1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



327 



rotten. It leaves the onion to undergo its_ trans- 

 formation in the earth, and becomes an elliptical, 

 reddish-brown, wrinkled pupa, out of which the 

 perfect fly is developed in summer, in from ten to 

 twenty days. The later broods pass the winter in 

 the pupa state." 



The same insect is mentioned in Kirbey and 

 Spence's work on Entomology. After learning its 

 history, I observed carefully its habits, and found 

 them to conform precisely to the account of it giv- 

 en by Kollar. 



So much for the description of the insect. The 

 next thing, and a very important one, too, is to 

 know what is the best mode of prevention, and what 

 the best mode of destroying after you have found 

 that you have not prevented its attacks. This has 

 not yet been found out. Kollar says it is very 

 difficult to destroy these insects, and Kollar speaks 

 the truth, as all who have tried to doit will abun- 

 dantly testify. 



He recommends the use of powdered charcoal 

 which he says must not be applied to every part 

 of the bed, because it is advisable to sacrifice a 

 portion of the crop rather than lose the whole, by 

 leaving patches free from charcoal, where the pa- 

 rent fly will deposit her eggs, and when Imtcbed, 

 the lavaj can be easily removed in the onions left 

 for them to devour, and be] buried very deep or 

 burnt. 



This process, however, is not very sure. Char- 

 coal ashes, tobacco water, and such like things, 

 have been tried here with but very little success.] 

 Unless 3'ou happen to hit when the worm is on 

 the outside of the leaf, and before it has burrowed 

 into the stalk, you do not disturb it much, and 

 after he gets in out of the reach of your ashes and 

 tobacco spittle, what cares he how much you "pile 

 on?" 



Mr. Burke also says : — 



"I have also learned from other sources that 

 lime from the dry purifiers of gas works, and soot 

 are also very eflicient preventives of the ravages 

 of this insect. And recently I have been informed 

 that tar — raw tar sprinkled daily upon the plants, 

 is also an effectual remedy. I was recommended 

 by one of the Shakers of Enfield, to try ashes and 

 lime. I made the application to my beds the pre- 

 sent season, aud succeeded in saving about one- 

 fourth part of the crop." 



We should think that raw tar, sprinkled upon 

 the plants, could be of no particular service un- 

 less it covered them entirely, and if it did so, it 

 would be as destructive as the worm itself, for no 

 plant could grow encased in a coat of tar. It is 

 probable, if tar is of any use as a preventive, it is 

 owing to its odor being offensive to the fly, and 

 thereby keeping it off the premises. If so, tar in 

 cups, or on chips, placed plentifully among the 

 onions, would be a better way of applying it. We 

 leave tlie matter for further research and experi- 

 ment. — Maine Farmer. 



_ The IIumax Family. — From a curious statistical 

 digest just published in Europe, it appears that 

 the human family numbers 7000,000,000, and the 

 annual loss by death is 18,000,000, which produces 

 624,400 tons of animal matter, which in turn gen- 

 erates by decomposition 9,000,000 cubic feet of 

 gases, which are cleared away from the atmosphere 

 by vegetable matter decomposing and assimilating 



them for their own uses. This is an interesting 

 subject for philosophy. 



For the Neiv England Farmer. 



MONTHLY FARMER. FOR JUNE. 



In green-sward or other tough hoeing, especially 

 if the rows are rather long, and one has to work 

 alone, there is some comfort, at least, in appor- 

 tioning the work and time, and keeping a sort of 

 reckoning of one's progress. On the same princi- 

 ple, I found so great convenience, last month, in 

 parcelling out the pages of the Farmer, that I 

 shall adopt the same method tliis month. 



THE FIRST TEN PAGES. 



The "Calendar," as usual, leads the dance,with 

 pleasant thoughts and practical hints. The dan- 

 ger of our observation and knowledge being too 

 much in general, too little in particular, is well put. 

 "Passing Matters" is a specimen of the valuable 

 articles that might be furnished by all farmers 

 were they in the habit of recording such passing 

 matters as almost ^aily make a momentary im- 

 pression on their minds, then slip, and are lost to 

 themselves and the world. Young men, especial- 

 ly, should cultivate the habit of committing their 

 thoughts and impressions to writing. It was not 

 without practice that "R. B. H." acquired the 

 ability to paint with such life and distinctness, as 

 he does in "Sketches of Travel." He shows us 

 things and scenes, — villages, fields, Pennsylvania 

 horses, wagons, barns and the Col.'s farm— all he 

 saw, we see. Following "Plowman's Song" we 

 have a proposition that the "State Farm at West- 

 borough" be made a sort of model aud experimen- 

 tal farm. The subject is continued, by another 

 writer, on page 272, and on page 285, we no- 

 tice the appointment, by the State Board of Agri- 

 culture, of a committee to confer with the Gov- 

 ernor upon the subject. "Old Apple Trees" — 

 Strictures and Advice on Grafting. All right, old 

 Bach ; but I have another little job for you in your 

 knuckle-rapping line. Those folks who set out lit- 

 tle switches of trees, high as your hat and large 

 as your thumb, and wont allow a leaf or branch to 

 shade the sapling lower down than the backs of 

 the team they intend to plow with, need your opin- 

 ion. But we must hurry through our first divi- 

 sion, although we have to pass over such articles 

 as "Rules for using Guano," which give_ informa- 

 tion that probably cost the writer the price of the 

 Monthly Farme?- many times over; "Duration of 

 Posts;" "Feeding Teams;" "Plan 'of a School 

 House;" "Patrons, Patronage, &c." 



THE SECOND TEN PAGES, 



Commence with a criticism on "Experimental Farm- 

 ing" in the March nuniber. In relation to the 

 writer's idea of Me soil, I will remark that in dig- 

 ging my barn-cellar we came upon a strata, of 

 gravel about two inches thick, and nearly two feet 

 below the surface. Now, this same strata, or 

 layer, "crops out" and becomes soil, — all there is 

 of soil, — same six or eight rods from the barn. — 

 Then we have "Rural Pleasures," and directions for 

 destroying "Witch Grass." To those who think of 

 trying Mr. Penoyer's "Potato Rot Cure," I will say 

 that for two years past, I have applied a mixture of 

 lime and plaster by shaking it from a small bail- 

 basket over and onto the potato vines. "Farm- 

 ers' Cabinets"— A little experience, years since, 



