84 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[June, 



Uect that this mechanical coutrivance is but au 

 imperfect reflex of the system tliat exists iu 

 the operation of nature's laws ; and from tliis 

 we may form some idea of what we have yet 

 to learn, and what yet to do, before we can 

 hope for an immunity from a redundancy of 

 pestiferous insects. If the mechanic "who 

 constructed such a clock as we alluded to was 

 to make one wheel too large and another 

 wheel too small ; one spring too strong and 

 another spring too weak ; one lever too long 

 and another lever to short, or one cord too 

 tense and another cord too lax, the result 

 would be a disturliauce of the equilibrium of 

 the whole and the destructive acceleration of 

 some of the parts, and the damaging retarda- 

 tion of other parts ; and general disorganiza- 

 tion would follow, as sure as domestic and 

 economic disorganization produces the destroy- 

 ing visitations of the "Rocky Mountain Lo- 

 cust," the "Colorado Potato-Beetle," or the 

 " Western Chinch-Bug." 



The processes of husbandry and tlie cultiva- 

 tion of the soil, iu the early history of the 

 country, were somewhat different from what 

 they are at the present period. Our ancestors 

 brought over from the "fatherland" the sim- 

 ple methods that obtained there up to the 

 time of their departure, and on their arrival 

 in the New World, and on manipulating the 

 virgin soil, they found that under the opera- 

 tion of those rules and routines it yielded 

 abundantly ; and, as long as tliis result fol- 

 lowed the waving of their industrial wands, 

 they continued the old processes, and never 

 ■ dreamed of the innovations that were to fol- 

 low under altered circumstances— the natural 

 depletion, the local exhaustion, and the advent 

 of destructive animals. It became manifest 

 to them that wolves destroyed their flocks, 

 foxes their poultry, and squirrels their corn, 

 but beyond these prominent contingencies 

 they entertained but few iears, and made Ijut 

 little or no provision. But now, apprehen- 

 sions are looming up, mvolving the grave 

 question as to whether a time is not arriving 

 in the liistory ot practical agriculture, when 

 farming will have to be done scientifically, if 

 it is done at all ; when not only the composi- 

 tion of the various soils must bo imderstood, 

 but also the modes of their recuperation — the 

 means by which the destruction of the far- 

 mer's crops may be prevented, and what 

 auxiliaries may exist in the economy of nature 

 itself, as helps, in the accomplishnient of the 

 desired end. 



It is not sufficient to know " which and 

 what" animals are noxiems, but also those 

 that are beneficial, in order that an intelli- 

 gent discrimiuati(jn may be made between 

 them ; and this question must become as 

 famihar, as simple, and as practical, as that 

 wliich involves " demand and supply." 



Inasmuch as the masses of the people will 

 not — or, perhaps more charitaljly .sfeaking, 

 cannot— give sufficient attention to natural 

 science to make it of practical value to them, 

 it has long been our cherislied opinion tliat 

 government— either National, State, district 

 or municipal, or perhaps within their respec- 

 tive spheres, each of them— should create 

 functions, and endow compensated function- 

 aries, whose continuous duties should be to 

 study and make provision for all such con- 

 tingencies as may be involved in the increase 

 of destructive animals. Such an establish- 

 ment might be kept in peruia]ient and succes- 

 fnl operation at an outlay of the very smallest 

 moiety of the many millions of dollars lost to 

 the country every year by the ravages of de- 

 structive insects and other noxious animals. 



The great help which vegetation, and hence 

 the hmnan family, sustains through tlie jn-o- 

 tection of insect-eating animals is difficult to 

 make manifest to the common apprcliension. 

 Take, for instance, an animal that lives on in- 

 sects alone— that never has been seen or known 

 to partake of any other kind of food ; and, 

 like tlie swallow, that only remains in such 

 locality as it visits so long as it abounds in 

 insects, and when, through a change of season, 

 the.se become exhausted, it migrates to a more 

 congenial locality, and who can calculate the 



number of insects it destroys in its lifetime, 

 and how many millions more are prevented 

 from ever coming into being. Let it also l)e 

 rememljcrod that purely insect devouring ani- 

 mals are not spasmodic, capricious, or period- 

 ical in their pursuit of insect food, but are at 

 it "early and often." " From early morn to 

 dewy eve," and, when nature is enveloped in 

 the "mantle of night," like well appointed 

 sentinels, a night-watch sallies fortli on its 

 friendly mission and continues the benevolent 

 work imtil they are driven to their accus- 

 tomed haunts by the garish light of day. 

 Artificial remedies are at best but spasmodic, 

 transient, imperfect, and only partially 

 eftectual. 



^ 



ABOUT FROGS. 



" Timmy Droo-oo-oo-oo-oo, 

 I can make a shoe-oo-oo, 

 As good as you-oo-oo-oo, 

 Aud better too-oo-oo-oo." 



The season is now here, when " Tlie song of 

 the turtle is heard iu the land," and tlie.se 

 persecuted reptiles will fall a prey to the in- 

 satiate maw of epicurean man. A humane 

 and thoughtful coteinporary has recently been 

 putting in an eloquent plea in behalf of the 

 frog, ranking bun with other "game," and 

 asking from our legislators the same protec- 

 tion that is accorded to other " game ani- 

 mals ;" and we think, with a good show of 

 wisdom, as viewed from the selfish side of the 

 question. When we are captured by a tribe 

 of cannibals ; confined in a sheltering crib, 

 allowing us only to look upon the fair face of 

 nature through "chinks" in the wall ; kindly 

 cared for and sumptuously fed on fattening 

 viands ; daily visited aud our health and con- 

 dition anxiously inquired into ; punched in 

 the ribs, caressed down the back as we would 

 a favorite dog, and our upper and nether 

 limbs kneaded as we would a mellowing peach 

 or pear, to ascertahi its edible condition ; and 

 finally and affectionately released from our 

 confinement in order to be "spitted" and 

 furnish a central dish for " grim and greedy " 

 monsters to " wipe their jaws " upon ; can we 

 claim that the interest manifested iu our be- 

 half, is of a lower order than tliat proposed in 

 behalf of the frog V How carefully, liow kind- 

 ly, how providentially and how sympatheti- 

 cally we treat our pigs, and yet tlie ultimate 

 of all our tender regard culminates in "boiled 

 ham and sausages. " 



Since, however, people will c:it frogs, (and 

 we can attest that they ara a generously 

 flavored aud toothsome morceau) it is meet, 

 perhaps, that they should be included under 

 the protection of the game laws. They (frogs) 

 in common with other animals, have tlieir 

 breeding season, during which time they 

 should be allowed to "multiply and replenish" 

 the ponds, and that season is just now ; and 

 this is especially the case witli our common 

 " bull-frog," [Runa pijiiens. Lair.) whose nup- 

 tial song was many long years ago so beauti- 

 fully paraphrased by frightened "Timmy 

 JJrew." Very closidy related to this bull-frog 

 is another species [Itaiia liorironensis) of the 

 northern lakes, and the deep croaking of these 

 two species— their "more rum" aud tlieir 

 "blood and nouns" — may be heard, under 

 favorable circumstances, for half a mile or 

 more. This latter individual is tlie subject of 

 a quasi culture and protection, in aud about 

 some of the ponds or lakelets in the State of 

 New York, and it is said that at the proper 

 season large numbers of them are sent to the 

 markets of Buffalo, Albany and New York 

 city. Their protection is exceedingly simple 

 and consists merely in their noii-destruction 

 duriug tlie mating season. It is questionable 

 whether it ought to be allowable to shoot or 

 otherwise capture frogs before the 1st of July ; 

 or perhaps if the mantle of the squirrel law 

 was extended over them it would afford all the 

 protection they needed. But, in the protec- 

 tion and cultivation of frogs effectively, it re- 

 quires also the cultivation of the "soul of 

 lionor" among their human captors, as tvellas 

 the protection of their " polliwogs" from the 

 carnivorous attacks of aquatic birds and the 

 still more destructive fishes. 



A smaller species than the two already 

 named, is the "green frog" {Rana damitans) 

 conspicuously tinged with yellow about the 

 posterior portion of the abdomen. Allied to 

 this species, and about the same size, is the 

 "leopard frog," (liana halecina) so named 

 from being spotted like a leopard. This last 

 named species is a most extraordinary leaper, 

 sometimes making ten feet at a single bound. 

 In the absence of the larger species, these two 

 last named animals are sought with as much 

 eagerness as the former ; for what they lack in 

 size they more than make up in delicacy of 

 flavor. They often come out and sit and bask 

 in tlie sun a considerable distance froui the 

 margin of tlie pond or stream, and at tlie ap- 

 proacli of danger — long before tliey are seen — 

 they make a sudden spring and often reach 

 the water at a single bound ; all you hear or 

 see is a "squeak," a "streak" and a "plunge." 

 These are the individuals that utter that very 

 peculiar "/ed-(?ej/i" like noise, which sounds 

 much like a " cracked" G violin string- sdine- 

 thing like the musical manipulations nf a class 

 of boys taking their first instructimis on the 

 violin, when requested by the master to 

 "sound." This sound, however, is not as 

 frequent now as it was when we were a boy. 

 Since then frogs have been cultivating cantion 

 and are loth to let their where.abouts be known, 

 either by " sight or sound. " As an illustra- 

 tion of the progressive character of frotrs, in 

 relation to their self-preservation at least, we 

 would respectfidly refer the reader to the 

 March number of The Lancaster Fakmer, 

 third column of page 40, (for 1877,) as an 

 emphatic case in point. 



Six frogs are enough for a person to talk 

 aliout at one time, (and perhaps, also, enough 

 for any person to appropriate at one meal, ) 

 and therefore, in order to reach that maxi- 

 luinii, Me are privileged to mention two more 

 species that are occasionally to be found, 

 especially in the Northern States. The first 

 of these is the " pickerel frog," (Kana Puh(.<i- 

 tris)- pale brown, marked with dark brown 

 above, and bright yellow mottled with black 

 beneath, especially the thighs. Its flesh is 

 delicate, and is used extensively as a pickerel 

 Ijait, and also as a trout-bait. As its call is a 

 singularly prolonged utterance, as it floats on 

 the water, in tliis we realize the nursery lines : 



** Slug aud float, sing aud float in my little boat." 



The smallest of the six is the " wood frog," 

 (J?(ma sulvatira) pale reddish above, and j'el- 

 lowish, white beneath, ^\ith a dark brown 

 stripe on each side. Tliis little batrachian is 

 only about two inches in length, and, singu- 

 larly enough, is found only iu the woods, 

 except in early spring, when, like the common 

 toad, it frequents the water to lay its eggs. 

 Tliis little sul)ject must, however, not be con- 

 founded with those little members of the 

 Hyloid family, known as "tree toads," for 

 they difler from them as much as a leopard 

 differs from a tabby-cat. 



The young of frogs arc reared in ponds or 

 streams of water, and in their immature state 

 are sometimes called "polliwogs," to distin- 

 guish tliem from the young of toads, which 

 are usually called ' 'tadpoles. ' ' Frogs are very 

 prolific, but most of tlieir young fiill a prey to 

 fishes and ducks, or wading-birds, and here is 

 where their protection primarily comes in, to 

 make the raising of them a success and profit- 

 able. 



A cotemporary thinks it would be a very 

 nice thing to be a frog during the heated sum- 

 mer time. "A frog," he says, "neither tpils 

 nor spins ; goes in swimming whenever he 

 feels like it, without taking off his shirt ; 

 plunges to the bottom of a cool pond wiien the 

 sun grows fierce aud vindictive, and doesn't 

 Wear uncomfortable shirt collars, nor sit iu a 

 barber shop waiting for his turn." But there 

 is another side to the picture. "A frog can't 

 stick his head out of the water to surve}' the 

 beauties of nature and listen to the baud play- 

 ing, without incurring the risk of having it 

 shot off by a man with a gun and a duty 

 shirt ; nor percli himself upon a cool stone to 

 enjoy the sunlight aud let his thoughts wander 

 back to childhood, without running the risk of 



