328 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



Birds and Insects. — The farmer who destroys 

 king birds and martins because they eat a few of 

 his bees, pursues a "penny wise and pound fool- 

 ish" policy. In ridding himself of what he con- 

 siders an enemy, he is making way for the en- 

 trance of a host of others. Besides the other 

 insects these two birds destroy, they kill hundreds 

 of bee moths, those pests of the hive. The moth 

 that lays the eggs from which hatch the worm 

 that destroys the contents of the hive, is called 

 galleria ceronea, and its wings spread a little 

 over an inch ; fore wings of a dirty gray color 

 with blackish spots ; hind wings yellowish. There 

 are two broods during the year ; one the last of 

 April or first of May, and one in August ; so the 

 hive is not safe during the summer. It requires 

 care to protect them, and for this purpose they 

 should be examined once a week, and the worms 

 and insects destroyed. The moth flies only by 

 night, unless disturbed. 



Solar Halos. — May 13. — Splendid solar halo 

 from lOJ A. M. till H P. M. ; brightest at 11 A. 

 M. Ring or circle estimated to be 20° in diame- 

 ter, well-defined, and colors bright throughout. 

 A portion of a larger concentric ring was seen in 

 the east, at 11 A. M. ; color pale; its diameter 

 would have been about 45°. Halos are caused 

 by light being transmitted through crystals of ice 

 high in the atmosphere, the well-known prismatic 

 colors being formed by the refracting power of 

 the ice. The temperature of the atmosphere is 

 at or above freezing, forming these crystals, and 

 giving the sky a hazy appearance. Halos in most 

 cases are followed by a storm. P. S. — Began 

 raining at 6i P. M., or three hours from the time 

 of the disappearance of halo. The storm con- 

 tinued through the next day, until 7 A. M. of 

 the 15th. 



May 23. — The season has been rather back- 

 ward. Ground is in good order now, but has 

 been wet and cold. Yesterday and to-day have 

 been the first real warm days we have experi- 

 enced. Farming operations are well-advanced ; 

 corn most all planted. No injurious frosts late- 

 ly. Grass looks well; not very high, but very 

 thick and even. Trees are backward ; birches, 

 maples, lilacs, &c., are just leafing ; to-day has 

 been the warmest yet ; at 2 P. M., the mercury 

 was up to 66 degrees. 



George E. Brackett. 



Belfast, Me., May, 1861. 



Trade in Frogs and Snails. — There are one 

 or two articles of commerce in Switzerland which 

 we are sure no Englishman or American ever 

 thought of "trading in ;" and yet which might 

 be made profitable perhaps, for the marshes bring 

 forth as abundantly there as here. Catholics not 

 being allowed to eat meat on Fridays, and vari- 

 ous other days in the year, and Catholics being 

 many in the land, all manner of fish are in great 

 demand. Frogs and snails belong to the genus 

 fish, and are collected in great numbers for clois- 

 ters, monks being among those who preach, but 

 do not practice, fasting. It is not necessary to 

 enjoin the peasants to deny themselves meat, as 

 they seldom eat it except on Sundays. Snails are 

 fattened in gardens on certain kinds of leaves, 

 and one may hear the chattering of their teeth 

 as they eat, in passing by. From Zurich they are 



exported to Italy in the autumn. It is only frogs' 

 legs that are eaten, and formerly they used to 

 catch them and cut off their legs, leaving the an- 

 imal to die a painful and cruel death. In a peri- 

 od of four years, the cloister Rheinau disposed 

 of forty thousand snails and thirty-six thousand 

 pairs of frogs' legs. — Cottages of the Alps. 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE FAKMER "WITHOUT THE ME- 

 CHANIC. 



Mr. Editor : — Indulge me in saying a word 

 in behalf of the mechanic, who seems destined to 

 stand in the background in the opinion of some 

 ff your correspondents, both pecuniarily and 

 otherwise. I regard it as a mystery, why, with 

 the same ability, he cannot accumulate an amount 

 of property equal to the farmer. The farmer's 

 expenses may be less, but, on an average, his in- 

 come is also less. In* my opinion, they are twin 

 occupations, equally honorable and profitable, and 

 the world should as much encourage one as the 

 other. God has filled the earth with numerous 

 elements and substances which the farmer acts 

 upon to bring about means of subsistence. He 

 has also endowed man with intellect and genius, 

 which he has assiduously cultivated, and the me- 

 chanic employs the workmanship of mind in his 

 daily labors, so that one occupation is a direct 

 assistance to the other. Who must we depend 

 upon for all those articles which the farmer has 

 in constant use, for the thousand tools which are 

 necessary to lessen the severity of his task ? 

 Without these we imagine that farming would be 

 dry and toilsome, exceedingly so, both in doors 

 and out. 



One author has remarked that mechanics' wives 

 soften and subdue the stern realities of life more 

 than any other class of women, and that mechan- 

 ics' daughters ever constitute the best of wives 

 when they reach the test. I have ever been a 

 farmer's daughter, and am well-pleased and con- 

 tented with so noble and happy a lot, trusting I 

 am unlike that large class who are represented as 

 feeling no interest in their fathers' and husbands' 

 labors. I must suggest they are less numerous 

 than some people, at least here among the hills 

 of the "Granite State." 



Will it call forth censure, if I say that farm- 

 ers' daughters indulge in aspirations for higher 

 intellectual life ? It cannot be ; for thought in- 

 spires to action ; and who shall say what the 

 strong, energetic, yet tender mind of woman may 

 not accomplish if directed aright ? 



M.ARY C. French. 



Enfield Centre, N. E., May, 1861. 



Care of Grindstones. — No grindstone should 

 be exposed to the weather ; it injures the wood- 

 work, and the rays of the sun harden the stone, 

 so that in time, it will become useless, neither 

 should it be allowed to run in water, as the part 

 remaining in it softens and wears away faster 

 than on the other side. The water should be 

 dropped or poured on. Greasy or rusty tools 

 should be cleaned before grinding, or they will 

 choke up the grit. Keep the stone under cover. 

 These rules will save farmers much yexatiou and 

 expense. 



