1870. 



NEW ENGLAXD FAR]MER. 



517 



always good. Let us not attempt, under any 

 circumstances, to cultivate more than we can 

 cultivate in the best possible manner. If we 

 have manure and labor sufficient only for one 

 acre, let us not attempt to cultivate two. Let 

 us have the courage to do right here, as in 

 every other avocation of life, and Heaven will 

 bless our efforts. 



ESTKACTS AND REPIjIES. 



( 



CABBAGE WORM. 



Can you or any of your correspondents give a 

 method of saving the fabbaees from destruction 

 by the worius ? In this section the plants were 

 rf-arly all destroyed by a little green worn, the 

 product of a small nit resembling a seed of Timo- 

 thy grass, which is deposited on the under (-ide of 

 the leaves of both cabbages and turnips. I have 

 not yet found what the pHrent is, but suppose it to 

 be some nocturnal fly. Information may save the 

 crop a; other vear. W. h. w. 



Stamtead, P. Q., Aug. 31, 1870. 



Remarks. — Within a few years past there has 

 been much complaint about worms upon cabbages. 

 What is known as the Rape Butterfly in England — 

 Pieris rapa — was introduced into this country 

 some twelve or fourteen years ago by way of Que- 

 bec, probably as cits on cabbage leaves. It grad- 

 ually spread into Vermont, and is now extending 

 over the country. The butterfly is a nearly white 

 miller. The caterpillar, or worm, when full grown 

 is an inch and a half long. The eggs are laid the 

 last of May. The millers are caught in England 

 with a net, or bag, made of mosquito netting. A 

 stick some four feet long for a handle, with a wire 

 hoop on which the net is fastened, may be rigged 

 up by any one. They are destroyed in the chrys 

 alls state, by placing boards about two inches above 

 the ground, on the undersides of which the worms 

 undergo their metamorphoses. From these boards 

 they are scraped off and destroyed. S. C. Wait, of 

 Gouverneur, N.Y., writes to the New York Farm- 

 ers' Club that he was able to drive them from his 

 patch with brine — ham and beef brine from the 

 meat barrel. Mr. A. B. Allen, of New York, 

 fctates in the Country Gentleman that he succeedted 

 in keeping his cabbages free of worms by the use 

 of whale oil soap. But from his remarks we doubt 

 whetiher he had the new importation — the Pieris 

 rapce, which is somewhat different from the Pieris 

 oleracea, described by Harris, and which has been 

 much longer known in this country. Mr. S. Cur- 

 rier, of Norwich, Vt., says that he finds the miller 

 to be active and sly, and the caterpillar to be little 

 disturbed by brine or any other application he had 

 tried, except that of clipping them in twain with 

 the sheep-shears, — a comparatively expeditious, 

 but still rather laborious process where the worms 

 are on a large number of cabbages, especially as 

 one brood of worms is soon succeeded by an- 

 other. 

 We hope some of our correspondents will be 



able to furnish a more satisfactory reply to the in- 

 quiry of W. H. W. 



CURING SUMAC LEAVES. 



Will you please inform me how to prepare su- 

 mac leaves for market ? I have quite a large 

 quantity on my farm. Some i?ay they are valua- 

 ble for tanning purposes. E. P. Luthek. 



North Dorstt, Vt., Sept., 1870. 



Remarks — From an article in the Rural New 

 Yorker, we condense the following directions. 

 The leaf and kaf stems only are uscd. Thise are 

 picked before the f^hrub b'of-soms. It should be 

 cured like herbs under cover or at least in the 

 .-hade. After being dried sufficiently to break 

 readily in the hand, it is ground to a fine powder 

 anel put in bags contaming about ISO pounds. The 

 American article known best in m.arket comes 

 mostly from "Virginia. That gathered in New 

 York, New Jersey, &c., is not considered as valu- 

 able. The leaves in their natural state are worth 

 about fifty dollars a ton at the mills. They are 

 too bulky for long tiansportation before being 

 ground, hence the nearer a mill the better f . r the 

 gatherer. The best of the foreign ground is worth 

 about $175 per ton in New York ; while the whole- 

 sale price of the best American is only $00. Su- 

 mac is used for dyeing as well as tanning. One 

 objection against the American leaves in tanning 

 is that it colors too much for the nicest morocco. 

 Still, it is believed that by care in growing, gath- 

 ering, curing and preparing for market, it is pos- 

 sible to make suth improvements that the Ameri- 

 can article will lake the plate of the imported, to 

 a great extent. We know nothing of the mill for 

 grinding the leaves. It is stated that the amount 

 gathered in Virginia is yearly increasing. 



A POULTRY HOUSE. 



I want a new house for poultry. Will it be a 

 good place m the barn cellai ? I have had ic there 

 for a year or two past, but my eggs do not hatch 

 out well. I set a hen on 15 eggs and she brought 

 out three chickens. I suspcci that my cellar is 

 too damp for poultry, and wish I knew. e. g. 



Peacham, Vt., Sept., 1870. 



Remarks. — Poultry never does well in a damp 

 place. Where the barn cellar is mostly above 

 ground, is open to the south, and is warm in win- 

 ter, it makes a good poultry house. But it ought 

 to be "roomy" ai.d some portion of it always 

 clean. The secrets of success in poultry raising 

 are tcarmth, cleanliness, and plentiful feeding of a 

 variety of food. 



GRASS SEED FOR PASTURE LAND. 



I am going to plough some 20 acres of pasture 

 this fall that has not been ploughed for thirty 

 years or more. The land is a clay loam. I shall 

 top dress and seed next spring with some kind of 

 grass seed, sowing oats at the same time. What 

 would be the best kinds of grass seed to sow ? 

 Herdsgrass runs out here in a short time. The 

 pasture is not a wet one, nor very dry ; is mostly 

 free from stones, smooth and clean, with rather 

 thin soil. Please to answer through the Farmer. 

 lama young farmer; bought a farm two years 



