187?.1 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



i23 



their own farin is produced tlic Inilk of the 

 manure with wliicli tlieir farms arc enriched. 

 Already, as will be observed in .some of the 

 iT,marks\iiii>te(l, tliere are evidences of the 

 same want of foresiRht»— or perhaps it may be 

 called wisdom- amon^' therennsylvania farm- 

 ers that has Ijeen shown in the <'ase of those 

 iu the Kastern lobacco-^r.iwiriK States. 'If 

 wesliould liave,' says Sir. ^{eist— an expe- 

 rienced and skillful j,'rower, by the way— 'a 

 poor piece of ground and eduld nut j;el barn- 

 yard manure with which to enrich it, it would 

 l)e wi'll li> know what kind of manure is next 

 l)est amoni; the connnercial manures in use.' 

 It is true, Tis Mr. Keist ol)serves, that barn- 

 yard manure failiufr, it would be well to know 

 what is the next best kind. Hut it would be 

 better far to see to it that tliere is no fadm-c 

 of this incomparable fertilizer. Have the 

 acres of gra/iuf; laud in Pennsylvania become 

 less than they were, so that stock I'au not hi' 

 rai.sfd to make manure as formerly V Or are 

 Iheprolilsof tobacco culture in tliat State 

 rendering' fanning' in the old-fashioned way 

 unpopular, as has happened in ( 'onnecdicut V 

 The remark (|Uoted makes tlie lattcu- infer- 

 ence i)u.ssible, and if it be warranted by the 

 facts, the facts are to be re^retled. '(Jentle- 

 nian tarminj;,' in the sense in wliicli the ex- 

 pression has eome to be uiulerstood when ap- 

 plied to tobaceo culture, is an exeeedinjily ex- 

 pensive and risky avocation. Delined, the 

 phrase sii;nilies the abandonment of almost 

 every thing that once gave oc(Miiiatiou anil inde- 

 pendence to the American farmer. It means 

 tlie concent ration of all etTorts on a sinnlecrop, 

 and that failing, having notliiiig, comiiara- 

 tively, to fall baik upon, as in tin- days when 

 cottiin was kin^;. Wheat, corn, rye and po- 

 tato iields untilled; pasture and meadow 

 lands choked up with weeds, trees and luislies; 

 stock, swine and fowl bought instead of raised 

 for consumption; a few of thi^ choicest acres 

 devoted to tobacco, the rest of the once fruit- 

 ful farm a wilderness or waste. This is 'gen- 

 tleman farming' in the older tobacco-growing 

 sections of our country. It is not a pleasant 

 picture. 



"Tobacco growers in the old a;id new sec- 

 tions will hud it to their interest to lie farmers 

 as well as producers of tobacco. They should 

 again commence raising -stock, and iirodiice 

 enough to keep what they raise. If they will 

 do tliis, tliere will lie no si'arcity of barnyard 

 manure, provided further they tak(^ proper 

 <iare of what is made by their stock. .Some of 

 the money they have heretofore expended in 

 commercial fertilizers may bi^ advantageously 

 spent in mechanical im|)rovements about their 

 stables, pig-styes and henneries for preser- 

 ving tile ferliJi/.ing proiierlies of manures. 

 Stop all waste of the jirecioiis material; let 

 evevy ouni'e of dung and mine be kept from 

 exjjosure to the sun, compost the gleanings of 

 the stable, stye anil hennery with nmck and 

 turf- -which are abundant — and a little i'eru- 

 vian guano, and manure eiioiigli of the best 

 kind will be made to meet all the wants of all 

 tlie tobacco Iields in the Union." 



THE TOBACCO FLY. 



Some Sure Methods of Destruction. 



The Xorth (Carolina Times holds forth as 

 follows on the tobacco tly : Mr. Head, the 

 inanager of Major Siitberlin's "Siiimyside" 

 farm, in Halifax comity, Virginia, has been 

 planting tobaceo for thirty yeai sand has never 

 had trouble with the tobacco lly. He banks 

 pine )io!es and lays them across the plant lieds, 

 and, like the old hare in the lur trap, the llies 

 get stuck iu the turpentine. Another sure 

 remedy he has tried is fresh stable manure 

 well diied in a wagon bod}-, and then sift it 

 line and add to it a little gtiano and ashes and 

 siirinkle well on the plants. Tlie stench is 

 strong as hartshorn ; iu fact, the lly cannot get 

 at the plant. This is plain plantation talk we 

 give from 'a practical farmer. 



A .Mecklenlierg man has at last found out a 

 ■<iire recipe for destroying tobacco lleasor llies, 

 :is they are more familiarly known, and at the 

 same time failing to injure the plants in the 



least. The jdan is a very simple one and 

 ea.sily tested, and costs but little. It is this : 

 One-sixteenth of an ounce of strycdinine dis- 

 solved in two buckets of water and sprinkled 

 over the plants. The aiijilication does not in 

 the least interfere with the growth of the 

 plants, but lallier seems to' be benellcial to 

 them, and a large ipiaiitity of the solution was 

 tried upon a small s|iace of plant bed and found 

 lobe perfect ly harmless to the plants. We 

 Ihink the experiment worth a trial by every 

 lilaiiler, should the bug ajipear again. I'er- 

 liaps the .same remedy would be good for po- 

 tato bugs, and other insects that prey upon 

 garden vegetables. 



that are folded or crumpled, the supply for 

 the following year will be cut off. This should 

 be dom^ collectively to be positively effectual, 

 for the utmost vigilame will avail but little if 

 one is surrounded by slovenly neighbors. The 

 natural enemies of this insect consist of spi- 

 ders, wasps, a small TadtDui lly, to which I 

 hav(^ given the name of (k.fiiiiae, and at least 

 one sniall Ichneumon. 



THE GRAPE LEAF-FOLDER. 



r.v riiOK. c. V. lur.EY, 

 Among the numerous and varied foes ot the 

 grape vine, the above-named species (Dismin 

 iiKiruhdits, Wcsl. ) is one of the most constantly 

 recurring and widespread. It seems eipially 

 at home amid the tropical luxuriance of the 

 Soutbeni States, and on the dwarfed and 

 siiarsely foilaged vines of the far North. It 

 occurs not only on choice,' cultivated varieties, 

 but fe^'ils with the same apparent relish on the 

 various hardy, wild species, and is often found 

 on the Virginia (a'ei^per (Aiiq>dopsin ijuinuiu- 

 foKa.) Mr. T. (!. Ilidl of (.'roon Creek, llarton 

 "county, complains of it in a recent letter to the 

 Jirwnal (did Fanner, and remarks that "three 

 weeks after it appeared last summer, the loaves 

 on nearly all the vines were as dead as if 

 severely frosted." The liold of its most seri- 

 ous depredations is betwiicn latitude "io and 

 40 wliere its defoliations frequently cause 

 considei'able loss and annoyance to the vine 

 grower. 



The perfect insect is a very I'retty little 

 moth, expanding about an inch. The general 

 ciilor is black with opalescent relleetions, but 

 tlie sexes have many points of dilference in 

 ornamentation. The wings are fringed with 

 white, the upjier jiair in both sexes being 

 ornamented with two eoiispieuous white spots. 

 The under wings of the female have also two 

 white sjiots, or one very much constricted in 

 the middle, while those of the male have but 

 oue large spot, which is never either divided 

 or constricted. The body of the female is 

 marked with two transverse white bands, 

 that of the male having but one transverse 

 stripe, while the lip of the abdomen hasa lon- 

 gitudinal dash on the upper surface. The at- 

 tenna- of the male are elbowed and knotted in 

 contrast with the smooth, thread-likeattenn:e 

 of the female. The body is slender, extending 

 beyond the wings. 



In southerly latitudes there are two 

 or three broods of this insect annually — tlie 

 latest brood hibernating in the chrysalis stale. 

 Sometimes wlii-n altecting vines in a green 

 house, the larvae will hibernate among the 

 fallen leaves on the top of the ground. The 

 lirst moths appear early in .finie, and lay their 

 eggs in small clu.sters all over the vine. The 

 development of the moths and time of ovipo- 

 sition being somewhat irregular, the larva may 

 be found in all sizes throughout the season. 

 They changi^ to chrysalides in -24 to :J0 days 

 from haUhing, and I he moths is.sue about a 

 week tluueafler. The habits of this insect 

 were recorditd in my third report as follows : 



"The worm folds rather than rolls the leaf, 

 by fastening together two portions by its 

 silken thredas, and for this reason, in contra- 

 disliiictioii to the many leaf-rollers, may be 

 popularly known as the "firape Leaf-folder." 



It is of a glass-greini color, the head and 

 thoracic segments marked with variously 

 shaped black iialches. It is very active, wrig- 

 gling, jumping and jerkingeither way at every 

 touch. If left alone these worms will soon 

 defoliate a vine, and the best way of destroy- 

 ing them is crushing suddenly within the leaf, 

 with both hands. To prevent their ap|iear- 

 ance, however, recpiires far less trouble. 



The chrysalis is formed within the fold of 

 the leaf, and by going over the vineyard iu 

 October or any time before the leaves fall, and 

 carefully plucking and destroying all those 



DUCKS— SETTING EGGS AND REAR- 

 ING YOUNG. 



If possible, set duck eggs under hens, as 

 they make better mothers and will find food 

 for the ducklings- something a dui^k will not 

 do. After the hen has set foni' weeks the 

 ducklings will appear. J'erhaps it will be 

 neees.sary to help some of them from the 

 shell, as they are not as lively as chickens, 

 and sometimes are unable to get out alone. A 

 (len should lie made with boards eight or ten 

 inches high and live feet sipiare, or large 

 enough to contain the iiiunber of duckings 

 you may have. 



Tlu! hen should be conlined in a coop in one 

 corner of the yaid .so as not to wander awaj'. 

 Keep your brood contiiied till they are a mouth 

 old and not allow them to follow the hen, for 

 if you do they will stray away, and one by 

 one your Hock will grow numerically smaller. 

 When they are sullicientjy large and liave 

 their body feathers, less care may be bestowed 

 upon them, and they may range for them- 

 selves. 



As for food, for the fust three or four weeks 

 we would recommend a variety. The week 

 directly after they are hatched give them 

 soaked bread, coarse bread being preferabh^ as 

 it is less pasty, potatoes, boiled and mashed, 

 with bran or shorts. As they become older do 

 away with the former feed anil u.se meal and 

 bran, equal parts, scalded, and occasionally 

 mix with lioiled pottltoes, cboiiped onion tops 

 or lettuce. This has been imr bill of fare for 

 our web-footed pets for some years and we 

 have met with great success. 



Last but not least, beware of watei'. You 

 may think this a strange suggestion, but there 

 are more tame ducks lost on account of too 

 much water than any other cause. A shallow 

 dish with water, say two or three incdies 

 deep, is enough till they are a month old. If 

 allowed free access to a pond or stream, they 

 will get water-logged and invariably die. And 

 if they escajie, this cramii is most sure to at- 

 tack them, and after a few days tumbling and 

 twisting death relieves them from any more 

 such actions. We know of no variety easier 

 to rear than the Uouens, and we have a young 

 Hock of lifteeu or twenty that are sprightly as 

 so many kittens. They all look as near alike 

 as peas and are the admiration of all who see 

 them. — Rural Press. 



TRANSPLANTING EVERGREENS. 



The Seiitembcu' niimber of the (larilencr''s 

 MiiHlldij for 1S74 contains an article by W. C 

 Strong, of Nonantum Hill nursery, Brigbton, 

 Mass., giving four reasons for transplanting 

 evergreens in late sumnuM' or in the early au- 

 tumn, from Atignst loth to September '20th. 

 The fourth reiuson, viz., that there is greater 

 certainty of success in planting than at any 

 other season of the year, induced me to try 

 the experiment the following year. On the 

 '20th of August I planted, fiir Mr. .1. W. 

 Spragiie, of this place, thirty Norway spruce 

 trees. A few days since 1 examined the trees, 

 and fomid everyone living and growing liuely, 

 the increase the present season thus far being 

 about ten inches in diameter and eight inches 

 in height. 1 do not as.sert iiosilively that Au- 

 gust is a better nionlli than -May for this 

 work ; but I would unhesitatingiy advise 

 those intending to ])lant evergreens to do it 

 this season ratlier than wait for another May. 

 Hut whether in fall or spring, let these three 

 things be attended to : 1st. Select sm.all trees. 

 '2d. Preserve as many of the librous roots as 

 |)ossible. .'Id. Cover the roots so tliat they 

 will not become at all dry. Perhaps I should 

 add, put whatever manure you use on the top 



