1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



429 



as the exhibition itself. We hope a large repre- 

 sentation will be present from both these States, 

 and that our good friends of the Green Mountain 

 State will make their show strictly an agricultu- 

 ral one, embracing, and giving strict attention to 

 every other department of the farm, as well as 

 that of horses, in which they excel so much. 



The officers of the Society for the present year 

 are : — President, H. Henry Baxter, Rutland ; Vice 

 Presidents, Edwin Hammond, of Middlebury, J. 

 W. Colburn, of Springfield, Henry Keyes, of New- 

 bury, John Jackson, of Brandon ; Recording Sec- 

 retary, Charles Cummings, of Brattleboro' ; Cor- 

 responding Secretary, Daniel Needham, of Hart- 

 ford ; Treasurer, J. W. Colburn, of Springfield ; 

 Additional Directors, Frederick Holbrook, of 

 Brattleboro', H. S. Morse, of Shelburne, D. R. 

 Potter, of St. Albans, Henry G. Root, of Ben- 

 nington, E. D. Bush, of Shoreham, David Hill, 

 of Bridport, John Gregory, of Northfield, Elijah 

 Cleveland, of Coventry, Nathan Gushing, of 

 Woodstock, L. B. Piatt, of Colchester, George 

 Campbell, of Westminster ; General Superintend- 

 ent, Henry S. Morse. 



EARLY LETTUCE AND ONIONS. 



Competition is as much an element of success 

 in agriculture as in any other employment. A 

 newspaper which should aim merely at chronicling 

 the news of the day, without exhibiting any en- 

 terprise or tact in securing the freshest intelli- 

 gence, and being among the first on sale, would 

 meet with moderate success. None the less true 

 is it of the husbandman — who raises his produce 

 for the market — a day's difference in the time of 

 sale may make a difference of one half in the 

 prices received. "First in the market," then, 

 should be the motto of every farmer. By sowing 

 the seed in the fall, lettuce and onions can be had 

 much earlier in the season than from spring plant- 

 ing. About the first of August a good spot of 

 ground should be chosen, and, after being well 

 prepared, sown thick with seed. In the begin- 

 ning of September another bed of the same 

 description can be made. They should be kept 

 free of weeds, thinned out to some extent, and 

 ■when cold weather comes, covered with a thick 

 layer bf manure or litter of some description. 

 When the usual time for spring gardening ar- 

 rives, these plants will be found to have an ad- 

 vanced growth of several weeks, and will be 

 ready by March or April for the market or home 

 consumption. — Exchange. 



An Extraordinary Hawk. — Mr. W. Jardine, 

 draper of this town, has been for some time in 

 possession of a hawk. A few months ago, she 

 laid two eggs, soon after which she sat upon 

 them ; her own eggs, however, were subsequent- 

 ly removed, and two guinea fowl's eggs placed in 

 the nest. The hawk sat upon them the usual 

 time, when to the surprise of all, two fine chick- 

 ens were hatched, with which their step-mother 

 appeared highly delighted, and over which she 



continued to watch with all the tenderness of a 

 natural parent ; the only thing at which she ap- 

 peared uneasy, and evidently showed surprise, 

 was the fact of her young "picking up" the mo- 

 ment they were hatched, and many were the ef- 

 forts she made to induce them to ofler their bills, 

 that she might cram in pieces of raw meat. We 

 consider this circumstance well worth the atten- 

 tion of the naturalist. — Dunstable Eng. Chronicle. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 THE ARMY WORM. 



I noticed a few days since, for the first time, the 

 appearance of the army worm in Danvers, in a 

 piece of barley belonging to Mr. Benjamin F. 

 Porter, of Danversport. They were first seen in 

 great numbers through the entire field of several 

 acres climbing up the stalks of the barley, eating 

 the blades and cutting off the heads of the grain. 

 The day after these worms were discovered the 

 barley was mowed in order to preserve it when 

 they dropped to the ground, throwing themselves 

 into a coil, a habit of the insect when disturbed. 

 Many of them soon commenced a march for the 

 neighboring fields and gardens, while others 

 blindly pushed forward a column towards the 

 highway over a stone wall, where they were 

 crushed by travelers on the road. But the main 

 body marched to the adjoining gardens and en- 

 closures, where the proprietors were waiting to re- 

 ceive them in their entrenchments, which had 

 been thrown up a foot wide and two feet deep. 

 The worms, as they fell in their advance into the 

 trenches, were assailed in various ways by eager 

 combatants, some spreading over them lime, tar 

 or ashes, while others resorted vigorously to 

 pounding them. In this way countless numbers 

 of them were destroyed. The rear guard of the 

 army of worms, composed principally of those of 

 smaller growth, [young recruits probably,] kept 

 in the field where they were picked up by a troop 

 of fifty young red winged black-birds ; and I am 

 pleased to record the fact of these birds feeding 

 upon the army worm, as it furnishes us with a 

 new argument in favor of the protection of our 

 birds. I also noticed the robin feeding upon 

 these vermin. As these birds are considered by 

 many very mischievous, let us remember before 

 we destroy them, that they are our faithful allies 

 in our war against the army worm, perfect Zou- 

 aves, show no quarter, and quietly and efiectually 

 dispose of their captives in a way man cannot. I 

 noticed this morning that the few remaining 

 worms were working their way into the ground, 

 probably to pass into the chrysalis state. But of 

 this I know nothing, as the habits of the army 

 worm are unknown to me as well as to my neigh- 

 bors, and my books as yet afford me no informa- 

 tion. It is very desirable that the new edition of - 

 Dr. Harris's "Insects of Massachusetts Injurious 

 to Vegetation" should contain a full account of 

 the habits of this destructive insect before it pass- 

 es through the press, and that the New England 

 Farmer should be furnished with such facts in 

 relation to it as would be useful to its numerous 

 readers. 



Since the above was written, I have visited the 

 field infested with the army worm, and find by 

 digging a few inches into the soil, the worms are 



