150 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



' [ October 



and is a native of Scotland. Louden inserts 

 it in his 18th group, Bi-color, in wliich the 

 upper surfaces of tlie leaves are a shining 

 green, and the lower surfaces velvety, and 

 whitish green ; characters which are con- 

 spicuous in many of the poplars and maples. 

 The terra salix is from the Celtic sal, near, 

 and lis, water, which is its natural place of 

 growth, and, accordingly, there is perhaps no 

 tree or shrub that is more easily cultivated. 

 A ripened shoot need only be inserted in the 

 soil, in either spring or autumn, and it is al- 

 most certain to grow and will soon form a 

 tree, especially if the ground is moist or 

 marshy — indeed we have seen vigorous shoots 

 strike out from a willow trunk one or two 

 years after it had been cut down, if kept in a 

 moist or shaded place. 



Prof. S. S. Rathvon : I send you a specimen of 

 a fly, infesting the corn. Please state in next issue 

 of the Farmer, also in The New Era, the name, 

 habits, etc., of this insect. Yours, Erastus Reynolds, 

 Chestnut Level, Sept. I'd, 1877. 



The fly and your communication were duly 

 placed in my hands — the former still living, 

 but the latter almost killed, by the— to us — 

 mistaken idea of its "infesting the corn." We 

 have been acquainted with the fly for more 

 than thirty years, and have never known it to 

 possess that habit. In short, it is a parasite — 

 one of the "gad-flies," and extraordinary as 

 it may appear, it is tni usually parasitic upon 

 the bodies of squirrels. This specimen is the 

 Cuterebra huccata, or "squirrel hot." 



Its history is this : The parent fly deposits 

 her eggs on the body of a squirrel — black, 

 gray, red or striped— and when the grub is 

 hatched, it burrows into the body of the squir- 

 rel and remains there for several weeks or 

 months, feeding on its tissues. It is generally 

 located about the loins, but sometimes occu- 

 pies the scrotum of the male, and it is sup- 

 posed to be the cause of his occasional emascu- 

 lation. Some time during the month of 

 August the grub, or maggot, completes its 

 larval development, and passes out of the 

 body of its host and falls to the ground, when 

 it almost immediately burrows in the loose 

 earth and is transformed to a pupa, similar in 

 form to that of the common house-fly, only 

 many times larger. In ten days, or two 

 weeks thereafter the perfect fly is evolved, of 

 which you sent us a specimen. We knew one 

 instance where five of these parasites infested 

 the body of the "ground squirrel" {Tamias 

 striatus), and they almost destroj'ed him ; but 

 after they left him he recovered his usual ac- 

 tivity. Very likely they hibernate during the 

 winter in the pupa state under ground, if they 

 do not pass the winter in the larval form in 

 the body of the squirrel. Many animals are 

 infested by a parasite of some species, includ- 

 ing horses, cattle, sheep, swine, rabbits, &c. 

 We think you may be mistaken about its in- 

 festing the corn. 



The Hair Worm. 

 Mr. I. L. L., of Manheim township, some 

 days ago, placed in our possession a "long, 

 slim, slender," hair-like worm, still alive, al- 

 most as white as chalk, and which had been 

 taken out of the solid head of a cabbage be- 

 tween the third and fourth outward concen- 

 tric layers. This is a species of "hair-worm, ' ' 

 and we have alluded to it on a former occa- 

 sion as Gordius equaticus var. alhiniis, if it is 

 not a distinct species. These singular ani- 

 mals arc found under a variety of circum- 

 stances, and they have avcry singular history. 

 The white varieties have been usually obtain- 

 ed from cabbages, but at least on one occasion 

 a specimen was found inside of an apple. 

 The black and brown varieties we have foui^ 

 in stagnant pools of water, in marshes, in gar- 

 den walks after a shower, in moist and deejily 

 shaded places; on several occasions in the 

 bodies of recently defunct and also in living 

 grasshoppers, and on one occasion in the body 

 of a large water-beetle. Tliey are sometimes 

 found swimming about, snake-like, in pools 

 of water, but more frequently they are tan- 

 gled up in a sort of knot, and hence they have 



been called gorditis, in allusion to the "Gor- 

 dian-knot," which Alexander the Great open- 

 ed by catting through with his sword. 



These animals belong to the class Articulatu, 

 section Vermes; subsection Nematoids, and 

 family Gordiaceidce. They are only "once 

 removed" from the Entozoa, or intestinal 

 worms, which belong to tlie same subsection; 

 and "twice removed" from the earth-worms 

 or angle-worms, which belong to the Annel- 

 ides. 



All the Gordiaus, iu what may be termed 

 their larva state, inhabit some part of the 

 bodies of other animals, but not in their adult 

 state. They are commonly called "hair- 

 worms," from their resemblance to the hair 

 in a horse's mane or tail, and many people, 

 who are unacquainted with their history, sup- 

 pose them to be horsehairs animated, or trans- 

 formed into worms, but this is altogether a 

 mistake.* They are distinct organisms and 

 have a distinct development. We have fe- 

 male specimens in the Linnsean collection 

 that are full of eggs, and we have one 

 specimen in which the eggs are deposited like 

 a tangled string of minute beads, adhering to 

 her body. Allied species, in addition to the 

 animals we have already named, have been 

 found in the bodies of calves and pigs, in the 

 brains of owls, hawks, nightjars, and in the 

 eyes of horses. The worms that cause the 

 "gapes" in fowls have a family alliance to 

 them, and they have been found in the eggs 

 of fowls. It would be difficult to describe 

 just how they got into such places, but there 

 they are, and we have seen them protruding 

 an inch or two from the bodies of grasshop- 

 pers, and have witnessed their entire escape. 

 Of course a good deal concerning their histo- 

 ries is yet involved in doubt, but their iden- 

 tity is unquestionable. 



S. S. Rathvon. — The excresence which I send, 

 grew about four feet from the ground, in the side of 

 an icehouse. If thee considers it worthy of notice, 

 please mention through the i^afmcr. Respectfully, 



/. C. M. 



QuARRTViLLE, 9th mo. 26th, 1877. 



The box and "excrescence" were duly re- 

 ceived, but the latter is so new to us and of 

 such an extraordinary character, that we can- 

 not attempt to say anything definite in re- 

 gard to it now, any farther than that it is a 

 fungoid. We have sent it to a distinguished 

 fungiologist, and await liis reply. A year ago 

 he wrote thus : "There is no list of American 

 Agaricus in existence. There is no person 

 living who can make such a list at present. 

 Mr. Frost has published a list of Boleti. There 

 is no manual that will tell you the names of 

 American Fungi, and it is useless to hope for 

 one for many years to come. Those who pre- 

 tend to recognize all of our species of Agaricus 

 and their allies, you may be sure are lunnbugs, 

 as the subject has not yet been sufliciently 

 studied to allow any one to be sure of the spe- 

 cies." Should we receive any further instruc- 

 tion before this number of the FAniiEK goes 

 to press, it will be therein recorded. 



Since writing the foregoing, we received 

 the following from Dr. Farlow, of Cambridge, 

 Mass., to whom we had sent the fungus for 

 identification. 



"The fungus is Flmllus impudieus. It de- 

 veloped while in the box, and ripened, giving 

 off the horrible odor characteristic of the 

 group to which it belongs." This result we 

 anticipated, althougli we do not know enough 

 of them to determine the species, because of 

 the paucity of the fungiological literature of 

 the United States. This group contains some 

 extraordinary species. 



Mr. J. M. W. — Your brownish insect about 

 an inch and a-half long, and half an inch 

 broad over the widest jiart, is popularly 

 known as the "Wheel-bug," {Beduvius nnven- 

 arius) and is about the best representative of 

 the order of true "bugs" that we have in the 



*0n Severn] occjisions, more than thirty years ago, we es- 

 sayed the traueformatiou of horse hairs luto "ha^r-worms," 

 and although our experiiuents covered from three to six 

 mouths, in every iustauce we signally failed, with all our 

 persevering care. 



United States, for all insects are not bufrg 

 altliough they may be popularly known liy 

 that name. Without at this time describing 

 the difierencc between a beetle and a bug, it 

 may be sufficient to say that this insect be- 

 longs to the predaceous raptorials, and tliere- 

 fore is not injurious to vegetation, but preys 

 exclusively on other insects, and therefore, 

 without regard to his appearance, it should 

 be protected. It is called .wheel-bug because 

 the central ridge of the thorax bears some re- 

 semblance to a portion of a cog-wheel. 



Dear Sir. — I send you by this mail a triangular 

 package, about the contents of which I will have an 

 opportunity to speak with you at the next meeting 

 of the Linnsean Society. Yours truly, 



T. R. B. 



MiLLERSViLEE, Sept. 20, 1877. 



The package and contents came safely to 

 hand, and consisted of a beautiful bright 

 green chrysalis, ringed and spotted with gold, 

 suspended by the aual end to a dry leaf. 



This is .the chrysalis of Danais ai-c/ii(jpcs, 

 the larva of which is dull green, trans- 

 versely banded with black, and has long, black 

 hairy pencils, projecting from each end. It 

 feeds on the various species of Asclepias, 

 known as "milk-weed," or "wild cotton." 

 The imago is a large papilionaceous butterfly, 

 two inches in length, expanding four and 

 a-half inches from tip to tip of the anterior 

 wings, of a dull orange color, veined with 

 black, and spotted prettily with white. 



Mr. L. S. B., Oregon, Lancaster Co., Pa. — 

 Your singular animal from Texas, is the 

 "Horned Toad," {Phrynosoma cornuta) called 

 also the "Horned Frog;" although in truth, 

 it is neither a toad nor a frog, but is a Sau- 

 EiAisr, whilst toads and frogs are Batuach- 

 lANS. It is no more a toad or a frog, than a 

 chameleon, an iguana, or a lizard is. If we 

 had had the first popular naming of it we pro- 

 bably would have called it the "Horned Liz- 

 ard, " because in our vernacular that is just 

 what it is. But even that name would not 

 be sufficiently definite for scientific recognition, 

 for there are several species of them, all of 

 which are horned. We have been informed 

 that in their native locality they feed on ants. 

 Try them. 



Is THE yellow crab-apple tree a good sub- 

 ject to graft apple or pear on. Whicli or what 

 kind might be the best, that would keep equal 

 growth with the crab-apple wood ? — A i>uh- 

 'scriber, ML Joy, Oct. 3, 1877. 



This is a question so much depending upon 

 practical knowledge that we prefer to place it 

 on record, to be answered by some one or 

 more of our experienced patrons, rather than 

 attempt an answer ourselves. But as top- 

 grafting is usually done in the spring, and root 

 grafting (for nursery stock,) may be done dur- 

 mg tlie winter, we hope some friend of "diflu- 

 sion" will favor us with the information above 

 solicited, in time to meet the necessities of 



"subscriber." 



— ^ 



SOUTHWEST MISSOURI. 



Springfield, Mo., Sept. 14th, 1876. 



Editor. — The soil and climate of south- 

 west Missouri are well adapted to grain, ' 

 grape, fruit and wool-growing, as the experi- 

 ence of those who have for several years been 

 engaged in these industries proves. Some of 

 whom testify as follows : Mr. J. Zinc, of 

 Worcester, about five miles west of here, says, 

 that he has been farming in this region dur- 

 ing the last nine years, and raised wheat every 

 year, his crops averaging about twenty bushels 

 to the acre. He is satisfied that by good 

 farming, rotation of crops, manuring, clover- 

 ing, etc., fill average of thirty bushels can be 

 produced. The winter wheat is of superior 

 quality. His farm is on high, rolling prairie. 

 The innumerable, clear, rapid streams give a 

 vast area of rich valley lands which yield from 

 fifty to one hundred bushels of corn to the 

 acre, and from thirty to si.xty of oats. 



Mr. Albert Newman, of Rolla, says that 

 the soil of all the southern slope of the Ozark 

 Mountains is especially adapted to grape 



