1878.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



i49 



their roots as tlic storehouse for their Iioardcd 

 foodstull's ; wliile the orciiis produces each 

 year a new tubercle by the side of its existing 

 root, and this second tubercle becomes in turn 

 tlie parent of the next year's lloweiiuf; stem. 

 Perhaps, however, the common colchicum or 

 meadow satTron affords the most instructive 

 instance of all; for during the sunnner it 

 sends up green leaves alone, which devote 

 their entire time to the aceumidation of t'ood- 

 slulls in a corm at their side ; and, when the 

 autumn comes round, this conn produces, not 

 leaves, but a naked dower stalk, which iiushes 

 its way thronRh the moist earth, and stands 

 solitary before the Octol)er winds, deiiending 

 wholly upon the stock of nutriment laid up for 

 it in tlie corm. — Popular tScience Munlhbj. 



WATERLOO PEACH. 



This is a seedliufi originated in Waterloo, 

 New York, by Mr. Henry IJsk, of that pl.ace. 

 The exclusive right to propagate and sell it, 

 however, has been transferred, by purchase, 

 to Ellwanger & Barry, of the Mount llojie 

 Nurseries, Tloehester, New York. The peach 

 of course, occupies a place in our 

 social and domestic constitution 

 which nothing else can supply or 

 supplant, and tlierefore it is en- 

 tirely in harmony witli itself, and 

 with everything else of the friut 

 kind. The "Waterloo" is an en- 

 tirely new variet}', but has been 

 sulficiently tested, and is backed by 

 sufficient authority to entitle it to 

 the confidence of the people. A 

 good idea of it may be found by our 

 iUnstration, and the following de- 

 scription : '■"Size. — Medium to large, 

 good specimens measuring nine 

 inches. Form. — Round, with a deep 

 suture on one side, from stem to 

 apex ; stalk in a deep cavity ; apex 

 slightly depressed. Color. — Pale 

 whitisii green in the shade, marbled 

 red, deepening into dark purple 

 crimson in the sun. Flesh. — Green- 

 ish white, with abundance of sweet 

 vinous juice ; adheres considerably 

 to the stone, like Hale's, Amsden, 

 &c. Season. — The first specimen 

 ripened this season .July 14th, and 

 measured ten inches in circumfer- 

 ence. All were picked and mostly 

 over-ripe on the loth of .July. It is 

 believed to be a week earlier than 

 Alexander and Amsden. Mr. Lisk 

 says that in the summer of 1877 it 

 ripened several days earlier than 

 these varieties, and this year, judg- 

 ing from unripe specimens of Alex- 

 ander and Amsden, now before us, 

 we think "Waterloo" fully a week 

 in advance. It is a remarkable 

 keejier, rijie specimens having been 

 kept in perfect condition in our 

 office nearly a week after being picked. These 

 same specimens were njie at the time they 

 were gathered. It will, therefore, be of good 

 value for shiiiping. We think we are per- 

 fectly stjfe in rating it as one of the largest 

 and finest of all the very early peaclies. 

 Price, $-2.00 each." Any of our readers wlio 

 may feel a desire to go beyond the excellent 

 varieties originated in this county, we think 

 may surely repose confidence in sudi a firm as 

 as that of Ellwaxoer & B.\uitY. 



But, on the .'id inst., Mr. J. F. Shaeffer, an 

 extensive tobacco grower of Upper I.,f'aci)ck 

 townshii), callc<l on us and exhibited a small 

 box containing about one-fourth ounce of 

 dark earth in which were from twenty-live to 

 thirty small, whitish, living centipedes or 

 niyriapods. from a quarter to half an inch 

 long, which he ha.s discovered, from practical 

 observation, to be tlie little animals that cause; 

 the " black root " in the tobacco plants. He 

 reiiresents them as coiling themselves around 

 the root, and ginling it, <u- nearly separating 

 it from tlu; jilant. From that moment the 

 young plant either wilts or dies— at least, it 

 makes no progress forward, but becouirs yel- 

 lowish and stunted, if it does not innuediati'ly 

 die. When this is not the case, under the 

 most favoraI)lc circumstances it recovers very 

 slowly, and then only when the root has been 

 able to throw out laterals, or rootlets, above 

 the wound. 



Mr. .Shaeller states that the small quantity 

 of earth he exhiliited to ns was an average 

 specimen of the whole of his plant beds, and, 

 if so, they must be iiermeated by millions of 

 these myriapods. When the ground is moist 



BLACK-ROOT AND THE MYRIAPODS. 



For some months past, and especially about 

 the beginning of the tobacco growing season, 

 we have heard many complaints, and tobacco 

 growers have interrogated us about a disease 

 of the tobacco plants which they called 

 "black-root." Of course, from their repre- 

 sentations alone, and without having seen 

 auy of the diseased or infected roots, we could 

 not divine what was the matter with their 

 plants— especially as no one had sent us any 

 of the diseased plants— but we supposed they 

 might have been affected with a parasitic 

 fungus, or something of that character. 



they are found on or near the surface, but 

 when it becomes dry they bury themselves 

 deeper in the soil. "He has tried lime over 

 and over again, Init without any beneficial 

 effect. AVe recommended the saturation of 

 the soil with scalding water as tlie simplest 

 and cheapest remedy, and in order to decoy 

 the animals to the surface, we recommended 

 moistening it with tepid water. 



Most of the myriapods contained in this 

 specimen of soil are ipiite young, and must 

 have been produced from eggs dejiosited last 

 spring or during the summer ; therefore they 

 will be just in a condition to create havoc at 

 the next jilanting season, and consequently it 

 is important that they should be destroyed 

 before that time. It may be necessary to re- 

 peat the ai)i)lication of this remedy several 

 times, in order to secure the desired result. 

 It no doubt would be beneficial to expose the 

 beds to intense freezing, having first kept 

 them securely closed and the earth moistened, 

 as before stated, in order to induce the enemy 

 to come to the surface at the most appropriate 

 time, followed by several repetitions. 



Intense cold is, however, not an effective 



remedy for tlie destruction of insects in any 

 case, except where it is freciuently alternated 

 with heat and moisture. Some in.sects may 

 be frozen stiff during the winter, and remain 

 so until s]]ring, without sustaining any injury. 

 IJul where they are frozen and refro/.en, al- 

 ternated with thawing and ret hawing, and 

 moisture superadded, they .seldom survive it. 

 As additional remedies we would suggest 

 th(! thorough saturation of the plant beds 

 with a licpiid infusion of tobacco or sumac 

 blossoms, common lye, a solulion of wh.alc 

 oil .soap, or diluted carbolic acid ; always being 

 sure of decoying the enemy to the surface 

 before the remedy is applied. In regard to the 

 tobacco remedy, we have often seen large 

 (luantilies of the liquid running to waste at 

 factories. This .should be husbanded and kept 

 as an insecticide. Mon^over, it would return 

 to the soil, as a manure, what had been drawn 

 from it in the tobacco cro]>. 



It is somewhat astonishing what a source 

 of .sustenance the tobacco i>lant is becoming 

 to a large number of in.sects. There are now 

 known to be eighteen f)r twenty species, that 

 in one way or another prey upon it. The suc- 

 cessful tobacco grower must there- 

 fore increase his -vigilance, and not 

 be unwilling to go to some trouble 

 to secure a good crop. 



And now a word about the enemy. 

 The class Ifi/riapoda (many-footed) 

 is conspicuously divisible into two 

 grand divisions, namely: Millipedes 

 (thou.sand-footed) an(l Centipede,s 

 (hundred-footed). The first arc herb- 

 iverous, and the second carniverous ; 

 therefore, the latter never need di.s- 

 tnrb the equanimity of the tobacco 

 grower. Although many of the first 

 division feed on decayed vegetation, 

 or on fungi, yet some of them are 

 very destructive to garden \ese- 

 tables. The first division have 

 cylindrical bodies com])osed of many 

 segments or rings, and four feet at- 

 tached to each ring underneath, and 

 they move slowly. The second divi- 

 sion have flat bodies, two feet to 

 each segment, attached to the sides, 

 and their movements are rapid. 



Each of tlie.sc divisions is divided 

 into several families, and these into 

 genera and sjiecies. The above two 

 grand divisions are scientifically 

 called C/iilof/notha and Chilopodo, 

 and down at the lower end of the 

 first named is a family called Polij- 

 drsinido', a kind of connecting link 

 between the two great divisions, 

 similar to the first in structure and 

 habits, Init allied to the latter in the 

 flattened form of the body ; and to 

 this family the little individuals be- 

 long that are the subject of this 

 pajier. They belong to the genus 

 Poh/desnim, which is the type of the 

 family, but they are still too immature to de- 

 termine theirspecies. Color, whitish to gray. 

 ^ 



CORNSTALKS vs. SORGHUM. 



For some time past the chemist of the De- 

 jiartment of Agriculture at Washington has 

 been wrestling with the constituent substances 

 that exist in the shaiie of cornstalks and 

 sorghum, endeavoring to separate their sac- 

 charine jiroperties and ascertain how much 

 crystallized sugar could be obtained from a 

 given (piantity. His experiments are now 

 given to the world as follows : The aggregate 

 weight of the cornstalks used was 11,237 

 pounds, and the weight of sorghum 13,958 

 pounds. The weight of the juice from the 

 cornstalks was 2,773 pounds, and from the 

 sorghum 4,0(53 pounds. The specific gravity 

 of the cornstalk juice was 10.54 ; that of the 

 sorghum juice, 10..58. The percentage of 

 juice in the cornstalks as they came from the 

 field was 24.68 ; the percentage of the sorghum, 

 3.5..5r). Thus 2,571 pounds of cornstalk juice 

 yielded 382 pounds of syrup, and 4,355 pounds 

 of sorghum yielded 000 pounds of syrup. This 

 syrup contains 75 per cent, of its weight of 



