342 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



I think the plan combines as many conven- 

 iences as any barn I ever saw. 



Grantham, N. H., 1870. A Reader. 



Travelling Contuasts. — It is looked upon as 

 a matter of wonder, to find any adult person now, 

 who has not travelled in the cars, pleasantly read- 

 ing, talking or sleeping, and at the rate of three or 

 four hundred miles in the course of twenty-four 

 hours ? And this tends to health, general pros 

 perity and a higher civilization. 



What a vast change has taken place in this re- 

 spect in a comparatively short space of time. 

 About 1650, Mr. Pennant, in his "Journey from 

 Chester to London," says : — "The first day, with 

 much labor, we got from Chester to Whitchurch, 

 twenty miles ; and on the sixth day to London, 

 about 100 miles, before the commencement of 

 night. The strain and labor of six good horses, 

 sometimes eight, drew us through the sloughs in 

 many places. We were constantly out two hours 

 before day, and as late at night ; and in the depth 

 of winter proportionably later. Families who 

 traveled in their own carriages, contracted with 

 Benson & Co., and were dragged up, in the 

 same number of days, by three sets of able 

 horses. The single gentlemen, equipped in jack- 

 boots and troivsers up to their middle, rode post 

 through thick and thin, and, guarded against the 

 mire, defied the frequent stumble and fall ; arose 

 and pursued their journey with alacrity." 



About 1670, the journey from Oxford to London, 

 which is under sixty miles, occupied two days. 

 An invention called the "Flying Coach," achieved 

 it in thirteen hours ; from the middle of Septem- 

 ber to the middle of March, it was uniformly a 

 two days' performance. Now some people grum- 

 ble if they do not make that distance in two hours. 



THE CUHBANT "WOBM AGAIST. 



This pest has appeared again, and has com- 

 menced the work of destruction in earnest 

 upon the leaves of the currant bush. We 

 find no account of them in Harris, Fitch, or 

 KoUar. The eggs which produce them are 

 probably from a fly of some kind. They are 

 deposited on the under side of the leaf, in 

 rows, and placed, usually, on the centre rib 

 of the leaf, sometimes on two or three of the 

 ribs. When hatched, they eat *a small hole 

 through the tender leaf, and then march off to 

 its edges, and frequently surround it entirely. 

 How long the eggs will continue to be hatched 

 out we do not know; indeed, very little 

 seems to be known of the fly that deposits the 

 eggs, or the habits of the worm that destroys 

 the foliage. We hope some one will give us 

 information on the whole matter. 



Various modes of destroying the worm have 



been suggested. We have tried several ways, 

 but find only one th:;t promises success, and 

 even that remedy may prove destructive. 

 The remedy is to begin to pluck off the leaves 

 containing the eggs, as far as they can be 

 found, and follow this up, picking off the 

 leaves containing the worms, as fast as they 

 are hatched. They are easily found by the 

 broken leaves or bare stems. But if this pro- 

 cess is carried too far, the growth of the fruit 

 will be suspended, by arresting the action be- 

 tween leaf and fruit. The flour of hellebore 

 sifted upon them is said to destroy them. 

 This is a poison, and must be used with care. 

 The carbolic soap did not kill them in the ex- 

 periments first made. They evidently disliked 

 it, but would shake their sides and crawl off. 

 A stronger dose might be more effectual with 

 them. Now is the time to look after the pests 

 and exterminate them. 



A correspondent of the Oneida Dispatch 

 says: "To destroy the currant worms, go 

 out at 8 or 9 o'clock in the evening and jar 

 the bushes so as to throw the worms on the 

 ground. Do this three successive evenings, 

 when the worms make their appearance. This 

 will finish them for the present year, and if 

 everybody will do it for three successive years 

 it will destroy the race." 



The Currant Worm.— Mr. Charles Blaisdell, 

 of Wellesley, Mass., informs us that he has been 

 successful in destroying the currant worm aud 

 other plant insects by the use of Buchan's Car- 

 bolic Acid Soap. The soap sold for laundry or 

 common washing purposes contains much less 

 carboline, the principle destructive to insects, than 

 the preparation sold as Carbolic Plant Protector. 

 The former was the kind we used in tho experi- 

 ment alluded to above. The latter, which we 

 have since tried, we find to be fatal to the worms 

 when dissolved in water and sprinkled upon them. 

 We notice also a statement by Rev. Dr. Marvin of 

 the Boston Daily News, that he found a show- 

 ering applied to his bushes, cleared them of worms 

 in a few minutes. A dusting of White Hellebore 

 is also said to prove effectual, but this is a costly 

 and somewhat dangerous poison to use. The car- 

 bolic suds, it is claimed, is harmless to foliage and 

 person. 



As this worm threatens the destruction of our 

 currant bushes, we hope this remedy will be care- 

 fully tried by those who are unwilling to be de- 

 prived of this delicious fruit. 



—The Rockingham County, N. H., Agricultural 

 Society will hold its fair on the I4th, loth and 16th 

 of September next. Place not given. 



