162 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



July 



inquluics antr ^iTlnsiucrs. 



TO DESTROY ELDERS, &c. 



'II 





Ens. Gkn. Fakmku : — Is thero nny season of the year lliat 

 cntiiiifr, or n^peateii cuttings, will liestroy the willow, wliiie 

 birch, aKIer, and like shrubbery, th:it usually infest low, flnt 

 lan<i I There are many acres of land that would be easily 

 redeemed to fuir pasinrnsje, if this kind of shrubbi^ry could be 

 kept down by some cheap and easy process. .Some recom- 

 mend puJIiufi out by the roots ; this is a slow process, and if 

 cutlinj Would do the work, it would be preferable. I recol- 

 lect, wlien but a boy. of beina; sent out to cut such stulTat 

 full moon in August; but since the light of science (great 

 inni)vn;or) has stripped '"old Luna'' of lior magic iniluenc! 

 over this lower world's afliiirs, wc are left every man to his 

 own way. Any light you may give on tho subject will he 

 gratefully received. Johm Ci.akke. — Union Mills, N. Y., 

 June, 18jL 



Cut down Elders two or three times during the summer, 

 commencing in July, and grub them up in the fill. What 

 few show themselves next year serve in the same manner, 

 nnd you will overcome them, obstinate as they are. 



THE PEA-BUG!— Bruchus Pisi. 



Mrssrs. Editdks. — I shall bo greatly obliged if you will 

 inform me ilirough the ct>Iumns of tlie Farmer, some method 

 of preserving peas from the attacks of the bug or pea weavi!. 

 My peas have been destroyed l)y bugs the two seasons past, 

 nnd if a preventive could be discovered, I doubt not that it 

 would be very beneficial to many of your readers. Bekj. 

 G. Di.\.— Toledo, May, 18.5L 



It may be interesting to our readers not familiar with the 

 subject, to lenrn something of the habits of the pea-bug. — 

 Early in summer, when the peas are in flower and forming 

 pods, the female beetle deposits nn egg in almost every pea. 

 When matured, the pea does not appear injured, but on 

 close examination we can discover in each a minute black 

 speck, which is the larva. Dr. Hakris says : " The eggs 

 are laid only during the night, or in cloudy weather. Each 

 egg is placed opposite the pea, and the holes through which 

 they p'.iss are so fine as scarcely to be f:eon, and are soon 

 closed." The larva remains in the pea all winter, gradually 

 consuming its internal substance, and in sprmg it is trans- 

 formed into a perfect insert, pierces the skin, and emerges 

 to deposit its eggs in the new pods. The larva has a soft 

 whitish body, and a head small, scaly, and armed with 

 strong and sharp cutting mandibles. The maggot, when it 

 reaches inatiu'ity, gnaws a circular hole to the husk or skin 

 of the pea, and even cuts round the inner surface which 

 covers the aperture ; so that, when changed to a 

 beetle, l)y a slight dilation of its body it forces off 

 the lid and emerges the new-born Bruchus, as rep- 

 resented in the figure. In many of the peas the 

 insect will be found dead. Whether this arises from a lower 

 temperature than they are accustomed to, not invigorating 

 them sufficiently to leave their habitations, or whether thoy 

 return to feed when they cannot make their escape readily, 

 which is the case when the peas arc confined in sacks, or heap- 

 ed up in a warehouse, ha;< not been determined. 



The vitality of the seed is not u.sually destroyed ; as the 

 egg is deposited in the side of the j>ea, where the insect 

 when hatched emergies, leaving the germ uninjured. It is 

 doubtful, however, whetlier the plants raised from such pens 

 are a'i strong and healthy ns those from perfect seed; nnd 

 they should therefore never be used for seed when it can be 

 avoided. 



This insect, though coraraou in all older states, is almost 

 wholly unknown in Canada, owing perhaps to its not being 

 able to withstand the severity of a Canadian winter. Hence 

 thousau'ls of bushels of peas are annually brought from Can- 

 ndi to ihc United ritntes for seed. 



Re:nedies and Preventives. — Late sowing has often proved 

 a successful preventive against the ravages of the pea-bug. 



If sown the last of May or first of June, the peas will not 

 blossom or form their pods until after the beetles have dis- 

 appeared. But peas sown so late often suffer from the 

 drouth, and rarely yield a very abundant crop. It is re- 

 commended in Ilovey's Blctgazine to subject the peas imme- 

 diatly after they are gathered to the action of boiling water 

 for one juinute ; by this means the larv;c are destroyed, 

 which are at this time just below the integuuionts of the pea, 

 without afi'ecting the vitality of the seeds. If the peas re- 

 mtiin in tho boiling water/o«r minutes, most of them will be 

 killed. To kilndry the peas at a heat of 130 deg. to 140 deg. 

 will answer the same purpose, and does not destroy the 

 germ. When they are intended for culinary purpo.<<os, some 

 such means should bo taken to destroy llie larvae, as instan- 

 ces are given by French writers where persons have been 

 poisoned from eating worm eaten peas, containing the mag- 

 gots and beetles of the Brnchns Pisi. — w. p. f. 



Messrs. Editors : — ^^'hat kind of grass is the herewith in- 

 closed ? I have seen it before, but do not recollect where. 

 It grew on my farm, which is mainly limestone soil, adjoin- 

 ing a small elevation of the slate formation, which appears 

 to be thrown out of place, as the true slate formation adjoins 

 the limestone formation about one mile furtiier north. The 

 seeds ol this grass have been lost by some one, I suppose, 

 who traveled llie public highway above it, and washed down 

 w ith some of this slate fortuation. It grows on this compar- 

 atively poor place very luxuriantlj', and the covis have a 

 relish for it. If it is v\orlh cultivating, I would like to save 

 the seed and propagate it. D. Kohler. — Mcmterey, Pa. 



The specimen of grass sent us with the above is Holms 

 lanatus, or Woolly Soft Grass, common in our country, but not 

 abundant, and is considered a poor grass here and in England. 

 .SiiNci.Aiu speaks of it as not sought for by cattle, but left to 

 stand while others are cropped to the roots. Its hay is soft, 

 and being covered w ith down, it is refused by horses. Salt- 

 ing would improve it. The grass would be more valuable 

 in early spring if it camo forward. It is easily cultivated on 

 moist soils, and is a handsome grass. Even beauty can not 

 sustain it. 



Eds. Gen. Faumep ; — I wish to get some information in re- 

 gard to plastering corn. Which is the best method — to plas- 

 ter each hill separately, or sow it broadcast uoon the whole 

 piece 1 v. Miller. 



Plaster in the hill is the most economical. 



The Ash of Wheat. — The twenty-fifth number 

 of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society con- 

 tains a trustwortijy analysis of the ash of winter 

 wheat, in which soda took the place of potash to a 

 larger extent than we have elsewhere seen. The 

 fact is of importance as .soda is a cheaper fertilizer 

 than potash. The composition was as follows ; sul- 

 phuric acid 0.160 ; phosphoric acid 48.719 ; potash 

 20.019 ; soda 14.9(35 ; chloride of sodium (common 

 salt) 1.687; lime 1.360: magnesia 12.919: silicic 

 acid 0.191. Total 100 parts. If the reader will add 

 the pliosphoric acid, potash and soda together, he will 

 see that they constitute 83.703 parts in 100 of the 

 ash of wheat. Lime forms loss than IJ percent, 

 while magnesia is present to the amount of nearly 13 

 percent. 100 lbs. of this wheat contained a little 

 less than 2J lbs. of ash when thoroughly burnt 

 (2.298 in 100.) Per centage of nitrogen in dried 

 grain 2.611. These figures show that 9.5 parts in lUO 

 of wlieat are clear coal (carbon) and th3 elements 

 of water. 



JoH.N Abf.r.nktht, the eminent surgeon, u.sed to 

 tell his scholars that all hutiian maladies arose from 

 two causes — stuffing and fretting. 



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