116 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[ August, 



horn sumac ;" R. glabra, "smooth sumac;" 

 and B. cojMltina, "dwarf sumac," tliat are 

 generally used for tanning purposes. To the 

 second group belongs the two poison species, 

 namely: the Bhns vene7iata, "poison sumac," 

 and the li. toxicodendron, '■'■ iwison ivy," the 

 latter of which is the well known creeper, and 

 which some persons cannot even approach to 

 the windward without being poisoned. "What 

 its tanning qualities might be we are not 

 aware of, but as it is not the most abundant 

 species, it should be severely let alone, except 

 to grub it out and remove it from the premises 

 during the whiter season. Tlie thiril group 

 contains the Rhus aromatka, " fragrant 

 sumac," described as a low, straggling bush, 

 the crushed leaves of which are sweet-scented. 

 These dill'ereut species of sumac grow from 

 two feet to thirty feet in height, and in some 

 localities they are very abundant ; so much so 

 that in looking over large districts of it we 

 have often thought it must surely have been 

 permitted for some useful purpose. There 

 are many products of the soil, the uses of 

 which are not yet fully developed, and this 

 seems to be one of them. Our increasiag 

 necessities may in time fully utilize this. 



REMINDER FOR AUGUST. 



In the Middle States, the work of this 

 month does not vary materially from the 

 mouth just closed. Cabbage, for winter use, 

 may head if planted at once. Celery earth 

 up ; plant for future use. Endive plant. 

 Beans, Bush or Snap, plant ; tender Snaps, 

 gathered late in autumn, may be preserved in 

 strong brine (salt and water) for winter use, 

 and vary but little from those freshly gathered. 

 Lettuce sow in drills to head. Peas sow. 

 This vegetable is a delicacy in autumn, and 

 should more frequently appear at table. 

 Landreth's Extra Early, sown latter end of 

 month and beginning of next, perfect before 

 frost. Spinach sow, for autumn use ; for 

 winter use, sow next month, lladishes sow, 

 the Spanish for winter. Golden Globe and 

 Turnip-rooted for autumn use. Kuta Baga 

 sow without delay, if not already done. Should 

 the ground be dry, work thoroughly and sow 

 in the dust ; the seed may vegetate with the 

 first shower. A roller, to compress the soil, 

 sometimes promotes vegetation ; but there is 

 this disadvantage, if heavy dashing rain 

 immediately ensue the ground packs and the 

 seed is lost. Yellow Aberdeen, Pomeranean 

 Globe and Amber Globe Turnips sow early in 

 the month ; also, the German Sweet, don't 

 forget it ; the Early Dutch and Red-Topped, 

 both Strap-leaved varieties, may be sown until 

 the first of September, though it is well to 

 sow at least a portion earlier, as at a late day 

 it is difficult to remedy a failure. Read re- 

 marks under head of July. — Landrclli's Ru. 

 Reg. 



AUGUST CATERPILLARS. 



The cateriiillars found during the month of 

 August on young apple trees are commonly 

 called "red-humped" because of the raised 

 red spot on the first segment of the abdomen. 

 The moth of which they are the young is 

 known in science as Notodonta concinna. 

 Smith. The moth deposits its eggs some- 

 times in the month of July in clusters on the 

 under side of the leaf. When first hatched 

 the caterpillars eat only the underside of the 

 leaf, but afterwards, as they grow larger and 

 stronger, they eat the entire leaf. They are 

 gregarious in their habits, and, when resting, 

 cluster together and sometimes entirely coyer 

 small twigs and ends of branches. Tlie early 

 broods come to their full growth by the 

 middle of August, the others by the latter 

 part of September. They are easily destroyed 

 by gathering when found in a cluster ; and 

 although in some seasons they may appear in 

 numbers, If attended to properly they can be 

 easily managed. Since if left undisturbed, 

 they destroy the leaves, and these are neces- 

 sary to the health of the tree, their unmo- 

 lested presence is of course dangerous to the 

 trees they infest.— iJwraZ JVei« Yorker. 



AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 



Pennsylvania State Fair, Erie, September 

 2.3 to 27. Oxford Agricultural Society, (Ches- 

 ter county,) Oxford, September 2.5 to 27; 

 Schuylkill County Agricultural Society, Or- 

 wigsburg, September 23 to 2.3 ; Chester County 

 Agricultural Society, West Chester, Sept. 19 

 to 21 ; Franklin County Agricultural Society, 

 Chamborsburg, Oct. 8 to 11 ; Lehigh County 

 Agricultural Society, Allentown, September 

 21 to 27 ; York County Agricultural Society, 

 York, October 2 to 4 ; Montgomery County 

 Agricultural Society, Ambler Park, September 

 23 to 26 ; Northumberland County Agricultu- 

 ral Society, Dewart, October 1 to 3 ; CUimber- 

 land County Agricultural Society, Carlisle, 

 October 1 to 4 ; Farmers' and Mechaiucs' 

 Institution, Easton, October 1 to 4 ; Gratz 

 Driving Park (Dauphin county), Gratz, Sep- 

 tember 24 to 27 ; Agricultural and Industrial 

 Association of Schuylkill County, Ringtown, 

 September 17 to 20. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



West Chester, July .31, 1878. 



Mr. Rathvon — Sir: I send you by this mail a 

 box containing two bees. You will observe a "some- 

 thing" sticking to their legs and feet. It is gotten 

 accidentally, whilst gathering honey from liowers ; 

 and, on alighting on the front of the hive they are 

 immediately caught by the other bees and dragged 

 off. If they enter the hive they are hauled out and 

 dumped overboard. They are not allowed the privi- 

 lege of entering their own home, although willing 

 to work. This is very hard usage indeed. I would 

 be pleased to know the flowers from whence they 

 get the substance alluded to above. I would pull 

 them up or cut them down with pleasure. They 

 seem to contain a very small black seed with a straw 

 attached ; and at the outer end it is forked, with an 

 attachment resembling the wings of a fly. It will 

 require a strong magnifying power to see them prop- 

 erly. Yours respectfully, Wm. J. P. 



P. S. — This troublesome pest is only at this season 

 of the year— about the first of August. W. J. P. 



Your box and bees came safely to hand and 

 seem to be infested by the eggs of a parasite, 

 although just what species would be difficult 

 to determine from the eggs alone. Your 

 healthy bees are wise — very wise indeed — and 

 do just what human beings would do, in a 

 similar case, if they were' destitute of hu- 

 manity. The occupants of this hive simply 

 obeyed the first law of nature, which is "self- 

 preservation." Human beings would have 

 put their fellow-beings under quarantine, or 

 have sent them to a hospital, or some other 

 similar place to prevent infection, the same as 

 they do in cases of leprosy, smallpox or 

 cholera. 



The small, black, seed-like processes are 

 not present in all cases ; but, on the contrary, 

 some of these apparent eggs are directly at- 

 tached to a sort of foot-stalk, which adheres 

 to the femer, the tibia and the feel, and one 

 was found attached to the rostrum or tongue. 

 Sometimes there are two find sometimes only 

 one attached to a single foot-stalk. Under a 

 microscope they have the form of the winged 

 seeds of the maple. They look thick and 

 fleshy, and of the color of amber, or like the 

 chromate of potassium in color. 



We could not designate any particular 

 flowering plant upon which these eggs are 

 deposited by the parent of them, for tliey are 

 likely to be found on any plants that are 

 likelj' to be visited by bees. Nor are we able 

 to offer any better remedy than that which 

 the bees themselves have adopted, "hard " as 

 it may appear ; and we cannot but admire 

 their highly-wrought instinct, if we dare not 

 call it reason. There are several coleopterous 

 insects that are parasitic upon bees, promi- 

 nent among which is the "Oil-beetle," 

 [Meloe) ; also, a species of Clerus; and Stylops 

 pecMi, wliich is the type of a distinct order. 

 It however can hardly be the latter insect, as 

 its larva is footless, and could hardly find its 

 way into the body of the bee after its exclu- 

 sion from the egg ; although Westwood men- 

 tions a case where a number of tlie larva; of 

 Stylopid.e were crawling among the hairs 

 on the abdomen and legs of an allied species 

 to the bee. It is possible they may be tlie 

 eggs of a member of the family Ichneu- 

 MONiDiE, of which there are a very large 



number of species — running into the hun- 

 dreds — and there are very few insects that are 

 not more or less infested by these parasites ; 

 even the parasites themselves are suliject to 

 them. 



In Westwood's Introduction, or rather 

 classification. Vol. II., p. 146, and fig. 76-9, 

 he alludes to species of Sphinctus and Panis- 

 cus, which deposit pedunculated eggs on or in 

 the bodies of other insects, and No. 9 of his 

 fig. 76 is just the form of the eggs on your 

 bees. The footstalk or peduncle differs some- 

 what from yours, coming out of the side in- 

 stead of the end, but even those on your beee 

 are not uniform in this respect ; in some cases 

 they are very nearly like those figured by 

 Westwood. 



Now, after all that has been said, there is 

 still a lurking thought which suggests the 

 possibility of its being a fungus ; for through 

 the transparent integument the internal con- 

 tents seem to be concreted, the interstices be- 

 tween the concretions exhibiting reticulations 

 on the outer surface ; moreover, two or three 

 of these lobes or eggs had a stiff filament or 

 spine growing from the side and end ; one or 

 two also had little tubercular elevations, from 

 which it might be supposed a filament would 

 eventually have grown. Finally, Dr. Packard, 

 on page 165 of his "Guide to the Study of 

 Insects," figures the tarsus of a wasp, with 

 pollen masses of the wild cotton plant 

 {Asdepias) attached to the hairs and claws, 

 which strongly, in outline at least, resemble 

 those on your bees, so that possibly this may 

 lead to a solution of the question. As you are in 

 the business of bee-culture, and more favorably 

 situated for making practical observations 

 than we are, we therefore must refer the sub- 

 ject back to you again for further investiga- 

 tion, and if you give us the results we will 

 publish them. 



A Curious Bird Shot. 



Oregon, Aug. 2, 1878. 

 Prof. Rathvon : I send you by the bearer a bird 

 which was shot here yesterday, near the mill dam, 

 by Adam S. Bard. I have no work on natural history 

 by me, and besides know little of birds, anyway. I 

 would be glad to have you determine what It 

 is. — Respectfully yours, A. F. H. 



Your bird, as nearly as I was able to deter- 

 mine, (remote from books and comparing 

 specimens, ) is known in various localities as 

 the "fish-eagle," "fish-hawk," "fish-kite," 

 " flsh-royer " and "osprey," [Pandion halia- 

 etus, of Lin. and Cuv : Ca,rolinensis of Bonp. ) 

 If the common names are confusing, it is still 

 worse in its scientific nomenclature, for this 

 bird, in its bibliography, has received twenty- 

 four synonyms, six of which are generic, 

 namely : Falco, Aquila, Pandion, Accipiter, 

 Balbusarchus and Triorches; almost enough 

 to deter any one, with limited time and means, 

 from studying book ornithology, at least. It 

 has been considered as the connecting link 

 between the eagles and the hawks. It is cos- 

 mopolitan in its habitat, although the Ameri- 

 can and the Australian varieties have been 

 currently regarded as distinct species, under 

 the specific names of Carolinensis and Leuco- 

 cephalus. It is migratory in its habits, and 

 makes its appearance in our county in March, 

 and leaves in October, according to meteoro- 

 logical conditions. Its normal food is fish, and 

 its haunts are only in proximity to streams, 

 ponds, lakes and bays. It is said to also prey 

 upon frogs, newts and other reptiles, but the 

 general record is that it does not attack other 

 birds except in self-defence. The bald eagle, 

 our national emblem, is the greatest foe of the 

 osprey ; not that he offers violence to the bird 

 itself — he has as much interest in its physical 

 condition as a Mexican has in that of his 

 mule — but, robber-like, he watches it until it 

 has caught a fine fish, and then he darts down 

 upon it from his perch and compels the osprey 

 to relinquish its property to the greedy grasp 

 of the eagle. If everything visible is but the 

 outbirth or ultimate of something invisible, 

 (whether from above, intermediate or below,) 

 then our forefathers committed an error in 

 selecting the bald eagle as our national em- 

 blem. He is aot by any means a noble bird, an 



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