10 



rVEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



August 3, 152J'. 



crows and fowls. The perfect inst'ct is devoured 

 hy some insectivorous anima!, which frequents our i 

 gardens for that purpose, and v.-hosc beneficial 

 foraging is detected by its abundant excrement, 

 filled with the wing-cases of the JMelolo.mha. I 

 M. batia, (Say,) a smaller species than the quer- 

 cina, may, according to Mr Molsheimcr, " be found 

 in its proper season in vast numbers under the 

 deciduous leaves of forests: during the night the 

 millions of wings tiiat fan the air produce a loud 

 humming sound, not unlike that emitted by the 

 enraged occupants of a huniblo-becs' nest." This 

 species, with another, M. },{isuta, (Knocli,) are 

 found in Massachusetts, but not in such quautities 

 as the quercina. The halia is of a light chestnut 

 brown ; head and thora-t blackish brown ; the for- 

 mer and the breast beneath hairy. It is rather 

 more than thirteen twentieths of an inch long. — 

 M. hirsuta is dark chestnut, and hairy ; the thora.x 

 wjth dilated punctures, and the wing-cases with 

 five or six longitudinal series of hairs on each. — 

 Length seven tentiis of an inch. 



Several other species are common here, but 

 their specific names are at present unknown to 

 ir.e. Of the smaller ones, are some which attack 

 the wild rose and wortlo-berry bushes. These 

 are M. vespertina and M. sericea of Knoch, and 

 M. iiicolur of Say. About the last of June and 

 first of July the two first of these species may he 

 found in the evening on the Rosa j'ubigbtosa, in 

 great abundance, and generally paired. Mr Mel- 

 sheimer says that M. tricolor " abounds in hilly 

 and mountainous situations, where, in the month 

 of May, the time of the sexual union of the spe- 

 cies, it may be seen flying amongst the wliortle- 

 berry bushes in profusion." 



These species are nocturnal insects, never ap- 

 pearing, except by accident in the day, during 

 which they remain under the shelter of forests, or 

 concealed beneath the leaves of shrubs and grass. 

 Others are truly day-Jliers, eomathting their rava- 

 ges by the light of the sun, and always present 

 to our observation. 



One of them appears about the middle of May. 

 It eats the leaves of the pear-tree, and feeds al- 

 so on those of the poplar and oak. It is a large 

 insect, and was described by Linne as the Scara- 

 Bxvs lanigerits. The body is of a broad oval 

 shape, and compressed or flattened ; the head and 

 thorax yellow, bronzed ; the wing-cases pale yel- 

 low, punctate ; the legs brownish yellow with 

 shades of green ; the body beneath green bron- 

 zed, ar.d clothed with long yellow down. Length 

 nearly one inch ; breadth rather over half an 

 inch. It is not constant in its appearance; in 

 some seasons being found in great profusion, 

 when, by shaking the young pear-trees, any uum- 

 bcr of them may be obtained. 



Another large species attacks the grape-vine. 

 It is the SoARAB^cs punctatus of Linne. The 

 wing-cases are testaceous or brownish-yellow, 

 with three distant black spots on each : the tho- 

 rax darker, slightly bronzed, with a black spot 

 ench side ; the head green-bronzed round the 

 eyes ; the body beneath and the legs deep green, 

 bronzed. Length one inch, breadth over half an 

 inch. 



and is commonly called muck-tcorm ; it differs, 

 however, in some respects, from that of the Me- 

 Loi.ONTiiA,and produces an insect genencally dis- 

 tinct, which is described as the Scaraba-us reliclus, 

 by Mr Say. 



A ^rnall species also attacks the vine ; it is 

 closely iillied to the M. vitis of France ; but, for- 

 tunately its ravages are not so extensive as those 

 of the latter. It is the M. varians of Fabricus: 

 is of a broad-oval shape, and the elytra testace- 

 ous ; the central part of the thorax, the head 

 around the eyes, the body beneath, iind the legs 

 blackish green, and bronzed, in the male ; in the 

 female those parts are of a pale brown colour. — 

 Length of the male seven twentieths, breadth one 

 fifth of an inch. Length of female two fifths, 

 breadth five twentieths of an inch. It feeds on 

 the cultivated and wild grape vine, and also on 

 the sumach. — (To be concluded next weel;.) 



BLIGHTED OATS. 



Through the whole season till within a few 

 days, the fields have promised a rich harvest of 

 oats. But the last week lias changed tlio face of 

 things in this particular. Nearly all the Oats in 

 this town and vicinity are said to be so Ll-ighted 

 that they are scarcely worth harvesting. How 

 extensive this failure of the crops may be is un- 

 certain, but persons from several dift'erent towns 

 have all concurred in the same tale, that their 

 own fields of oats would be mowed and the stalks 

 given unlhreshed to the cattle. Our own observa- 

 tion has discovered acres of this grain, where ten 

 days ago the stalk had attained nearly four feot in 

 heigiit and indicated a groat burden, but in which 

 now the stalks have lost their erect position, have 

 crinkled down as it is called, in all directions as if 

 unable to sustain their own weight. This shrivel- 

 ling is a sure indication of blight. What can 

 have been the state of the atmosphere to destroy 

 the crop of oats, while all other grains arc good, 

 v/e know not, but the fact is beyond dispute. Had 

 this blight been perceived while the stalk was yet 

 green, it might have been mowed and converted 

 into the best of fodder ; so that the loss v.'ouki 

 have been much less. But as it was, the grain had 

 begun to ripen, and the stalk turned yellow, be- 

 fore the appearances of blight were much noticed. 

 Concord Gazelle of July 28. 



From the J\'ational Intelligencer. 



CULTIVATION OF SILK. 



The culture of silk seems likely to bo seriously 

 entered into in this country : practical men in dif- 

 ferent parts of the Union having taken the experi- 

 ment in hand. Amongst these is Mr Joshua 

 Peirce, whoi-e nursery and farm on the banks of 

 the Rock creek are at the distance of a short but 

 lomantic ride from this city and Georgetown.^ — 

 From him we have received the following letter, 

 which shows that he is liberally disposed, not only 

 to acquire information, but to impart it for the 

 benefit of others. 



Linntean Hill, near Washington, } 

 June 7th, 1827. \ 



Messrs Gales If Scaton — Having engaged in the 

 raising of Silk Worms with a view of making an 

 experiment as to the practicability of making it a 

 lucrative business, and of introducing them into 

 this section of our country, I have now on hand 

 about eight or ten thousand which have just com- 

 menced spinning, and, as a number of my acquain- 

 tances have exjiressed a wish to see them, you 

 will much oblige me by giving notice in your pa- 

 per, that they will be exiiibitod gratis for the 

 present and Bext week, Sunday excepted. All 

 persons desirous of seeing them are invited to call 



at my residence at Linna^an Hill. As it is a sub 

 ject tliat has of late excited much attention, some 

 account of the silk worm, its history, managoment- 

 &c. and tho cultivation of the mulberry tr^ee, will 

 no doubt bo rend with much interest by many of 

 your subscribers. I send you McMahon's garden- 

 ing, which contains quite an interesting article on 

 the subject, and beg leave fo suggest to you the 

 propriety of inserting it in your paper. 

 Yours, with much respect, 



JOSHUA PEIRCE. 



We have pleasure in availing ourselves of Mi 

 Pcirce's suggestion, by copying the following from 

 McMahon's Gardener's Calendar : 



About the year of Christ 551, two Persian 

 monks, employed as missionaries in some of the 

 christian churches established in India, penetrat- 

 ed into the country of Seres or China. There 

 they observed tho labours of the silk worm, ami 

 become acquainted with tho art of working up its 

 productions into a variety of elegant fabrics. — 

 They explained to the Greek Emperor at Con- 

 stantinople these mysteries, hitherto unknown, or 

 very imperfectly understood in Europe ; and un- 

 dertook to bring to the capital a sufficient number 

 of those wonderful insects. This they accomplish- 

 ed, by conveying the eggs of the silk worm in a 

 hollow cane. They were hatched, and afterwards 

 fed with tho loaves of a wild mulberry tree, and 

 multiplied and worked in the same manner as m 

 those climates where they first became the objects 

 of human attention and care. Vast numbers oi' 

 these insects were soon reared in diClcrent parts 

 of Greece, particulariy ia the Peloponnesus. Sici- 

 ly afterwards undertook to breed silk worms, with 

 equal success, and was imitated, from time to time, 

 in several towns of Italy. In all these places, ex- 

 tensive manufactures were established, v,ith-silk 

 of domestic production. 



" From the reign of Justini.m, it was mostly in 

 Greece, and some of the adjacent islands, that silk 

 worms were reared. Soon after the conquest of 

 Constantinople by the Venetians, in 1204, they 

 attempted the establishment of the silk manufac- 

 ture in their dominions ; and in a short time the 

 silk fabrics of Venice vied with those of Greece 

 and Sicily. 



"About tho beginning of the fourteenth centu- 

 ry, the Florentine manufactures of silk became 

 very considerable. It was introduced much later 

 into France ; tho manufacture of silk though con- 

 siderably encouraged by Henry IV. not having 

 been fully established there, till under Louis XIV 

 by Colbert. 



" It is an established and well known fact, that 

 both tbe-white and tlie black mulberry trees grovt- 

 as well in almost every part of the United States, 

 .is in any country on earth : and also that silk has 

 been raised and manufactured into a most excel- 

 lent fabric, under the direction of that great and 

 venerable patriot, and friend of mnnkin.'l. Dr Ben- 

 jamin Franklin. That so ueefa! a piirsuit should 

 be sufl'ered to die away, in a country as well 

 adapted for it as any in the universe, is as extra- 

 ordinary as it is unfortunate and injurious to the 

 real interest of the nation." 



" Old Soaker." Professor Francis, in giving his 

 testimony before the Court iii New York dur- 

 ing a recent trial there fir murder, stated, that on 

 opening tho skull of the deceased, an effluvia came 

 out resembling that which proceeds from old 

 soaked rum casks. 



