i62 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[November, 



riedly, and an attempt was made to conceal 

 its whereabouts ; its moutli having been cov- 

 ered u]) Willi timbers, wliich liave, in the Ions 

 centuries since its abandonment, rotted and 

 fallen into tlie shaft, thus leading to the dis- 

 covery. 



This seems to be the latest mining sensa- 

 tion in Kew Mexico, and whether those who 

 venture in it shall realize their anticipations 

 or not, the discovery is none the less interest- 

 ing in a historical view, and invests this con- 

 tinent with addilidual evidence of being the 

 oldtr instead of the new. The rock ore has 

 been examined by experts, and although not 

 yet subjected to the assayer's test, it bears all 

 the external evidence of good paying quality. 

 Scientilic men have visited the new discovery 

 and have taken an archaeological view of it, 

 and ti'.ese remarkable vestiges of a pre- 

 historic people on this continent, and the 

 results of their observations will be given by 

 Col. Case Ijefore tlie Kansas Academy of Sci- 

 ence, and also in a popular review. These 

 ruins are located on or near the Rio Pecos, 

 among the lofty spurs of jNIauzana mountains, 

 in New Mexico, and no doubt will "druw," 

 until they are eclipsed by some newer and 

 more imposing discovery. Indeed, the world, 

 perhaps, would have made but little progress 

 in discovery if the etlbrts of men had not 

 been stimulated by ambition of some kind — 

 a desire to rule, or to acquire wealth, or to 

 enjoy freedom, to escape from tyranny, a love 

 of adventure, or scientific lore. 



We are indebted to a sliji from the Kansas 

 City Jnurnal, of October 28th, 18S0, for tlie 

 foregoing facts, only a small part of which 

 could be given. 



The two Pitkin heroes are native Pennsyl- 

 vanians, one from Lancaster city, and are 

 spending the winter in New Mexico. If on 

 a practical comparison they should find New 

 Mexico preferable to Pitkin they might proba- 

 bly locate there. No doubt both places have 

 their advantages and disadvantages. 



TOBACCO PESTS^No. 4. 

 Rather to my surprise I am compelled to 

 record one of our iBost familiar "Lady-birds" 

 amongst the tobacco pests of Lancaster county. 

 Perhaps, however, no one ought to be sur- 

 prised ali this, for the fact of its being a vege- 

 table feeder has been known for twenty-five 

 years at least. Still, as it usually conlined 

 Itself to cncurbitaceous plants, I did not sup- 

 pose it would become so far demoralized as to 

 ' attack the Nicotiana tahacuni. But I have 

 frequently seen both the beetle and its larva 

 feeding on the potato vines, which have a 

 family alliance with tobacco, and the transi- 

 tion, therefore, is not .so great after all. The 

 insect I allude to is the " Northern Lady- 

 bird," Epilachna hnrealis, perhaps one of the 

 most familiar and common species. 1 pre- 

 sume it is known to everybody, at least it has 

 been known to me ever since my early Ijoy- 

 hood, as one of the most abundant, as it is 

 certainly the largest, of the true Lady-birds. 

 Description. 

 It is shaped like the common "box-turtle," 

 and is of a lemon yellow color, spotted all 

 over with hlack, and when cauglit in the 

 liand it emits a few drops of a clear yellow 

 fluid, whiph has an unpleasant odor. It is 

 nearly as large as the Colorado potato beetle, 

 Imt rather more hemispherical, and the larva, 

 the 2"ip" and the imago are often found to- 

 gether on the same plant. I never knew them 

 to be destructively numerous, except on one 

 occasion, about thirty-five years ago, and then 

 they developed tlieir possibilities in a very 

 emphatic manner. They did not confine 

 themselves exclusively to pninjikin and melon 

 vines, but also attacked potatoes, green corn 

 and wheat. The larva is a short, convexed 

 slug, similar in form to that of the "Colo- 

 rado," but not so large, and is of a uniform 

 bright yellow color, covered all over with 

 short, yellow, bristling hairs, and has a pair of 

 very black eyes. 



It undergoes all its transformations on tlie 

 plants it infests, and the pupa is suspended 



alone by the adhesion of the caudal extremity. 

 About twenty years ago, within one mile of 

 Lancaster city, I removed about three feet of 

 bark from a large dead cherry tree, in the 

 month of ilarch, and counted over five hun- 

 dred of these lady-birds that had hibernated 

 there during the previous winter. I had often 

 found them thus, but never so numerous as 

 on that occasion. Of course I destroyed the 

 whole of them, for I knew their noxious 

 habits. This circumstance may illustrate their 

 iwssibilites, for the colony, in a few weeks, 

 might have begotten a perfect swarm of them. 

 Another Scourge 



From Manor township, on one occasion, I 

 received nine '"Tree crickeis, " or "Snow 

 ci'ickets" (CEcavthus nirevs), that had been 

 captured on a single tobacco ]ilant, in the 

 month of August. I have known this insect 

 for more than thirty years, and never knew it 

 to be very abundant, or yet very destructive, 

 until the general introduction of tobacco cul- 

 ture. It was usually found on trees or shrub- 

 bery, Init now it shows a decided partiality 

 for tobacco. Mr. E. Hershey, near Creswell, 

 assured me that he has seen at least a dozen 

 on one plant. They seem to be partial to the 

 tender leaves at the ends of the stalk, about 

 the time they are expanding, which tliey eat 

 into small holes. This does not kill the leaf, 

 nor yet arrest its growth, but, singidar enough, 

 the holes increase in size proportioned to the 

 size of the leaf, and although circular when 

 first made, they become oblong as the leaves 

 lengthen, the oblong never being transverse, 

 but always longitudinal ; in their young or 

 larva state they either leap away or bide 

 among the leaves when they are aiiproacbed, 

 but after their wings are fully developed tliey 

 can both leap and fly to a considerable dis- 

 tance. This insect belongs to the order 

 Orthoptera (which includes all the grasshop- 

 pers and crickets), family Aclictada'., and sec- 

 tion SaHatoria, or leajiers. 



Scientific Description, 



The male Tree-cricket is nearly white, some- 

 times tinged with green ; the wings lie flat on 

 the back, one lapped over on the other like 

 two battledores; the legs are all long and slen- 

 der, the posterior pair much the longest, and 

 formed for leaping ; the aiiteiinie are very 

 long and thread-like, and are generally thrown 

 backward when the animal is at rest- The 

 female is more robust and shorter in her body ; 

 the wings are short and deflexed and her color 

 is various shades of green or brown. Her legs 

 and anteiiniE are also shorter than tliose of 

 the male, and at the end of the alidomen she 

 is provided with a sword-like ovip<'isitor. She 

 perforates the rasiiberry and blackberry canes 

 (as well as the branches of other shrubbery) 

 with this instrument, and deposits her eggs 

 therein, somewhat in the manner of the seven- 

 teen year female Cicada, where they remain 

 all winter and batch out in the spring. To- 

 bacco cultivators have oliserved that these 

 insects are most abundant on tobacco that is 

 growing under or near trees and shrubberv. 

 This is owing to the fact that they breed in 

 such places. They must deposit their eggs in 

 woody perennials, or they could not be carried 

 safely tiirough the winter. If there was no 

 tobacco they would be content to remain in 

 tlie trees and shrulibery where they breed, 

 but this weed furiii.shes them a more ample 

 and succulent repast, and they are not proof 

 against the temptation. 



Another New Enemy 



The (Edipnda CeiroUnn has also been de- 

 tected feeding on the tobacco plant. This is 

 our most common "grasshopper" which, in 

 the month of August, frecpients dry roads, 

 and is .sometimes seen rising up on its wings 

 and poising itself with a sharp sound, for a 

 moment, and then drop|)ing down again to 

 its lormer position. Indeed, I am assured 

 tliat other species of grasshoppers are equally 

 guilty, and esiiecially our common "red- 

 legged" one {Calopteiiiisfemer-ndjrinn.) How 

 the fancies of boyhood become the facts of 

 mature age. ilow many boys have invoked 

 the grasshopper to "spit tobacco and I'll let 



you go," without ever dreaming that a day 

 was approaching when these insects would 

 practically become "tobacco chewers" indeed 

 as well as name ! 



Still More Enemies. 



I have also had sent to me, on several occa- 

 sions, several species of Ileniipterous insects, 

 which intelligent correspondents detected 

 puncturing their tobacco plants ; only two of 

 them, however, being either abundant or fre- 

 quent, tint the destructiveness of any, or all of 

 them, is, perhaps, only a question of numbers. 

 These insects belong to the true hugs, and are 

 not provided with mandibular organs ; there- 

 fore, they do not eat the iilant. nor cut holes 

 into it They are suctorial insects, and iire 

 provided witli a sharp proboscis, with which 

 they pierce or penetrate the plant and suck 

 out its juices. The first of these is a small 

 grey insect, about a quarter of an inch long, 

 having generally a conspicuous yellowish V 

 shaped mark on the back, occupying that part 

 called the scuteVum. This is the Pliytncoris 

 linearis, and some years ago, when the potato 

 rot prevailed in New York State, some of the 

 potato growers there, in some manner, asso- 

 ciated this in.'iect with the cause. The rot 

 passed away, but the bug still remained, and 

 is now here in a new role. 



The Soldier Bug. 



The second is a much larger insect, and on 

 that account capable of great injury. This 

 is commonly called the "Soldier-bug," differ- 

 ing more in the organic structure of its 

 sucker than in its general appearance, from 

 the "(Spwi'rt Soldier-huif which preys upon 

 the larva of the "Colorado potato-beetle." 

 This is the Eusckistus puncticeps of Say, and 

 belongs to the family Scutelleriche, distin- 

 guished by a triangular loVie that extends 

 from the base of the" thorax downward over 

 the wing covers. This insect is over half an 

 inch long and ^ at the broadest part. Above, 

 it is of a yellowish color, and is finely punc- 

 tured wilih grey or brown ; beneath it 

 greenish yellow ; and it has a longer and 

 and more slender proboscis than the species 

 that prey on other insects ; otherwise it might 

 easily be confounded with them, and no doubt 

 fre(piently is. It also lacks the thoracic spines, 

 but these are very variable in their develop- 

 ment, and not always a safe distinguishing 

 characteristic. 



The Remedy. 



As a remedy against all the.se insects, a new 

 substance is looming up in a vegetable apjili- 

 cation, which is .said to be more effective 

 than either Paris green or London purjile, and 

 much less expensive, besides beincr safer for 

 the ojierator. This is a species of Pyrethrum., 

 which is beginning to be cultivated, and pre- 

 pared as an insecticide. Prof. Riley and 

 otliers have been testing it, and their reports 

 are mainly favorable. In California the plant 

 has been successfully cultivated for some time 

 past, and the seeds have been distributed and 

 trials are being made in other localities. It is 

 dried and i>ulverized, and ajiplied as a powder 

 or as a liquid infusion, according to circum- 

 stances. 



Selections. 



FATTENING POULTRY FOR MARKET. 



How many farmers there are who, although 

 they are good farmers in other respects, are 

 very slovenly and negligent in regard to their 

 poiiltry. Were you to inform one of them 

 tiiat Ills pork was not proiierly fattened or 

 that his dairy had not been profitably man- 

 aged, he wou!<l be very a)it to resent the 

 intimation as an insult. The fattening of 

 pork is a matter worth attending to properly. 

 If this is not done the farmer is sure to know 

 it when he conies to market. The dairy is 

 even more important. The farmer prides 

 himself not only on owning good stock, but 

 in caring tor them to the best of his ability, 

 making them as profitable as possible during 

 the year, for a large proportion of our farmers' 



