THE GENESEE FARMER. 



219 



CONDUCTED BY JOSEPH FROST. 



CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS. 



Conservatory. — Some management is required to 

 beep up the display in this and similar structures du- 

 ring the next few months, as the present high tempe- 

 rature will soon bring to a close the blooming season 

 with most green-house plants. Gardeners will be now 

 getting into a forward state plants sufficient to make 

 a good display for a considerable time ; for the above 

 purpose the stock of balsams and pot annuals should 

 be looked to, and if a shift is necessary, let it be 

 done at once; for potting the above and other quick- 

 growing plants, the compost should be both porous 

 and rich, that a clean, vigorous growth may be ob- 

 tained. After the last shift, weak manure water may 

 be given rather frequently, to assist the above ends. 

 Neriums will be showing bloom, which will be the 

 finer if the pots are jjlaced in feeders and kept well 

 supplied with water. Fuchsias, Kalosanths, scarlet 

 Pelargoniums, Lilium longiflorum and eximium, and 

 the various other plants, should be introduced as they 

 get into bloom. In addition, a number of plants 

 from the hot-house may be safely allowed to bloom 

 in the conservatory for the next two months, and if a 

 few Palms can be added, they will form an interesting 

 feature at this season. Another difficulty will be felt 

 in keeping these houses sufficiently cool to be enjoya- 

 ble ; to assist in keeping down the temperatue, well 

 sprinkle every part of the interior each morning and 

 night, and this, if practicable, may be repeated during 

 the day; the canvas shading may likewise be damped 

 during very hot weather by the garden engine, which 

 will have the effect of lowering the internal air con- 

 siderably. Green-house plants standing out of doors 

 should have their pots protected from the direct action 

 of the sun, either by being plunged or inserted into 

 other pots. In all plant structures attention must be 

 paid to counteract the effects of the present extreme 

 heat by frequently flooding the pathways, and syring- 

 ing every part of the interior several times daily. 

 The plants themselves will require well syringing ; 

 but let this be done late in the evening and early in 

 the morning, to prevent any injury which might arise 

 to delicate-leaved plants from the sun's rays acting on 

 imperfectly dried foliage. 



Floiver Garden and Shrubbery. — A complete 

 stirring of the flower garden beds, to break up the 

 hard crusty surface caused by heavy rains, should be 

 made before the plants get much larger. Procted 

 with pegging down, or tying growing plants as they 

 advance, till they occupy their allotted space, when 

 more freedom may be allowed them, but even then, 

 iu well-arranged flower gardens, each bed should be 

 perfectly symmetrical as a whole, although forming 

 only a part of the general design ; remove weeds as 

 they appear, and pay the greatest attention to neat- 

 ness and order, without which the richer display of 

 flowers looks unsatisfactory. Advantage should be 

 taken of examining the walks during heavy rains, to 

 see the drains are sufficient to carry off the water, and 

 additional drains and grates put down where necessary. 



SOUTHWORTH'S STRAWBERRIES. 



Mr. Souteworth, of Penfield, Monroe county, N. 

 T., has been very successful with his strawbeny cul- 

 ture this season. His vines extend over" two acres of 

 good soil, and he has an abundant crop of Burr's 

 JVeiv Pine, Hoveys Seedling, and the Early Scar- 

 let varieties. Of the varieties mentioned, he gives a 

 decided preference to the Burrs JYetv Pine. It 

 bears well, and is probably the finest beriy ever 

 grown; and he is able to supply large quantities of 

 the fruit. His estimate is some 4,000 to 5,000 quarts 

 of all kinds this season. We have had a trial of hia 

 berries, and pronounce them No. 1. 



A DESTRUCTIVE INSECT. 



Mr. Editor : — As I often read in your paper no- 

 tices and remarks respecting the various insects that 

 attack not only fruit but also forest trees, and as no 

 fact in Natural History is or can be indifferent to the 

 real student of Nature, for we are all but mere 

 learners in the mysterious economy of the insect 

 world, I offer no apology for laying before your read- 

 ers a fact which came under my own observation last 

 summer, while standing on the veranda of a gentle- 

 man's house near the Rice Lake, where there were 

 growing many beautiful forest trees, and among the 

 rest several vigorous Black Oak saphngs. The beauty 

 of their shining foliage, olive bark, and general grace- 

 ful outline, were under discussion. The air was 

 breezeless, the lake iu unruflled smoothness gleamed 

 like silver through the trees in the stillness and radi- 

 ance of a cloudless sky. Suddenly a quivering tre- 

 mor was visible iu a single branch of one of the 

 Black Oaks — it was one of the lowest and thickest 

 limbs — and to our great surprise it fell to the ground, 

 as if severed by some invisible axe. Down it came, 

 and loaded with its green and glistening foliage it lay 

 upon the ground. It was about an inch and a quarter 

 in diameter. 



AVe hastened to the spot to examine into the cause 

 of this mystery. The bough had been severed about 

 two feet from the main trunk, above the fork of the 

 branch. It presented the appearance as if a very 

 fine saw or rather file had been at work. The severed 

 end was slightly convex ; that on the remainder of 

 the branch, on 'the tree itself, concave. For some 

 seconds we were unable to find the Uttle mechanic ; 

 but at last I noticed a very small bore, oval in shape, 

 and on opening the wood with a penknife I found a 

 whitish worm, with a blunt, copper-colored nose. It 

 was ringed, and I think had eight feet, but of this 

 I am not sure ; they were reddish in color. The 

 creature was not more than the third of an inch in 

 length ; and on touching it the surface was like a 

 rasp, and seemed to resist the finger on being drawn 

 from the head downward, though to the naked eye 

 the surface looked quite smooth. No doubt this was 

 the instrument with which he had worked so diligently 

 to effect his escape. 



About an inch above the severed part was a double 

 leaf-bud, behind which a very small puncture had 

 been made by the parent fly when it provided so sound 

 an oaken cradle for the protection of its unknown 

 successor, which, when ready for its exodus, had beeu 



