I87r..] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



-103 



I 



a " groiind-bc'cUe ;" we liclievc il is more spc- 

 cilically cMllfd tlie "Fiery (!i(niiiil-liootU'," 

 hat IK rliaps not more than one in five thou- 

 sand knows it even l)y that name — so diOicuIt 

 is it to teaeli entoniok>L!y to tlie masses. Sei- 

 entilieally this insect is ealleil Catofonm atli- 

 dum. We esteem it a <;reat triend to the 

 husliandniaji, an<l tlieretore we admonish all 

 who may reioi^'nize it lospare it if possililc. It 

 does not I'ecd on vi'.u'clalion in any ot its stages 

 ot developnieiil, lint is <Mitirely carniverons in 

 its habits, and we helii've it hasln'cn detei-tcd 

 feeding on the larva of the "Colorado potato- 

 beetle. "'■ 



C, F. li., Lancaster, Pa. — The large grey 

 insert with the eoiled np tongue and the 

 "queer, histrous eyes," is one of the eonnnon 

 " Ilawk-moliis " — the fiphinx quhvpumnmlrita 

 or " l^'ive-siiotted Sphinx " of entomologists, 

 although it is now referred to a new genus, 

 {Man-iis\i!la). It is the eonnnon enemy of the 

 tobaeeo jilant and is the parent of those large 

 " green worms" which itd'est tlu^ plants after 

 tliey have cscai>ed the ordeal of tlie "cut- 

 worms" and other pests and liindrances to 

 tobrDCco culture. 



•ey fo 

 cdt'p 



F. JC, Lancaster, Pa. 

 winged fly you sent us is the " Horned t'ory 

 dali's" or " ilelgramite," (Cori/ddJlisrarnutus). 

 It is a male specimen, the female being with- 

 out those long horn-lik(! "mandibles." For- 

 midable as iliey appear, they avo entirely 

 liarmless, and in their matured state feed 

 on nothing. The larrtr arc aqueous in their 

 habits, and they feed on any little Avater ani- 

 mal they can catch, and we presume would 

 not reject the "fry'" of lish. 



(hnni. — Your several drab-colored beetles, 

 with the six black dots on tlu; wing covers, 

 arc the "Large Grape-leaf IJeetle, (Pclhidota 

 piinctnta) and tlie best thing you can do is to 

 kill all that are " comeatablc " on a venture. 



METEOROLOGICAL DIARY AT PHILA- 

 DELPHIA, FOR JUNE, 1776. 



nAYK. noms. thek. 



1 8 A.M .... 6.5 



2.'....'8 A. M 71 



3 8 A. M fi3 



4 8 A. M 5li 



M 61 



M 61... . 



.M 65.. 



M 6.5.. 



. M 68.. 



M 67.. 



.8 A. M 6.8.. 



.8 A. .M 66 . 



5 8 A. 



a 8 A. 



7 8 A. 



8 8 A. 



9 8 A. 



10 8 A. 



11.. 

 13.. 



WINDS. \vKATni;ii. 



S. W Fair :ui.l WiiKly. 



S. W Wimly .t Clouily. 



N. E Cloiuiy. 



N Fair. 



S. E K:iii-. 



S. W Cloudy. 



. ..Cloutly. 



... Fair. 



... F.-vir. 



....Fair. 



....Cloudy. 



....Fair. 



....Fair. 



....P'air. 



....Fair. 



...8. W... 



.. N. W... 



... W. .. 



.. S. W... 



I..N.E. . 



... N.E... 



13 8 A.M. 68 .... N. W. . 



U 8 A. M 73 S. W... 



1.5.... .8 A.M 7;! S. W. . 



16 No Observations. 



17 No Obsfrvations. 



18 8 A.M 67 N. F.iir. 



l!t 8 A. M .... 6:j N. W Fair. 



80... ...8 A. M 6-8 N. W Fair. 



21 8 .V. M 70 N.E Fair. 



33 8 A. M 71 W Cloudy. 



25 No Obsprvat.ioDS. 



St 8 A. M 73 S. W Cloudy. 



2.5 8 A. M 69 8. E Foirffv'. 



26 8 A. M 71 S. W Fofriry. 



27 8 A. M 73 8. W Fair. 



38 8 A. M 73 N. E Cloudy. 



3!» 8 A. M 73 S. W Cloudy. 



SO No Otisiivations. 



On tlie Kith, 17th, 2:id and :!Oth no olwerva- 

 tions were made, according to the tabular 

 statement above, which is taken from the 

 Pcnnsijlvania Majazinc for July, 1T7U. 13ut 

 taking the temperature of the Kith, 2;!d and 

 3()th to be the same as the days next preced- 

 ing them, and the 17th to be that of the day 

 next succeeding it, would make the average 

 temperatme for the month, at 8 A. M., a 

 vitry small frai'tion over OS'^. 



According to the observations made by Mr. 

 Spera, at Eiihrata, for the month of Juni% 

 1S7G, the average temperature is a small frac- 

 tion less than 71", and from the fact that his 

 observations were made oncthour earlier in the 

 day than those of 1770, the average was pro- 

 bably greater at S A. it. Under any eireum- 

 Slances it will be iierceived that the mean 



temperature tor .lune, lH7i), w;us about thre(^ 

 degrees higher than for the same month in 

 177(). 



During tliat month, otir forefathers were en- 

 gaged in elaborating the Declaration of Tnde- 

 prndmce, and when we peruse the legislation 

 previous to the promulgation of the great 

 event, we may sujipose they had a warm and 

 anxious time of it. Their iioslerity occupied 

 the month of .lune, 1S7I1, in eliiborating Plat- 

 fdi-tiis and Standard Hearers to savi^ and per- 

 petuate what their ancestry established om- 

 liundred years ago. 



Thermometer, June, 1876. 



Ephrata, Lauuasler county, Pa. 



Hygrometrical Diary at Philadelphia for 

 June, 1776. 



1. 



iiotma. 



9 A.M. 



...100.. 



HYGROM. DAYS. 

 3 P.M.I 



HOUK8. 

 II A. M 



110,16 NoObs. 



llYOIiOM, 

 3 A. H. 



2 No observation. jl7 90 



3 90 80 18 80 . 



4 40 .. .50 19 95 



5 .35 .5030 75 . 



50 



.......100 



80 



, ..NoObs. 



...... 65 



....... 74 



80 



90 . . . : . 



. 55 31 60. 



.110,23 90 . 



. 90,33 .50. 



, '34 75 . 



. 70:25 100 . 



. 80'36 75. 



. 98 

 . 75 

 .100 

 . SO 

 . 65 



14 



15 



40 



60 . 



. 85 37 



.11038 



. 55|29. ... 

 . 75|30 



.. 90 . 

 .. .50 . 

 .. 70. 

 ..90... 



.... 00 

 .. .. 80 

 .. ..110 



.80 



.... 84 



65 



.... 75 

 ....110 



Barometrical Diary 



at Ephrata, 

 1876. 



Pa., for June 



and heights in the westiMii end of this county. 

 Any observidions yon niay at any time desire, 

 will be most cheerfully furnished" for all of 

 which we feed exceedingly thankful, and .shall 

 avail ourself in the future of his kinil offer. 

 As thi! observations of 177fl an- hygrometrical 

 and those of IK'ii barometrical, (for differ- 

 ence in wliieli see jip. .5(1 ."u of our .\pril num- 

 ber). Our readera cannot make the sjime 

 comparison as they can in the thcmometrical 

 observations. 



THE CURRANT (Ribes). 



Wc are not acipiaiuted with any fruit which 

 is more generally ilissemin:ited through the 

 Northern SUitcs, than thi^ one now under 

 notice. In .some sections it wouid be a dilli- 

 c\ill matter to find a respectable; farm hou.se 

 that is without a few currant bushes cither 

 ilisposed along the path which leads to the 

 front door, or planted by the feiua! of thi^ vege- 

 table garden. It is trui^, tluit in nine cases 

 out of ten they receive little or no ciiltivatiou 

 — being seldom relieved of llu^ old, barren 

 wood, and not manureil from one yeuir's end 

 to another. StiH.the good wife places a high 

 estimate uiion the fruit, and would nut wil- 

 lingly be deprived of it. There are many 

 reasons by which to account for this, such xs 

 the h;irdy character of the shrub, its free, 

 growth and great productivene.ss, in addition 

 to the cxciilent qu;ilities of the fruit, both 

 when freshly piirked and in its preserved state. 



There are .several species to be found grow- 

 ing wild in this country, but tliose of our gar- 

 dens came originally from the iiorlherii jiarts 

 of Knrope and Asia, and are largely indebted 

 to the skill of the Dutch horticulturists. In 

 SilK'ria, the berry of the black species, the U. 

 'nigrum, freipiently attains the size of a hazel 

 niit. Botanists aver that the white currant 

 which by .some. ha.s lieen considen^d a distinct 

 siiecies, the J{. allnan, is nothing but a variety 

 of the red species, the H. ruhrniu. When the, 

 shrub is found in its natural state, the berry 

 is either black or red. of snuill .si/.e and poor 

 flavor. Till" name of the fruit is .said to liavc 

 been derived from the resemblance of the ber- 

 ries to the little Corinth graiicK or raisins, 

 which have long liccn known in connnerce a-s 

 currants — the word evidently lieing a corrup- 

 tion of Corinth. 



It seems strange ihut so little attoption 

 should be paid to the selection of the Ix'st 

 varieties for culture when they can be obtained 

 so easily and at such trilling cost. They arc 

 not only more profitable than the common 

 kinds, in a peciuiiary point of view, but their 

 fruit is infinitely superior for domestic uses. 

 Of the i>opularred siM^cies, the following varie- 

 ties may be considerc'd chiefly worthy of notice, 

 viz; the lied Dutch, Maifs I'ictoria, and 

 Kni'jhVs Sweet lied. Of the wbilt^ variety the 

 White Dntck and the White. Gniiie are un- 

 doubtedly the best sfirts for the garden. The 

 Cliaiiiiieujun is of a light iiink color, between 

 the i^edaml White Dutch; it is acid, and cul- 

 tivated by many a.s a curio,sity. Of the bLwik 

 species, tie ihrnnutn Black is much inferior to 

 tlie Black Naplts. 



CuLTlTUK. — An idea apjiears to have be- 

 come iireviilent, tliat currant bushes rexpiire 

 neither high culture nor ;ittention of any kind. 

 They are generally choked with gra.ss and 

 weeds, of a stunted, inferior growth, full of 

 dead wood, and producing fruit of the |>oorest 

 description. Kxperience has denionstnited, 

 however, that no inmate of the garden can be 

 more, inqiroved by a rich soil and careful cul- 

 tivation. 



.N((w bushes are easily obtained by planting 

 cuttings of the la.st year's growth. They 

 should betaken ft-om the most vigorous shoots 

 and with a sharj) knife, so a,s to leave no rough 

 or jagged edges to the bark. They ought to be 

 about lOor l-J inches in length, and, when they 

 are to be trained as standards, to have the buds 

 on the lower half smoothly cutout, in order to 

 ])revcnt the appearance of troublesome suck- 

 ers. Plant the cuttings, ;ifter being thus pre- 

 pared, about six inches deep, and at least, two 

 feet ai>art, in early spring or just before win- 

 ter sets in. 



