flat limestones lying 

 on the surface, a black mould is seen underneath, 

 and large collections of similar mould exist, re- 

 sembling the richest soil in appearance, but which 

 is, in fact, perfectly sterile. Not a grass or weed 

 of any kind grows in it. A mass of black dust in 

 summer, and mud in winter, it remains unchanged 

 for years. It is to be presumed that similar de- 

 composed limestone soils exist elsewhere, but I 

 have not met with a notice of them, nor with any 

 information bearing on the mode of treatment 

 proper for land of this description. 



If any of your correspondents may be induced to 

 throw light upon the sul^jects of this communica- 

 tion, it Avill be satisfactory to your old subscriber 

 and constant reader, Far East. 



Aprils, 1853. 



P. S. Since writing the above, I have examined 

 the old stems of currant bushes which have been 

 subjected in former years to the inroads of the 

 borer ; and from certain indications observed, I 

 am of opinion that the insects accomplish their 

 changes in the wood ; a circumstance that ren- 

 ders an effectual attack upon them a matter of 

 difficulty. They might be more easily reached in 

 the ground. It is probable that they are not to 

 be annoyed or kept at a distance by the use of 

 odoriferous substances ; for the strong smelling 

 black currant is liable to their invasions equally 

 with the red and white kinds. 



grade, from the surpliced parson to the frockcd 

 plowman, can meet and greet on an equality. If 

 no other benefit accrued from these shows, this 

 alone would sanctify them. I admire the ar- 

 rangement of this pamphlet, and the comprehen- 

 sive intelligence it contains. I like to know who 

 the farmers of Franklin are, and who countenance 

 this employment. I would respectfully suggest 

 whether the ladies of the county could not be 

 brought in to take a more active part, with much 

 benefit. If I rightly remember, in the account 

 published of the llampshire Society the last year, 

 every man had his mate ; and judging from what 

 I saw and know of them, they were not the 

 least interesting part of the show. The truth is, 

 whatever the ladies take hold of, must go-ahead. 

 Charming creatures, God bless them. * 



April 27, 1853- 



Remarks. — There are important inquiries above, 

 which we hope will receive the attention of our 

 correspondents who are informed on the subjects. 



For the New England Fanner. 



TRANSACTIONS OP THE FRANKLIN 

 COUNTY SOCIETY. 



I'his youngest of the sisters of the Massachusetts 

 family comes forth, gallanted by Prof. Mapes and 

 guided by President Cushman, in an array calcu- 

 lated to arrest the attention, and secure the ad- 

 miration of all she meets. If we do not mistake, 

 she has made a distinct impression. Considering 

 the material on which she operated, she has done 

 much. Take, for instance, the plowing field, on 

 which were only seven teams, and see the work 

 reported — and sensibly reported too. The remarks 

 on deep ploiving and thorough pulverization of the 

 soil, are my sentiments. They cannot be too oft 

 repeated. Tlie humor let off in view of the kinds 

 exhibited, by one who knows how to feather his 

 own nest as well as most other politicians, shows 

 that the rancor of party finds no place at Agricul- 

 tural Shows. This is as it should be. Fortunate 

 is it, that there is one field on which men of every 



For the New England Farmer. 

 ANTS AND APHIDES. 



Mr. Brown : — Sir — I observe that "Reviewer," 

 in the April number, has called for remarks on 

 ants and aphides, and finding myself fairly com- 

 mitted, I feel too proud to retreat, and yet half 

 afraid to proceed ; but I will to my subject. 



My childhood was spent in a very retired place 

 in the country, where children know very little of 

 the costly and artificial nm.'iRerK^nts of the city. 

 A few neighboring children, with myself, used to 

 amuse ourselves by turning over small stones that 

 had become partly imbedded in the turf by the 

 side of the road, to see the ants under them carry 

 their young down into their subterranean abodes. 

 As I increased in years, ants became more and 

 more subjects of interest, as they were continual- 

 ly pointed to, as patterns of industry ; and yet 

 there were so many obstacles in the way, that I 

 made but little progress in their real history. 



Some sixteen years ago, one pleasant spring 

 day, I was attending to the dressing of my flower 

 borders, and noticing that some house-leeks that 

 I had growing in a terrace wall had been thrown 

 out of place by the freezing and . thawing of the 

 previous winter, I went to arrange them, and on 

 removing a stone, I saw a number of ants seize 

 something in their mouths, and run about in great 

 confusion. My first thoughts were, that they 

 were protecting their young ; the next was, it was 

 quite too early in the season for them to have 

 young,which induced me to examine closer ,when I 

 discovered that the objects of their solicitude were 

 large plant lice, that appeared to be in a torpid 

 state. I was not much surprised at what I saw, 

 for it is generally believed that ants lay up food 

 for the winter ; and knowing many species to be 

 carniverous, or nearly so, I supposed the aphis 

 were for food. But I related to my husband what 

 I had seen. He appeared to think that they had 

 a different object in view ; so he took from his li- 

 brary the writings of Huber, and translated for me 

 his account of the ants of Switzerland, with which 

 I was exceedingly interested, and which opened 

 for me a new field for observation. 



Huber asserts that ants feed upon the honey- 

 dew that exudes from the aphis, and are therefor© 

 induced to take good care of them, and thai they 

 carry them down into their burrows in autumn, 

 where the aphis become, torpid , and remain so 

 during the winter, and that the ants expose them 



