1861. 



NEAV ENGLAND FARMER. 



471 



scraps, or what comes from the table, and from 

 the Jlrst of April to the first of October, as much 

 short, tender grass or loecds as tJiey will eat. If 

 they are starved in order to make them root over 

 the manure heap, you must give them credit for 

 that labor when they are slaughtered, as their 

 carcasses, in the pork-barrel, will be of little 

 credit to you or them ! 



No one thing that the farmer produces is of 

 more substantial benefit in sustaining the family 

 table, than his swine. All parts of the animal 

 work in admirably in one form or another, and a 

 considerable proportion may be kept in perfection 

 through the entire year, — always at hand, sweet, 

 rich, and wholesome, to season the pot of baked 

 beans, the various vegetables gathered from the 

 garden, or to aid in cooking other meats brought 

 upon the table. 



FoT the Nete England Farmer. 



"WHEAT HAHVJEST — "WHEAT TADPOLE — 

 MAPLE WOFtM. 



Mr. Editor : — I have been harvesting wheat 

 to-day, up here amongst the Green Mountains, 

 and thought I would tell you a little of my expe- 

 rience. I have assisted in harvesting wheat in 

 several States, and find if I have dry, warm land 

 to grow it on, and plenty of the right kind of 

 manure, I am pretty sure of a crop. I think 

 there are few places where a top dressing of lime 

 or ashes, would not be beneficial. 



The louse, or wheat tadpole, made its appear- 

 ance here rather late in the season, when the 

 wheat and other grains had become too ripe to be 

 damaged much. I saw some of them in the shade 

 of trees. He is a queer little fellow, appearing 

 first in form of a slug, brown or green, grows in- 

 to a louse, then changes to a fly to be eaten up 

 by the great-winged tadpole hawk, or to lay its 

 eggs and die. Should it appear earlier next year, 

 it will destroy man's principal food, the small 

 grains, unless he destroys it. I see them all over 

 New England, and hear of them in some new 

 place every day. They seemed to attack all kinds 

 of small grains about the first of August that 

 were green, and left as fast as it ripened. Where 

 they appear before the grain fills, it never is filled ; 

 and if partly filled, remains so and dries up soon. 

 I find lime sown on the grain when the heads are 

 wet clears out the tadpole, as well as weevils and 

 various other bugs. 



There is one kind of bug of a pale red with 

 black spots that seems to multiply very fast. I 

 fear she is a rogue. I found her busying herself 

 with the apples when first setting. She seems to 

 deposit an egg in the blossom, and I think is the 

 mother of the ugly worm that we find in the ap- 

 ple. She is as near a mud-turtle as a bug can be 

 in form and action, when not on the wing. They 

 have eaten the kernel of wheat and oats this sea- 

 son to a considerable extent in this vicinity, and 

 I would like to hear from others about them. 



I am anxious to know if any one has discovered 

 the thing that eats up our sugar maple foliage, to 

 build its nest. They are increasing very fast, 

 and if they continue as they have done for years 



past, will destroy all the sugar maple trees before 

 I am acquainted with them. I have devoted all 

 the time I could spare when they were in the 

 neighborhood and have not caught anything doing 

 the mischief yet. I will send you a leaf which 

 will show you how they feed on thousands of 

 trees. I find a green worm — something like the 

 worm on hop vines — on many trees, but never 

 can see them eating or moving, only to drop off 

 when disturbed. 



I have heard of grasshoppers, but never have 

 seen the real migratory sort till to-day. They are 

 very thick here, and come in the night or early 

 morning. They go to roost like turkeys, and 

 gnaw the buildings and rails till sunrise. As near 

 as I can estimate, there is one, an inch long, to 

 every square inch of ground. Can any of your 

 mathematicians tell me how long it will take 

 them to destroy the second crop from fifteen 

 acres, where we cut Ih tons of hay per acre ? 



Have the bat flies that formerly annoyed our 

 horses so much left us to make room for some 

 other plague ? I have not seen one in New Eng- 

 land this season. 



I know a remedy, sure and safe, for the destruc- 

 tion of worms and bots in horses, that any one 

 can know by the asking through your valuable 

 paper. 



Wake up, young farmers, and let us have a lit- 

 tle chat now that we have done haying. K. 



Sunderland, Vt., Aug. 23, 1861. 



Rem.\rks. — Some time ago, we were lying un- 

 der the spreading branches of a splendid rock 

 maple in Windham county, Vermont, having a 

 pleasant agricultural chat with a friend. It was 

 a calm, early autumnal day. The sun was bright, 

 and the dense mass of leaves overhead scarce- 

 ly showed a motion, so quiet were the elements. 

 Presently it seemed to rain, though not a cloud 

 could be seen. Still, the rain fell, in gentle pat- 

 ter, patter, on the leaves above and on our hats ! 

 We emerged from the tree and looked into the 

 zenith, but there was no cloud there. This led to 

 a closer examination, vt'hich disclosed the fact that 

 this noble rock maple, standing alone on the hill, 

 giving grace and beauty to everything about it, 

 was covered with worms ! And what seemed at 

 first to be the pure rain coming down so gently 

 from the skies, was the offal of a little green 

 worm, whose habitation was among the green 

 foliage of that graceful and majestic tree ! We 

 think it time that attention should be turned to 

 this matter, before our beautiful and profitable 

 sugar orchards are ruined. 



NiTROGEX. — The air is about four-fifths nitro- 

 gen. It is best obtained by burning a piece of 

 phosphorus in a closed jar. The oxygen unites 

 with the phosphorus, and leaves the nitrogen. 

 A candle plunged in it, goes out at once. All 

 plants contain it ; and so do the working tissues 

 of all animals, such as the muscles and nerves. 

 Our food must contain it, else we could not make 

 muscular and nervous tissue. 



