vol.. XIII. NO, 53. 



THE TURVIP PLY. 



Mr Tucker — If you have room in the col- 

 umns of tlie next Genesee Farmer, I shouhl feel 

 extremely obliged hy your informing me what is 

 the surest method of destroying the Turnip Fly. 

 The tin milkpan mentioned in your number of 

 23d ult. was undoubtedly a certain mode of clear- 

 ing an individual plant, but how, Mr Tucker, are 

 we to extirpate the destructive little insect from a 

 field of ten acres ? 



My Wall-flowers, (which I introduced about 

 four years ago from Germany into Scotland, now 

 known there by the name of Suterania, or Lilac 

 Wail-flower,) I fear will be wholly eaten up. I 

 have remarked that thev liave increased in num- 

 bers after each of the heavy thunder showers we 

 have lately experienced here, which I liad vainly 

 anticipated would have cottipletely destroyed 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



413 



ments, are needed to prove the general efiicacy of I of oats, proved greatly superior to farm yard 



this remedy. 



Loudon says, "Arch Garrie, a Scottish garden- 

 er tried steeping the seed in sulphur, sowing soot, 

 ashes, and sea sand, along the drills, all without ef- 

 fect. At last he tried dusting the rows when the 

 plants were in the seed leaf, with quick lime, and 

 found that effectual in preventing the depredations 

 of the fly. "A bushel of quick lime," he says, 

 " is sufficient to dust over an acre of drilled tur- 

 nips, and a hoy may soon be taught to lay it on 

 almost as fast as he could walk along the drills. 

 If the seminal leaves are powdered in the slio-ht- 

 est degree, it is sufficient; but should the rain 

 wash the lime off" before the turnips are in the 

 rough leaf, it may he necessary to repeat the 

 operation if the fly begins to make its appear- 



tbem. 



Had I thought you required a bribe for convey- 

 ing instruction to the ignorant, I might perhaps 

 have said that one or two dozen of my best plants 

 should be selected for Mr Tucker, and his friends, 

 but that I cannot do in justice, as they were his 

 before the fly made its appearance, and shall be 

 forwarded to him as soon as they are ready for 

 transplanting. 



I remain, sir, truly yours, Retus. 



Gore, U. C. 1st June, 1835. 



REMARKS. 



The numerous prescriptions that have been re- 

 commended for this evil, show the great difficulty 

 of obtaining one which will prove always efl^ect- 

 ual. Among the most efficacious are the follow- 

 ing, which although intended principally for tur- 

 nips, may also be adapted in most cases to wall 

 flowers, as well as to all other cruciferous 

 plants which are attacked by the turnip fly or 

 beetle. 



An infusion of soot, tobacco leaves, or of any 

 other substance pernicious or poisonous to insects, 

 without injuring the plants, if used frequently and 

 moderately in watering them in dry weather, will 

 often prove eff'ectual. As a liquid, however, can- 

 not be used conveniently on a large piece of land 

 tobacco dust, mixed with lime, ashes, or soot, 

 may be sown over the field at the rate of a half 

 bushel to the acre, early every morning. Ellis an 

 old writer on husbandry says, " Turnips sooted 

 about 24 hours after they are up, will be entirely 

 secured from the fly." Bridgeman says, " a peck 

 of lime, soot, or tobacco dust, mixed with an 

 equal quantity of ashes, or even dry road dust, 

 sown every morning or evening for the first week 

 after sowing the seed, would secure an acre of 

 ground, provided it be so contrived that' the wind 

 carry it over the whole piece of land, and as it 

 often changes, this may be effected by crossing 

 the land in a different direction every time, ac- 

 cording as the wind may serve." 



It is said that the eggs of the insect are attach- 

 ed to the seed of t^e turnip, whence they proceed 

 first in the grub, and afterwards in the perfect in- 

 sect state, to attack the young plant. Hence rub- 

 bing, keeping and sowing the seed in flour of sul- 

 phur, has in some cases completely succeeded in 

 destroying them. Steeping them in fish oil 12 or 

 24 hours, then draining them off", and mixing them 

 with plaster, to separate them, has also been used 

 for the same purpose. The attachment of the 

 insect to the seed requires further investigation to 

 establish it as a general fact ; and farther experi- 



Making the ground so rich that the young plants 

 will grow ra|)idly, and continue but a short time 

 in the seed leaf, is of considerable imi)qrtance ; 

 for after the evolution of the rough leaves, they 

 are nearly beyond danger from the insects. 

 Another method, and perhaps the most uniformly 

 effectual one where the soil will admit of it, is to 

 use a heavy roller immediately after sowitig the 

 seed. This renders the surface smooth, and closes 

 up the interstices in the soil which serve the in- 

 sects as places of retreat from the weather, 

 birds, &c. 



Perhaps neither of these methods alone may 

 prove effectual ; but the employment of several of 

 them together, would doubtless greatly lessen the 

 evil, if not entirely prevent it. 



The following plan is recommended in the Me- 

 moirs of the Board of Agriculture, as one which 

 has proved uniformly successftil in avoiding the 

 insects and is worthy of attention until au ap- 

 proved specific is discovered. " While the land 

 is preparing for a fijll crop, begin to sow in your 

 garden every second day, a small pinch of seed, 

 and watch its progress ; so long as the insects de- 

 vour the plants immediately on coming up, i{ is 

 not safe to sow ; hut the moment they begin to 

 relax, which they will do, get the general crop 

 in as soon as possible ; and if the best and fresh- 

 est seed be sown on rich land and moderately 

 thick, a sufficiency of plants will soon get into the 

 rough leaf out of the reach of the fly, and make 

 an abundant crop. 



Though we require no bribe to induce us to an- 

 swer the inquiries of our friends, whenever it is 

 in our power, still q tivuc^"'' ''ke the one promis- 

 ed by Retus, will always be acceptable as an as- 

 surance that our efforts are kindly remembered 

 by those for whom we labor. — Genesee Farmer. 



nure : and 5thly, he has found it an excellent ma- 

 nure for trees. 



In England, bone dust has been long and freely 

 used atnong agriculturists, and is highly api.roved 

 as a manure : but we doubt whether in this 

 country, where land is so plenty and cheap, it can 

 ever be found an object of general use. The dif- 

 ficulty of procuring it here, in sufficient quanti- 

 ties, except in the immediate neighborhood of 

 hirge cities, must always operate to prevent its 

 introduction into general use, to any considerable 

 extent, in situations, however, favorable to full 

 supplies, we apprehend, establishments for the col- 

 lection of bones, reduction into, and sale of the 

 dust, would prove highly beneficial and profitable. 

 Of the eminently invigorating quality of the pow- 

 der, there can be no doubt in the minds of those 

 who are aware of the elements of which bones 

 are composed. — Baltimore Farmer. 



BONE MAJVURE. 



Mr John R. Watson, of Perth Amboy, New 

 Jersey, has communicated to the N. Y. Farmer, a 

 series of experiments which he has made with 

 bone dust as a manure, and which gave the 

 following results: 1st. That its good effects 

 are equally perceptible on a light, and on a heavy 

 loam : 2d, That two rows of corn, ])lanted in 

 drills manured with it, proved better than 2 other 

 rows manured highly with hog-pen and yard ma- 

 nure, and two others with fish : 3d. That an acre 

 of grass with 25 bushels of it spread broad-cast, 

 proved superior to any other manured with any 

 other substance he had ever used, and was matur- 

 ed three weeks earlier than any other around it : 

 4tb. 25 bushels of it sowed broad-cast on an acre 



Rose Leaf Spice.— The following method of 

 preserving rose leaves for use as a spice, was told 

 us the other day hy a friend who is a good house- 

 wife, and withal a very intelligent and worthy 

 woman. She gathers the leaves when they are 

 fresh and in their prime, and presses them into a 

 jar — first a layer of leaves and then a layer of 

 sugar, thus alternating the leaves and sugar until 

 the jar is full, when a leather is tied over it tiehtly. 

 They will keep thus for a long time. But the 



cheapest and best way is the following Press 



your leaves snugly in a decanter or bottle, and 

 when very nearly full, pour in a little spirit, suf- 

 ficient to use up and keep the air from the leaves - 

 then stop the bottle tight. In this state, the leaves' 

 may be kept good for any length of time, and 

 when wanted some of them may be taken out for 

 giving a flavor and perfume to sauces, puddings, 

 or anything else. Here now, good farmer's wives' 

 is an inducement for you to cultivate the rose 

 even if you have no particular desire to culiivate 

 flowers, for there is a simple and practical use to 

 be made of them in a domestic line. It will no 

 doubt make yourself and family more indepen- 

 dent, to raise your own spice on your own land 

 and at your own doors, than be trotting off every 

 month or two to the merxhanVs to swap away your 

 butter and eggs, for alsi)ice and nutmegs. And 

 besides, the ornament of the hush, will raise the 

 value of your premises some few per cent in the 

 eyes of every person of taste. — Me. Farmer. 



In addition to the above preparation as a spice 

 we have often found it a grateful preserve as a 

 medicine in diseases of the lungs. We cheerful- 

 ly join with our old friend of the Maine Farmer, 

 in recommendation of the rose — economy and 

 benevolence both demand it. — Ed. Mec. fy Far. 



A company has been formed in this town for 

 the purpose of manufacturing silk ; a farm has 

 been jiurchased, and a considerable number of 

 mulberry trees have been already planted. It has 

 been proved that the soil of this State is well 

 adapted to the cultiv.ition of the mulberry, and we 

 have no doubt that our farmers would very much 

 enhance the value of their farms by planting the 

 trees. Silk may be manufactured from the 

 trees when they are four years old, and there is 

 scarcely any farm that would not admit of planting 

 a great number of them without injury to other 

 crops. — Concord, JV. H. Patriot. 



