1877.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



101 



Kround of apprehension that tlie tubers will 

 1)6 injuieil, or rendered uuhe;ilthfiil by the 

 use of Paris "reen. It cannot \w iiossil)lethat 

 the western Farmers should have Ixmui using it 

 for seventeen years \vitli(Mit a sine;le authenti- 

 cated case of sueli injury, it there were any 

 liabilities of this kind. Nevertlieless, it is a 

 rank poison and should be "handled with 

 care.'" Only a few days aj^o a fanner in this 

 county lost four valuable cows by leaving a 

 bucket, or box, containing Paris green mixed 

 with ships-stutf, exposed. Of course, neither 

 cattle, swiue, uni- poidtry, ought to be allowed 

 access to lields treated with this poison. It 

 is mineral, insoluljU- in water, and when thus 

 used, it is merely held in suspension and needs 

 constant agitation. 



Since writing the foregoing we have visited 

 the farm of Mr. Lawrence Knapp, near the 

 eastern suljuibs of Lancaster city. Every- 

 tliiug on tliis farm looks exceedingly healthy 

 and thrifty. Mr. K. had about three acres in 

 potatoesofditlerent varieties, in three separate 

 "patches," which we will designate as 1, 2 

 and :!. No. 1 were quite early potatoes, and 

 the crop is already consumed. This patch 

 was half an acre, and was vigorously attacked 

 by the "Colorado Beetle," but he gave them 

 their (piietus by a liberal application of Paris 

 green, and saved his potatoes, which were 

 line, and of an excellent quality. 



No. 2, an acre and a-half lies a little north 

 of No. 1 ; and No. 3, about one acre, lies east 

 of it, with the barn between. These two 

 patches are about the finest and healthiest 

 looking potatoes we have seen this season, 

 and have already line tubers, but they are 

 later than No. I. Mr. K. states that neither 

 of these i)atches have been visited by a single 

 potato beetle since they have been planted, 

 although they were up above ground when 

 No. 1 was infested, lie had read in an Agri- 

 cultural paper, that to iilant hemp and buck- 

 wheat among his potatoes would prevent the 

 beetle from attacking them. He did so, and 

 this he believes has repelled them. There are 

 the potatoes, the buckwheat, and the hemp, 

 but there are not the potato beetles, account 

 for the result as we will. " Stick a pin in 

 that." We have seen other fine lots of pota- 

 toes without the hemp or Inickwheat, but we 

 did not learn whether they had been visited 

 by the beetle or not, and we merely publish 

 this on account of the coincidence. 



As there are at least twenty known species 

 of insects, that in one way or another prey 

 upon the Colorado beetle, we cannot even 

 guess which is meant by our correspondent, 

 and we therefore hope he will send us speci- 

 mens—it may be new. 



West Chester, .Tune 22d, 1877. 



Mif. Ratrvon — .Sic:— I see iu your June number 



of tlie Farmer, a receipt for cliolera. I send you 



by this mail, a root that is deciileclly the best thins 



for (lysentary or diarrlioea, that ever was given; it 



has, and will cure, the worst case in two hours. I 



epeak by experience in my own family and 



others. It requires but a trial tu prove its value; 



and the best of all is, no matter liow sudden the 



complaint Is checked, it leaves no bad efiect in the 



head, or any other part of the body. How many 



children die every summer in our large cities witii 



dyeentary or cholera-infautum ; whereas, if tliey had 



a desert spoon full of tea made from this root, life 



would be saved. There are thousands of dollars in 



it, if taken hold of it by some live yankee. I never 



Hie it into syrup, but always make a tea direct 



in the root ; always keep It in the house, or the 



H ,d« being handy to get more ; but it requires 



iiiuel strength to mush it when dry, as you can see 



, Ibis, as it is green or fresh from the ground. This 



root I send you is suflicient for three- pints of water, 



boiled down to one quart, then strain it ; add a little 



sugar when taken. Although it is almost void of 



taste when warm, when it is cold it is somewhat 



roapy (as Elm bark). I will not seflfl the name of 



the root at present, but perhaps you know it, but by 



all means use it if it should be needed. 



Yours truly, 



Wm. .T. Pvle. 



P. S.— For an adult, a wine glass full will check 

 the worst case, and sometimes sufiicient to cure ; but 

 if there is a desire to go again, or symptoms of bear- 

 ing down, repeat it and you will find it suflicient. 



As "some things can be done as well as 

 "there," and as we are always open to couyic- 



tion and conversion, esjiecially in cases involv- 

 ing a disease that is so fatal to children, ami so 

 prostrating if not fatal to adults. We have 

 made a decoction of the roots sent us, and 

 now only wait for an opportunitij to test their 

 ellicacy (which heaven I'orefend we should ever 

 dciire, either in ourself or any other human 

 being), when we will publish the residt. We 

 eonfe.ss that we can only gue.ss remotely what 

 the root is, for it is almost tasteless, and there 

 are several roots to which it makes more or 

 less aiiproximation, liut perhaps it is best that 

 the nami! should l)e concealed until the cura- 

 tive quality is practically demonstrated, and 

 our oiiject of this publication is to facilitate 

 an opportunity to make a trial of it. 



Mil. S. S. Kathvon— i)«ar Sir: I find at West 

 Chester that the currant and gooseberry bushes (I 

 believe both) are much eaten (the leaves) by an 

 insect, which I rather supi)ose to be the same that 

 was so very injurious to them when I was at Scran- 

 ton, three years ago. One of my friends at West 

 Chester said something to this effect, namely, that 

 the foliage would be nearly destroyed in one night. 



Yours, respectfully, I'. E. G. 



PiiiLADELfHiA, June 24, 1877. 



There are several insects that defoliate the 

 cniTant and gooseberry bushes, conspicuously 

 amongst which are the " Currant Moth" and 

 the "Currant Saw-lly," the former icpirtop- 

 <((OKsand ihelattev Hyiiienopterous. Of course, 

 we cannot tell which you allude to, from your 

 description alone. But, if it is either of them, 

 dusting the bushes with white Hellebore, or 

 diluted Paris Green, would prove an extin- 

 guisher. Syringing them with a tobacco de- 

 coction, or a soap solution, might i)rove sulii- 

 ciently efficient. The first broods or these 

 insects, especially the last named, spin a 

 slight web-like cocoon among the rubbish on 

 the ground under the bushes. The.se, there- 

 fore, should be gathered up and burned, and 

 a second brood prevepted. If this is thorough- 

 ly accomplished, there can be no secoiul brood 

 this year, nor yet a first brood next year. 



An Architectural Question. 



Mr. Editor ; What are the proper dimensions of 

 a large hall or room, in order to avoid the echo or 

 confusion of sound, so often noticed in some of our 

 public buildings. 



.John B. Erb, Lime Valley. 



An echo is a reficcted sound ; whenever a 

 sound-wave strikes any obstacle, such as a 

 wall, a hill, or a rock, it is reflected or thrown 

 back, and this reflected sound is called an 

 echo: and the reason these echoes are pro- 

 duced in large halls or rooms, is because the 

 soiuid-waves cannot flow freely forward, but 

 are constantly striking against the walls and 

 are beaten back. Books say that " no echo is 

 heard unless the surface against which the 

 sound strikes is G.5 feet from the place where 

 the sound originally proceeded." In rooms 

 smaller than this, the sound travels with such 

 velocity that the echo is blended with the 

 original sound ; but in larger ones, the walls 

 are so far otf f'lom the speaker that the echo 

 does not return in time ta be blended with his 

 voice, but is heard separately. 



This is the theory, at least, of those who 

 have professed to be teachers on the subject; 

 and would therefore suggest about the size 

 that a room ought to be to be free from 

 echoes. Height of ceiling, perhaps, would 

 also have some etl'ect ujion the sound — the 

 exceeding long winding stairways and corri- 

 dors in some cathedrals are knowii to have. 



Perhaps the most remarkable echo in the 

 world, is that at Bosneath, a mansion house 

 seventeen miles above Glasgow, in Scotland. 

 If a trumpeter plays a tune and stops, the 

 echo will begin the same tune and repeat it all 

 accurately ; as soon as this echo has ceased, 

 another will echo the same tune in a lower 

 tone; and after tlie second has ceased, a third 

 will succeed with equal fidelity, though in a 

 still lower tone. At Lake Killarney, Ireland, 

 there is an echo which plays a "second" to 

 any simple tune played on a bugle. 



These echoes are caused by separate rever- 

 berating surfaces receiving the sound and re- 

 flecting it in sucessiou. 



QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



Dr. E. K. r., LuncasUr. Pa.— The beau- 

 tiful yellow mottled moth, with black spot, 

 and a white central dot in it, on the under- 

 side of the (interior wings, and a large black 

 spot, with gray and white centre, occupying 

 the whole central port»)n of the upper sur- 

 face of the posterior wings, is the "American 

 Peacock Moth," (Saturina la) a male speci- 

 men. The female is of darker or brownish 

 color and much larger in size, but tlie horns 

 [Aixtenint) are not so feathered. It belongs 

 to the "American Silkworm Moths," (Bu.M- 

 BYCIDA) and the caterpillar green, and covered 

 all over with diverging prickly hairs, spins a 

 regular cocoon. The moth is very pretty and 

 harndess,but the cateii)illar feeds on plants aud 

 the foliage of fruit and other trees, but never 

 0(!curs in suflicient uumbera to hurt them. 



Frof. r. K. li., MilUrsvitlc, Pa.— The il- 

 lustration of the large gray insect, with the 

 long, horn-shaped mnndibUs projecting out in 

 front, and the long, many-jointed ((ntenniE, is 

 what is, rather profanely, called a "Hellgra- 

 mite," (dori/dalis cormitnn) or the "Horned 

 Corydalis." The larvae lives in the water, 

 and in our boyhood we called it the "Black 

 Alligator," from its shape and formidible 

 jaws. It lives in the water a whole year, and 

 feeds upon any small animals it may be able to 

 capture there. In May or June, it comes out and 

 changes into a clay-yellow piqm, in a carity 

 which it forms in the sand near the stream, 

 and in due time the mature insect evolves. 



Mr. D. S., Lancaster, Pa.— Your small 

 chestnut-brown beetles, which you say infest 

 your grape vines in great numbers, cutting 

 the leaves, and even the tender branches inta 

 mere shreds, are the "Grape Vine Fidia," 

 [Fidia viticida,) which have long been so de- 

 structive to the Concord and Morton vines of 

 the Western States. Little seems to be known 

 about their larval development, but it is the 

 mature beetle which is the pest of the vines. 

 I have noticed them these twenty years past, 

 but never knew them to be as numerous as 

 you appear to have them. Their habit of 

 falling to the ground and " acting possum," 

 suggested to Mr. Peschell, of Hermann, Mo., 

 to train a large brood of chickens to feed on 

 them, and all he had to do was to start them 

 in the vineyard, with a boy in advance, to 

 shake the vines, and he himself to drive up 

 the straglers, and they would pick up evei7 

 insect, and in this way he kept his vineyard 

 clean and saved his crop. There is little use 

 in attempting to apply a dust of any kind, or 

 a liquid to the foilage, for they fly very readily 

 to other places. 



Prof. B. F. S., Lancastei Pa.— The chrys- 

 alis which you left in our custody, is that of 

 a species of Orupta, and so far as we are able 

 to determine from a chrysalis alone, it is G. 

 inlerogationus, one of the "Hop-flies," or "Hop 

 Caterjiillars," a Diurnal Lepidopter, and will 

 develop a brown butterfly, with notched wings, 

 and a metallic interrogation mark on the under 

 side of the posterior wings. When it occurs 

 numerous, it deseroys the hop vines. 



Mr. I. M. TF., Lancast(r, Pa.— The gall- 

 infested Hazel leaves, and also those left with 

 US some days earlier in the season by Mr. W., 

 of the Lan'disville Junction, on the Columbia 

 and Reading Railroad, are the effects of a 

 species of PhjiUoxera, and is allied to the great 

 pest which has been so destructive to the grape 

 vines of France. There are now about twenty 

 species of Phylhixera described, natives of 

 this country, infesting the grape, hickory, 

 oak, hazel, sumac, and .various other trees 

 and shrubs, but we could not make out the 

 species — the galls were dry and compressed. 



Mr. L. P., Christiana, Pa.— The large, 

 smooth chestnut-brown beetles, with formida- 

 ble jaws, to which you allude, are a species of 

 "Capricorn beetle" (Ltvamii danui). The larvse 

 liveindecayed wood of various kinds. Wehave 

 frequently found them in the decayed heart of 

 old cherry trees. Look out for the " American 

 Stag-beetle," (Lucanus ekphas). AV'e have 

 never yet taken one, but we have been infoim- 

 ed that they have been seen in this county. 



