446 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



In the first place, it seems in some way connect- 

 ed with the sap in the wood at the time of cutting, 

 We should like to see the results of a series of 

 experiments, showing the difference in amount of 

 sajj in the same species of wood of equal age and 

 thrift, at different seasons of the jear. We tliink 

 the least would be found when the tree was in full 

 leaf. We know that wood-land cut over at this 

 time gives but few sprouts, and that if you wish 

 to destroy bushes, this is the time to cut them, 

 while if you wish to remove the timber from a 

 piece of ground and have it grow up again, the 

 winter is the time to do this. The tapping of the 

 maple in early spring shows that there is a large 

 amount of sap wintered in the tree, both body and 

 roots. Let a person cut a green and a dry tree at 

 this season, and he will find, by comparison that 

 there is a vast amount of sap frozen up in the in- 

 terstices of the green wood. As the leaf is devel- 

 oped, the sap ceases to flow from a wounded ])lacc, 

 and when the leaf is perfected, both on the old 

 twigs and those of the jjresent year's growth, and 

 the growth of new wood is completed for the sea- 

 son, there is an exhaustion of activity. Cut the 

 tree and it sends up, if any, a few sickly s|)routs. 

 The timber, on the other hand, dries quickly, and 

 we think it more durable. "We leave the subject 

 for the present, hoping to hear from others. — Dr. 

 Stephen Reed, late Editor of the Fittsjield 

 "Chdturist." 



CEMENT PIPES. 



J. N. Garretson inquires for the best mode of 

 constructing hydraulic cement pipes. There are 

 two distinct modes in practice — one, forming the 

 pipes simply of water lime cement, with a bore 

 through it ; and the other, laying small tubular 

 tile surrounded with the cement. In either case 

 the water lime must be of undoubted quality, which 

 has been proved, and the sand clean, coarse and 

 sharp ; these must be well mixed dry, and moist- 

 ened as needed. The easiest mode is to use tile 

 where it can be had, the smaller the better, an 

 inch and a fourth bore Avould bo just the thing. 

 AVe have used an inch and three-fourths with suc- 

 cess. This mode answers well Avhere tlierc is a 

 considerable flow of water, and not much head or 

 pressure at any place. The ditch was cut to a 

 narrow and smooth trough at the bottom ; then an 

 inch of freshly jirepared cement or mortar spread 

 quickly and solidly along it. The tile was then 

 laid closely end to end, and pressed a little into 

 the mortar. Then with a trowel the sides and top 

 were covered with the mortar about three-fourths 

 of an inch thick. A rope covered with cloth so as 

 to be just large enough to fit the bore, was drawn 

 through it as the Avork progressed, to wipe out the 

 inside smoothly, and to prevent mortar from pro- 

 truding through the crack. After drying enough, 

 say a few weeks, the ditch was filled with earth. 

 It has been about two years since this pipe was 

 laid, and it is now as hard as stone, the cement 

 being much harder than the hard burnt tile, and 

 would now bear considerable pressure — the first 

 year it would not. The smaller the tile the less is 

 the danger of bursting under a head of water, the 

 less cement is needed, and the cheaper the con- 

 struction, A moderate share of skill will make a 

 good pipe in this way. 



The other mode consists of laying a mass of ce- 

 ment around a plug or cylindrical piece of wood. 



which is drawn along as the work progresses, leav- 

 ing a bore in the hardened mass. The chief care 

 is to draw the plug gently, and at the right time 

 to prevent any cracking of the cement. The new 

 mode of using India rubber tubes for forniiiig the 

 bore to be kept inflated with air except at the time 

 it is withdrawn, would obviously prevent cracking 

 better than the common mode. — Country Gentle- 

 man. 



For the Ne?c England Fanner. 

 ABOUT NATUBAL HISTOBT. 



Mr. Editor : — I find in your columns of the 

 date of August 2, an explanation from, your cor- 

 respondent who writes over the signature of "Far- 

 mer," for which I return due acknowledgments. 

 It seems that what 1 mistook for sneers was his 

 peculiar method of asking for information, as the 

 same style characterises his second letter. He 

 has a-pparently been unfortunate in his acquaint- 

 ance with '^piu).dils" who had the bad taste to air 

 their vocabulary, without the requisite learning to 

 define it, wliile he himself seenxs to have shown as 

 little judgment when seeking information of a sci- 

 entific botanist as to the qualities and uses of 

 plants, as he would in going to a tailor for a new 

 set of wagon harness. 



The student of natural history who maintains 

 "that a lobster is an insect," stands, by popular 

 consent, among the first of naturalists, and needs 

 not that I should take up the gauntlet in behalf 

 of his theory. "Farmer" cannot have read the pa- 

 pers, when he makes the statement that nothing 

 of a practical nature was learned last year from 

 students of the science, with regard to the army- 

 worm, grain aphis, &c. He must have entirely 

 overlooked the full and accurate description and 

 plain directions for relief given by Br. Asa Fitch, 

 of New York, in the Country Gentleman, and oth- 

 er papers, and published in full in the Ag. Re- 

 port of that State ; the long and elaborate articles 

 of Mr, B. _D. Walsh, of Illinois, of Dr. Kirkpat- 

 rick, of Ohio, and Mr. A. S. Packard, of the State 

 of Maine. On page 41-i of the xV. E. Farmer for 

 the month of September, 1861, he will find a de- 

 scription of the army-worm and grain-aphis, in the 

 plainest language, together with methods of de- 

 stroying them, which have not only been tried with 

 the greatest success by farmers themselves, but 

 also corroborated and reiterated by the highest au- 

 thorities on Economical Entomology in the coun- 

 try. The inquiry, "What birds bring up their 

 broods on caterpillars at the rate of from 50 to 100 

 a day ?" I will answer in as sim]fle language as 

 possible, lest I fall under the terrible displeasure 

 of friend "Farmer," as expressed in the word 

 "pundit," and wherever a scientific appellation is 

 made use of, will also give its equivalent in plain 

 English. 



The Baltimore Oriole, or Golden Robin, which 

 devours even the hairy caterpillar of the ajjple 

 tree, — the common robin, which I have myself 

 seen during one hour carry to its nest upwards of 

 twenty caterpillars of the Bibio albipennia, or stout- 

 built, white-winged gnat, — one of the most injuri- 

 ous insects to our grass crops ; five caterpillars of 

 the Afjrotis tesselata, which signifies "the check- 

 ered rustic," one of the commonest "cut-worms," 

 and one huge caterpillar of the ceratomia qiiadri- 

 cornis, which means "the four-horued hawk-moth, 



