I87n.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



101 



As the peach is tlie most, iiniiDitant of all 

 our I'luits in lliis State, we may bo |)('riiiiU4'ii 

 to copy fVoiu tliu remarks of Mv. Kdvvanl Al- 

 len, ot' New .Icrsi'V, wliioli we lind in the piili- 

 lisliwl proceedings of the Now Jersey Horti- 

 cultural Society, kindly forwarded ns, (m the 

 " New 1-^iiits ot I'loniise," wliieh willdonlil- 

 loss he found nseful l.o onr readers. Mr. A Urn 

 says that the di.'^liniiMisiied I'reneh cuUivalor 

 and writei', Dnhanicl, .slates that Im planted 

 the seeds of the hest lal>le pears for llfty 

 years without prodneiiii; a <,'oo(l variety,' I'ut 

 that since tlu^ art orliybiidizint; and crossing 

 has become hotter nndcrstoiHl, man has 

 learned so to eontml and direct the proees.ses 

 of nature in prodneiiii; varieties as, in a meas- 

 ure, to iiredeti-rinine the le.sull, and lluis 

 oritlinate j^ood fruits almost at w'M. 



<(H recent iiroductions, adds Mr. Allen, 

 none, peihajts, are of more inipurtance to us 

 of New Jer.sey, than llie additions maile to 

 llio list of peaches, and sonu' of these frnni 

 Thomas Kivcrs, of Kuf,'latid, are worthy lA' 

 sp('eial notice. The Karly Kivers, I hvik upon 

 as line of the liest of its season ; very early, 

 fipeninj; liefoi-e Hale's Karly ; medium size, 

 with a delicate jiink cheek upon aground of 

 dear' pale straw ; llesh melting, sweet and 

 rich. ' ' ';'• • 



Early Tjouise, another from Rivers, of excel- 

 lent eiiaracter, about the same si/.e, and vip- 

 eiung a few days earlier. Karly FieatriiX', 

 from the same source, still earlii'r, ripcniii}? 

 ten days or two wt'cks before llule's and un- 

 like that variety, it han!;s lon;4 uiion the tree, 

 free from rot, coloring beautifully. I think 

 this peach worthy of all the popularity it has 

 gained as an extra early market fruit. The 

 seeuiing- modest tvait of this ttistinKhished cnl- 

 ti\'ator, of not over-eslin\ating his own pro- 

 ductions (a trait worthy of euuilalion) and the 

 fact thal'lan.:;e a poilion of onr peaches of the 

 best quality have oriiili\at<Ml in England, leads 

 mo to speak of these paiclies with greater 

 conlidenee. I name Ironi among tlunn Alex- 

 ander Noblesse, from the old Nobles.se, Init 

 much larj^er, and equally rich and excellent, 

 which, if it proves so with u.s, is good enough. 



Cbniet ; large, orange with crimson cheek, 

 nosh yellow, melting, sweet and good ; ripen- 

 ing a week lieforc its iiarcnt, the Sa.lway, 

 which has proved a valuable addition to the 

 list.pf late ijcachcs. While foreij^'u cultiyators 

 have lieen successfully at work, American cn- 

 tei'prise ha,s,uot been lacking. We have an 

 American Coinet, correctly IJillyeu's Comet, a 

 very large, white fleshed, freestone peach, 

 ripening a. half a month later than the (^mock. 

 It origiiiatcd in Maryland, where It lias ob- 

 tained popularity, and is promising as a' very 

 late iicaeh. Steadly ; iuiother very late and 

 extremely l;irge freestonii peach, white to the 

 pit, a,'ndii)f a very delicious flavor ; origin Sfis- 

 souri. The description is that of Mr. IIuss- 

 niann, of that State, than whom I know of no 

 better' authority ; he adds, " it is ten days 

 later than the lia Grange, aiid by far the best 

 Very late peach I kiiow^ of." Tlie Alexander 

 ami Am,sdeu's June are American peaches, 

 competitors for earliness, ripening Wo weeks 

 before Jlale's ; very handsome, and much 

 larger than Beatrice. They art^ very pn-omis- 

 iug, worthy at least of general trifvl. 



The Dowiung, from renii-sylvania, a good 

 peach, ripening long before Hale's, and (piite 

 juioy for so early a V)each. The (Jol. "W'ilder, 

 from the si\me source, of excellent ([uality, 

 ripening, too. before Hale's. The Honeywell, 

 from Ohio, is another extremely early, resem- 

 bling Alexaiuler, but earlier. There arc others 

 of promise ; several not yet named, said to be 

 extra early and good, but lime is reipiired to 

 d<>,termiuo their true eluuacter and position. 

 1 might say the .sami; of some others I have 

 named. 



The additioius made to thelist of peaches wit hr 

 in a very short period have beeu wonderful in 

 extending the season. Wc may now have this 

 delicious fnut fnmi the open ground, upon 

 our table four mouths in the year. 



I will add, although this frnita<lmit9 of dis- 

 tant carriage, and will 1 doubt not yet be 

 l)laeed in the markets of England by our en- 



terprising fruit growerH, he who would enjoy 

 it in its highest uxcelleueu must ciit it in iiis 

 own garden. 



WHITE CRESTED BLACK POLISH. 



All wrilei-s seem to agree that Polish or 

 I'oland fowls did not derive tJieir name fioni 

 thec.omitry of that name. One writer Dr. 

 Horner -according to AV right's Hook of I'oul- 

 tiy, suggests that the name probably had 

 reference rather to the very pecidiar crest or 

 poll of tlu'.se bud.s. " We have what is known 

 as the ' polled ' breed of cattle; and I)i'. 

 Horner's view, of the matter has at least .so 

 far found aecepla^tce, that I he name of I'olands 

 — once very comnKiu for llm.se fowls is now 

 nearly abolished, and Birnnngliam and most 

 othershows haveadopted that of Polish as pre- 

 ferable.'" The American standard of excellence 

 u.sesonly the designation of Polish. The Tolish 

 is i;emarkable not oidy on ;u'count of the ta'est 

 - which, indeed, is possesseil by some otht'r 

 fowls-but niore jiarticularly on account of 

 vervKeculiar craniological conformation. The 

 larger Ihe (a-est of the, Polish the larger and 

 more )irominent will be the elevate<l rounded 

 protuberance. , of tlu; skidl., The varicdies of 

 Polish fowls are; White Crested Black, 

 (iolden. Silver Wiiiti\ Bearded (ioUlen, 

 Bearded Silver, ,an,d Bearded Wliite. Of these. 



the W. C. Black and W. C. Whites are the 

 most popular and beautiful. None can rival 

 the former in beauty and striking contrast of 

 plumage;' The crest of snowy wliiteness fur- 

 nishes a most vivid and pleasing contrast with 

 the intense, liright black of the remaining 

 phmiage. 



They are also fair table fowls, being plump 

 and jialatable, although of small .size. In egg- 

 producing, however, is their strong point, and 

 here they hold theirown with nearly any breed, 

 unless it is the Leghorns. The eggs are of 

 good, I'ich Havor. One objection to theAVhite 

 Crested Black Polish is, that they are adapted 

 only to dry land, being almost sure to sicken 

 and die on low, dani]) grounds. Here again 

 the IjCghorns have adecided advantage. One 

 further objection as a table fowl may be urged 

 on account of their dark legs ; but this is only 

 a matter of appearance and fashion. For a 

 gentleman's park, to sniijily tlm family with a 

 full share of good fresh eggs, and as an ever- 

 pleasing attraction, this iirecd eei-taiidy has 

 strong and indisputaltle claims. They are 

 ni/ii-i^Uers.— W. Atlec BnriKe, Phila., Pa. 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Scale Insects. 



,7. M. G., Mo>mtril!,\ Taivc. m., /'<(.— The 

 maple branches you left at my residence a few 

 days ago, and the twigs and leaves of which 

 were infested by a number of scale-like insects 

 having a white cotton-like tuft attached t<i 

 ea(-h, arc the "maple bark louse "or "scale 

 insect " {Lecnnittm fimrlla). There are many 

 species of them, and they infest the maple, the 

 linden, the osage orange, the grape vines, 

 roses, and also other kinds of trees, vines and 

 shrubbery, bid I have found them most ahun<l- 

 ant (>n tliose named, except, iierhaps. oidy tUo. 

 roses, on which they occur rarely. Of coui-se, 

 they are injurious to the thrift of the trees 



they infest, and about twenty years ago a 

 .species marred the bi^auty of a row of linden 

 trees tlien standing in front of the court liousc, 

 which wati then in proccjis of construction. 

 These trees became so unsightly that thuy 

 went subsequently Removed, although, per- 

 haps, not Ibr that eaase alone. They havj) 

 liei'U in KancjLSterever since, some st!a.sons l,»ei- 

 coniing \er> abuuilant and at others ahuosl 

 disappearing. When they oc<'ur in great nmn- 

 bers fiu' several yi'ars in succ*!Ssion, the trees 

 they infest become so umch enervated antl dOr 

 lileieil that they do not recover their lost vigm' 

 for a long time, if ever. Thi'se insectM are eii; 

 doweil with extraordinary powers of prolilica- 

 tion ajid enduranci'. Each of tli'se (!otton- 

 like tufts coidaius from Ihret; to live hundred, 

 or more, eggs, and under favorabh- circnm- 

 slanees each egg will proiluce an in.sect. (>ii 

 oiii^ oecnsion, , 1 cnunliil live hundred and 

 thirty eggs in one tuft, and Unire were twenty 

 tuflson a linden branch about a foot in IcTigth; 

 and, the whole lind) from whii h it was taken 

 was iid'ested in a like manner, all the laterals 

 of which would have measured forty or Ijfly 

 feet in length. Now taking live hundred as 

 an average, and this branch would have pro- 

 duced 10.(1011 insects, and the whole lindi .'iOO,- 

 000; but this liudi was only the one-hundredtli 

 (lart of a single {nii: and there were si.x or 

 eight of them in the infested row. This woulil 

 have given ."lO.OtKi.ooo for a single tree, ami if 

 there were seven "f Uicm, the product of the 

 whole n)W would have been about :j.")O.(MKl,tH»0, 

 :ind there is not a doubt in my mind, there were 

 Inlly that number hat eh/-d from tla^ scales on 

 thosc^ trees; but they were <Md down, and the 

 insects weri! of course d<>troyed. The egg» 

 iUid iiuiects wheit tir.st evolved", eamiot be ikt- 

 ceived by the naked eye, unU'->-s the sight is 

 very sharp, but under a conunoH niagnJIier, 

 they ari! jilainly visible. The eggs are small 

 yellowish (lellets, resendiling minute lish roes, 

 and lh(! young are ilelieale little animals of a 

 whitish color^ oval form, six-legged, having 

 medium lengthened feelei-s(«(i/<;ii»(r) in front, 

 and twi; long bri.sUe-like appendag(^s at the 

 hind end of the body. Perhaps iiineteen- 

 twentieths of them, or more, are females, and 

 are without wings. The males have wings 

 which lie Hat (not closed together with the 

 edges raised u]^ on the back as in the Aiihiils 

 to which they an: remotely allied) and some- 

 times stand at right angles — or neiuiy .so— to 

 the body. It' is fortunate when a heavy 

 shower of rain occurs immediately after they 

 emerge from the eggs, for then nnllions .are 

 washe<l down fit>ra the trees and perish, and 

 tliis is why their incre^iso is sometimes checked 

 and why they do not occm' uuifonnly numer- 

 ous every year. How, or exactly when, the 

 female becomes fertile is not yet fully known ; 

 but after they issue from the eggs they .scatter 

 over the treesj, and the females insert their 

 beaks into tlie tender harl< of the branches or 

 buds, and live on the sap. Tliey then lose 

 their ant(-nna\ feet and seta, and become de- 

 graded iido a mere "scale " or "scab," and 

 remain stationary until the following spring. 

 T;arly in the spring they begin to secrete the 

 eottc)n-like sub.stance at the hind eml of their 

 bodies, into which they deposit their eggs, and 

 then die. The e;;gs .are hatched in the montli 

 ot June. The projier time to destroy them is 

 before the leafing or blooming of the trees, or 

 as soon as the white cotton liegins to apixiar. 

 This makes them iilainly visible, otherwise 

 they are the color of the' bark, and without 

 close insjiection cannot be seen. The .scales 

 nwy be destroyed with oil or carbolic soa)), 

 but , where acce.ssible. they may be easily rubbed 

 oil' w ith the hand. We published an illu.strated 

 jiaper on these insects twenty years ago in the 

 Pcnrisiihtinia Farm Jnuniiil, then i.ssued by 

 Ml-. Darlington, at West (,'hestcr, wdiither it 

 had been removed from I.auca.stcr city, but, 

 as is usual, verv few. perhaps, thouglit the 

 Jtiurnal of sullicient value U> jireserve. There 

 were alijo .short articles on the .snli.ject pul)- 

 lished in our city i>apcrs, one of which was 

 copied by the Puhlir Lcihjn: AVhere the in- 

 sects are" locatcil out of reach, and the tree is 

 deemed of sullieient value to iircserve, a swab 



