The Lancaster Farmer. 



Dr. S. S. EATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER, PA., FEBRUARY, 1880. 



Vol. SU. No. 2. 



Editorial. 



A NEW INSECTICIDE. 



I Dr. Ilcrinaii A. Hatrfii. I't'ol'i-ssor of Eiito- 



' inology at Harvard iriiiversity, ('amhridf,'e, 

 Massaclmsi'tts, iiroposes to elTcct the df- 

 stniction of all "obnoxious insects" — in- 

 cluding pliylloxera, jiolato beetles, cotton 

 worms, grassliopiiers and greenhouse pests — 

 by the apiilication of the ijkisI fmiytis, and 

 lias written and published an octavo pamphlet 

 of twelve pages on the subject, citing the 

 observations and experiments of Dr Hail, of 

 Prussia; Mr. Trouvelot, of Medford, Mas.sa- 

 <;busetts ; Mr. Siewers, of Newport, Keu- 

 lucy ; Profs. Kiley and Com.st .ck, of Wash- 

 ington city : Mr. .lames il. Burns, of Shelter 

 Island, New York ; Prof. Ilor.sford, of Cam- 

 liridge, Massachusetts ; Dr. John L. Leconte, 

 of Philadelphia, auil others. The following 

 is .1 resume of the system, and from it our 

 readers may get an idea of its lu-iueiples and 

 their niodii.i iiperaudi : 



Firxt. The common house-tly is often killed 

 by nftDKjus, .and in epizootics a large nmnlier 

 of insects which live in the same locality are 

 killed l)y the same fungus. 



Seriind. The fungus of the house-fly works 

 as well as yeast for baking and brewing pur- 

 l)Oses. 



Thii-tl. The application of yeast on insects 

 produces in them a fungus w'hich becomes 

 fatal to the insects. 



Fourth. In the experiments made by Mr. 

 .J. H. JJurns, all [lotato beetles sprinkled with 

 dilut(!d yeast died from the eighth to the 

 twelfth day, and the fungus was found in the 

 vessels of "the wings." 



The term fpiznulk means the same thing 

 among insects, and other subjects of the ani- 

 mal kingdom, that epiihmic does among liu- 

 nian beings, namely : a generally prevailing 

 infection, wliich is more or less fatal to those 

 attacked by it. whether it is contagions or 

 not. Some of the exi)eriments have been 

 ve.ry successful, but others have been unsatis- 

 factory or total failures. 



These are contingencies, however, that 

 must be expected in the development of new 

 principles and the applications of new ele- 

 ments as remedies lor the destruction of 

 insects. Even if we liave all the necessary 

 materials to make a new kind of bread or 

 cake, and know nothing .about their propor- 

 tions, assimilations anil affinities, we shall 

 probably fail a dozen times before we learn 

 how to so combine them as to secure a suc- 

 cessful result. The remedj' seems to be a 

 very simple one, and is not so apt to prove 

 injurious to those who apply it as ParU 

 gr<cn and other vindent iioisons. It is 

 simply beer mash or diluted yeast applied 

 either with a .syringe or a sprinkler; and its 

 operation is facilitated by the infected insects 

 communictating it to other insects with which 

 they come in contact. Mr. Burns used 

 "Fleisehman's compressed yeast," and the 

 "National Dry Hop Yeast Cake," dissolved 

 in warm water with apparently similar effect. 

 Another important consideration is the cheap- 

 ness, and at the same time the safeness of the 

 remedy. What to us seems a serious draw- 

 back is the long time it requires to kill the 

 insects. If they are not immediately ener- 

 * vated or sickened in eight or ten days they 

 might destroy a whole croi), but even this 

 would be cimipensated by the n rtainty of the 

 remedy. Our readers must often have ob- 

 served an epizootic among house-flies and 

 other insects in this locality. We have often 

 witnessed it, and two notable ooca.sions we 

 can distinctly recall. In oiu' rural rambles 

 during the later part of the summer of 185(i, 

 (as near as we cau recollect,) the grasshop- 



pers, crickets, bumblebees, butterflies, 

 njoths and caterpillars were infested by fungi, 

 and scores of them could be found at any 

 time and place, adhering by a death grip to 

 fences. Weeds, shrubbery, &c., and these were 

 dead, and on ojieuing them they were gener- 

 ally liollow, and contained more or less fungi. 



This was so conspictuously the case that it 

 was observed by those who were not [larticu- 

 larly noted for minute observations. Some of 

 these grasshoi)iiers were also infested by gor- 

 diansand other insect [larasites, but all hail 

 fiuigi. The following year grasshoppers were 

 fewer in number than they had previously 

 been, or have since been. The other occasion 

 we allude to w.as in the early part of the sum- 

 mer of 1868, during the advent of the seven- 

 teen-year locust {Cinula n-dfcimo,\ and 

 continued to the end of .luue. Many of these 

 locusts became infested with a peculiar fungus, 

 especially in the cavity of the abdomen, and 

 we think the species was described and named 

 by Dr. Joseph Leidy, of Philadelphia. So 

 far as our recollection goes it was mainly 

 conlined to the male sex, but not to them 

 exclusively. In many instances the abdomen 

 of the insects would drop off, whilst vitality 

 was continued for a time in the other portion 

 of the body, which in that condition would 

 fre(iuently take wing and fly from one tree to 

 another. It was through this that the dis- 

 covery was made here in the city of Lancas- 

 ter. Many siieciraens were captured that on 

 examination were found to be minus the ab- 

 domen, but they did not survive as long as 

 those that were perfect. On canvassing the 

 ground beneath the trees the abdomens were 

 found and proved to be empty, and the inner 

 walls thickly covered with fungi. Some spe- 

 cimens were found dead that were entire, and 

 these were also infested. We think we imb- 

 lished some observations on this subject 

 during the advent of the locusts, and that 

 Prof. Kiley al.so did in the Arncrkan Ento- 

 molocjiat, or in one of his annual Missouri 

 reports. Under any circumstances, however, 

 the life of the seveideen-year locust in its 

 adult or iniui/n state is a brief one, rarely con- 

 tinuing beyond the 1st of .July, except in a 

 few cases, i)ut the infested individuals began 

 to occur at least two weeks before their 

 normal period had eea.sed, and at that lime the 

 fungus was generally considered more as a 

 consequence of their deaths than as the cause 

 of it. But when we reflect that depletion, 

 enervation or death follows, sooner or later, 

 both animal and vegetable subjects of the 

 n.atural world when infested with fmigi we 

 need not be surprisi)ed if it should be demon- 

 strated that fungi was the c(«(.s€ of their 

 death and decay. 



For forty or fifty years very few Morella 

 cherries have been grown in Lancastt^r county. 

 The trees were weakened and finally died by 

 an infestation known as " /j/«rA- knot,''' whicli 

 has been demonstrated to be caused by a 

 fungus, and not at all by an insect. We only 

 mention these things here because they seem 

 to have — however remotely — some relation to 

 the subject under consideration. Fungi 

 being fatal to health, and often to the life of 

 anything they infest, if we can contrive by 

 some simi)le and inexpensive means to com- 

 municate "sickness unto death " to all our 

 insect pests, we shall have made a great stride 

 in arresting their inerea,se, and do something 

 towards restoring the equilibrium of nature. 

 But before the ha|i|)y means is attained, it is 

 very i)robable there will be many failures, for 

 no matter how simple a remedy is, anything 

 that stops short of, or advances beyond that 

 simplicity, may defeat the desired end. 

 Doubtless many remedies for the destruction 

 of no.xious insects have failed for lack of in- 

 telligeuce iu their application. A knowledge 



of the history and character of the subjects we 

 war against, and the elementary principles of 

 the weapons we use against them, are essential 

 to a successful result, and this knowledge can 

 only be obtained through skillful and con- 

 tinued experiment. It therefore behooves 

 thoiie who are interested most in these mat- 

 ters to continue patiently and perseveringly. 

 Analagous to the foregoing is the case of the 

 mice of Lancaster city. For the p;ist ten 

 years or more specimens of mice have been 

 captured infested about the head with a white, 

 apparently scrofulous incrustation ; from two 

 to a half dozen having been captured during 

 every single year. In some specimens it only 

 occurred on the one side of the head, but in 

 the larger number it covered the whole dorsal 

 portion, destnjyiug the eyes. This may be 

 common among mice everywhere, for aught 

 we know to the contrary, but we have never 

 seen it, or heard of it any\vhere save in Lan- 

 caster city, and we feel conlideut that mice so 

 infesteil could not long survive. Dr. M. L. 

 Davis, of Millersville, exhibiteii at the meet- 

 ing of the Linn;ean Society, held on the IJlst 

 lilt., one of these mice, sent to him from 

 L;incaster city. Having examined it, he 

 gave it as his opinion that the animal was in- 

 fested with J'orriyofnucoso, a well known fun- 

 gus analogous to the "yeast plant." The 

 theory is that mice contract it by coming in 

 contact with "mouldy " bread, cheese, meats 

 or other substances, and that it is on record 

 that this fungus has been communicated to 

 cats, dogs, and even to children. We may 

 feel very certain that the presence of fungi 

 on any living organism does not increase its 

 vitality, but that it facilitates the premature 

 decay or death of any substance upon which 

 it is permitted to germinate and grow. Of 

 another thing we may be equally certain, 

 namely : that farmers cannot expect to de- 

 stroy grasshoppers, potato-beetles or any 

 other noxious insects by merely opening the 

 gate and throwing a iiill into the enclosure, 

 and then shutting it again .and go whistling 

 aljout some other business with the ;issurauce 

 that they have acted llteir part in the matter. 

 Whatever the remedy may be, as we have 

 before intimated, it must be administered 

 systematically and judgematically, with many 

 reiietitions, perhaps, before they can reason- 

 ably expect to succeed ; and they must also 

 endeavor to find out the reasons of either 

 their success or their failures before they 

 aliandon their efforts. 



WESTERN NATIONAL FAIR. 



The "Western N.ational Fair Association" 

 have decided to hold their first grand exhi- 

 bition at Bismarck Grove, near Lawrence, 

 Kansas, from the llith to the 18th of Septem- 

 ber, 188U. All entries must be made on the 

 9th, lOtli and lltli of September, and all 

 articles for exhibition, excepting live stock, 

 must be in place on the grounds by the 11th. 

 Live stock must be in place on the grounds on 

 or before the 13lh. Cash premiums, larger 

 than have ever been offered in the West, will 

 be paid for the best county exhibits of the 

 products of the field, garden and orchard. 

 County exhibits may be made by individuals, 

 agricultural or other organizations. Over 

 tiiirty thousand dollars in premiums are offer- 

 ed for the best cxiiibits of the products of the 

 field, garden or orchard, live stock of all 

 kinds, poultry, dairy products, machinery of 

 all kiiid.s, agricultural or farm machinery 

 manufactured in Kansas, textile fabri(;s of all 

 kinds, floral products, works of art of all 

 kinds, confections,^ canned or preserved fruits, 

 meats, &c., <.tc. There will be other magnifi- 

 cent attractions which will be announced in 

 due time. This grand enterprise is to be es- 

 pecially under thie auspices of Kansas and 



