404 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



Admitting that your correspondent found a 

 farmer who believed that a "rose bug" becomes a 

 "dung fly," let this be an offset to a student of 

 natural history, who taught that a lobster is an 

 insect. Such cases may be few. 



No farmer need open a book, or be told by stu- 

 dents in natural history, that caterpillars can be 

 destroyed, if taken in season. But when he in- 

 terrogated these pundits about the army worm, 

 the palmer worm, the grain aphis, &c., what did 

 he learn of a practical nature ? Just nothing at 

 all, as was again and again demonstrated last year, 

 with regard to some of these depredators. 



Your correspondent has yet to learn that wood- 

 peckers do injure fruit and forest trees ; also 

 that they are not hunting borers so far fi'om the 

 ground. Does he need be told that crows do de- 

 stroy the eggs of other birds ? What birds bring 

 up their broods on caterpillars, at the rate of "from 

 50 to 100 a day? What kind of caterpillars are 

 referred to ? When your correspondent answers 

 these inquiries, I have others in store for him, as 

 he voluntarily offers, gratuitously, to teach a 



Farmer. 



RIPENING PEARS. 



At a meeting of the Farmers' Club (September 

 9th) the subject of "Ripening Pears" was dis- 

 cussed, and while all agreed that the later sorts 

 should be removed from the trees when hard, to 

 be ripened in fruit rooms at their proper seasons, 

 some preferred the summer and fall pears when 

 ripened on the trees. Several admitted that the 

 Seckel would ripen perfectly on the tree ; but J. 

 W. Hayes, Esq., of Newark, claimed that many, if 

 not all the summer and fall pears, were better 

 when so ripened, while Dr. Carpenter, and many 

 others, stated, that with the exception of the 

 Seckel, none of the summer or fall pears were so 

 good when not gathered in a green state ; that 

 they became mealy, losing much of their juice by 

 evaporation, etc.; while, if removed from the tree 

 before losing their hardness, and ripened in prop- 

 er localities, the pears were more delicious, and 

 every way preferable. Our experience coincides 

 with the latter opinion, for we have found that 

 even the Bartlettis materially improved in quality 

 by being ripened in the dark after being removed 

 from the tree. 



We are anxious for exact information on this 

 subject, and would thank our pomological readers 

 if they would furnish it, and also the proper dates 

 for ripening each of the latter kinds of pears. If 

 the Duchess D'Angouleme be placed in a warm 

 room, and ripened at various dates, fifteen days 

 apart, from Sept. 15th to Dec. 1st, those ripened 

 at the latest date will be found to be far better in 

 quality than those ripened earlier. A perfect list 

 of the later pears, with the best dates for ripening 

 them, would be very valuable, and would assist 

 fruit dealers in improving the public appreciation 

 of the finer qualities of fruits. — Working Farmer. 



Blight in Pear Trees. — We are sorry to 

 learn that the "pear-blight" is making its appear- 

 ance quite extensively. Some of the finest trees in 

 our knowledge are ruined, and others badly af- 

 fected. What the cause is, or what the remedy, 

 we do not know. There are theories as to the 



cause, but they fail to satisfy us. Downing says 

 that upon the first appearance of dying leaves, 

 they must be taken off. That is well enough, as 

 they disfigure the tree, and we are anxious to 

 be doing something — but it does not always ar- 

 rest the disease. Will some one tell us more 

 about it ? 



For the A'eu? England Farmer, 

 FARMERS' "WIVES. 



The farmer's wife is, or at least should be, the 

 most cheerful, happy being in existence. Sur- 

 i-ounded as she is by everything beautiful in na- 

 ture, wakened every morning by the joyful carol- 

 ing of the birds in the trees around the house, 

 soothed all day by the whispering winds and 

 balmy breezes, laden with sweet perfumes stolen 

 from clovei'-field or apple blossoms, how can she 

 be otherwise than happy? O, how from my heart 

 have I pitied poor, pale, uneasy-minded women, 

 living in large villages or cities, where every inch 

 of ground was precious, and not a bird sang, but 

 with a sort of wheezy, choked music, and the very 

 trees looked dusty and dim ! 



How often in the morning, as throwing open 

 my doors and windows to the cool morning air 

 that came bustling in, filling every breath with 

 pure, sweet odors from the budding trees and 

 springing grass, have I wished my city friends 

 could stand in the door by my side, and gaze up- 

 on the lovely scene spread out to my admiring 

 view. 



With everything so beautiful around her, wo- 

 man can work hard, harder, perhaps, than she 

 ought, but with willing hands. Everybody and 

 everything works in the country. You cannot 

 look even for a moment, out at the open door, 

 without seeing some little bird very busy getting 

 straws to build her nest, worms to feed her little 

 fledgelings, or working industriously to teach 

 them the use of their tiny wings, that scarce can 

 bear their weight, or perhaps j'ou see some merry, 

 chirruping squirrel, adroitly stealing his stock of 

 grain, for the winter he knows must come, sooner 

 or later, and hiding it wisely in the decayed trunk 

 of a neighboring apple tree. 



The spirit of action is contagious. The hours 

 glide by and so does the work, and when dinner- 

 time arrives, instead of the pale, languid counte- 

 nance you find in the city wife, as she sits down to 

 her luxurious table, loaded with over-cooked meat, 

 under-cooked vegetables, stale fruits and baker's 

 bread, a brisk, cheerful face meets you at table, 

 whereon you find ham and eggs, and Indian meal 

 pudding and molasses, perhaps, but good, light, 

 sweet, wheat bread, and tempting dishes of fruit, 

 fresh from the garden, that would completely up- 

 set the equanimity of the guests at the aforesaid 

 city table. 



A farmer's wife can concoct such dishes as city 

 folks know nothing of. With plenty of milk and 

 eggs, there is always something in the house to 

 eat. You can never take her so much by surprise 

 .that she will give you no invitation to stop to tea, 

 and she is never so full of apologies because that 

 tea is not nice enough, as to render you uncom- 

 fortable. 



With a mind evenly balanced, a home made 

 happy by her presence, a contented disposition, 



