1878.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



19 



their piercers, .and permanently locate them- 

 selves, and besjiu to suck and thrive on the 

 yieldinR saii. Alter tliey .select a location and 

 affix themselves to it, they never leave it 

 alive. All the males do is to fertilize the 

 females, after which they very soon die. 

 When tlie female is located she divests herself 

 of her feet, her antenna' and her caudal tila- 

 nients, and becomes <leKiaded into a " scale" 

 or "scab," and hence they are called "scale- 

 lice," or "scab-lice." No matter how cold or 

 how wet the winter is, the Weather has little 

 or no injurious elle'ct upon either the female or 

 her etjgs. There is but one brood in a season, 

 but tliey are .so prolitlc thai in one or two 

 years they overrun very larjie trees, anjl very 

 large districts. Tliey are supposed to be car- 

 ried from tree to tree by the prevailing; winds. 

 The "nativity" of' this in.sect may be 

 foreign ; at all events it does not seem to be 

 very well known in this region of the country. 

 In 18GU, whilst in attendance at one of the 

 early meetings of the Pennsylvania Fruit- 

 Growers'' Society, held at West Chester, Pa., 

 a gentleman in that town 

 brought us a plum-branch 

 infested similarly to your 

 peach trees ; but, it being 

 early in the month of June, 

 (the strawberries were just 

 ripening,) of cour.se, they 

 were much larger than yours 

 are now. Since that time we 

 have not seen any that 

 .seemed a nearer resemblance 

 to them than some sent to 

 ns on one occasion on a 

 beech twig. They belong to 

 the family cocciid.k, and 

 may be referred to the genus 

 Lecanium. If not the same 

 species that the pear and the 

 plum are sometimes infested 

 with, then they may receive 

 thespecilicnamcof /icj'.'ifcion. 

 Whether any other meml)er 

 of the society has noticed 

 them is more than we can 

 say at this time. Nor can 

 we answer whether any 

 other district in the State is 

 infested with them. As to 

 the possible remedies fo r 

 their destruction, in the con- 

 dition they are now, scat- 

 tered over the whole tree, 

 even to the ends of the small- 

 est branches, it would Le 

 ditiicult to apply it, even if 

 it were known, and miglrt do 

 little good if applied. On 

 the trunks or larger limbs 

 th^y can be dislodged with a 

 stiff brush and soap and 

 water; or by whitewashing; 

 or by an .application of oil or 

 other fatty matter. If, by 

 close observation, the time 

 could be discovered when 

 the young come forth from 

 the eggs, and before they have located them- 

 selves, (about the middle of June,) and then 

 the trees were drenched with soap and water, 

 or ail infusion of tobacco, they might all be de- 

 stroyed. In addition to this, encourage the 

 "Lacewings," the "Lady-birds" and other 

 insect friends, and to a limited extent these 

 will greatly aid you in the work. 



THE LUMBARD PLUM. 

 This plum is a very great grower, remark- 

 able for its productiveness, and is sure to 

 bear a large crop, where most other kinds 

 fail from" lightness of soil, unfavorable 

 weather, or from the ravages of the CurcuUo. 

 These important excellences give it a high 

 rank. It is of good size and handsome ap- 

 pearance, although it is not claimed to be of 

 first-rate flavor. It is called by its present 

 name in compliment of Mr. Lumbard, of 

 Springfield, Massachusetts, who first brought 

 it into notice in that State, though it was 

 first raised fiom the seed in Whitesborough, 



New York, by Judge Piatt. It has also been 

 well known in that State under the name of 

 "Bleeck(a-"s Srarlct." It will therefore also 

 be perceived that it is not to be confounded 

 with any of the foreign varieties of Lomburdy 

 plums. 



The fruit is of medium size, roundish oval, 

 skin delicate, violet red, paler in the shade, 

 and dusted thinly with bloom ; flesh deep 

 yellow, juicy and pleasant, but not es.sentially 

 rich ; aillieiing to the stone. Ripens eariy in 

 Septend)er, and conliiiues nearly to the end of 

 that month. .Small trees of this variety can 

 be had at almost any of the principal nur- 

 series — Moody & Sons, Lockport ; Ellwanger 

 & Barry, Rochester, New York, as noted in- 

 stances. It will be noticed, however, that it 

 is catalogued "Lombard." In a heavy soil, 

 or soils having a mi.xturo of clay, the larger 

 varieties of the plum are produced yc't they 

 will thrive in almost any soil. In sandy soil 

 there is great effort, in the form of blossoms 

 and settings, for an abundant crop, l)ut the 

 incursion of the curculio very frequently de- 



stroys it ; in heav\ nay soil sand should be 

 mixed, and in liglit, sandy soil, clay or muck 

 should be introduced into the beds or border 

 where the trees are planted." 



^ 



THOROUGHBRED SHORT-HORNS. 



Mu. Editor — Sir: I have been through the 

 West and have made great improvement in 

 my herd of high-crade and thoroughbred 

 Short-IIorns, by ju<licious jiurchases from the 

 leading breeders of Kentucky and Ohio, and 

 therefore I can now flatter myself that I have 

 the best herd of cattle in the county. My 

 herd is open to the inspection of strangers on 

 all w^'ek days. It was commenced in 187-2 

 by the selection of such only as proved good, 

 combining milking as well as fine beef quali- 

 ties. — A. M. Hank, Bird-inrlland, Jan. 22, 

 1878. 



[We call the attention of our readers to 'Mr. 

 E.'s card in the advertising columns of this 

 number of The Faeiier.— Ed.] 



For The I.ANOARTRn Farm sb. 

 REVU OF JANUARY NUMBER. 



First and foremost, we bow to our editor's 

 criticism on tallo. Pleas remember that our 

 Fonetic is just in its infanse, .so that ocasional 

 erors ma crep in. 



A glans at the Yamato and Mikado, maks 

 us wish we wer in Japan, or tliat Japan wer 

 in Pensilvania. 



O/1/7 a Fanner. — Dont be alarmd, brother 

 farmers, our cauling is Inming up. The fop 

 eodlishery has mad its bigest haul. 



The (ireat Horned Owl is not od in many 

 uv its habits, for tha corespond xactly with 

 thosof Imman bipeds in many cases, sjxcialy 

 in the disagreinent of the sexes ; also, the 

 conduct of the males toward ther ofspring and 

 toward each other, and that tha prefer to be 

 let a Ion. 



Alj''id Batx. — AVel, it is simply astonishing. 

 The r'ter compares them to a swarm uv bes. 

 Wonder whether tha cat grapes. 



Japanese Persimmnn. — The gloing descrip- 

 tion llierof shud by al means cans som to be 

 planted for trial. If that 

 shud fail, it wud not be the 

 first falure. Shud tha prov 

 a succcs, we wud lik to be 

 in for som. 



The adrcs of the Presi- 

 dent ov yur counte sosiete, 

 is tu gud to be overluked. 

 It is a capital document. 

 Care of Domestic Animals 

 has som gud bits for both 

 sants and siners. 



The licUanct Raspberry. — 

 Wat progn s in sraal frutsl 

 llu wud not hav msberisV 



Italian jyec.s.-AV. J. D. 

 sems to hav ])ulverised the 

 veteran J. IJ. G., liut we 

 think he wil agan ris out ov 

 his ashes. 



Chemical Fertilizers. — Tins 

 article is both sensible and 

 in-actical. Any farmer that 

 reds it and dos not lern a 

 leson must hav mor punch 

 than brain. 



Specialties in Farming. — 

 A. IJ. K. generally maks gud 

 jiints. The plausiliility of 

 ills theory shud caus tobaco 

 groers to reconitir a litle. 



Guinea Foxvh. — We think 

 ther shud be mor of them 

 rased, if tha wud not com 

 in competition with Italian 

 organ i;riiiders. 



Our Lueal Orrjanization. — 

 The Ag. and Ilort. Society 

 is prodiicing incrcsed inter- 

 est, and som very gud pa- 

 pers and speeches ar brot 

 out at the monthly metings, 

 with the usual quantity of 

 chaf ov cours. But we no 

 that we get no weat with- 

 out chaf. 

 Tobacco Growers' Association is stil in its 

 glory, but We think if la.st yers crop dos not 

 soon se! faster the f raternete wil put its fether 

 at haf mast. 



The Linn.a\an is moving along quietly with- 

 out much ostentation, but is doing much mor 

 and beter work than it gets credit for. We 

 hop jiosterity wil aiipreciate its labors mor. 



Aijrirullural Outhiok. — Wcl, our weat crop 

 is enormus, but thirteen hundred bushels dos 

 not Ink lik a larg corn crop. We think som- 

 liody c'lunted rong. If we nu just wat Urop 

 wants we mite charg accordingly. 



Pulverizing Manure. — This is a short but 

 very sensibl articl. Tu folio its techings wud 

 l)a tarniei-s wel. 



Iirqn-oving ir/ic«f.— This is one ov the grat 

 questions ov the da. If this season's trial 

 wil sho as wel as last, we ma se a stampead 

 for nu gran drils. 



Poultry.— TUe articls on poultry ar very 

 gud. We wud lik to se egs and spring chicks 

 a litle cheper somtims. Corespondents qf 



