1788.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



67 



in the morning until tlm^e or four o'clook in 

 llic evening, but how much earlier or later, or 

 for how many days, is more tlian we can say. 

 Strange to say, not even the oldest inhabitant 

 in tlie town in whieh we lived, had ever wit- 

 nessed the phenonienen (some disbelieved our 

 report), nor have we ever met a person from 

 that time down to the present who had "ever 

 seen tlie like ;" and, liad we not captured 

 about halt a dozen of the "little jokers" in a 

 net improvised out of our pocket liandcrchief, 

 and read Yarrel's description of the ascent of 

 young eels up the river Thames, we might 

 probably have doubted it ourself. Varrel says 

 that multitudes of these young eels are cap- 

 tured in the Thames every spring and sold as 

 luxuries to the rich epicures of the great 

 metropolis. 



The fact that eels migrate semi-annually up 

 and down the Susquelianna and other rivers, 

 does not militate against anotlier fact, that 

 there are varieties or distinct species which 

 are local in our iionds, dams and interior 

 streams, and the present subje(^t seems to 

 imply that they breed in the streams and 

 other localities in which they are found. These 

 observations illustrate how very slow and 

 difficult is the development of all the facts of 

 natural history, and yet we often lind our- 

 •selvcs jumping at conclusions, based entirely 

 upon theory, and without a single fact to sus- 

 tain them. We well remeniljer, when we 

 were a boy, how abrui)tly we were "snubbed" 

 because we stated that the vinegar we brought 

 home was full of "worms." We could not 

 l»l,ace it in the exact position in which we saw 

 the worms, and it was many years after be- 

 fore we were able, by the aid of the micro- 

 scope, to demonstrate that our youthful as- 

 sertion was founded on truth. 



QUERY AND ANSWER. 



Hi;mpfiei,I), Api-il 10, 1S78. 

 Mr. S. S. Ratiivon — Dear tiir : Enclosed you will 

 find on part of a tobacco leaf a brood, wbich I would 

 like to know what it is. If you can, please let me 

 know. — Yours respectfully, Ucnry .V, U'itmcr, Iknip- 

 Jidd P. 0., Lancaiitcr couuty, J\i. 



The above came to hand just after our 

 April number had gone to ])ress, or it would 

 have been answered in that number. It is 

 impossible to answer the queries of our corres- 

 pondents liy special letter, unless it is on a 

 matter relating to tlieni and us alone. The 

 answer of this inquiry is a mattiT of puVilic 

 interest, especially to tobacco growers, and as 

 we are "set" for the instruction of the peo- 

 ■ pie, we speak to them through the columns of 

 Tns Farjier. 



We can assure II. M. W. that he need en- 

 tertain no anxiety about tlie "brood " whieh 

 he found on a leaf of his tobacco, for they are 

 friends and not enemies. Observant totx'icco 

 growers will have noticed during the "worm- 

 ing" season an occasional worm covered witli 

 small white, brown or yellow follicles, about 

 the size and shape of an ordinary grain of 

 rice, and from .511 to ItlO in number. These 

 have been spun with tine silk into a regularly 

 f(u-nied cocoon by the larva; of a small clear- 

 winged fly, known under the name of 

 Miciogaster amtjreyata, Ijelonging to the jiara- 

 sitic family of " Ichneumon tlies. " The little 

 fly deposits its eggs in or on the bodies of said 

 worms, and as soon as the little parasites are 

 batched trom these little eggs, they innnedi- 

 'ately burrow into the bodies oi' these "worms," 

 and feed on the fatty substance of their 

 bodies. As soon as the little larvie have 

 reached maturity thej' come out of the bodies 

 of tlieir host and si>in the little white or bull 

 cocoons lirst alluded to. Within the follow- 

 ing week or ten days the young flies come 

 forth and go thnuigli the .same process ; and 

 thus they go on in the "even tenor of their 

 way," producing a number of broods, until 

 their further progress is ended by the cold 

 weather of fall. Now, in order to jierpetuate 

 themselves, and bridge over the long, cold 

 winter, the last broods do not spin their co- 

 coons on tlie bodies of the tobacco worm, but 

 on some other substance, where they hibernate 

 until the following summer. 



These little parasites, however, also infest 

 other caterpillars than tlio.sc of the tobacco 

 worm, hut tlie latter especially become the 

 victims of their infestations ; and here we 

 would rejieat the advice we have freipu'utly 

 given on former occasions, namely, that wluiu 

 a tobacco worm, a grape, or tomato, or any 

 other kind of worm is found with the cocoons 

 of this parasite U|)on it, it should not be dis- 

 turbed, for there is no danger that it will ever 

 be developed into a moth. This course will 

 allow the parasites to develop, and thus in- 

 crease their numbers. If there is a worm on 

 the tobacco plant these little Hies will be sure 

 to lind it, even if it should elude the notice of 

 the tobacco cultivator. It is a matter of life 

 or death to them, and not one of merely dol- 

 lars and cents, and although we are likely 

 enough to be vigilant wliere the latter is in- 

 volved, yet in a matter involving tlie former, 

 we may infer any subject would be still more 

 vigilant ; especially when guided by that in- 

 stinct which often far surpasses the highest 

 manifestations of human reason. 



CnKiSTiANA, .5lh Mo. (ith, 1878. 



Prof. S. S. Rathvon — Esteftned Friend: Please, 

 tbrouj^h llie medium of your excellent paper, give 

 tbe uamc and character of the iuclosed specimens. — 

 Yours, etc-., G. U. ir. 



The specimens came safely to hand, and 

 consisted of three small chi|is of the liark of a 

 tree or shridi, upon which had been deposited 

 about two hundred eggs of a Ilemipetroiis in- 

 sect, apparently belonging to the family 

 Reduviid-i; — a family wbich contains some 

 of our most eflicient insect friends. We only 

 found time to-day to examine the contents of 

 the box which inclosed the eggs, and when 

 we opened it we found that about one hun- 

 dred of the young insects had emerged from 

 them. We "cannot always determine the 

 species of insects from eggs alone, nor yet 

 from immature specimens, especially when 

 they are only a day or two old ; indeed, from 

 such undeveloped data we cannot always de- 

 termine the ycnus, and sometimes not even 

 the famihj. Judging from the appearance, 

 however, we should icfer them to the genus 

 Jlc'hirius, and they probably arc the li. raptor, 

 an insect which has been known to destroy 

 the larvcC of the "Colorado potato beetle." 

 We do not think, therefore, tliat you need 

 entertain any fears about the destructive 

 habits of these insects, for even if they are 

 not what we think they are, they are an allied 

 species, genus or family. If they do not de- 

 vour other insects the}' feed on some wild 

 species of vegetation. These little in.sects 

 have a little black head ami thorax, a small, 

 red abdomen, long and slender black legs, and 

 long, black antenna", yellowi.sh at the outer 

 end ; characters which also distinguish the 

 infant state of Lijgaeus aulicvs and tnrcirus, 

 which infest the Asricjiiiis, or wild cotton. 

 All of these insects hibernate in the winter 

 and deposit on vegetation in the spring or in 

 the previous autumn. 



3fr. E. K. II., Cre^noeU.—The small, black 

 insects on the cherry leaves you submitted to 

 our inspection, are the "cherry aphis," or 

 "plantlou.se" of the cherry {Aphis cerassi). 

 If the whole tree is infested the same as the 

 few leaves you submitted to us, you have not 

 only tlie huiie but also the unlklatr, for we 

 counted thirteen specimens of the larva' of a 

 species of .S'!(rji'ii'.----fly. feeding right vigorously 

 upon them. Wo do not think we shall he 

 able to develop the fly. because from the man- 

 ner in which they gobble up the aphids, we do 

 not think we shall have provender enough to 

 last them for half a day. Some leaves had 

 from two to three of these Stirjilixs larva' upon 

 them : therefore, we do not think a better 

 remedy for the destruction of the aphids need 

 be, or c'lii be, reconiracnded. 



Mr. H. M. E., Marietta, Pa.— Your peach 

 leaves are infested by the " peach aphis," or 

 "plant lon.sc" of the peach (Aptiis prr.sica), 

 but, unfortunately, we detected no Siirphus 

 larva; among them, therefore your case is 



more precarious than the above. Drenching 

 them with a tobacco decoction or a solution 

 of wiiale-oil soap would bo an extinguisher, 

 but heavy rain.s would also destroy inany of 

 tliem. 



The mild past winter was very friendly to 

 the insect world, and licnce, until the natural 

 checks iiave an ojiportunily to operate against 

 them, we may expect a redundancy of the 

 noxious kinds. If we could only ctdiuiize the 

 "Willow Wrens" as easily as we can the 

 " English Sjiarrows," they would soon " make 

 way" with the aphids. 



Mr. If. W. (I., Lnnrnxter, Pa.— In refer- 

 ence to the gastronomical habits of the family 

 Canii),i:, Dr. (iodman (p. HW, A. X. 11.) 

 .says: "Their food varies acconling to cir- 

 cumstances, and is compo.sed wholly, or in 

 part, of animal matter, either recently 

 killed or in a jiutrid state." But they are 

 less positive in this respect than the VvA.mM, 

 and yet we know cats, in a domestic state, 

 will feed on vegetable matter— and even fruit 

 and pickles— hut this is of rare occurrence. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Morells. 

 Mk. Editor — Dear Sir: I herewith send you a 

 box of Mushrooms (Moricles) for a holiday dinner. 

 I trust they will tickle your palate suflicieni to move 

 your pen once more in t>ehalf ()f the rultivatioii of 

 thi.s delicious eseulont, which may be produced in 

 rpiantity to supply any demand for W.—Kexpeel fully 

 yuunt, 11. M. Fiii/le, Marietta, jiprll -lind, 1878. 



The highly flavored "Morells" (MerrrhtUa 

 (undcntn), commonly called Moricles, came 

 duly to hand, and we assure our considerate 

 friend that they were exceedingly palatable 

 and "toothsome," and for which we ac- 

 knowledge a debt of gratitude. They were 

 the flrst we had eaten for twenty years, hut so 

 positive is this vegetable in its flavor that only 

 a smell of it recalls other days long agonc. 

 We certainly wish that the "movement of our 

 pen" would or could induce some of our 

 farmers, gardeners or truckers to embark in 

 the cultivation of Mushrooms, Morells and 

 Truffles. The versatile, prolilic and economi- 

 cal French iiroduce these esculents in such 

 large (piantities that the revenue to the gov- 

 ernment on them alone amounts to hundrcda 

 of thousands of francs annually ; and we 

 verily believe that if they wore intelligently, 

 industriously and economically cidtivated in 

 our country they could be produced in (|uan- 

 tity sullicient to bring their purcha.se and 

 consumiition within the means of the common 

 people, and this would render them as perma- 

 nent n crop as the common potato. We have 

 given the details of their cultivation in former 

 numbers of The F.\RjfKi!. which we will re- 

 publish on .some future occasion. Nothing is 

 more grateful to the human olfactories and 

 jialaU'than the flavor of these healthful fungi, 

 and we have often wondered that under the 

 jirogressive inipul.ses of our agricultural popu- 

 lation no advance seems to have been 

 made in this direction. Their cultivation 

 is .so simple and so artificial that any exhausted 

 cavern, quarry, ravine or cellar, where a uni- 

 form temperature can he maintained, can he 

 utilized for that lunpose without trespassing 

 uiiou other more aralile lands devoted toother 

 crops. A mean temi)crature of about 70', 

 and even a lower one, is suflicient to mature 

 the Mushroom and Morell. "A dinner of 

 herbs, and love therewith, is better than the 

 stalled ox and hatred therewith ;" and we be- 

 lieve that the temiier of the crabbedest man 

 would be mollified, on cro.ssing the thresh- 

 hold of his domicile, if he encountered the 

 flavor of a dish of Morells. 



Sai.isbt-ry, N. C. April 10, 1878. 

 Editou Lancaster Farmer : Never before have 

 we seen, at this season of the year, in any country 

 we have been In, a fairer prospect for a u'ood wheat 

 and oats crop; irrass also promises well; and the 

 present prospect for a good crop of fruit — such as 

 apples, peaclies, pears, plums, gaecs, crapes, &c., 

 itc., were never so fine. Garden veeetation, such as 

 lettuce, onions and radishes, including peas, Irish 

 potatoes, &c., are now growing finely here In the 



