220 



NEW ENGLAND FAR:MER. 



May 



clusively ; wbile the aliment of a third portion 

 is partly animal and partly vegetable. And 

 these several portions embrace all magnitudes 

 from the animalculai to the larger vertebrates. 



The too important and engrossing pursuits 

 of the animal world are the procuring of food, 

 and the providing for a succeeding generation. 

 And it is chiefly in prosecution of these ob- 

 jects, that they make war upon each other and 

 upon the vegetable kingdom. 



Many predatory animals, while hunting and 

 watching for prey, are themselves hunted and 

 watched, and are distracted between advancing 

 and attacking on the one hand, and defending 

 themselves, or fleeing, on the other. And the 

 powers and abilities of the preyer and prey 

 are so adjusted and balanced, that the one shall 

 not always succeed in the capturing, nor the 

 other in escaping, lest the first, as a species, 

 should perish with hunger, or the last by 

 slaughter. 



And if the price of life and liberty with man 

 is eternal labor and vigilance, so is it with ani- 

 mals. If the stores of man are often plun- 

 dered and defiled, so are those of animals. 

 If many animals are noxious to man, so is man 

 to many animals ; and so are animals to each 

 other. Nevertheless, innumerable species of 

 animals, under all the danger and disadvan- 

 tages that surround them, continue to live from 

 generation to generation, — and so does man. 

 And when we examine the vegetable world we 

 find that each species is liable to attacks from 

 animals in its infancy, growth, and maturity ; 

 at its root, stem, branches, leaves, flowers and 

 fruit; and although it has not locomotion, and 

 cannot avoid its Iocs by flight, yet it has such 

 means of defence and protection, and such 

 powers of repairing the breaches made by its 

 assailants, and is withal so prolific, that it still 

 lives and flourishes in all its beauty and gran- 

 deur. 



And now, in answer to the question of the 

 necessity of animals noxious to man, we can 

 say this much, that they are necessary incidents 

 to the plan and structure of natui-e as we find 

 it. 



I propose in the following articles to notice 

 some of the little noxious animals called in- 

 sects, and their relation to vegetation and to 

 other animals, as illustrations of the general 

 views herein before presented, ho|)ing that if 

 we find it a part of the original plan that we 

 shall not have the ability to exterminate any 

 species, we may discover the means of keeping 

 them in such a normal condilion as to numbers, 

 that we can jjatiently, and consistently with 

 our own well being, endure their normal dep- 

 redations. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 BONE DUST. 



As experiments are the chief source of 

 knowledge, 1 often wonder that those who 

 are willing to make them receive so little en- 



couragement, and so much discouragement 

 and ridicule from their acquaintance ; also 

 that they are so reluctant to publish results, 

 especially if they are not successful. 



The very few who have lately related their 

 experiments with commercial fertilizers de- 

 serve the thanks of the public; while the mul- 

 titudes who have not, ought to see the printer's 

 devil after them, every time they sleep long 

 enough to dream, till they do it. 



The agent of the Boston Milling and Manu- 

 facturing Company assumes that I do not 

 question the value of hone as a fertilizer ! I 

 do not, but I do question the value of the "bone 

 dust," or "flour of bone," that was tried in 

 this vicinity last year, in the condition, and in 

 the various Avays in which it was tried. I may, 

 and I can but hojie it will do good hereafter; 

 but we bought it for a manurial stimulant, 

 something that would produce an immediate 

 and perceptible effect ; that would operate 

 quicker than unfermented or raw manure, and 

 more powerfully than ordinary animal excre- 

 ment. We were sadly disappointed. Its 

 operation was so slow that now, after ten 

 months, its effects are not discernable, and as 

 to power, future time must disclose. 



Like some of your other correspondents, we 

 are all here very much "interested to have it 

 prove very valuable," as most of us have old, 

 worn out pastures that are either stony or too 

 hilly to cultivate, and we are anxiously looking 

 for a portable and efficient fertilizer to apply 

 to them. 



I do not question that the Boston Company 

 furnish the pure article, and just as they pro- 

 fess ; but it is a query whether the small amount 

 of salt they put in with it for its preservation, 

 is just the thing that ought to be put in. Does 

 it not, to some extent, neutralize or render 

 inoperative, the bone? or "fix" the manurial 

 properties, somewhat as mordants do rolors ? 

 Or rather, does not the bone need some- 

 thing to be added to hasten decomposition, or 

 to so affect it that, as soon as applied to the 

 soil, it will at once decompose and become 

 plant food ? 



With my best wishes for all who are increas- 

 ing the manure heap, for all who make and re- 

 port experiments, and all who encourage them 

 in so doing, I am, j^i'o bono jntbliro, 



IluFUs Nutting. 



Randolph, Vt., March 15, 1SG7. 



For ike Kew England Farmer. 

 CHANGE OF SEED. 



The question "What advantage do we de- 

 rive from change of seed ?" does not seem to be 

 very well understood by most cultivators. I 

 believe it is by no means of universal benefit 

 to jMocui'c seed from other places, either near 

 or distant. 



With plants like the oat, which evidently do 

 better in colder climates, we doubtless gain 

 something by sending to Caiiada or even to 



