278 



NEW EXGLAXD FARMER. 



Sept. 



justice and hate robbery and wrong doing. 



"Destroy the Caterpillars." — From the 

 opening sentences of this article, which may be 

 found on page 200 of current volume of this jour- 

 nal, or in weekly issue of May 30th, it seems high- 

 ly probable that some one in Nova Scotia has got 

 up a trap in which he hopes to catch some of the 

 farmers of the United States, who may not be 

 quite as well posted up in agricultural knowledge, 

 or as familiar with agricultural literature as they 

 might be to their own advantage. In other words, 

 some one "is announced in the Ploughman to have 

 discovered an infallible substance for the destruc- 

 tion of caterpillars," by which every vestige of 

 them can be destroved from a hundred trees for 

 $1 20. 



Thanks to the editor, who has shown his read- 

 ers how this destruction of caterpillars can be ac- 

 complished at much less cost, and has taught them 

 that the chief expense that needs to be incurred 

 in that destruction is simply the time occupied in 

 the work, Xo one, therefore, of the readers of 

 this journal is likely to be caught in any trap 

 baited with promises of the kind referred to. 

 They will be more likely to use the money asked 

 for "an infallible substance" in the purchase of 

 Harris^ Treatise on Insect.'?, or some other source 

 of light and knowledge. As Dr. Harris speaks 

 of refuse soap suds as an application to the cater- 

 pillars, some may be led to use suds that are too 

 weak. We would say, therefore, that to ensure 

 destruction of all touched by the suds, they ought 

 to be as strong as possible, from one to two quarts 

 of good soap being used for one pailful. 



More Anox. 



A Xew Enemy. — Charles B. Pelton, of Ma- 

 kanda. III., thus describes a new worm at the root 

 of peach trees : 



"We have another worm here, infesting the peach 

 tree, which I have never seen described. It is 

 from one-half to three-fourths of an inch long and 

 the thickness of a sewing thread, white, with two 

 brown bars on the back near the head. These 

 bars are only seen under a magnifier. My sons 

 and I call them "thread worms" for want of a bet- 

 ter name. 



Unlike the borers, each of which has its own 

 burrow, these worms are found in numbers to- 

 gether — dozens, scores, and sometimes near a hun- 

 dred, attacking the tree below the surface of the 

 ground. 



They are not "cut out," but pulled out of a 

 broad, shallow hole, often twisted together as the 

 common earth worms are sometimes found. In- 

 deed, they might readily be taken for young earth 

 worms by a careless observer. After clearing the 

 tree of them we apply lime or ashes, or a mixture 

 of both, which destroys any we may have over- 

 looked. I think them more injurious to trees 

 over two vears old than the borer. 



Wool-Geowixg in Michigan.-- In this State 

 rapid progress has been made in wool-growing. 

 In 1840 the product was but 150,000 lbs. ; in 1862, 

 it was 6,915,192 lbs., which assigns Michigan the 

 fourth position among the loyal States. The clip 

 for 186li will be between nijie and ten millions of 

 poimd", this at an average nf 55 rents for nine 

 niilliitn ihs., will ^.-mjun' to ;^»,L';-0. <>'>.*! 



MANXTBES— QUANTITY— QUAIiITY. 



What follow are extracts from an essay upon 

 making, preserving and applying manures, by Capt. 

 Elijah Tucker, read before the Milton Farm- 

 ers' Club, and sent to us for publication. 



It is an old adage that "manure is the mother 

 of corn," or as others express it, "it is the parent 

 of all profitable vegetation." I have seen it slated 

 somewhere that a hard-working but unsuccessful 

 farmer went to a thrifty neighbor for information, 

 requesting a leaf from his book on farming ; he 

 was told that the first requisite was manure, the 

 second, manure, and the third the same ; and after 

 explaining his method of saving and preparing it, 

 especially the urine, the man went home, did like- 

 wise, and became a prosperous farmer. I believe 

 the attention paid to manure by any farmer indi- 

 cates pretty nearly the condition of his farm. 



If a farmer has a barn cellar, with a bottom water 

 tight, covered with loam, muck, or other suitable 

 substances, sufficient to absorb the liquid portions 

 of the manure, he has a foundation for a good ma- 

 nure heap ; and if it be enclosed in front so as to 

 exclude the frost and air, so much the better. The 

 excrements of all his animals, including the urine, 

 should be dropped through scuttles into the cel- 

 lar. By many, the liquid manure of an animal is 

 considered as valuable as the solid, some even es- 

 timate it higher, and say that rich food improves 

 one as much as the other. The urine discharged 

 from different animals is said to diff'er very much 

 in quantity and quality. One writer says, that a 

 horse discharges on an average about three pints 

 in twenty-four hours, and a cow forty pints. If 

 this statement be correct, it will be seen that a 

 cow evacuates more than thirteen times as much 

 as a horse. That there is a difference in different 

 animals, I believe ; but of the correctness of the 

 above comparison, I entertain strong doubts. 



As most farmers keep different kinds of stock, 

 the manure of all would be improved if it should be 

 mixed in one heap. This is easily done when cat- 

 tle are kept in the stable during cold weather, and 

 also in summer if the soiling system be practiced ; 

 according to some writers, manure made by soiling 

 in the summer is much more valuable than that 

 made in the Avinter. The strength of manure, 

 however, depf-nds almost entirely upon the food 

 which the animals consume. As the heap in the 

 cellar increases, loam, muck, or other suitable in- 

 gredients should be mixed with it. This mixture 

 should be determined in a great measure by the 

 quality of the soil on which the manure is to be 

 used ; if it is cold, wet and clayey, I prefer sandy 

 loam or some other warm material ; if light and 

 porous, muck or some other tenacious substance 

 is necessary. In adding ingredients to manure, 

 judgment should be used, because if too much be 

 added it will injure the quality more than it will 

 increase the quantity. Farmers have been some- 

 times heard to say that with a certain number of 

 cattle they could make so many cords of manure, 

 but the size of a manure heap is no true test of 

 its value. I think a man might with about as 

 much propriety say that he could make a barrel of 

 cider from a bushel of apples, as to say that he 

 could make in a year ten cords of manure from 

 one cow. The late Mr. Phinney, of Lexington, 

 once Slid, "a cord of green dung converts twice 

 ' ;'; f;f poat into a manure of equal value 



