I7S 



THE LANCASTER FARMER 



[December, 



or a basswood Inrush. Tlie steel brush alone, 

 perhaps, without any other preparation except 

 a solution of soap would destroy plant-lice 

 and bark-lice, if it were well rubbed on or in. 

 This scrubbing with a stiff brusli of any kind, 

 has certainly some merit, but it would in- 

 volve an immense amount of labor, where a 

 large orchard of apple trees is infested, or a 

 forest, a willow or locust grove. 



We have before us a neatly executed 8 vo. 

 pamphlet of 24 pages (including covers), and 

 19 wood cuts illustrating branches, insects 

 and implements used in applying the remedy, 

 according to which, this remedy has been 

 "Adopted by the Department of Public 

 Parks of the City of New York." Brustlin, 

 Sury & Co., are " Sole Proprietors and Manu- 

 factories," No. U Dey street, New York. 



People now-a-days have such a horror of 

 monopolies, that the soU proprietorship of any- 

 thing deters many people from making a trial 

 of such wares for fear of extortion; but, if a 

 thing really has merit, that fact ought to be 

 no objection to its patronage; moreover, it is 

 generally conceded that the discoverer or in- 

 ventor of any device, is entitled to due com- 

 pensation. If it is a good thing, there will 

 soon be a demand for it, and if a demand, 

 then depots for its sale will soon follow. 

 Thirty of the most common, and most 

 noxious insects are briefly described, and the 

 time, place and manner of application of the 

 remedy detailed. An index of the scientific 

 and common names of the insects is given, 

 and also a list of the common names of the 

 trees they infest. 



To the question, " What is Polysolve?" 

 the author of the pamphlet makes this reply ; 



"The name 'Polysolve' has been applied by 

 the inventor to a new and powerful solvant 

 AND DiLUTANT, suitable for a variety of sub- 

 stances. When concentrated it forms a clear 

 light yellow, oily, viscid neutral liquid. (Speci- 

 fic gravity 1,02a.) It is soluble in alcohol, in 

 all proportions, and is mixable with a small 

 quantity, say one or two parts of water, with- 

 out losing its oily character. With a large 

 quantity of water it produces a clear or faintly 

 opalescent, foamy solution, remarkable for its 

 extreme affinity for water and penetrability. 

 The chief property of ' Polysolve ' is this, that 

 it may be combined with relatively large 

 quantities of a great variety of substances, 

 which are powerful agents on organic matter, 

 but could not heretofore be introduced for 

 general use, on account of being either in- 

 sufficiently soluble, or in other regards not 

 easy to handle. Specially in agriculture and 

 horticulture many chemicals have been long 

 ago known to have properties for destroying 

 scales, larva; and in.sects of every description, 

 but their use has been liindrcd by the form in 

 which they were brought on the market. 

 Such chemicals which could not be dissolved 

 in water, at any rate, are now brought to 

 everybody's use in a soluble state by being 

 prepared in Polysolve. " That, and more to 

 the same effect, is an answer to the question, 

 "What is Polysolve ?" Should tlie reader in- 

 sist that that relates more especially to what 

 polysolve does than to what it is, we confess 

 he is a little of our way of thinking. Perhaps 

 anythiny is Polysolve that acts as a " solvent 

 and dilutant, although the name implies 

 many. Under any circumstances, the insect- 



ridden farmer, gardener or nurseryman, will 

 care little what it is, provided it proves an 

 unfailing antidote to insect depredations, and 

 that fact can only be realized by making due 

 trial of it. Perhaps the first step would be to 

 send to the address above given for a coi)y of 

 the pamphlet under review. 



OUR CORRESPONDENTS AND CON- 

 TRIBUTORS. 



Before the end of the present year of grace, 

 we desire to return our sincere thanks to our 

 correspondents and contributors (perhaps it is 

 fortunate for us that the number is so limited, 

 or we might not have had sufficient of the 

 virtue of thankfulness to serve them all,) 

 for the literary assistance they rendered us 

 during the year that is now rapidly fading 

 away ; also for that which they could have 

 rendered had they willed it, or had not forgot- 

 ten it ; as well as that which they now may 

 wish they had rendered. 



Ten quarto volumes (and six octavo) of the 

 Lancaster Farmer are now in existence, 

 many of which have been carefully pre- 

 served and substantially bound, and will be 

 transmitted to posterity as a epitome of the 

 agricultural and horticultural history of Lan- 

 caster county; and the generations existing a 

 hundred years hence, may be astonished at 

 the paucity of the number of those who 

 placed themselves on record as contributors 

 to the agricultural literature of the " grand 

 ould county." 



It always does our heart good when we 

 pick up an ancient local journal, and find 

 therein a goodly number of contributors, to 

 talk again with them— as it were— face to 

 face; no matter how common-place the sub- 

 ject, or how poor and humble they may have 

 been. Perhaps when their productions were 

 written they found no readers, no matter how 

 true, how practical, and how common sense 

 they may have been — indeed, some of the best 

 writers the world ever i)roduced, never found 

 a respectable audience, until after their 

 mouldering bones had long mingled with the 

 dust. With what an unerring prophecy it 

 was announced nearly 1900 years ago, that 

 " man hath honor, save in his own country 

 and among his own kin." Notwithstanding 

 all this, u-e desire to feel grateful for the help 

 that has been rendered us, however small it 

 may have been in the past — the future must 

 take care of itself. 



MAMMALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY. 



In the " long, long ago," without a doubt, 

 the deer, the bear, the panther and the wolf 

 were local inhabitants of the territory now 

 recognized as the county of Lancaster, but 

 these have long since been driven before the 

 march of civilization and improvement to 

 regions far beyond its borders. Perhaps some 

 sojourning octogenerian may still have a recol- 

 lection of the presence of one or more of 

 them, or of some "old settler," who may 

 have been familiar with some of them in his 

 early days. 



The class Mammalia had probably always 

 a limited existence here, excepting the ground- 

 hog, the opossum, and the squirrel, which 

 even now only requires to be "let alone " to 

 insure their rapid increase. Before the ad- 

 vent of the white man the " Norway rat " 



was probably altogether unknown, but it now 

 has become localized and may legitimately be 

 regarded as a native. 



Of the smaller species of animals, belong- 

 ing to other classes, and especially of the 

 Insecta, there is a redundancy, and civiliza- 

 tion and cultivation seem rather to increase 

 their numbers than to diminish them. But 

 whether this state of things existed when the 

 dense primitive forests of Lancaster county 

 were inhabited by the Redman and his animal 

 contemporaries— the quadrupeds and birds- 

 is a matter gravely to be doubted. The 

 "Canada Lynx " or wild cat, has been shot 

 in this county within the last twenty years, 

 and it is barely possible that a very few indi- 

 viduals may still be found in the woody 

 regions. Forty years ago a stray panther was 

 seen, or supposed to have been seen, within 

 the county ; but it needed a further corrobo- 

 ration to redeem the assumption from passing 

 into a mere myth, and the corroboration was 

 never secured. Civilization has, however, 

 vastly increased the numbers of a few mam- 

 mals, especially of those called rats and mice. 

 Domestic mammals, such for instance as the 

 horse, the ox kind, the sheep and the pig, are 

 of course not included in this list, because it 

 is too manifest that ihey have been introduced 

 and moreover are only found in a domestic 

 state. 



, ORDER CARNABIA. 



Family I — Cheiroptera. 

 Vespertilio. Lin. 

 noveboracensis. Idn. Red-Bat. 

 pruinosa. Say. Hoary-Bat. 

 carolinensis. Oeof. Brown-Bat. 

 subulatus{?) Say. Sharp-nosed Bat. 

 FAsnLY II— Insectivora. 

 SoREX. Lin. 

 brevicaudus. Say. Shrew. 

 SCALOPS. Cuv. 

 canadensis. Cuv. Mole. 



CONDYLURA. III. 



cristata. 111. Star-nose. 



Faotly III— Carnivora. 

 Procyon. Str. 

 lotor. Lin. Raccoon. 



Mustela. Lin. 

 lutreola. Lin. Mink, 

 vulgairs. Lin. Weasel, 

 erminea.' Lin. Ermine, 

 pennanti.'ft Ere. Marten. 

 Mephitis. Cuv. 

 araericana. Des. Skunk. 



Lutra. Br.i. 

 brasiliensis. Ray. Otter. 

 Canis. Lin. 

 fulvus. Des. Red-Fox. 

 cinereo-argentatus. Gml. Gray-Fox. 



Felis. Lin. 

 canadensis.' Gtof. Wild-Cat. 



Family IV— Marsupialia. 

 DiDELPHis. Lin. 

 virginiana. Pen. Opossum. 



ORDER RODENTIA. 

 Family I— Claviculata. 

 Fiber. 111. 

 zibethicus. Lin. Musk-Rat. 



