1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



483 



teach most likely, had he the opportunity, that a 

 Crustacean is an insect. Is this according to the 

 teaching of the late Dr. Harris ? Perhaps your 

 correspondent can tell. 



But again ; your correspondent says, "A Farmer 

 cannot have read the papers when he says he 

 learned nothing from pundits about the army 

 worm, palmer worm, the grain aphis," &c. He 

 did read the papers, but alas ! he was constrained 

 to say that words without knowledge reflected no 

 light upon his pathway, any more tlian upon that 

 of his neighbors. It was said by these pundits 

 that "the army worm would be common this 

 year, and every year." Is this so ? Said another, 

 "The grain aphis will not appear this year." Has 

 this prediction proved true ? Let those who have 

 suffered from its visitation answer. Who has de- 

 stroyed the grain a])his, and what was the remedy ? 

 So of the army worm and palmer worm. Perhaps 

 your correspondent will inforni me, and in doing 

 so, many others also through your columns, who 

 would like to knov/ how to keep off these vermin 

 from summer crops. 



Concerning my inquiry about birds and cater- 

 pillars, your correspondent says, "I will answer in 

 as simple language as possible, lest I fall under 

 the displeasure of 'A Farmer,' and wherever a 

 scientific (systematic) appellation (name) is used, 

 will also give its equivalent in plain English." 

 Thank you, good sir. 



Then he mentions the golden robin and the 

 common robin, the latter of which he says, "I have 

 seen during an hour, carry twenty caterpillars of 

 the Bi.bio alhipennifi, or stout-built, white-winged 

 gnats, one of the most injurious insects to the grass 

 crops." "Caterpillar, or stout-built, white-winged 

 gnat." Which ? No "plain English" here, as it 

 seems to me. He then adds, that he saw a robin 

 carry Jzoe caterpillars of the A(jrostis fesselata, 

 which signifies the 'checkered rustic' " What 

 signifies the checkered rustic ? Agrostis or tesae- 

 tata, or both ? Also, "one huge caterpillar of the 

 Ceraiomia quadn'cornis, which means the four- 

 horned hawk-moth, nu'th horns on the shoulders." 

 This is lucid, undouljtedly, to a pundit, but to me, 

 it is a lingo quite unintelligible. "A four-horned 

 hawk-moth, loith horns on the shoulders." A 

 sparrow, he adds, has been found to destroy 3000 

 insects a week, while breeding (?), including cater- 

 pillars, flies, beetles, bugs and other perfect in- 

 sects." Is a caterpillar an insect ? Farmers in 

 my vicinity do not regard worms and caterpillars 

 as insects. But I suppose we are all wrong. I 

 should like to know however, whether a worm and 

 a lobster are set down as insects by Prof. Agassiz. 



Finally, your correspondent adds, "I made no 

 *oflev gratidiously to teach' a farmer." That was 

 ray inference, from his own words ; after telling a 

 long story about a minister, and how he taught his 

 parishioners about insects, he concludes by saying, 

 "In like manner, (as did the minister,) I, ivho am 

 but an humble student in the vast field of natural 

 history, may be able to contribute my mite in the 

 form of facts, &c., about insects, and shall be hap- 

 py to yive our friend ^Farmer,'' and others, any 

 ■information in my poicer in return for their ex- 

 perience (?) in the same subject." I think this 

 language fully justifies my statement touching 

 this ])oint. 



I have no "■experience" to relate on insects, and 

 but little observation of any value. I will, how- 



ever, in reply to a question, quote the statement 

 of Dr. Hay on the woodpecker, one species of 

 which he says "sucks the sap, and eats the inner 

 bark of ornamental and fruit trees, which are thus 

 killed." As for my "name and address," asked 

 for, I have to remark, they are not of the slightest 

 consequence to your correspondent. It is the sub- 

 ject of inquiry, what is said, and not who says it, 

 that concerns him and the readers of the N. E. 

 Farmer. My cof/nomen indicates the very numer- 

 ous and respectable family or class of which I am 

 a humble member, who is content to subscribe 

 himself a Farmer. 



THE VERMONT STATE FAIR. 



The Vermont State Fair was held at Rutland, 

 on the 9th to the 13th inst. It is its twelfth an- 

 niversary. The weather was favorable, and in 

 strong contrast with the stormy opening last year. 

 The attendance on the first day was considerably 

 larger than for some years past. The handsome 

 grounds of fifty acres where the fair is held, about 

 half a mile south of the town, the admirable trot- 

 ting course and comfortable seats erected oppo- 

 site, and the convenient halls, "Floral" and "Me- 

 chanics'," have all been described on the occasion 

 of former fairs. Mr. George Campbell, of West- 

 minster West, was present with some of his ex- 

 cellent sheep, among which v.as a four years old 

 Buck that he has refused .$2000 for, for the rea- 

 son, he says, that it is worth $5000 to him for 

 stock purposes. 



■Wool Growers' Convention. 



The most interesting event of the first day was 

 a convention of the Vermont Wool Growers, held 

 in Mechanics' Hall, on the Fair Grounds, under 

 the auspices of the State Agricultural Society. 

 Edwin Hammond, of Middlebury, President of the 

 Society, was Chairman, and Daniel Needham, of 

 Hartford, delivered an appropriate address, which 

 it was voted to issue in a pamphlet form. 



Important matters connected with the raising of 

 wool and mutton were ably discussed at the con- 

 clusion of the address by Solon Robinson, of the 

 N. Y. Tribune, Judge Colburn, of Springfield, Vt., 

 David E. Nicholson, of Wallingford, Mr. Marsh, 

 Mr. Lester, and Mr. Cushing, of Woodstock, and 

 others. 



The principal subjects of comment were the best 

 means of preparing wool for the market, the im- 

 provement of stock, with reference to producing 

 the largest amount of wool at the least possible 

 cost, and the best method of curing wool for the 

 market. 



Mr. Robinson did not favor the washing of wool 

 by the farmers, for it can be done by a chemical 

 process by the manufacturers so much cheaper 

 that they will not pay the wool growers for their 

 trouble. The war, he said, creates a scarcity of 

 cotton and a demand for wool, and there is also a 

 great demand for mutton, therefore, the raising of 

 these staples cannot be otherwise than profitable 

 in Vermont. He did not speak favorably or oth- 

 erwise of any particular breed of sheep, but he 

 thought Southdowns could not be kept profitably 

 in flocks exceeding from one to two hundred head. 



Mr. Nicholson did not favor the raising of sheep 



