132 



THE LANCASTER FARMEI^ 



[September 



This moral analysis of the subject must en- 

 hance the value of the s;ift in the estimation 

 of both the givers and the receiver; and illus- 

 trates that we cannot separate anything that 

 is made from Him who made it, or through 

 whose divine energies it is permitted to be 

 made. And furthermore, that in our ex- 

 pressions of thankfulness to our fellow men, 

 our sentiments should be purified by the re- 

 cognition of God in everything— that every 

 outward manifestation is but the expression 

 of something that is within, and has its source 

 ia the unseen, whether it be good or evil. 



^ 



A SINGULAR POTATO. 



(Singular, only, however, if there is no mis- 

 take in the facts of the case. ) 



Haydn H. Tshudy, esq., of Lititz, ra.,has 

 placed in our hands a potato supposed to be a 

 imion between an "Early Rose" and a "Snow- 

 flake. ' ' These two varieties had been planted 

 side by side in parallel rows, and on taking 

 them up on the 30th of August, this tuber- 

 six and a half inches long, and the same m 

 circumference— was found to have a vine at 

 each end, one of which belonged to the "Rose" 

 and the other to the "Flake." The tuber is 

 slightly contracted in the middle, and from 

 that point towards the ends, there is a slight 

 difference in color, as well as in the texture; 

 but, had we found it separated from the Tines, 

 we should not have noticed anything very ex- 

 traordinary, either in its form, texture, or 

 color. 



Potatoes, however, are subject to some very 

 pecuMar malformations, and can accommo- 

 date themselves to almost any adverse circum- 

 stances, such as gi'owing through and 

 around an iron ring; one growing within an- 

 other, growing through an auger hole and de- 

 veloping into a "clinch" on each side, &c., 

 &c., and we cannot positively say that one— 

 in its juvenile state of ductility— will not grow 

 into, and finally blend with another. The 

 only thing that raises a doubt in our mind in 

 the present instance, is the fact that the "eyes 

 and brows" all look in one direction, and 

 therefore the stem of attachment at the apical 

 end, must have been abnormal; or, one of the 

 eyes stimulated to an umiatural growth, 

 forming an additional stem. This is however 

 merely suggestive, and the case must rest for 

 the present on its external merits. 



^ 



WHEAT CROP OF 1877. 

 Accordmg to the Chicago Tribune this year's 

 ■wheat crop in the great wheat-producing 

 western States compares witli that of 1875 and 

 1876 as follows : 



1S75. 1876. 1877. 



Bushels. Bushels. Bushels. 



Minnesota 27,000,000 16,000,000 35,000,000 



Iowa 29,000,000 18,000,000 .37,000,000 



WlscoDBin 25,000,000 15,000,000 25,000,000 



Kansas 12,000,000 12,000,000 20,000,000 



MONTHLY REMINDERS. 



The fall crops will now be growing rapidly, 

 and will require hoeing and other attentions. 

 From the 15th to the 25th cabbage, cauliflower 

 and lettuce seeds may be sown, for young 

 plants to winter over in cold frames. Shallots 

 and onions should be planted, and spinach 

 and German greens sown for next spring's 

 crop. Earth up such celery as may be wanted 

 for next month. 



The shallot is a species of onion, the root 

 of which is composed of numerous small 

 bulbs, united at their base, and covered with 

 a thin skin. It is chiefly used in a green state, 

 early in spring. It thrives in any soil suitable 

 for the onion, preferring, however, a light, 

 warm soil. It is chiefly grown by divining the 

 bulbs and planting the offsets. They may also 

 be planted in April for later use. When the 

 tops die oft the bulbs should be taken up, 

 well dried, and kept in a warm, dry place; as 

 damp and cold cause them to decay rapidly. 

 There are five or six varieties, but none of 

 them are better than the common sort— ^Z- 

 liuin ascalonicum—tiom Ascalon, in Palestine. 



QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 

 The Locust Catcher. 



■Total 93,000,000 61,000,000 117,000,000 



Here we have an increase of twenty-five 

 per cent, over the crop of 1875, and nearly 

 one hundred per cent, over that of 1876. The 

 increase is general throughout the country 

 also, and for all kinds of grains. The grain 

 crop of this year will be the largest, in all 

 probability, that has ever been produced m 

 the United States. The cotton crop will not 

 fall below 4,500,000 bales, and the yield of 

 sugar in Louisiana is an exceptionally abund- 

 ant one. The west and southwest are rejoic- 

 ing in the fine prospect before them and in 

 the signs of returning prosperity. The trans- 

 portation of these immense harvests to the 

 Atlantic seaboard will create a rush of busi- 

 ness among the railroads. Tlie farmers and 

 planters will have more money and will con- 

 sume more. In anticipation of the demand, 

 merchants are already repairing in considera- 

 ble numbers to the Eastern cities, and buying 

 freely assorted stocks of goods. The elements 

 of a new era of prosperity are being rapidly 

 formed. An eminent banker of New York, 

 and one of the most sagacious observers and 

 best-informed financiers of the country, pre- 

 dicts that within two years the United States 

 will be overflown with prosperity and wealth. [ 



Marietta, August 14, 1877. 

 Prof. 3. S. Rathvon — Dear Sir: I send by mail 

 an insect knotrn here as the " locust catcher." 

 Whether it catches locusts I do not know. But I do 

 know that it is armed with a powerful " jaTclln," as 

 Josh Billings would say. They made their appear- 

 ance here four years ago ; one pair burrowing in the 

 road. From there they emigrated to the garden 

 walks, where I counted no less than twenty-liTC holes 

 which they bored out this year. The sample that I 

 send I suppose is a male, as it is larger than some 

 others. Very truly, Horace M. Engle. 



Your large wasp-like insect is the Styzus 

 sincio^s of Say ; but from my boyhood up to 

 the present time it has been known in Lan- 

 caster county under the common name of the 

 "Locust-catcher." Perhaps "Cicada-catch- 

 er" would be more appropriate. This insect 

 generally makes its appearance in the month 

 of August ; therefore it does not catch what 

 is commonly called the "Seventeen-year 

 Locust," for the period of that insect passes 

 away before this one makes its appearance. 

 Moreover, if it had to depend upon that in- 

 sect, it would have to suspend its wants to 

 suit the long intervals in the periods of its 

 prey. But it catches the annual locust, better 

 named "Harvest-fly," (Cicadopn/inosa) which 

 makes its appearance about the time it does. 

 And now, what does it do with the locust after 

 it catches it ? We will endeavor to answer. 

 This insect belongs to a tribe or famUy of fos- 

 sorial wasps, which n;ake burrows in the earth 

 and stock them with various kinds of insects, 

 each species generally confining itself to a par- 

 ticular kind of insect. The Siyxus uniformly 

 confines itself to the annual cicada. It does 

 not feed on the cicada itself, nor does it kill ; 

 it only paralyzes it and crams it into its bur- 

 row, in which it also deposits its eggs, supply- 

 ing as many cicadas as it lays eggs. In due 

 time these eggs hatch out, and the young grub 

 feeds upon the cicada, in such a way, too, as 

 not to entirely destroy its vitality mitil it has 

 matured its larval development, and is ready 

 to assume the pupa state, after which it re- 

 mains in the earth, in this form, until July or 

 August of the following year, when it comes 

 fortli a winged insect, so educated as to know 

 exactly what to do and how to proceed in imi- 

 tating the life and progress of its parents. 

 The old Styzus does not survive the season, 

 nor repeat what it once has done, after the 

 deposition of all its eggs, but soo» thereafter 

 dies, and we have found more dead ones in 

 September than we have live ones in August. 

 There is a singular economy in only paralyzing 

 and not killing its prey. If it is killed its de- 

 composition would take place before the de- 

 velopment of its grub was accomplished, and 

 starvation would follow. The grub is equally 

 gifted in its economic instincts, for it does not 

 consume the most vital part of its host until 

 there is no longer any need of its vitality. 

 There may be something in its paralyzed con- 



dition which arrests decomposition also. 

 Some of these fossorial wasps appropriate 

 caterpillars, and therefore, if it cannot be re- 

 garded as an insect friend, it may be classed 

 with the innoxious kinds. " Twenty-five bur- ^ 

 rows in one garden-walk" is more than we j 

 have ever seen at one place. ' 



Berlin, Pa., September 3, 1877. 



Prof. S. S. Rathvon — Dear Sir: I send by to- 

 day's mail, enclosed In a small box, a small animal, 

 insect, worm or what it may be. In appearance it 

 is entirely strange to me, and to every person in the 

 community who has seen it. It was found on the 

 bark of a tree— couldn't say what kind. Don't 

 know on what it feeds. If you examine it will you 

 please let me know what it is. Respectfully yours, 

 J. P. Brubaker. 



Your box came to hand, one day after your 

 letter, a perfect wreck, and it is a miracle that 

 its contents were not entirely destroyed. 

 (Boxes for the transmission of such objects 

 through the mail should be stiff paper or tin.) 

 The " small anirtKil" it contained had under- 

 gone a complete metamorphosis since its in- 

 carceration, and was inclosed in a thin spher- 

 ical shell or cocoon, about the size of amanow- 

 fat pea, leaving us in a measure to guess at its 

 species. It, however, belongs to a Lepidop- 

 terous family called Lamicadans or "Hag- 

 moths." This subject is very probably the 

 species called the " saddle-back moth" (iJin- 

 pretia stimula.) The whole animal— which 

 was the larval form of the insect— has the 

 form of a cart saddle, with two erect fleshy 

 horns, or "pummels," at each end, and a 

 large purple spot with a green margin on the 

 centre of the back. There are several species 

 of them, but judging from the size, form and 

 texture of the cocoon, we think it is the one 

 above-named. They are omniverous feeders, 

 and we have found them on at least twenty 

 different kinds of trees, shrubs and plants. 



The moth will not appear until next season. 



Mn,LERSviLL«, Pa., August, 1877. 



Prof. S. S. Rathvon.— i>«ar >Sir.— The enclosed 

 worms I found on the Desmodium viridiflorum, grow- 

 ing near the Conestoga — the smaller ones skeleton- 

 izing the leaves, and the larger one consuming them 

 completely — It ate an entire leaflet last night.— 

 T. P. B. 



There were three different kinds of larvoe 

 (worms) in the box. The large green bristly 

 one, with lateral party colored stripes, was 

 the larva of Saturnia lo, perhaps the nearest 

 representative of the true silk worm, (Bomhyx 

 mori) that we have in this country. Two of 

 the smaller ones were the larva of a species 

 of Oaleruca or Haltica,, (coleoptera); they soon 

 died, and were too young to determine the 

 speciss. The third was a geometer or 

 "Looper," but it somehow made its escape 

 before we could make a close examination of it. 



H. M. E. The large white grub worm, in- 

 side of your potato is Areoda lanigera, very 

 likely, or perhaps Oymmtus nitides, or one 

 of the May-beetles (ioc/inosferna.) Now we 

 confess this is very indefinite, but the larvse 

 of the whole family MELONLOTHiD^bear such 

 a strong resemblance to each other, that un- 

 less we have bred them from the larva to the- 

 mature insect, under our own personal super- 

 vision, it is almost impossible to identify the 

 species, from seeing tlie larva alone. We have 

 found both Areoda and Oymnetus in the po- 

 tato, and especially in "potato patches," in 

 May and June. This is a very voracious 

 subject, but we shall try to raise him to th« 

 beetle state, and if we succeed, we shall let 

 you know the result. 



^ 



CULINARY CONTRIBUTIONS. 



Potatoes, a Side Dish.— Take mealy 

 potatoes, pare, cut in slices half an inch thick ; 

 put in a stew kettle, cover with water, put in 

 salt to your taste, a little saffron, and parsley 

 or celeiy, or both if liked, stew till done ; take 

 one tablespoonful of flour, and stir in cold 

 water to make a batter, pour over the potatoes 

 and boil a few minutes longer. Serve. 



To Can Celery.— Boll it in water, after 

 it is cleaned, till soft, drain, fill up your jars, 

 pour over good cold vinegar till full ; shut up 



