1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



333 



iy larger, inhabiting North California and Or- 

 egon. 



The beautiful lines of Alexander Wilson, 

 composed in tribute to our own loved Blue Bird 

 I can not refrain from transcribing in this con- 

 nection ; "I have often regretted," he observes, 

 "that no pastoral muse has yet arisen in this west- 

 ern, woody world to do justice to his name, and 

 endear him to us still more, by the tenderness of 

 verse, as has been done to his representative in 

 Britain, the Robin Redbreast, A small acknowl- 

 edgment of this kind, I have to offer, which the 

 reader, I hope, will excuse as a tribute to rural 

 innocence. 



"When winter's cold tempests and snows are no more, 



Green meadows and brown furrowed fields reappearing, 

 The fishermen hauling their shad to the shore, 



And cloud cleaving geese to the lakes are a-steering ; 

 When first the lone butterfly Sits on the wing, 



When red glow the maples, so fresh and so pleasing — 

 O, then comes the blue-bird, the hearld of spring ! 



And hails with his warblings the charms of the season. 



"Then loud piping frogs make the marshes to ring; 



Then warm glows the sunshine, and fine is the weather; 

 The blue woodland flowers just beginning to spring, 



And spice-wood and sassafras budding together : 

 O, then to your gardens, ye housewives, repair, 



Yoar walks border up, sow and plant at your leisure ; 

 The blue-bird will chant from his box such an air, 



That all your hard toils will seem only a pleasure ! 



"He flits through the orchard, he visits each tree. 



The red flowering peach, the apple's sweet blossoms ; 

 He snaps np destroyers wherever they be. 



And seizes the caitiffs that lurk in their bosoms ; 

 He drags the vile grub from the corn it devours. 



The worms from the webs, where they riot and welter ; 

 His songs and services freely are ours, 



And all that he asks is — in summer a. shelter. 



"The plowman is pleased when he gleans in his train. 



Now searching the furrows, — now mounting to cheer him ; 

 The gard'ner delights in his sweet, simple strains. 



And leans on his spade to survey and to hear him ; 

 The slow, lingering school-boys forget they'll be chid. 



While gazing intent as he warbles before them, 

 la mantle of sky-blue, and bosom so red. 



That each little loiterer seems to adore him. 



*'When all the gay scenes of the summer are o'er, 



And autumn slow enters, so silent and sallow, 

 And millions of warblers, that charmed us before, 



Have fled in the train of the sun-seeking swallow ; 

 The blue-bird, forsaken, yet true to his home, 



Still lingers, and looks for a milder to-morrow. 

 Till, forced by the Ijorrora of winter to roam. 



He sings his adieu in a lone note of sorrow. 



"While spring's lovely season, serene, dewy, warm, 



The green face of earth, and the pure blue of heaven. 

 Or love's native music have influence to charm. 



Or sympathy's glow to our feelings are given. 

 Still dear to each bosom the blue-bird shall be; 



His voice, like the thrlUings of hope, is a treasure, 

 For, though bleakest the storm, if a calm he but see, 



He comes to remind us of sunshine and pleasure !" 



Springfield, April 1, 1861. 



J. A. A. 



Muscular Powers of some Beetles. — Of 

 the muscular power of insects, Mr. Gosse gives 

 two remarkable instances. The first performer 

 he mentions was the Oryctes maimon, a three- 

 horned beetle, larger than any English species, 

 though perhaps not so long as some specimens of 

 the stag beetle. "This insect has just astonished 

 me by a proof of its vast strength of body. Every 

 one who has taken the common beetle in his hand, 

 knows that its limbs, if not remarkable for 

 agility, are very powerful, but I was not prepared 

 for so Samsonian a feat as I have just witnessed. 

 When the insect was brought to me, having no 

 box immediately at hand, I was at a loss where 

 to put it until I could kill it ; but a quart bottle 

 full of milk being on the table, I clapped the bee- 



tle for the present under that, the hollow at the 

 bottom allowing him room to stand upright. 

 Presently, to my surprise, the bottle began to 

 move slowly, and glide along the smooth table, 

 propelled by the muscular power of the impris- 

 oned insect, and continued for some time to per- 

 ambulate the surface, to the astonishment of all 

 who witnessed it. The weight of the bottle and 

 its contents could not have been less than three 

 pounds and a half, while that of the beetle was 

 about half an ounce ; so that it readily moved a 

 weight 112 times exceeding its own. A better 

 notion than figures can convey, will be obtained 

 of this feat, by supposing a lad of 15 to be im- 

 prisoned under the great bell of St. Paul's which 

 weighs 12,000 pounds; and to move it to and 

 fro upon a smooth pavement by pushing within." 



EXTKACTS AND KEPLIES. 

 INJURED APPLE TREES. 



Four years ago last April, I set one acre of land 

 to apple trees of different varieties. In the mid- 

 dle of the lot I set two rows of Baldwins, which 

 have grown vigorously, and appear to be healthy, 

 forming large, handsome tops, and many of them 

 have borne fruit, but this spring all my Baldwin 

 trees, except three, have been severely injured 

 from the cold weather of last winter, or some 

 other cause, which I cannot account for. A few 

 of them partly leaved out, and then seemed to 

 wither and dry up. On part of them the buds 

 began to swell, but have not leaved out as yet. I 

 have dug about the roots, but cannot find anything 

 but what seems to be right ; the roots and trunk 

 appear to be healthy and full of sap. I have 

 spent many pleasant hours in hoeing and wash- 

 ing my trees to destroy insects, &c., but they look 

 so unnatural now that I care but little about visit- 

 ing the orchard at all. If you or your contribu- 

 tors can give me any information as to the cause 

 of this trouble, you will do me a favor for which 

 I shall be ever grateful. E. Leonard. 



New Bedford, June 3, 1861. 



Remarks. — We can well appreciate the feeling 

 of disappointment which brother Leonard ex- 

 presses under the loss of his favorite trees. He 

 who has not planted and tended with assiduous 

 care, through many years, will be a stranger to 

 such feelings. An equal money loss would be 

 comparatively trifling. We hear that Baldwin 

 trees are injured or destroyed in various sections 

 of New England. Whether by climatic influences 

 or by some local cause, we cannot say without 

 seeing the trees. 



DISEASE AMONG LAMBS. 



I noticed in the Farmer of June 1 a new dis- 

 ease among lambs, which has troubled our flock 

 this spring. The symptoms are swelled necks or 

 throat, and snuffling at the nose and laboring 

 hard to breathe. We have had about forty-five 

 per cent, of our lambs affected in this way this 

 year, and some other flocks were affected in like 

 manner. I cannot agree with Mr. Bachelder as 

 to the cause ; he says it is too close confinement. 

 But that is not the case with ours, for they have 



