1R77.1 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



dd7 



tor; for, lis wc shall see, such triis are i)ccu]iarly 

 liable to attack. 



These horcrs are not contincd lo the ajiple tree, as 

 I have fouiiil them workinf; in oak, iiuiiile, ami other 

 trees of our forests. 



Natural llislory.— This hiownisl] Ipcctlc, with a 

 copiicry lustre, is Inuiul fnnu May till AuL'usl, 

 thouirh 1 have found tlnni UKire common In .luue 

 and .Tuly. As with the stri|>cd S,i/irrilit, the eifgs are 

 laid on the bark. The whitish t,'rul)S, with their 

 enormous front, brown heatl and curled tail, usually 

 bore only suiwrlicially, catinir the inner liark and 

 ea(>-wood; vcl I have seen, and have now on exhiiii- 

 tloii here at the colli'fie, sections of yountt trees over 

 an inch in dianu^ter bored completely through by 

 these bi^r-headed rascals. They eat but a siniilc sea- 

 son, pupate as in the preceding- ease, and come forth 

 as iuniKOs early In llic sprin;;. They usually work 

 on tin' trunk, thoufjli sometimes in the branches, al- 

 most always on the .touth, the west, or the south- 

 west sides of the trei'; and their whereabouts may 

 be ascertained, not only by the sawdust, lint also, 

 and more certainly, by the black color of the bark. 

 When the bla<k color" oilers tlie sugsrestion of the 

 presence of this borer we can quickly beeomeassured 

 by strikincr a knife into the same. If the blade 

 pierces the bark and i;oe6 cm still a little farther, we 

 may be sure of the enemy's jircsenee. 



This borer is far more "liable to attack feeble trees. 

 Anything- therefore wiiieh serves to diminish the vi- 

 tality of the trees, promotes the ravages of this borer. 

 Jlence, after such a winter as we have just exiieri- 

 eneed, or after havini; the ■;rowth of our trees inter- 

 rupted by the removal from the nursery to our or- 

 chards, we are in si)ecial danger of harm from these 

 destructive borers. UiMice tlu> coming season, when 

 loss will be inevitable, we should more than ever be 

 ou the alert to mitigate the damage by our vigilance 

 and care, and by the timely applieatiou of remedies. 

 The remedies for the llat-headed borer are the ^ame 

 as those given for the old borer, soaj) in .lune and 

 July, and a knife in Seiitembcr; though the grubs 

 may be fouud in July and August, and so to delay 

 the cutting out in September would often be fatal, 

 espet-ially to tnres in newly set orchards. I have 

 known cases where labor of this kind in July would 

 have paid more than SUIO a day, besides saving a 

 great amount of vexation. 



Apple Tree Bark-Louse (Mytilaspis Conchi- 

 formis— Gmelin.) 

 This old enemy is less destructive than formerly, 

 probably because of the parasites and mites which 

 prey upon it, so that, like the Hessian lly, wheat 

 midge, and many other insects, it has probably done 

 Its worst wiu'k; yet to leave it to itself at the present 

 time would be to yield the strife prematurely. 



Natural History. — The bark-colored, oblong scales, 

 so harmless in appearance, serve, from August to 

 May, only for protection to the sixty or seventy wee 

 white eggs, which are found underneath. About 

 the first of June the young lice appear — so small 

 tliat, though elad in yellow, they cau hardly be .seen 

 without a glass. Coming forth from uuderthe scale, 

 they roam about for a few days; are sometimes blown 

 to other trees, thus sprea<ling their evil work; but 

 very soon settle down to earnest business. This con- 

 Blsts in inserting their tiny beak and sucking the vi- 

 tality from the trees. Very soou a scale commences 

 tojform around them, from an exudation, which is a 

 secretion from the general surface. By August the 

 Impervious scale is complete. The eggs arc then 

 Booy deposited, and the parent louse ^^dries up and 

 Bhriuks away to nothingness. 



Remedies. — As the scale is impervious to most flu- 

 i(l8,though oils will ponetrate it and destroy the eggs 

 the best time to fight these insects is just after the 

 eggs hatch. At this time soft or strong soaji-suds 

 are sure death to the young lice, nencc the trees 

 should be washed the tirst week of June with soft 

 soap, not only making the application to the trunk, 

 but also to the main iiranchea and limbs so far as 

 IKjssible. 



Important Fact. — We thus see that an ap|ilication 

 of soft soap to our apple trees, nuide in the first week 

 of June, is of exceediiig value. It not only extermi- 

 nates the sappers (Xark lice), but banishes the 

 miners (borers). We thus understand why our fruit 

 trees which are thus treated seem fairly to laugh, as 

 If grateful for such timely aid in banishing their ene- 

 mies. I have no hesitation in affirming that the ap- 

 ple-grower will find the above one of tbe most paying 

 operations that he can undertake in his orcliard. 

 Let all then scrape their trees early in spring, apply 

 soft soap — not lye — the first of June, and again the 

 first of July, not forgetting to adjust cloth bands by 

 the last of June. 



"Freciueiitly ciiting tliioiigli tlie brandies 

 far out towards tlie extremity." This is cer- 

 tainly a new character given to the "Striped 

 apple-tree borer," (Saperda raiKlida) and 

 knocks all the wind out of those remedies 

 based upon the location of this insect in the 

 lower portion of the trunk. AVe know that 

 the "Liuden-tree borer {Saperdu vcstitt(i) per- 

 forates the branches of that tree, not ''far out 

 towards tlieir extremity," however, all the 



larger branches— but wc always looked for the 

 /((rivr of th(^ striped species in the trunk, not 

 far from the base, and litive oflcn found it 

 there. It would take a dreadfully long, 

 biu-lu'd, steel wire, to reach them in llieir bur- 

 rows, "far out towards th(^ extremity" of the 

 branches. As this comes frmn it cojlc^ge pro- 

 fessor, we are liiiund lo receive it with re- 

 s))(H-t, and Wiiit iialiently for a fuller conliniia- 

 tioii. On the whole, the article contains some 

 useful suggi'stions. 



"DOES THE SHAD BITE OR TAKE A 

 BAIT. 



Vesterday Caiit. -S. S. Nagle, while lisliing for 

 mullds in the 8usc|uchanna, at Marietta, with mus- 

 cle as bait, received a vigorous liile, very diU'crpnt 

 from tlial of a mcillct. After a livc-ly tusscl he land- 

 c'd a fine large male shad, in good condition; the 

 fish was fairly hooked in the mouth, indicating that 

 it haci gone for the bait. 



This is not the first recorded instance of 

 shad being takc^n with the hook, but it is the 

 best atillienticated ca.se on record, to our 

 knowledge, of a shad making a "vigorous 

 bite" at a "bait." We have often ex- 

 amined the contents of the stomachs of 

 these li.shes, but wc n«'vcr fouud anything 

 in them that had the appearance of being 

 either animal or vegetalile — simply a daik 

 colored orgrayishslime— and we supiiosed that 

 being mainly bent on lindiiig a proper place 

 to cast their spaw'ii, they took no food, except 

 perhaps such tloatiug ahjea as might be easily 

 appropriated on their upward way. 



QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



Mr. II. M. E., Muridla, /'((.— Your larger 

 insect, enclosed iu the small paper-box, is a 

 very odoriferous carabidinous beetle, techni- 

 calfy called Vijchrua viduus, and very rare too. 

 I havii never iieen able to take a single sjieci- 

 men in all itty entomological experience. The 

 only specimen, to my khowledge, ever having 

 lieen taken in fjancasler county, wasca|)tured 

 by Mr. Edwards, near (iiiarryville, about a 

 year ago, which he sent to inc; alive, and iu 

 good ('oiidition. I regret very much the in- 

 jury your Yciik county specimen hasstistained. 

 I hope you will keep a sharp lookout for others. 

 The smaller beetle is a chrisonielan, techni- 

 cally called 0/()•;/.sor7^w.^■ auratus, and although 

 some seasons, and in some localities, it be- 

 comes very common and abundant, yet it is 

 always a very pretty insect. It varies very 

 much iu appearance. Sometimes it is simply 

 a glossy green ; at other times like a drop of 

 btirnishecl gold, and then again the green and 

 gold are beaulifully blended. Its relation, 

 however, to the "Colorado potato beetle," 

 discredits it. 



Prof. T. R. B., Millfrsville, Pa.— The 

 "worms" and their cases, which you found 

 under a cedar tree near the permanent exhi- 

 bition Vmilding, are tho.se of the common 

 "Drop-worm" or " Sack-be:irer" (Tlii/ri'lup- 

 tcri/x ciihdiKi'refm-mis) which are particukirly 

 destructive to tne foliage of the cedar, the 

 arlior vita', and other conifer;e. It, however, 

 does not couline Uself to these, for we have 

 found it aliuiidaiiUy on the apple, the pear, 

 the iiuiiice, the apricot, the cherry, the locust, 

 and ou other trees and shrubs. Its generic 

 name is from the (Jreuk, and relates to its 

 habit of occupying its own .solitary house. Its 

 s|)ecific name relates to its form, which is 

 likened to tliat of an Rjihciiiurd, or "Day-fly," 

 an insect better and longer known to the en- 

 tomologic^al world, than tlie drop-worm. This 

 ifispct was first noticed by Mr. Ileiubrandt 

 I'eale, ou the banks of the Wi.ssahickon, about 

 the year lSl-2, but it was not ilescribed and 

 scieiitilically classified until many years there- 

 after. Wo first noticed it here iii "1850. 



Wm. 11. IT., Esq.. Laai-askr. Pa. — In rejily 

 to your query in regard to " Heath," wt^ wcnild 

 say, that aithough wc have many .shrubs in 

 this ctunitry tliat belong to the IIe;itli f:imily, 

 Ekicin.k, we liavej none tluil belong to the 

 restricted genus Erica. Heath is a flowering 

 evergreen shrub, and perluips the nearest thing 

 we have to it iu this respect, is our common 



Laurel {Knhnai), but the family also incluAes 

 the rhododendrciii, the whortleberry, the 

 winlergreen, the barberry and many others. 

 Three species belotigiiig to tlie restricte<l genus 

 Erica, arc iiidigeiupiis to Kugland, and per- 

 haiis the same tiutuber will be found in Asia 

 and Africa. The common Kuropean lieatli, 

 especially th:il of Iicd;ind and Scotland, is n.sed 

 for fuel, "for thatching, for bedding, for cord- 

 age, for goat feed, and sevcial spc'cies of fowls 

 —the heath-cock, feu- instance, feed on its 

 .seeds and buds. Siunt^ species of the family 

 are cultivated and are beautiful flowering 

 plants. 



Mr. K., SaliKhurii. ~Tho insects that punc- 

 tures tlu^ young leaves of your IoIkicto are a 

 tiliecies of ".Soldier-Hug," (Eiiscliisl(t: ]iuslul 

 (itiu<,) and is nearly allied to a species that de- 

 stroys the larva of the '( 'olorado potato beetle.' 



STATE AND DISTRICT FAIRS FOR 1877. 



We give below a i>artial list of State and 

 district fairs for this year. AVe desire to com- 

 plete the list ;is soon as possible, and will be 

 obliged to any reader who will give us infor- 

 mation as to time and place of holding Slate 

 or prominent district f;iirs not mentioned be- 

 low : 



■riTI.K. Wlll'UE IIKI.U. TIME. 



Am. Institute ...N. V. City...' .Sep. 12 to Nov. 12. 



Am. Pomological. Baltimore, Md...Sept. 12 to 14. 



California ... Sac-ramento .Sept. 17 to 22 



Central Ohio.. . Meehanicsburg . .Sejrt. 5 to 7. 



Central Ohio Orrville Oct. 10 to 13. 



Chicago Exi)Os'ii. Chicago Aug.29toOet.l3. 



Fremont, Neb... .Fremont Oct. 3 to .5. 



Georgia Atlanta Oct. l.'i to 20. 



Industrial Ex|i"n. Kansas City, Mo..Sept. 17 to 22 



Indiana Indianaimlis Sept. 24 to 29. 



Illinois Frceport Sept. 17 to 22. 



Iowa Cedar Kapids Sept. 17 to 21 



Kentucky (N'th.) Florence Aug. 28 to 31. 



Michigan Jackson Sept.l7to2l. 



Minnesota Minneapolis Sept. 3 to 8. 



Nebraska Lincoln Sept. 24 to 28. 



Nevada Keiio Oct . 1.5 to 20. 



New Vork Rochester Sept. 17 to — . 



New England Portland, Me Sept. 3 to 7. 



New Jersey Waverly Sept. 17 to 22. 



Ohio Colunilius Sept. 10 to 14. 



Oregon Salem Oct. 8 to 13. 



.Southern Ohio.. .Daylon Oct. 1 to 6. 



St. Louis St. Louis Sept. 34 to 28. 



Texas Austin Oet.9tol3. 



Wiseoneiu lanesville Scpt.lOtol4. 



Although the above list, from the Practical 

 Farvur, is the most complete one we have 

 yet seen, it does not include our own I'ennsyl- 

 vania Fair, which will be held at Krie on the — 

 of September, 1S77, and as a matter of news 

 in whic-h all p:irts of the cotmtry are interest- 

 ed, we repeat the recinest of the Practical Far- 

 mer for the necessary information on the sub- 

 ject. 



BUDDING. 



Now is the jiroper time to bud fruit trees, 

 and will be in season up to the 1st of Seiitem- 

 ber. Take this summer's grow'th to bud on, 

 and the eyes, or buds, from the same year's 

 growth. Take a sharp knife and make a jier- 

 pendicular and ;i transverse incision in the 

 smooth bark, in the form of the letter T, 

 then insert tlie ]irepared buds under the bark, 

 by lifting u]> the corners, after which tie it up 

 closely with woolen yam, oidy leaving the 

 bud expo.sed. Chtu-rics will do as well by side 

 crrafting with a graft coni;iining three buds. 

 T'ut them very slender and smooth and slip 

 them ill the T incisions under the bark. Tic 

 them up the .sami; way as in bud grafting. 

 Apples, i>ears, jieaches, apricots, plums, and 

 cherries may all bi> thus inoculated. Also 

 English and (icrman walnuts, on our common 

 black walnut, the Spanish chestnut on. our 

 common chestnut— including the Mulberry 

 and persiniiuon, on their kinds. In grafting 

 cherries I geiicnilly do side grafting; i>y slip- 

 ping down the gnift, and using :i little wax 

 and wocilen y;irn, it seldom fails for me. 15iit 

 the main thing is to ti.scertain when the s!tp is 

 in the right ctuidition, so that the bark is 

 loose enough to facilitate the operation. — L. 

 S. R.. Oregon, Aug., 1877. 



