187G.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



53 



sessi'd ;iii(l cDllcctcd, il is not so siirpi-isiii<,' 

 lliat tiixcs should lie so loiii; withheld, so 

 gi-a<l;,'in)i]v i)iiid, and so rni'ai,'cily rclin-ncd. 

 It (^ocs si'iMii, that no matter how honest and 

 disinterested men nia^' appear hel'ore they K>'t 

 into otHce, as soon as tliey attain sneh "posi- 

 tions they Ijeeome indilVereid. or are solely al>- 

 sorbed in sehenii's ot seit-a.L,'t;randi/.ement, and 

 neLjleet the interest of the people entirely. 

 Let us have (quilnblc taxation, whether the 

 taxes are lnmiKlly paid or not. O/ict taxed is 

 enough, in a country of equal laws. 



INSECTS, AND INSECT REMEDIES 

 ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 



Fnini the U. .V. Maijaziiw <if ITT'J. 



"Ill the fall of 17711, I iiioveil from I'liilailelptiia 

 hito Kciil eiiuiily, ill tlie Di'lawaro 8late, wlii-ri', oli- 

 Buiviiii; till' cli'stnietion (il'llu' lly iiiafle on lh<^ wheal, 

 it rcealU'il to my iiu'iiiory liaviiii,' read in an F.ii:;lisli 

 maij-azine Bome Iweiily or tliirty years siiieo, a liUe 

 ealainily in Franee, wliich nearly liniiiijlit on ii 

 famine, and the iiiellioil the Freiieh look to stop tlie 

 devastation. .Vceonlinu'ly last ^[irini; I lu-spolie my 

 year's consumption of tinit jrrain, ofa neii^hhorim; 

 farmer, to be ilelivorcd to me inniiediatcly- aftei' 

 harve.st ; liiit I diil not iiv\. it until two weeks'afier il. 

 was cut, in wllicll time 1 olisel-ved the lly had lie!;un 

 its deiuvdalioii. 1 tlii'ii put a hiast into llie oven, 

 hut not sullieieiit to heat it for baUins:; when the 

 wood was liunit down, I rakeil out the eoals 

 witli what ashes the rake would brin;; out with them 

 and havim; previously prepared a tub of w ater, and 

 a Uu'L'e mop ; alternately I rinsed the mop and 

 swabbed out the reniainiiiij ashes until the hearth 

 was so eooled that I eould bear my linger on llie 

 brieks nearly ten seeoiids. 



Iinnieiliately I then tumbled in my wheat, and 

 bavins; elosely stopjied up the oven, I let it remain 

 therein twenty-four hours. This process, 1 find, has 

 totally destroyed the insect and its emliryo. Thus, 

 while the neighborhood around nie are obliged to 

 eat their maggoty, putrid grain, we have good bread, 

 as heretofore. 



At first I was fearful of oue or other of three evils 

 attending the [irocess; either it would kill the vege- 

 tation, or it would prevent fermentation, or it would 

 give the Hour a brown cast, and perhaps all three ; 

 but 1 have the pleasure to tind neither is the ease, 

 for we have as light and as white bread as formerly, 

 aud on trying a small handl'ul of the wheat in moist 

 earth, I found it take root and sprout in aljout three 

 days, and I could not perceive a grain miscarry. 



iiy the best accounts I could gather, the farmers 

 hereabout have lost near two-thirds of their present 

 crops by the lly, and what remains is light, very dis- 

 agreeable to the taste, aud I believe very unwhole- 

 some. A comniou sized oven will, at one operation, 

 kiln-dry si.\teen or eighteen bushels, no matter how 

 full the oven is, which my be turned iu at the hole 

 left to carry olf the smoke in heating. Thus, one 

 oven in a week will secure one hundred busliels from 

 the voracity of that destructive insect. Grinding it 

 into Hour inuuediately after reaping, will answer the 

 same end ; but this is an advantage tliat but few can 

 obtain, aud if the whole could, iihe mills must lay 

 idle the remainder of the year. 



Perusing the London iliKjar.ine for the year 1773, 

 since I wrote the above, in the month of May for that 

 year, I found the following experiments, addresse I to 

 a member of the Royal Nockli/ ; and as I appridiend 

 the rc-i>ublication may be of great utility, I shall be 

 mucli pleased to see it in your useful magazine. 



Benjamin JIiiilin. 



Tlie above writer baloii<;ed to an old and 

 distingnishud Pennsylvania lainily, tiiid was 

 no doubt a brotlier of TlloMAs MlFFLIX, a 

 Revolutionary ollicer, and one of the early 

 governors of the State, under the Constitu- 

 tion ; and the insect to wliich he alludes ini- 

 der the name of the "Fly" was no donlit, a 

 species of "weevil," for there is no ////tliat we 

 wot of, the maggots of which could do any 

 damagt^ to wheat after it had ripened. The 

 " midge" {6Vfi(/o)/(//i(t (ri'Si'c)') after the larvte 

 litis matured, goes into the earth, and ellects 

 its transfoniiation there. Tliis insect tlieu 

 nuist have been tlie black or "granary 

 weevil" {Sitdjihilus ijrannrius) which infests 

 corn, wheat and otlier grains. The tulult fe- 

 male deposits its eggs on ripe grain, from 

 spring to fall, and the. larvte lives and under- 

 goes its tninsformations within the kernel. 

 We htive often detected it on the hetids or 

 ears of ripe wheat in tlu' lield ; and wlien the 

 eggs are hatched the young Uiri-fc bore into 

 the floury parti of the grains of wheat and 

 corn, if indeed the mother does not lirst punc- 

 ture the seed before she deposits her eggs. 

 We have also seen teiis of thousands of tliese 



weevils in granaries, corni-ribs and old barns, 

 and we happen to know that they luivea very 

 ininrious elTect upon the ipiality of tiie 

 wheat, ;uid the Hour that is made from it. 



Now, adniilting thtit the foregoing article 

 has referenct^ to the gninary weevil, we do 

 not think any bidter plan has been developed 

 for its destruction during the entire century 

 than that which w;is prtiiticed one hundred 

 years ago, by Mr. Milllin, and which had been 

 known in France a (juarter of a century be- 

 fore. For this reason we reproduce it here, 

 ;uid also to show the antiquity of agri<adtural 

 entomology, and illustrates i\w jirogress wc; 

 are making in that direi-tion. Kiln-drying 

 has often been reconnnended for infeste<l 

 grains, nuts and seeds, and wlieie it has been 

 skillfully done, it has been successful. It is 

 triU', this process may be a slow on(f, but if it 

 is ;i sure one it is worth trying. I'erliaps we 

 have too little veneration for old things, only 

 liccausi: they ;irc old. We want in some ipiick 

 w;iy to "do.s(i" insects, and then let it work 

 its own way, whilst we turn our atlention to 

 some other speculation thtit will "n;iy" 

 better. The article tdluded to in Mr. M.'s 

 closing iiatagraph, we reserve for another 

 occasion, fof, during the yetir, wi; intend to 

 placid ISTii and 1770 in contrast where we 

 think it uaii be useful. — Eu. 



OLD BUFO. 



We entertttin a feeling of iirofound regard 

 for the common toad ( Hafiidiairiranii) anil also 

 for those who condescend to say a kind word 

 in his favor. And yet, it is in reality no act 

 of co)i(^,spc)i,sJo)i to do so, but an impenitive 

 duty ; for, of all tlu! ho]i|)iiig or creeping 

 things that have a local haliitalion anioiig us, 

 there is none more useful than the toad ; and 

 yet he is almost universally despised, if not 

 "hated and maltreated, lie does no harm what- 

 ever, but on the contrary, a great deal of 

 good, and consequiMitly he is always a wel- 

 come guest to our domicile and garden. In- 

 deed, they seem to know that they are wel- 

 come and often conduct their scavengering 

 Udiors in our iireseui^e, seemingly to show 

 whiit they arc capable of doing. We know 

 not how long a toad will survive, but it seems 

 that we have recognized the same old rusty- 

 coated blinkers for a succession of seasons. 

 They have the most capacious mouths and 

 stomachs of any animals of their size and 

 weight, and aiipetitcs to correspond. We are 

 satisfied that they answer the end for which 

 they have been permitted to exist, far nearer 

 thau many of the human species. 



Toads. 



The toad is a most useful thing in a garden. I 

 had a plant dreailfully infested with wood-lice, almost 

 destroyed by them, and a toad located himself by as 

 its protector, and to be ready in an emergency he 

 made in the mould a hole all but tleej) enough to hide 

 himself in, but not deep eiiouirh to pruvent his liav- 

 iiig a thorough good view of the plant ; and wlicn 

 wood-louse, beetle, or anything of the kind appeared 

 near him or the plant, out he came and jiounced 

 ujion it — " You arc mine !" This was wholly his 

 work. I only watched him sometimes, greatly 

 l)leased at his success. Another time as I was walk- 

 ing alom; a path in the garden I saw the load ap- 

 proaching ; the pace was (piii-k for a toad, but I soon 

 saw what Ik- was after. Just on lieforc him was a 

 beetle which I expected to see caught, liut ere there 

 was apparently time for them to meet, the beetle had 

 disappeared, so quickly that my eye was not i|uiek 

 enough to .sec it taken, but no doubt it was in the 

 load's mouth, as i heard a click that told the talc of 

 eapturt;. Two other toads seem to havis concerted 

 between themselves how to act one evening so as to 

 take a border regularly, and in order to do their 

 work well it appeared to tie arranired that one of 

 them should go on the liorder and this other stay out- 

 side, having the box cd^'ing between tlicni ; and so 

 they did their work of clcaring,"keepiiig just opposite 

 the oni' to the other, as I was watching them from 

 the window alKive. 1 wish we could all act with 

 good feeling towards such useful creatures. They 

 do much good and no harm, but I have every reason 

 to believe they are sometimes treated most cruelly. — 

 I{. T. in Gardener's Chronicle. 



To CoiJi!ESPONDENT8.— E. J. D.'s poetical 

 elfusions will ai)pear in season. 



OLD AND NEW FLOWERS. 



I noticed an article in your paper last fall 

 speaking of tlie deterioration of our old- 

 fashioned dowel's, and of the inferiority of the 

 new Hybrid ro.ses, when conipared with the 

 old " llnndred leaf" " "^'ork ;ind I.anca.ster," 

 Cabbage roses and others. I will agree with 

 (he writer as regards perfume, but not its re- 

 gtirds form and coloring. A gentleman re- 

 siding in < 'assvillc (.Mr. I. Hamngarliier) lias 

 ro.ses in his garden which usually bloom pro- 

 fusely from .lime till ".lai'k Frost" putsan iiii- 

 tiiiiely end to their loveliness, and tin- quality 

 of the flowers will bear comparison with any of 

 their kind. I do not remember Just how many 

 varieties he liti.s, but ipiite a number, and most 

 of them he has budded himself. Fine Hybrid 

 roses are the " rule " nitluT tliiiii the "excep- 

 tion " in Lancaster, (iiant county. I noticed 

 very fine ones there this summer. 



Xow, as regards the old-fashioned flowers, 

 such as I'iiiks, I'Idox Druinmondii, Aslein, 

 I'etunias, and la.st but not least, Verbena.s, I 

 cannot, so far as my ex| erieiice gotss, agree 

 with the before-mentioned writer. In lH7:{-7-t 

 my Asters were almo.st eipial to Dahlias. TIiIh 

 year they were not nearly so line, but the fault 

 W'as my own. 1 gave them a shady location 

 and but little ctire, which they resented by 

 giving nic small stunted (lowers. My I'Idox 

 were iicrfeetly betiutiful. I counted over forty 

 distinct varieties, and the flowers were very 

 large and the colors brilliant. My I'etuniiiS 

 were not .so large nor the colors as fme as 

 usutil; my own fault again, for this most of 

 them were .self-sown. My I'ortulaca, or Hose- 

 Moss, was the linest I ever .saw. Three years 

 siiK* I bought some doujile .Mo.ss .seed from 

 .lames V^ick, florist; the first season there was 

 but one kind, which proved to be double 

 flowers— they wei-e red; till of the I'ink, M,a- 

 genta, Yellow and White, were single. The 

 next year iu the same Im'iI, .s'(/"-.-.oicyi, I found 

 some fines double white flowers, and one root 

 of double yellow. This year almost every root 

 in the bed bore double flowers— yellow, white, 

 and three or four shades of red, and the flowers 

 so large that they looked like roses, the half- 

 blown buds being eipially as large as rose buds. 



My Verbena bed was very line; there were 

 three or four shades of red, three or four of 

 ytdlow, some pure white, some variegated. 

 ThelH'd and every inch of the groimcl was per- 

 fectly covered with a dense nia.ss of foliage and 

 flowers, some of the branches riinning out 

 three or four feet from the main stalk, taking 

 root at each Joint and sending up new branches 

 of flowers. My A'erbenas commenced bloom- 

 ing early and bloomed till long after the frost 

 had killed all the other llowers, except the 

 Pausies. 



I must speak a word in favor of the Tropeo- 

 lum Mtijns, as a rnnning vine. Mine were 

 planted in front of a high porch for the pur- 

 ])ose of giving shade in the afternoon, when 

 the sun would shine directly on llitit side of 

 the house. My plants cominencecl blooming 

 when less than' two feet high, and I was quite 

 .sorry to see them do .so, feeling ipiite sure that 

 there would be no vines to serve as a screen 

 from the sun this summer; but I was mistaken; 

 they did run, soon reaching the top of the 

 l)orch and then riuining over the roof quite a 

 disttince, the whole length of the vines U-in^ 

 lifteeii feet and blossoming coii.stantly, so thai 

 the front of the vines were one continuoiia 

 nia.ss of flowers. .Some of the largest in size 

 and flnest in cidor were along the top of the 

 porch, covering t he eave-trough. Over tmother 

 porch I had Madeira vines. They are U-autiful 

 with their thick waxen glossy leaves, and so 

 cletin, no worms or insects about them. If 

 any one wants vines with but little trouble get 

 a bulb of Madeira vine and take ptiins to give 

 it a rich soil, ;uid the next year you can cover 

 the whole house with vines if you wish, such 

 ipiantities of bulbs will you liavi' in the fall. — 

 Ju.sciiliinc C. Linuj, 6'ra»( m., iri.f., Gcr. Tel. 

 ^ 



TnECENTEXNiAi-ExiiiniTioNwill open on 

 the Kith of next month. It will be the linest dis- 

 play in buildings and industrial products ever 

 seeu in oue collection, and will be worthsccing. 



