1876.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



but a professed and practical botanist would 

 be able to recognize tlie native plant in its na- 

 tive localities. The leadins varieties which 

 have been cultivated from the oii<;inal, and 

 which are now the most popular in the United 

 States, are the '' Litrije I'liqilc Toji"" and the 

 " Co!o,s.sa(, " and seedsmen and truck jjardeii- 

 crs esteem these in the main "<j;ood etionuli," 

 without flivins themselves nnicli troid>lealiont 

 others. On the subject of this veiiclalile, Mr. 

 Landreth, in his llund Ifetjislrr ihv 1S7."), says : 

 "There are, it is said, .several varieties of 

 asparagus, but the ditl'erence mainly arises 

 from the nature of the soil. On strong loamy 

 land the growth is more rolaisl. and the shoots 

 more tender than ou sandy soil. The variety 

 termed Coffissdl is of extraordinary size, and 

 the conciUTcnt testimony of experii'iiced mar- 

 ket gardeners leaves no room for doubt that 

 it really is of nuich more vigorous growth than 

 ordinary — whether the habit be lixed l)y cul- 

 ture, long directed to one object, or is tiie re- 

 sult of accident. We feel sure, however, that 

 anil variety will surely grow as large as desir- 

 able, if the plants have |)lenly of room and 

 niauiu'e. Market men fre(|uenily plant :i by 4 

 and dress heavily every year ; the sirongslioots 

 occasionally exposed in market, are produced 

 under the inlluenee of excessive stiuuUation. 

 The quality of asparagus will mainly depend 

 on the strength of the soil ; it is a voracious 

 plant, and can readily digest any amount of 

 the strongest manure food, which it is better 

 to apply on the surface, late in autumn, to be 

 forked in early in spring. .Salt is also an ex- 

 cellent application to asparagus beds. The 

 brine from beef or pork b.irrels i)roduces a 

 strong and vigorous growth." Asparagus, 

 like peas, we only have access to for a short 

 seas(m in early summer, and then we see noth- 

 ing more of it again for another year. On the 

 subject of " forcing " and a continuous supplv, 

 "Schenk's Gardeners' Text Book" say.s : 

 "With marketmen it is a matter of profit to 

 produce asparagus out of season ; this must 

 be accomplished by artificial heat. The first 

 plantation may be made in the middle of 

 autumn, and others every four weeks after- 

 ward until the middle of March ; by which 

 means a continued supply of shoots can be 

 obtained from December up to the first cut- 

 ting in the open ground. The process is sim- 

 l)le and easily practiced. The materials for 

 the hot bed should first undergo fermentation, 

 that when under a frame tlie heat may bo 

 gentle and regular ; because if it be violent, 

 it is apt to bring the plants up weak and 

 'spindling.' Dung may be advantageously 

 mixed with ashes and tan-bark, which mix- 

 ture, by insuring mildness and regularity in 

 heat, is better than duug. The luaximuin 

 heat ought not to exceed (5")^. " 



Select the earliest and finest seeds, and these 

 will be grown on the earliest and finest shoots 

 — those having large close heads — allowed to 

 nm up to seed without having been cut. In 

 the autumn wheu the berries are riiie they 

 should be stored in a dry ])lace until spring, 

 for sowing. In this vegetable, like nearly all 

 others, the improvem'nt of the plant largely 

 depends ou judicious sehrtiou in the first place, 

 and then manure and salt culture afterwards. 



QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



Mr. F., Lancnstfr rili/. Pit. — The beautiful 

 wild duck you exhil)ited to us in December 

 la,st, is a specimen of what is known among 

 naturalists as the " Long-tailed Duck," (Har- 

 ekla (iliu-iali.'') and what is most remarkable in 

 reference to this individual is, that it should 

 have been ca|)tured alive in a public street of 

 Lancaster city. Although it is not considered 

 rare in Jjaneaster county, yet its usual haliitat 

 is seas, bays, and larger streams, or rivers, 

 and rarely swamps or marshes. Fts favorite 

 food consists of mollnsks, crustaceans, and 

 marine worms, and presumably acpiatic; insects 

 also, as well as the fruit of aciuatic vegetation, 

 and so forth. This is the third wild bird that 

 has l)een captured within the corporate limits 

 of Lancaster city, within about six months. 

 A very perceptible change takes place iu the 



idnmagc of this bird during the winter season, 

 but this subject was still in its .summer garb. 

 The form of its long tail ap|)roaches that of 

 the common " I'in-tail," but liiat spi'cics is 

 nmeh larger, and is of a mottled gn^y in lolor. 

 whilst the species uudi'r consideration is black 

 anil white, with the oiitlinesof color distinctly 

 marked, and no admixtures whatever, except 

 around and alM)ve tin; eyes, which is .a light 

 bluish grey. A specimen is now in the museum 

 of the Litiiuviiii Siicirty, but this one would be 

 desirable should its proprietor gi't tired of it. 

 ./. /{. fc'., Linti- Vid'en, Lan. en., /^a.— We 

 an; not able to determine positivc-lytlK; species 

 of the larva' infesting your blackberry canes 

 near the roots. They are comparatividy new 

 to us, having never seen l)nt a single individ- 

 ual on any former occasion, nor have we been 

 able to find but a single nd'ereiice to it in any 

 of the liooks in our possession, or to whieh we 

 have access, and that is on page 1(17, vol. 1, of 

 the Amrri-an Rnbiinilixji.'^t, editeil bv Prof. 

 Charles V. Kilcy. This was a more practical 

 and useful journal of entomology than any that 

 ever came under om- observation, and yet its 

 ))ul>lication was snspendi'd for want of ade- 

 quate support. The largest specimens of these 

 "bon-rs" are fully an inch in length, and are 

 of a very jiale yellow color ; the smaller speci- 

 mens nearly white ; the head and feet a pale 

 yellowish brown, and the jaws nearly black. 

 They possess the characf eristics of Lepidop- 

 terous larvic, (moths,' &(!.) and we have no 

 doubt they belong to that order of insects. 

 We are not ac(iuainted specifically with the 

 moth, but it is very prob.ibly an /E,'erian, and 

 very nearly allied in size and form to yh'/rria 

 cwurbitii', which is som 'times so destructive 

 to the S(iuash and puuqikhi vines, and of which 

 we on one oc'casion found about twenty indi- 

 viduals in a single vine, all located in the 

 joints, and no where else, especially in those 

 that had thrown out rootlets. The most fa- 

 miliar examples of these insects are the peach 

 tree borer, and one of the currant cane borers, 

 another being a beetle. Some of the infested 

 canes had holes near the ground, large enough 

 for the entrance or escape of the larv;c, but as 

 the canes were excavated above said holes as 

 Well as below them, they are evidetitly aiier- 

 tures of egress, and not of ingress, instinctive- 

 ly prepared by the larv;c tor the escape of the, 

 moths next spring. As we have never been 

 very successful in breeding moths belonsing to 

 this family, and as we are less favorably situ- 

 ated now than form n-ly for that piu'pose, we 

 would re(iuest our correspondent to siqiply us 

 with some infested canes early next S|)ring, or, 

 to cut off some of the caues above the holes, 

 invert a bix over them having a cotton gauze 

 or a muslin top, and capture the insects when 

 they appear in the mi)th state in the spring or 

 sununer. As they were still in the larva' state 

 on the Sth of Di'cember, and very inert, they 

 most likely remain in that coiKlition all winter, 

 and only undergo th'ir pupal Iraiisformation 

 after their sjjriug revival. These borers seem 

 to subsist entirely upon the pith of the black- 

 berry canes, and follow that <lown to its ter- 

 mination in the roots, where they remain in 

 winter quarters. We made this observation, 

 that all our speciuK^nshail their heads u|)ward, 

 and yet their bodies entirely tilled the chan- 

 nels they occupied. They n\ust have bored 

 downward, ai\<l coidd not have turned insiile 

 of the channel they made. C'mdd they have 

 come up from below backward, cut Uw hole 

 in the side of the cane, and then by means of 

 it, backed down again to their winter quarters ? 

 Wc have witnessed as curious things as that 

 in the econoini<'S of Ihi' insect w irld. 



As to a reiiudij for thes(^ borers, we would 

 not recommend the digging up and entire de- 

 struction of the " patch." Blackberry canes, 

 under any circumstances, are but temporary. 

 We would suggest the cutting out oidy su'di 

 canes as are infested, and in most cases this 

 will be apparent. Follow the excavation in 

 the cane as far ius it goes downward, or until 

 the borer is reached. Where the pith termi- 

 nates or contracts, there the borer .stops; at 

 least we fomul none below that ])oint. The 

 infested portion may becut out without injury 



to the 80und portion which remains, and the 

 next season the stalks may be "a.s good iW 

 new." This work should be done, however, 

 in the fall, or early iu the spring, to make it 

 sure. 



Iliiufij Antx. — On page 172, Nov. numln'r of 

 TiiK K.vitMKu, imder thecap(!ion of "Informa- 

 tion Wanted," we referred to some II »(.•< that had 

 been sent us from some unknown locality, and 

 bv some unknown person. \ few days ago, 

 .Vir. W. T. Strachan, of .Santa Fe, New .Mexi- 

 co, called on us on his retm-n from that terri- 

 tory to Liiicasti-r, and informed us that it w.w 

 he who had seid, them, and that he had receiv- 

 ed them from a .Mexican, but he could not 

 give us much iiiform.iliou about their history 

 or habits. These anl^are jirobably allieil to the 

 ■'sweet scented ants" of Texas, n'l'erred to in 

 a recent paper on the subject, by Dr. (i. !.il.S'- 

 CKCtTM, or they may be the victims of another 

 species referred toby the same author; the latter 

 which he designates as the " Kobber Ants," 

 and stales that they eviscerate another species 

 for tlie i»urposcM)fo!)taiinng the sweet c tntenUi 

 of the stomach ; and that other species may 

 be the oni' which we have received through 

 Mr. S., as the great capacity of its stomach, 

 or honey rei^eptacle, no il aibt woidd consti- 

 tute ita "booty'" that wouhl exi'ite tliecu|>id- 

 ily of a robber. Mr. .S. has kiiuJIy put us in 

 cominimii'ation with Mr. F. Mi'ui'liv, of Santa 

 Fe, and through him we expect, in dui' lime, 

 to obtain the information we desire, and also 

 more iterft'ct speciTueiis. As this is alniut all 

 on this subject we are able to contribute at 

 this time, we must therefore await the devel- 

 opments of tlu! future, tor a more satisfiictory 

 description of them. 



Dr. J. P. If. — The small brown cocoons 

 whi(;h you gave us last spring, developed two 

 spei'ies of wiilely difterent insects, one of which 

 must he parasitii; on the other, but " which is 

 which" we have not yet deterinined, especi- 

 ally as one is a CahnijU-roiu^ insect, and the 

 other H!/mrn'iiiternu.<<; and they emerged from 

 the cocoons dm'ing our absence from home. 

 When we received these cocoons we opened 

 one of them ami made the following record : 



" May li, 1S7.'). A soft brownish silken co- 

 coon, about lhree-<piarters of an inch in length 

 anil the same iu circumference, with a com- 

 pact, smooth, sei'dlike cocoon of nearly the 

 same length within it, of adrabcolor. Within 

 this a short, fat, white grub, or /<irca, without 

 feet, and composed of a head and i:! .segments ; 

 two dark eye-likespots on the white head, and 

 a dark colored lahrum, or upper lip, but no 

 visible m«)i(?i7/'*'.s or jaws; awhile projecting 

 I'lbiiiin, or lower lip, and two labial appen- 

 dages {}iH'j)i). The segmental divisions very 

 distinct, with warty, or tubercular protulM-r- 

 ances along the sides, especially on tho.se seg- 

 ments between the thorax and the abdomen. 

 About a il')7.en of the.sc cocoons were turned 

 uji in plowing in a piece of new land." The 

 larva' resendtles that of the chestnut weevil, 

 and also that of the early stages of the com- 

 mon wa-sp (PiilUttn). On the 1st of .\ugust 

 we fomid the ends of live of thecooons open- 

 ed, anin/i;*!'* specimens of a species of Itijiiit- 

 Iwrus, and t>c:i of a species of f-lin'ttni'midtn; 

 but which of the two spun the cocoons, if 

 either of them, we are not able to determine. 

 They are probably b ith par:tsit icon .some other 

 largi'r insect, whii'h m ly have spun the co- 

 coons. The necessity of earning our bread at 

 an occupation that is almost entirely incom- 

 patible with the continuous and succpssfiil re- 

 sults of investigations of this kind, is one of 

 the great " drawb.icks " Wi- are lalwring under, 

 and hence we are often defeated, and our par- 

 tial observ.itions amount to almost nothing.' 

 We are confident that no other insect had ac- 

 ces.s to these cocoons while they wei-e in our 

 I)os.se-s.sion. That they were i)lowed out of 

 the ground, we have only from "hearsay." 

 But our record m;wh'. at the time and the sub- 

 sequent development of the insects are /acta. 



The Dandelion ( TarrLitriim denskonia) was 

 in bloom in Lancjuster county the iircsent 

 month, a phenomenon which only realy occurs 

 in this latitude. 



