130 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[September, 



certain mauipulations of soil — including sea- 

 son, location, and composition, ha,d always re- 

 sulted in certain beneficial effects, they 

 would readily believe and adopt his experi- 

 ences, if verbally communicated to them, 

 simply because their neighbor was a practical 

 man, and knew what he was doing ; but 

 should some person of literary ability write 

 out those modes just as they were developed 

 through the exneriences aforesaid, the book 

 in which they were recorded would not be en- 

 titled to credit, because of its scieutiflc char- 

 acter. Now, the one is just as scientific as 

 the other, and neither of them is so any 

 farther than they are /acts, and farther than 

 they are founded upon principles of truth; 

 and if either of them possesses these requisites 

 they are scientific, whether they have ever 

 been written and printed in a book, or only 

 recorded in human memory ; because, they 

 are knoxoledge, and possess power. Science 

 existed before the introduction of letters, 

 hieroglyphics or pictorial illustrations, and it 

 wiU survive all these. 



For the sake of simplification science may 

 be divided into physics, or physical science, 

 exact science, and natural science ; the last 

 named including natural history, or the 

 history of the animal and vegetable kingdoms; 

 in which agriculture has a paramount interest, 

 for they have a direct relation to the produc- 

 tions of tlie soil, and the history and improve- 

 ments of domestic animals. The world is 

 progressing, population is increasing, and 

 through the drafts of these upon the virgin 

 fertility of the soil, its primitive substances 

 are becoming exhausted. By the aid of 

 scientific knowledge its exhausted elements 

 may be restored and continued, and tlie 

 animal enemies of the human family circum- 

 vented or extinguished. In the crude and 

 normal progress of the natural world there 

 are cheeks and balances which tend to preserve 

 and continue nature's equilibrium; but, under 

 the stimulations of progress and increase, 

 this equilibrium becomes disturbed or de- 

 stroyed, and hence, there are alternate 

 recurrences of paucity and redundancy. 

 Neither the uncivilized aboriginals, nor 

 the early civilized races, had any of the diffi- 

 culties to contend wilh that now beset society 

 in its abnormally stimulated progress and 

 improvement. Unlettered science is too 

 limited and superficial to supply the demands 

 of a fastidious progress. A more rapid 

 transit and a wider diffusion are now re- 

 quired to satisfy the yearnings of a restless 

 human ambition. Society, and all the 

 various interests and elements which compose 

 it, now require a written word, instead of 

 varying and unsubstantial traditions. Scien- 

 tific knowledge needs to be invoked, and 

 carried into all the concerns of life, from "a 

 needle to an anchor," from the humblest 

 kitchen, up through all the various domestic 

 and social gradations, to the higliest point of 

 agriculture and mechanical excellence. One 

 blade of grass is not sufficient now — nor yet 

 are two— it requires lialf a dozen where only 

 one grew before. The scientific principles in- 

 volving these truths are beginning to be 

 slowly apprehended by the intelligent yeo- 

 manry of the country, and as rapidly as they 

 are apprehended they will be adopted and 

 carried into practical operation. They are 

 the "upper and the nether mill-stones," tliat 

 will "grind into powder," the absurdities, 

 the stupidities, and the prejudices of the past. 

 Then welcome science as the beneficent 

 handmaid to agriculture, as she has always 

 been to commerce and manufacturers. 



CATERPILLARS. 

 Friday, September 5th, Mr. Lemon, of West 

 King street, brought to us an apple branch, 

 about eighteen inches in length, on which 

 were grouped about 350 caterpillars. Tliese 

 caterpillars had stripped off all the leaves, 

 letting nothing remain but the midribs. They 

 were attached to the branch by the four pairs 

 of adbominal prolegs, with the posterior and 

 anterior parts of the body turned upward, and 

 appeared as rigid and immovable as if they 



had been composed of wax. Wlien'disturbed 

 they only wriggled with a jerking motion 

 from side to side. They were so closely 

 compacted that no part of the branch they 

 occupied could be seen, and we conceived the 

 idea of preserving them just as they were,.but 

 this seemed impracticable ; nevertheless, we 

 made the attempt, and, contrary to our ex- 

 pectations, we succeeded. We cut the branch 

 into three pieces of six inches each, but as the 

 caterpillars were only grouped on two of them, 

 we introduced these two pieces into a six iucli 

 jar with a wide mouth. The insects were 

 disturbed very little by this process. Tliey 

 had taken their "position" and seemed de- 

 termined to "fight it out on that line." 



We then introduced a gentle stream of 

 strong alcohol, and continued it until the jar 

 was full ; but the caterpillars remained rigid 

 and almost entirely motionless. Perhaps half 

 a dozen relinquished their hold upon the 

 branch and sank to the bottom, but all the 

 others, at this writing (eight day« after immer- 

 sion) remain just as they were when they 

 were first taken from the tree. We never 

 before witnessed such stoic indiflisrence to the 

 effects of alcohol in any insect. All— especi- 

 ally caterpillars — squirm, writhe, or contort 

 themselves in a more or less agonizing man- 

 ner, but these, except a gentle, tremulous 

 motion of a few of them — seemed to be 

 entirely indifferent to the pungent effects of 

 the alcohol, and "died game." They either 

 did not feel that sense of pain that is felt 

 "when a giant dies," or they are endowed 

 with the extraordinary faculty of almost 

 entirely ignoring it,. Through this experi- 

 ment, the Linnsean Society possesses the most 

 perfect specimens of alcoholized caterpillars, 

 as they appear in nature, that we have ever 

 seen, and we are by no means certain that tlie 

 experiment could be again as successfully 

 repeated with so large a number. 



These caterpillars are from one and a half 

 to two inches in length, three-quarters of an 

 inch in circumference, and of a honey yellow 

 color. The head is large and jet black, and 

 the feet and a small spot on the upper side of 

 the terminal segment are of the same color. 

 The body is adorned with seven reddish lon- 

 gitudinal stripes, the dorsal stripe being about 

 twice as wide as the lateral and marginal 

 ones. The posterior pair of feet are very 

 black, and project backward like a pair of 

 caudal forceps. Immediately back of the 

 head, the first thoracic segment has a broad 

 dorsal spot, or collar, of nearly orange red 

 color. 



We have made this record, because this is 

 said to be the apple-tree variety of the larva 

 of Detana Ministra — the "Handmaid 

 moth," an insect that is especially destructive 

 to the foliage of tlie walnuts and hickories, 

 and is also occasionally found on other trees, 

 the larva of which varies according to the 

 foliage it feeds on. Last year Mr. L. brought 

 us 1,200 of these caterpillars which he found 

 grouped together in a compact mass, near the 

 base of an English walnut tree on his prem- 

 ises, and of which they had stripped nearly all 

 the leaves, leaving nothing but the naked 

 midribs remaining. Those on the walnut 

 tree were of the same size and form as those 

 on the apple tree, but the body was a dull 

 white, and the stripes were somewhat broader 

 and of a deep chocolate-brown color. Last 

 year Mr. L. had none of these caterpillars on 

 his apple trees, this year he has none on his 

 walnut tree. After the mortality of 1,200 

 so summarily, a sole survivor may have 

 instinctively concluded that walnut trees are 

 unhealthy to the race, and hence the scene of 

 operation was transferred to the apple. 



These caterpillars have one peculiar habit 

 which places them effectually in the power of 

 man, and if men permit them to perpetuate 

 themselves from season to season they ought 

 to be held amenable to law. They "moult" 

 or cast off the old skin and acquire a new one 

 four or five times before they perfect their 

 larval condition, and when about to undergo 

 this change, the whole brood on the tree con- 

 gregate in a mass on the trunk, sometimes 



as low as the base — if not on the ground — 

 but never very fiir from the ground, and this 

 seems a practical suggestion to the proprietor 

 of the tree, to gather them up and destroy 

 them. If tliey are too repulsive to handle, a 

 syringing of hot water would prove an effec- 

 tive extinguisher. There is no excuse for 

 their continuance. 



We have noticed these caterpillars for more 

 than thirty years, but those on the apple tree 

 we have always found congregated on the 

 small branches, where they usually feed ; 

 whilst those on the walnut tree we have always 

 found congregated somewhere on the trunk. 

 When feeding they scatter wherever they can 

 find ;food, but in their moulting trysts, they 

 are remarkably gregarious. When they have 

 matured their larval condition, they burrow 

 into the ground, pupate, and remain there 

 until the following mouth of June, when they 

 come forth a moth. The alar expansion of 

 the moth is from one and three quarters to 

 two inches. The body is thick and about 

 three quarters of an inch long. Tlie antennae 

 are slender, and finely serrated along the 

 anterior margin. The anterior wings are 

 various sliades of reddish brown, and the pos- 

 terior wings and abdomen are a dull, silvery 

 white. The thorax is a deep velvetv brown, 

 margined with lighter brown. There are 

 four not very conspicuous, transverse lines on 

 the anterior wings, somewhat darker than 

 the ground color. They are attracted at 

 niglit by lights burning, and this may suggest 

 the destruction of the mature insect. 



Queries and Answers. 



MOTTLED HORN-BEETLE. 



Mr. 1. L. Oraham, Elkton, Jft?.— Your 

 postal card and small box by mail were duly 

 received. The box contained a most mag- 

 nificent specimen of the "mottled Horn- 

 Beetle." It is by no means a "Bug ;" it is a 

 Beetle, and was described by Linnaeus under 

 the name of * Scarahceiis tytius ; but modern 

 authors in entomology have placed it in the 

 genus Di/TMStea: therefore it is best known _ 

 under the name of Dynastes tytius: family' 

 Scarab^ida, Section Lamellicornia, and 

 order Coleoptera. 



The larva is a large, white crescent-shaped 

 "grub worm," very similar in form to those 

 tliat are found every season in the soil, only 

 much larger. What we mean by "crescent 

 shaped" is, that it is always found bent in the 

 form of a crescent. 



It feeds (the larva) on decayed wood, and is 

 often found in the decayed heart of old trees. 

 About twenty years ago a large willow tree 

 was cut down at Safe Harbor, in this county, 

 and in the heart of it were found about fifty 

 of these beetles and their larvx. Individuals, 

 since then, have been captured in various 

 localities in this county ; but we have never 

 heard of so many of them being found in one 

 place as in the tree at Safe Harbor. 



DROP-WORM. 



Mr. E., Lancaster county. Pa.— The small 

 box you left for our examination on the 9th 

 inst., contained the follicles of an insect 

 known by the common names of "Drop- 

 worm," "Basket-worm," "Sack-bearer," &c., 

 and by the Germans "Sach-trager. " It has 

 also received various scientific names, but is 

 now best known among scientists under the 

 name of Tliyridopteryz ephemcEniformis. It is 

 particularly destructive to the foliage of the 

 Arborvitse, but is also found on various other 

 trees; among which we may mention the 

 apple, quince, pear, cherry, apricot, nectarine, 

 elm, linden, locust, pines, cedars, &c., and 

 when it becomes numerous it is injurious to 

 the beauty, symmetry, vitality and general 

 health of the trees it infects ; but we know of 

 no insects that are more accessible in the 

 application of a remedy, if the remedy is 



*Tytuts, m the heatheu mythology, wis a gigantic Ben of 

 Ju] 4':er and Elara, whom AioUo lulled foroffering violeuo© 

 to his mother, Latona. 



ScarabKua means ft beetle. 



