436 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



ested in becoming intimately acquainted with 

 the nature and habits of so formidable an enemy." 



There are two appearances which should always 

 direct attention to the condition of fruit trees, and 

 which may lead to the detection of bark-lice, if 

 present. These are, firstly, a general unhealthy, 

 unthrifty appearance ; and, secondly, a rough and 

 peculiar state of the bark, as if it were covered 

 all over with small scales or shells. If these mi- 

 nute scales or shells be examined closely, they 

 will be found, if bark-lice, to adhere so closely to 

 the bark as to be hard to separate them there- 

 from, (though the prick of a pin will start them 

 at some seasons of the year,) and also to yield 

 when crushed a dark colored fluid. In the month 

 of June, we have found, on carefully raising the 

 edge of these scales, several very small white 

 specks which we supposed to be eggs, the parent 

 insect being, apparently, dead and dried up, and 

 serving merely as a scale or dry skin for protec- 

 tion to her future progeny. 



As to the cause of the unthrifty appearance of 

 trees infested by these insects, we have had two 

 or more guesses or theoretical opinions, namely, 

 either that the insect, by its pricking the bark 

 and sucking up the sap or juices of the tree in so 

 many places, produced this unthriftiness, or that 

 as in the case of ill-fed and uncared for calves 

 and other animals, the cause of the unthriftiness 

 consisted in the unfitness and unfertility of the 

 soil, depriving the tree of proper nourishment, or 

 in a neglect to preserve the bark or skin of the 

 tree in a healthy condition. One of these theories 

 has been considered as possessing not a little 

 probability, inasmuch as most of the trees which 

 ■we have seen or heard of in neighboring orchards, 

 as infested with lice, have been growing, or at- 

 tempting to grow, on a hard, clayey, wet soil. 

 This unfavorable condition of the soil would just 

 as certainly produce unthriftiness in a tree, as 

 want of sufficient or of nutritious food would 

 produce a similar unthriftiness in a calf, and it 

 seems to be only upon such half-starved unfortu- 

 nates, whether of the vegetable or animal king- 

 dom, that lice make their attacks, or find a place 

 of abode appropriate to their parasitic tastes and 

 wants. Another of our theories or guesses as to 

 the cause of the unthriftiness of trees infested by 

 bark-lice — that, namely, which supposes it to 

 consist in an unhealthy state of the skin or bark, 

 the lice being more the consequence than the 

 cause, — has seemed to receive some support from 

 the fact, that, so far as our observation and in- 

 quiries have extended, lice have never been found 

 upon trees which had been regularly, once or 

 ottener every year from their youth up, scrubbed 

 with soap suds, lye, or any similar application. 



But we are wandering too widely from the 

 main object we had in view when we took pen in 

 hand. This was to say an encouraging word to 

 such farmers as may find lice upon their trees. 

 The writer quoted from in the article under no- 

 tice, speaks so discouraginghj that some might be 

 led to consider all efl'orts to exterminate this in- 

 sect as likely to be in vain, and thus to give up 

 to destruction, in a mood compounded of laziness 

 and hopelessness, a tree or trees which a Little 

 judicious effort might save, and make productive. 

 Let no one be discouraged by the want of success 

 related in the article referred to (page 356, cur- 

 rent volume.) The soil of that orchard may 



need draining, or the washes used may have 

 been too weak. All the trials made by neighbors, 

 at our suggestion, have been uniformly success- 

 ful ; while in our own orchard we have had no 

 lice, owing, probably, to a good scrubbing twice 

 a year, with lye and soap-suds acting as a pre- 

 ventive. But when not prevented, lice can cer- 

 tainly be killed or cured, by equal parts of soap- 

 suds and strong lye, preceded by some judicious 

 scraping of the bark. June is perhaps the best 

 month. More Anon. 



HABVESTINQ ROOTS. 



Some persons say that "potatoes should be 

 taken from the ground as soon as they are ripe. 

 That it is bad policy to allow them to remain in 

 the hills till the tops become entirely dry, as is the 

 practice with some farmers. That potatoes man- 

 aged in this way are almost always inferior to 

 those harvested at maturity, and are not unfre- 

 quently watery and unfit for use." 



These notions do not commend themselves to 

 our views of the matter. It seems to us that no 

 place can be found so completely adapted to the 

 preservation of all the good qualities of the pota- 

 to, until severe frosts come, as the cool moist 

 soil where it grew. It comes to maturity there, 

 the vines die, so that all action ceases between 

 tuber and stem, the potatoes are not crowded or 

 losing their moisture by evaporation, and are in 

 the precise condition to be kept in their greatest 

 perfection. 



Some persons leave potatoes upon the ground, 

 exposed to a hot sun during the day in which 

 they are dug ; thus those that are turned out in 

 the morning lay in the sun during an entire day. 

 We cannot think this practice a good one. If the 

 potatoes are moist, and a considerable quantity of 

 soil adheres to them, it is very much better to 

 put them in the bin as they are, for it is quite 

 impossible to thoroughly dry them without in- 

 juring their eating qualities, as there is a prinei- 

 ple in them, which exposure to the sun concen- 

 trates, and converts into an actual poison. The 

 small tubers M'hich sometimes grow near the sur- 

 face, and which, by the washing of rains or other 

 causes, are left bare, assume a greenish hue, and, 

 when boiled, possess a disagreeable, copperish 

 taste. The same result is produced, in less de- 

 gree, by exposure to the sun and air after dig- 

 ging. It is a common practice in some places to 

 deposit the potatoes in boxes or barrels, and pro- 

 tect them from the sun and air, by a covering of 

 sand or loam. This retains them moist, and ef- 

 fectually secures the preservation of all their ex- 

 cellences. 



Turnips may remain in the field till late, as 

 they are not so much injured by frost as is gen- 

 erally supposed. When "caught out" by frost, 

 the turnip, if allowed to remain in the ground 



