1R77.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER 



85 



being swallowed by a slimy snako ; nor Pnjdy 

 a 'hop' a few yards from shore without Iwini; 

 captured l>y ;v 'small hoy, 'and 'whiptto make 

 him cry,' if nothing worse is instoj'c for him." 

 Even those persons who inc. snpjtosed to ex- 

 perience the most roalizins sense of the hard- 

 shi|)S imposed upon the frog, arc sometimes 

 compelled to saerilice him to their zeal in a 

 collateral specialty ; and to this we ourself 

 rannot deny the "soft impeachment." 



In the snnnnerof IStl, whilst out frog-lumt- 

 ing, we shot a large, subject, which was brought 

 to us and laid at our feet. Although it was 

 cpiite dead, yet there .seemed to he something 

 inside of it ihat tcssed it about, "like a bear 

 in a blanket." On opening it, we found its 

 stomacli contained a large male .s|^ecimen of 

 the "American Rhinoceros l)eetle," {Xi/hri/r- 

 («.< antyniit) still alive and vigorously kicking, 

 besides other dead and fragmentary speeinKMis. 



This was the first male subject of this 

 species we had ever seen, althongh when wc 

 know when and where to look for them they 

 are by no means rare, and of course,- we 

 secured it and took it home. It afterwards 

 became the central nucleus of our colropteroui 

 collection, and is still there, around which 

 cluster many hundred species. If wc subse- 

 quently bore down too severely on the frogs, 

 it was more in the hope of .securing rare ento- 

 mological specimens than to gratify any gas- 

 Ironomical craving. 



In conclusion, at the present prices, to enter 

 iutoKana-culture ought to be a paying business. 

 We have .seen thc^ day when they were sold as 

 low as ten and twelve cents a down, but now, 

 when served up in a restaurant, they cost (ifty 

 cents a [lair. Any person who has a piece of 

 swampy ground that no other use can be made 

 of, and lias a constant suiiply of running 

 water, could easily construct a frog pond. 

 Here they woidd multiply and replenish — re- 

 plenish the tables of epicures — if they were 

 protected against carnivorous fishes, ducks 

 aiul wading birds, but most especially from 

 "crack shots," who destroy them promiscu- 

 ously and out of sea.son. Of course if they 

 were inimi'rous they would have to be fed, for 

 they have been known to swallow the young 

 <<( their own species, as well as young fishes 

 and insects. Tlii.s latter is suggestive, and if 

 the pond was margined with flowering .shrub- 

 bery to attract insects, it would furnish a 

 furiher sui'ply of food. "Some things can be 

 done as well as others." Who will try ? — 



. Polly-woy. 



^ 



TOBACCO PESTS. 



"W. A. S.,"of Henderson county, Kentucky, 

 writes as follows to the Coimtrtj (h'ntirman : 



"Noticing the remedy for ilies on t<ihaceo 

 plants, ]iagi^ -JUV, I will give your readers a 

 more simpler remedy, and one that is always 

 at hand. It is common .soot and ashes, or 

 lime, apiilied when the plants arc damp. In 

 additiciii ti) proving a safeguard against the 

 ravages of insects, this is a s])lcndid fertilizer. 

 .Vn .■Hldition of manure from the hen-house 

 makes it the best thing I have ever seen to 

 push iilants forward. Farmers who raise to- 

 bacco will also tind it advantageous to kill the 

 tobacco hawk-moth, Marrosila {sphinx) Caro- 

 lina, which lays the eggs luoducing the worms 

 so troulilesoniB to this crop. The (ly comes 

 out at twilight to feed and deposit its eggs. 

 Its food is sucked from tlowers by mcansof 

 its long (iexible piobo.scis, commonly called a 

 horn (hence its name in many sections '•horn- 

 blower.") It seems especially partial to the 

 .Taiueslowii weed. Datura Slrnmoniiwi, and 

 if cobalt be dis.solved in water and a drop or 

 two put in the llower of this weed, or any 

 (lower they feed on, it is sure death to them. 

 Some farnin-; plant this weed about the field 

 for the purji'se, and every evening or two put 

 in a suppl\ of poison. As the moth docs not 

 roani far Ihey can be greatly diminislicd if 

 this is kept up, and consequently the worms 

 are visibly Ics.sened. 



"Another aid to the tobacco raiser is a 

 minute four-winged fiy, known to entomolo- 

 gists as the Microfjaster congrajala. It has 

 become quite numerous in tobacco growing 



sections. ;The entomologist in the agricul- 

 tural department report for lS7:i, gives the 

 following account of it: "The eggs of this 

 parasite, to the number of one hundred or 

 more, are deposited in the back and sides of 

 the caterpillar (the worm), in small luuictures 

 maile by the ovijiositor of the lly. The larvie, 

 when hatched, feed upon tlu' fatty sulistaiice, 

 and when fully grown eat a hoU^ in the skin, 

 and each maggot spins for itself a small, white 

 oval cocoon, one end of which is fastened to 

 the skin of the worm. Eighty-four files were 

 obtained from one worm by Say, and Fitch 

 counted one hundred and twenty-four cocoons 

 on another worm." It can bo.sec^n that these 

 dies multiiily very fast, and must kill a great 

 numlier of worms, as they soon kill every 

 worm they infest. The same authority says 

 that this parasite has also an enemy, tiie 

 I'tcromahis tahanmi, which deposits its eggs in 

 the cocoon of the microgaster. If farmers 

 will not disturb worms that are infested with 

 the cocoons of the microgaster, they will soon 

 prove a great and effectual help to them." 



The above substantially refiects what wc 

 .said in our essay, read before our local .society 

 in March last, and which will lie found com- 

 mencing on page "37 of the present volume of 

 the Far:\[er ; and we commend it to the 

 special attention of our tobacco growing 

 readers the present season. — Ed. 



CORRECTION. 



In " Book-keeping by Farmers," in May 

 numlipr of The Lancaster Farjiek, Fig. 

 D was incorrectly given. If it was taken as 

 the account of a laborer against Jonathan 

 Piueknot, farmer, then it would be right ; but 

 for a farmer's account against Jonathan Pine- 

 knot, laborer, as it was intended, it should be 

 in as follows : 



1874. JONATHAN PINEKNOT. Dr. Or 



March 1 12 

 U 

 IS 

 20 



April 2 

 3 



By J,j day fiprejuUuR lime 



By setting ill iianels feiiee, (Si, 14c. 



By '., ilay jilnwiliK, («, $1.50 



To 3 bHBhcIs corn, @ 75o 



By >i (lay plowiug 



To cash in full 



3 77 3 77 



BIRDS VS. HOPPERS. 



An old pasture field upon the farm of 

 Charles L. Stoking, bounded on the south and 

 West by the Walioo Creek, and wliicli was 

 closely fed last season, proved very acceptable 

 to the hopper as a laying ground. Millions of 

 eggs were deposited therein last fall, from 

 wliieh the warm weather of the last two 

 weeks has evolved million.'* of the live young 

 hojipcrs. Inspired by the instincts of a 

 IJrennus for plunder, the hardy fellows soon 

 organizeil into Si|uadrons, and marched to the 

 attack of a timothy field on the north, and of 

 a field of barley on the east, each of which 

 soon exliiliited decided evidence of their ra- 

 pacity. But on Tuesday, the 24th inst., a 

 change came over the spirit of their hapjiy 

 dreams of luxurious living, for on that day 

 a Hock of two or three thousand black birds 

 appeared upon the scene, and instantly taking 

 in the situati<in, they commenced operations 

 upon the frisky liopjiers. 



We watched the scene with absorbing inter- 

 est, and soon found that wherever the'winged 

 warriors made a descent, the myriads of nim- 

 ble hoppers which covered the ground disap- 

 peared in a remarkalily short space of time. 

 In one instance, we saw the birds alight upon 

 the road, at a point where, one hour previous- 

 ly, the ground was literally covered with 

 young lioiiper.s. In ten minutes we ap- 

 proached, when the birds retired to the trees 

 near by. We looked for the pests" which had 

 been there, but they were not. Of the many 

 dark and moving masses which had .so re- 

 cently occupied the place, scarcely a hopper 

 was now to be found. 



What stronger proof can one desire of the 

 great value of insectivorous birds in destroy- 

 ing noxious insects than the above example 

 liresents V or what better evidence of the 

 wisdom of la.st winter's legislature, in enact- 

 ing the law for the protccliou of these birds 

 from the sportsman's deadly gun 'i* All hail 



to the bird law, the dog law, and the tree law 

 of Xebraska— a trinity of measures, destined 

 to advance her in a few years to the front rank 

 of States— to plant her prairies with beautiful 

 trees, to fill these with useful birds, and to 

 clear her fields and gardens, orchards and 

 groves, of in.sects, noxious to the farmer's 

 varied crops. — M. 6'., Nebraska Farmer. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



KniTon OF " Lancaster Farmer"— 

 Dfar Sir : To all interested in "Strawberry 

 Culture" an invitation is extended to visit the 

 grounds of E. W. Durand, in the strawberry 

 season, about the middle of June. lie has 

 nearly three thousand varieties under cultiva- 

 tion, originated by himself, and mostly ap- 

 proved selections of his seedlings of the last 

 twenty years. Having taken the first premium 

 at the Centennial Fxhibition, he gives the in- 

 vitation that peoiilc may see for themselves 

 what progress has been made in this direction. 

 Piespectfully.— J5. IF. Durand, Irviwjton, 

 Eaacx coimti/, New Jersci/. 



If we cannot possibly go to the "mountain," 

 wo should not at all object if the mountain 

 were to come to us. —Ed. 



QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



Mr. II. B., Landis FaHry.— The pale, buff- 

 colored, powdered mineral substance you sent 

 us, appears to- be a kind of luwlin, or decom- 

 posed FiMspar, and proliably might be used 

 for making delf-ware, or common porcelain, 

 if it oC(-urs in sullicient quantity and purity, 

 or, perhaps, this substance inay be more 

 properly termed a kind of " fire-clay," and 

 might be converted into crucibles, fire-brick, 

 vases, and many other articles of use to the 

 human fiimily. 



Mr. G. S. , Lancaster Cotton Mills. — The 6t- 

 caudatcd, or "doulile-tailed " worm you .sent 

 us through Mr. G., is a m.alformcd specimen 

 of the common earthworm, angleworm or 

 fishworm, {Liimhriais tcrreslris) and is not a 

 normal species, but a Ltmis natura, a freak of 

 nature, or an animal monstrosity. 



Mr. J. B. A., Lancaster cili/. — Tlie "queer 

 fish" you sent us, and which you say you took 

 out of the stomach of a " black sea bass," 

 CetUrojiri.'ites nigrirans) is a specimen of the 

 "common s(iuid" [Loliejo Bartramii) of our 

 Atlantic coast, and the bays contiguous there- 

 to, and was in a very good state of preserva- 

 tion. It belongs to the order Bihrandiiuta, 

 and is allied to the "cuttle-fish" family. 



Mr. J. M. /., Lancaster, Pa. — Vour insect 

 is a " AVhitc Miller Moth,"(.lrc<({i Virg(ni<'.a,.) 

 I have said «, because I cannot apply the def- 

 inite article the, becau.se there are several 

 species that go by the common name of 

 "Miller Moth." The larva is A yellowi.sh, or 

 light brownish, hairy caterpillar, .sometimes 

 called the "wooly bear" or " yellow bear," 

 and is a promiseuous feeder on all kinds of 

 vegetation that comes conveniently to hand, 

 but especially garden vegetation. 



S. P. K, -&V/., Lancaster City. — Tlie hick- 

 ory branch which you brought us some days 

 ago, invested with a number of leaf and stem 

 galls,of irregular forins,on examination proved 

 to be those of a species of I'hylloxtra, generi- 

 cally allied to the famous I'hylloxcra vastatrix 

 of the graiie vine. There are quite a large num- 

 ber of species belonging to the genus P/ii/Ztecra 

 ill the United States, and some six or eight of 

 them arc known to infest the hickory trees. 

 Several are found on the oak.s, either on the ten- 

 der branches, the leaf-stem.s, or the leaves. In 

 the ab.sence of other species of hickory phyl- 

 loxera to compare with them, wc cannot be 

 positive as to the species, but it appears to be 

 the iVt//H().i< r«p'>rcat((,of Slieimer. There need, 

 however, not be any serious anxieties about 

 them because they belong to the phylloxeras, 

 for we have noticed these galls on the oaks and 

 hickories from our very boyhood. In some of 

 the cavities wo also found a whitish grul), with 

 a large brown head. This, according to Prof. 

 riiley,is the larva of Antkononmscrut<rgionc. of 

 the large family of Curculios'; but it is only a 

 "tenant at will," and not necessarily confined 

 to these galls. 



