18»4.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



147 



They Like Rhubarb and Ginger. 



The various species of Ptinio.e iiic very 

 destructive insects ; not only to furniture and 

 oilier wood work, but also to peltry, to bo- 

 tanical collections, entomological specimens ; 

 and druggists have found them destroying 

 rhubarb and ginger; they have even been 

 found feeding on cantharides, cayenne pep- 

 per, black pepper, allspice, and their mandi- 

 bies are sharp enough to cut through tin foil 

 with comparative ease. Linnscus, in his time, 

 recommended a compound ef arsenic and 

 alum for their destruction. The Mr. Fox al- 

 luded to in the IHmcs article, did not do a 

 wise thine when he ordered his boy to throw 

 the infested cigarettes into the ash barrels ; 

 had he ordered a bonfire of them, it would 

 have been more to the purpose. But, except 

 in very extraordinary cases, we do not think 

 that even this is necessary. Submit them to 

 an oven heat, as high as the tobacco can bea)- 

 without burning. It may improve them, as 

 it did on the notable occasion which devel- 

 oped the " Irish Blackguard Snutt'." In such 

 emergencies, there is no use in people getting 

 "beside themselves." In Westchester county. 

 New York, it is said, the people attempted to 

 destroy the "canker worm" by plowing it 

 under — the very condition the insect would 

 seek of its own accord, to complete its trans- 

 formations ; and, if found so situated as to 

 make it possible to be plowed under, that was 

 its very purpose. It is like throwing a duck 

 into water with the expectation of drowning 

 it. 



Where there are only from six to ten of them 

 in a single cigarette, treated with heat, we do 

 not consider it entirely useless, although it 

 might work a depreciation in its value. We 

 found little, or no difference between the 

 flavor of such and those that had not been in- 

 fested. But where they are beyond recovery 

 throw them into the furnace, and not into the 

 ash barrel ; for an insect that can thrive upon 

 tobacco or cayenne pepper, would not be hurt 

 much by dry ashes. 



How to Destroy Them 



This insect was i)robably imported from a 

 foreign country. It has been demonstrated on 

 various occasions, that imported insects are 

 more destructive than our allied native 

 species, or than they are in their own native 

 country. As soon as the beetles are evolved 

 they cut a whole through the wrapper and 

 make their escape ; so that the number of 

 holes in the wrapper of a cigarette is no indi- 

 cation of the number of insects that may be 

 in it, but rather of the number that have 

 escaped ; and yet, it is possible that more than 

 one may pass through the same hole. In 

 some cigarettes which we examined, and in 

 which were a half a dozen holes in the wrap- 

 pers, not a single insect, in any form, was 

 present. It perhaps would not pay to unmake 

 the infested cigarettes and make them over 

 again ; but the foeces of the insects, in the 

 form of a line powder, is easily separated from 

 the tobacco that remains undestroyud, and, 

 by submitting it to a sifting process, more 

 than enough might be saved to compensate 

 the labor. Of course, this would involve the 

 disintegrating of the cigaretes, and resolving 

 their contents into a mass of smoking tobacco. 

 Known for More than Haifa Century. 



Thus far we have written, about a mile 



away from oiu' cabinet of Cokophra, with tlie 

 little insects, however, liefore us. On com- 

 paring them with specimens in said cabinet, 

 we have no hesitation in pronouncing them 

 AHOhiuin lemiiistriatum of Say, belonging to a 

 genus commonly called "Death-watch," or 

 ' ' Tick-beetles. " If our indentification is cor- 

 rect, then we have had this same species in 

 our collection for full forty years. Thomas 

 Suy died in lK;it, so that this insect has been 

 known for more than half a century. Mr. Say 

 repre.sents it as a common species, fre(iuently 

 occurring in museums ; also destructive to the 

 Iris root of apothocary shops, which is useil 

 as a cathartic. There is a remote possibility 

 that it may be Anobium striatum, or A. pani- 

 ceum of Europe, or a new species. Some 12 

 or 15 species of Anobium have been described 

 as American, and about the same number as 

 European. They are all very small insects, 

 but working under cover, in secret, they are 

 capable of doing a great deal of injury to 

 whatever they infest, and this becomes more 

 manifest, when we raflect that the ova, the 

 larva, the pupa and the imago, are all foimd 

 at the same time, in the same substance, indi- 

 cating that, undisturbed, they may go on 

 multiplying ad infinitum. 



Intense kiln drying, we believe is the only 

 sure means of destroying them without also 

 destroying the infested tobacco. In our ex- 

 perience we have found heat the most effec- 

 tive means of killing insects where it can be 

 applied. 



The article from the Times, to which we 

 referred, will be found under the head of 

 " Selections" iu this number of the Faumeu. 



REPORT ON CONDITION OF CROPS. 

 On wheat in India, and on freight rates ot 

 transportation companies, September, l!<S4. 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture. Bureau 

 of Statistics. New series. Report No. 11. 

 Washingtion, D. C. 



The general average of corn in the United 

 Slates is 94, or 20 bushels per acre for the 

 entire breadth of the country. The yield is 

 not less than 1,.SOO,000,000 bushels. The pro- 

 duct of winter wheat is above the average, 

 and of good quality and will aggregate 500,- 

 000,000 bushels. The average condition of the 

 whole field of cotton is 82^, though Texas is 

 the only State below the average. The con- 

 dition of potatoes averages 91 against 95 last 

 year. The oats crop averages a yield about the 

 same as corn, and will aggregate over 500,- 

 000,000 bushels. The general average for rye 

 is 90, and for barley 97. Tobacco is higher 

 than iu any September ^sinco 1877, averaging 

 94. 



England's crop of wheat for 1884 amounts 

 to about 82,000,000 of bushels, Including 

 Ireland and the channel islands. Barley, 

 74,000,000, and oats 112,810,4(;4. It is esti- 

 mated that the Austrian empire can export 

 3,000,000 quintals (220 lbs.) of wheat, 4,000,- 

 000 of barley, 2,000,000 of oats, and have 

 t enough left for home consumption. The Rus- 

 sian crop is liivorable, but slightly under the 

 average. The crop of wheat in France 

 amounts to about 10^^,000,000, but she can 

 import 40,000,000 of bushels, as stocks are low 

 I compared with last year. It is said that India 

 i can export at least 50,000,(X)0 of bushels to 

 I foreign countries, but in Loudon this state- 



ment is doubted. Australia has a surpluss of 

 22,000,000, of which she lias already exported 

 13,000,000. Ontario (Canada) reports the crop 

 of fall and spring wheat at 31,730,344 bushels. 

 A valuable paper read at the late meeting 

 of the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, is included in this report, in 

 which the author proposes to show that it is 

 folly to attempt to " feed the nations of tlie 

 earth," and neglecting the organization of 

 constructive forces and the development of the 

 highest skill in production, and that every 

 nation must be practically self-supporting, 

 possibly making a few exchanges from occa- 

 sional surplus. We shall refer to this again. 



EXCERPTS. 



" Wood can be made to last as long as iron 

 in the ground," writes a correspondent in an 

 exchange, and at a cost of less than two cents 

 apiece for posts of any kind of wood. He 

 gives the process in tiiis way : Take boiled 

 linseed oil and stir in pulverized coal to the 

 consistency of paint. Put a coat of this over 

 the timber, and there is not a man that will 

 live to see it rot. 



Afteu the age of nine months a good hog 

 may be made to weigh as many pounds as he 

 is days old. He should be farrowed early in 

 the spring, and slaughtered before January. 



It is a well-known fact that all animals 

 grow better and take on fat faster in warm 

 weather than in cold, and it is well to take 

 advantage of this fact in preparing the sur- 

 plus stock for sale. 



In order to secure tlu; fastest walking 

 horses they must be tested, and the best re- 

 tained for breeding, as careful selection will 

 result in the establishment of a breed of fast 

 walking horses if persisted in. 



To prevent foul breed in bees Mr. J. H. 

 Hicks, of Maryland, sets out a dish contain- 

 ing a solution of rock salt and water near his 

 hives for the bees to drink, and finds that it 

 keeps his apiaries free from the disease. 



Ml!. AViLSON, the great grape grower of 

 the Northwest, planted, a year ago last 

 spring, 400,000 cuttings and grew 80 per cent. 

 He was to graft this year from 20,000 to 25,- 

 000. The cuttings, he said, should be one- 

 half inch from the bud. 



Fodder that is properly saved, and fed in 

 combination with clover hay and grain, is of 

 equal value with timothy hay by weight, says 

 Professor Sanborn, but such fodder is very 

 different from that which is exposed to firost 

 and bleaching rains. 



The rapid growth and dense shade which 

 buckwheat makes gives it great value aa a 

 weed destroyer. Even thistles can be kept 

 down by it if the land is sown as soon after 

 plowing as possible, and the first thistles that 

 appear are pulled or cut with a hoe. 



At present the manufacture not only, have 

 all the say in regard to i)rices for wool, but 

 they to a very great extent prescribe the rules 

 under which it is bought and sold. Thorough 

 organiziition and harmonious action among 

 wool growers is the only remedy for the dicta- 

 tion of the manufacture wc can think of. 



The Texas Wool Groiver says the question 

 is what shall I do to increase the quality of 

 my wethers for market and when shall I ship 

 them ? Feed tiiem and make them fat and 



