118 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 



..i^^ ^ ^FoT the yex Getteste Farmtr, 



Infiamable Gas eilialcd by FioAicrs. 



Messrs. Editors— Having tccc-r.ily tried some e.x- 

 perimcnss on the Dictnm.-ius rubra, or Red FrnxiiielK 

 I have ihouglit it deBiinlilc lo coniiimiiitatt the rcbiilt 

 of the some through the mf Jiiiiii of the rarincr. 



The Di'-'nmii'is riiUra (nnd nlha) is one of our most 

 hnrdy herunceous peronnial plniits, nnd is nniversnlly 

 B.Jmired, not only dr its ;rcni hcrmty, but nUn for it- 

 peculiar frngrnnce. Its bright lei-vcs, its creci posi- 

 tion, its lone spikes of tine flowers, cannot fail lo at- 

 tract the attention of the most cn^uul observer. 



In some nursery catolngues it is stated that this plant 

 exhales on inllaniiiiable gas; yet probacy but few 

 persons have tried any experiments to teal this pe- 

 culiar property of ibis plant. A few days since, 

 huTin" several of these plants in full bloom, (and 

 it is only when in full bloom that they appear to 

 emit the stronscst odour,) I repaired to the gar- 

 den in the evening to try the e.vperinicnt On ap- 

 plying a lighted candle to the base of the spilie of 

 flowers, it instantly exploded, nnd in a moment the 

 whole flower v.-as enwrapped in a blaze. On apply- 

 ing the candle to the top of the flower, it bod no cflijct. 

 When applied half wiy down, the gas only above that 

 point would explode, but none below; end thus the 

 explosion was only complete when the torch was ap- 

 plied to the base of the sicm or flower. 



I also tried the same experiment on the Dietanmus 

 alba, which protlu'^ed similar results, only that the 

 quantity of gas emitted from this plant appeared to bo 

 much less than that emitted from the rubra. The 

 explosion is aometbing like that produced from the 

 ignition of a small quan'.ity of gunpowder; yet it 

 produces no injury to the flowers. 



B. IIODGE. 



Buffalo Nursery, June, 1841. 



For the yetc Genesee Farmer. 



Best Time for Cntting Timber. 



Messrs. Editors — Your article in a recent nunibcr 

 of the Farmer, under the above caption, is on an im- 

 portant subject, and contains some valuable sugges- 

 tions I coincide with you in opinion that the sum- 

 mer is the best time for cutting timber; but not that 

 every period of the summer is equally good. In the 

 early part of the season the flow of sop is so abundant, 

 that the retention of the juices in the pores of the tim- 

 ber is liable to projuce fermentation, nnd consequent- 

 ly, premature decay. If there be a period when the 

 circulation is almost inactive — when the sap nearly 

 ceases to flow and the bark to run — it appears to me 

 that reason v.'ould designate Ihiit as the most proper 

 tirnc lo perform ilie work. The qualities of the sap, 

 instead of being watery and abundant, as is the case 

 early in the summer, will have become concentrated 

 and viscid; and in.etead of hastening decay, will no 

 doubt contribute lo durability. 



That there is such a period, is a well known fact. 

 It occurs in liie month of August, n few days earlier 

 01 later, according to circumstances, but generally 

 from the loth to the 90lh, nnd continues only lorn 

 very limited time. If the weather i.? diy, its continu- 

 ance will be somewhat longer. Persona who are in 

 ihc habit of inoculating fruit trees, select the period of 

 the autumnal flow of sap, which is from the Ist tn the 

 10th of September, as the most eligible for propaga- 

 ting eomn species. 



I hive frequently had timber cut in August, nnd I 

 can certify that the wood is very compact and solid. 



It has a different appearance Irom thai cut in winter 



looking and feeling as if it had been oiled. My o\vn 

 experience does not extend farther back than ten or 

 twelve years; but Ihaie known, nnd could cite, a 

 number of cnsss of remarkable HursbiliTy, when ihe 



timber has been cut according to the old Dutch rule, 

 in Oie dark oftht moon in Argrst, — which ia as near 

 the exact ti.Tie, as any person, relying on lunar in- 

 fluence, coidd approximate to it; and every third year 

 the rules mi'^ht very nearly correspond. 



Tlie period mentioned, appears to constitute some- 

 thing of n crisis in almost all vegetation of a li;ncou6 

 chninr-ter. The simple belling of a tree, will so ef- 

 tectually deslrny vitality, that not a sprout will ever 

 shoot np from the roots or stutnp. It is the only lime 

 at which I have ever even partially Miccfcdtd in sub- 

 {luing the *' round cap" ( Cvplinhmtlius ociuJcnlolis) 

 which infests eur meadows and flat grounds, and w hich 

 grows from the smallest rection of a root. I eradica- 

 ted it cn'.irely, by'a single operation, so that iheicwns 

 scarcely a vestige of it for seveial yenrs afterwards. 



Close observation is necessary, to enable one lo de- 

 signate the precise time when the work should he per- 

 formed. The moment, to begin, is when the bark is 

 found to adhere closely to the wood. T. S. P. 



Virginia, C mo. 20, 1841. 



The IIess:aa Tly. 



Extract from remr.rks on the Ilcssj;in Fly, read Iicfore the 

 Cr.Ihoun County l-Midiisan] Agri'^ullLiral Pocjery, liy the 

 president, JuJge HicKr-K. 



" Gentu:mk,n — We have a fno climate, less sub- 

 ject to high winds, to sudden changes IVom cold to hot, 

 from too much wetness to drought, from deep enow 



10 bare ground, than is enjoyed at the cast. Tiie suil 

 cf this country is for the most part a sandy or gravelly 

 loam; rain soon .=ubfides in the eanh, while the great 

 proportion of lime it cimtains, secures the crop against 

 the dangers of excessive dryness, it is ia caiily cul- 

 tivated, uiid its ingredients are e.\nedy ado;rlcd tor the 

 production of wheat and for grazing; two branchcj of 

 business which should alwaj s enter into eur system of 

 Agrieulture. 



" But we labor under two cmharassments; the one 

 which is of paramount importance to all others, be- 

 cause it is the nursing mother of a'l of them, is the 

 want of such a market for our produce as will in- 

 duce us, by its |>roliiableneas, eo lo cultivate our 

 farms as to have a; least one hab'or two- thirds of our 

 lots in grass while the oihers are undeT the oijcrntion 

 of the plough. In practice, this will be found indis 

 pensalile, especially where ti.e juice of Agriculiural 

 produce is low, and the wages of our labor arc high. 



'* The second embarassmenl arises from the i rova- 

 lence of the Hcssiun Fhj, which has the la:l season 

 destroyed, it is believed, more than two-thirds of the 

 wheat crop in this country. This formidable insect 

 w.TS lirst discovered on Long Island, about sixty years 

 ago, and was suiiposed to have been brought from 

 Germany in a ship which transported the Ilcssiau 

 Army lo Long Island during the Revolutionary War. 



11 has, however, been well ascertained that the insect 

 is indigenous in the United Slates. 



" From the best accounts we have been able to ob- 

 tain of the Hessian Fly, it chooses for its prey the 

 weakest plant. In this respect it resembles mosi other 

 insect dejiredatofs, who prefer to make their repafison 

 the delirate sacchar no juice of plonia of n stunted 

 growth. It is a viporous, and usually deposits itseggs 

 in the gntteron the upper leaves, and in some instan- 

 ces on the under as well as the upper sides. In four 

 or fiye days ibe eggs hatch, and the cnterpillars crawl 

 down the leaf lo its intersection with the stalk, where 

 they may be found beneath the sheath, so m'nute as 

 aeareely to be .seen by the naked eye. This inseet lias 

 two generations inn year, distirielly marked, nltV.nugh 

 in scattered instances it maybe found in all its var'"us 

 states of exisicnee, from Aiuil to October. Virsf 

 Seiicrcilion. In spring, die egfs are lain in the latter 

 end of April or beginr ng of Miy, and a,Tc hatched, 

 and the caterpillars appnn in May. In the latter end 

 of .May, or the first of June, they change to the chry- 

 salis or flax seed stale; at harveslnparlof the chrysalis 

 are carried off" the field wiih the grain, but most of 

 ihcm rcinnin in the stubble in their oiigiml nest at the 

 intereeclion of the leaf with the stalk. The la'terend 

 of Jiily or first of August, they take wings and dcpo 

 ait their eggs tb.e lalier end of August and in Septem- 

 ber. Scronfl gcntrttlion. In a few days after the 

 eggs are laid, they arc hatched, nnd the e.iteriiillars 

 pass into the chrysalis or flix seeil stale in Octoher, 

 and in this slate they remain during win'er, an 1 ep. 

 pear with wings nnd lay their eggB tlio latter end of 

 April or beginning of May. 



"The fly is not found, cr at least rarely, on lands 

 that arc subject to cnrly nnd late frosiF, such as cur 

 prairies, or the high lands on the head witeis of our 

 Etreams. But it wonld teem that the i.tber parts of 

 the State musi bo particularly subject to its ravages, 

 and ihat there is no variety of wheat thai can long re- 

 sist 'his formidable cncKiy. 



" Prcren'.ire — The preventives which are meet 

 likely to be eflicicni, arc, not to fow until Ocuiber; in 

 the spring of the year, soon after the fly has deposited 

 its eggs, while the plants are « ct with rain or devr, 

 sow the wheat field with cau I c lime, or feed down 

 the wheat clise to iho greiiml, by a drove of cattle, or 

 what ib better, by a llockd'sheep, si.fllciently largo to 

 perfi'i in the operation in a few days — not to sow a field 

 (if wheat adjoining one from which a crop has b' en re- 

 cently taker — plough under wheat stubhie in autumn 

 — dcot.-oy all ibe voluntary wheal plnnis that may ap- 

 pear on the EtuLbIc ground before Oclober, by the heo 

 of a drag or in sonic other way, and ctiliivate lui'.d in 

 the liest manner, so as to have no weak or ttunled 

 plants. 



" Jlotalion rj" crops a priTcniirc — But all this trou- 

 ble to guard ngiiinst the ll;s.-inn Fly may be saved by 

 the introduction of a proper system of rotation of 

 crops. A stiict adhctcnce to the true principles of 

 husbandry ndniiis, nevertheless, of a considerable va- 

 riation." — Western Fiirmnr. 



Impijrtaiit D!scoverv-"l>tstroying Insects. 



We embrace the earliest moment, after the receipt 

 of the following letter, to lay it btfore our readers. 

 The sensi'n is nut yet so far advanced that the process 

 may not be beneficial lo these who put it in operation: 

 iSI. P. Wii.Di-.u, Esq., Prciiilcnz of the Mussiuhtsclls 

 Horticultural i<ocicly: 

 Sir — Having discovered a cheap nnd effectual 

 mode of deetmyiug the Uose flag, 1 wish to be- 

 come a competitor for the piemium ofli»red by ll.e 

 Mnssachusoits Horlieuliurnl Society. After very ma- 

 ny satisfactory exi,eiimciits with i!-e loll'iwing sub- 

 stance, I am convinced it will destroy the above inseet, 

 in either of the states in which it appeals on the 

 (ilnnt, as the ily, when it is laying its eggs, or the 

 slug when it is commiiting its depredations on the 

 foilnge. 



Wh.^le Oil Sjii", dissolred at the rate, of two 

 pounds to fifteen i^allims nf vatcr. I have used it 

 stronger without injury to the plants, but find the 

 above mixture elVeetuai in the destiuelion of the in- 

 sect. As 1 find, from expeiimenis, ihcre is a difi'er- 

 ence in the strength of the soap, it will be belter for 

 persons using it to try it diluted as above, and il it 

 does not kill the insect, add a liule more soap, with 

 caution. In corresponding wilh filcssrs. Dewner, 

 Austin & Co., on the dillerencc in its appearance, 

 they saj — " Whale Oil Soap laries much in its re- 

 lative strength, the article not beng made as Soap, 

 but being formed in our process of blenching oil. 

 When il is of very sharp toste, and dark appearance, 

 the aikali predcmunates, and when light colored and 

 flat taste, the grease prcduniinaies." The former I 

 have generally u?ed, but haic tried the light colored, 

 and find it equally efTeclual, but requiring a littlo 

 more soap — say two pounds to thirteen gallons of 

 water. 



Node nfprcpaiKtion. Take whntevcr qnnntily of 

 soap you wish to prepare, and disol^c it in boiling 

 water, about one quart to a pound; in this way strain 

 it through a fine wire or hail stive, which takes out 

 the dill, nnd prevents its stopping llie vnlvis 

 of the engine or the nose oi ilie syr'nge; then add 

 cold water to make it ilie prnpcr ei:ength; apply it lo 

 the rose-bush with a hand engine or syringe, with as 

 much force as prnciienbic, and be sure thnteveiy part 

 of the l';a\e8 is will satuialcd iviih the liquid. What 

 falls to the ground in application, will do good in de- 

 stroying the worms nnd enriching the soil, and from 

 its trifling cost, it can he iiS'd with profusion. A 

 hogshead of 136 gallons co.-is foitylivo cents — not 

 quite four mills per ga'lc>n. F.nrly in ihc morning, 

 or in the evening, is the proper time to apply it to 

 the plants. 



As there are many other troublesomo nnd drslruc- 

 tive insetls the above i reparation will destroy as cf- 

 reetnally as ihe ruse fluji, it iii.-;y be of beiiehi lo ihe 

 eiinniuuity to know the dilTcrent kinds upon which 

 I have tiicd it wilh snecese. 



The Tlirips, ofien culled the Vine Freler, a small, 

 I ghl colored or apoitod fly, qii-e'i in motion, which in ^^ 

 some plices are making the rose bush nearly as bod 

 in appeal nnee as ihe el'lcts of the sing. Aphis, or 

 plant Louse, under the name of green or brown fly, 

 nil insect not quick in motion, very abundant on, and 

 desiructive to, the young shoots of the Roje, the 



