78 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 2j 



^ 



pasl, been as cleiuly nsccrlniiied as tlinl of any o'.bcr 

 whatever. The lirst publication that 1 know of, is by 

 General J. H. Cocke of Virginia, dated 1317, which 

 describes the fall deposit; see American Farmer, Vol. 

 I., p. Sn6. The second is by myself, dated 1st Febru- 

 ary, 18'20, also describing the fall deposit; see same 

 work, Vol. II., p, 1>'0 The third is by Dr. Isaac 

 Chapman, communicated to the Agricultural Society 

 of Bucks county, Nth August \6'i0, said to have been 

 written in 1797, stating itsapiieniance in Bucks coun- 

 ty in 1786, and Us progress for some time afterwards, 

 also describing its several chnnges and habits; butStbe 

 D'>ctor has only noticed two generations, having blend- 

 ed the second and third together; See Memoirs of the 

 Philadelphia AgricuUurnl Society, Vol. V. The 

 fourtli, by myself, dated 12th February, 1821, which 

 traces the history of the insect throughout iho year; 

 Bce American Farmer, Vol. III. p. 187. The fifth is 

 by myself, dated 1st June, 1821 ; see same volume, p 

 2i3. The sixth is by myself, dated in 1823, treating 

 of the fly and three other insects injurious to the wheal 

 crop, and proposing a remedy; see Memoirs of the 

 Pennsylvania Agricultural Society, p. 165. 



I rcf^r you to all of the abovemenlioned papers, par- 

 ticularly the last; but as many of your readers may 

 not have an opportunity of seeing them, I will trans- 

 ciibe what I deem to be essential. < 



The Hessian fly, I believe first made its appearance 

 on Long Island, N. Y. in 1776, or soon after the Hes- 

 eians were there, and is supposed to have been intro- 

 duced among some straw which they brought with 

 them; hence tlie name; but the late Judge Peters, that 

 great fiend and iiatron of agriculture, in his notices 

 for a young farmer, says, that the insect was unknown 

 in Hesse, *' that its name does not prove its importa- 

 tion, for that appellation was bestowed during our 

 revolutionary excitements, when every thing we dis- 

 liked was called Hessian. The insect has been accu- 

 rately described by Mr. Say and Dr. Chapman; but 

 Mr. Say was mistaken respecting the deposit, as the 

 aperture which he noticed in the sheaih of the leaf, 

 was occasioned by the insect passing into the winged 

 slate, and nit perlijrated in the act of depositing its 

 eggs. The fly is of a dark color, about the size of the 

 mosquito, and the male much like it except the wings; 

 the body of the female is larger; the wings rest hori- 

 zontally, and where they joai the body are almost 

 poiiued, gradually expanding towards the other end, 

 where they form nearly a semicircle. The egg is 

 scarcely discernible to the naked eye, is oblong, of a 

 pale red or anibjr color, and placed in the gutter of 

 the lej|, from half an inch to an inch or more from ihe 

 Btalk; the caterpillar, ot a pale red color, is hatched in 

 a few days time (according to the state of the weather) 

 and parses down the leaf to its junction with the ^tQlk, 

 thence between the sheath and stalk, to near the root 

 or joint; it there becomes stationary, feeds on the sap 

 of the plant, and, being blcac ed by its covering, is 

 mistaken for the egg. The first deposit tidies place 

 from the fifteenth to the last of April (as the season 

 may be) changes to the pupa fiom the first to the mid- 

 dle of jNIiy, and evolves in the winged state, the lat- 

 ter part of that monib. The second geiieiaiion com 

 mences from the first to the middle of June; the fly 

 chooses the stunted plants, and deposits bnh on the 

 top and underneath the upper leaf, and the larvaj pass 

 to near the two upper joinls, but are found mostly 

 about the upper, and in such numbers as many perish 

 for want of food, the increased number being so dis. 

 proportioned to the plants which .-^uit their purpose; 

 1 have counted upwards of two hundred eggs on a 

 single leaf. The third deposit is made in the manner 

 of the first, and coimiences about the fifteenth or later 

 in August, and is continued on until cold weather; 

 The irregularity of this generation is occasioned by 

 the various stuations in which the pupa of the sec- 

 ond is thrown, it is lodged in the straw of the stunted 

 plants, BO that in harvesting, much of it is scattered 

 about the stubble-fields and the rcit is carried to barns 

 or stacked; such as is early e.vposed to hent may pro- 

 duce a fjurth generaiion, whilst that which is covered 

 till winter may not give a third. 



OnaiSMvering a lly in the act of depositing, I secur- 

 ed it, and on examination (making the best calculation 

 that I could, and not knowing whether it had deposited 

 any egas before) I supposed it to contain one hundred 

 eggs; if such be the fact, the first deposit would be one 

 hundred; the second ten thousand, and the third one 

 million, all in the course of one year; happily, howev- 

 er, they have enemies which vastly reduce their num- 

 ber. 



The only plants, according to my observations, 

 which are subject to the depredations of the fly, are 

 wheat, rye, and barley; rye, owing to ils early spring 

 growth, is not much injured; grains should be sown 



(in this climate) about the first day of October, as that 

 sown afterwards tuU'ers more from the winter than the 

 Hy. 



The only remedy which I have any confidence in, 

 must be applied to the second or summer generation, 

 (it is the only one that I think can be assailed with any 

 prospect of success) whilst in the pupa state, by plough- 

 ing the stubble-fields before putting in the next crop; 

 in that case, grass seed could not be sown among the 

 grain; but by changing tiie course of cropping, begin- 

 ning with wheat, rye, or barley, followed by corn, and 

 ending with oats and grass, the difiicidty might be 

 avoided; nor need the stubble be ploughed till towards 

 the first of April, or any time during the winter; 

 plants about stacks tmd other places must also be at- 

 tended to; and let it be remembered that farmers must 

 pursue the same plan, as it is vain for a few individuals 

 to attempt an object, whilst thousands are united to 

 oppose it. I will further observe, that the surest way 

 to raise a good crop of any grain subject to injury from 

 the fly, is to put the lands in a proper state of cultiva- 

 tion, as where that is the case, and when the season 

 proves favorable, little or no damage will be sustained, 

 although the fly may be very numtr.nis, as it certainly 

 is every year. It is folly to sow wheat on a poor 

 soil. 



The insect described by Miss Morris is not the Hes- 

 sian fly, and I think she is mistaken in the manner of 

 depositing its eggs, it appears to be the same as that 

 noticed by me in 1823; it has three generations in the 

 course of a year, and isobserved a few days earlier than 

 the Hessian fly, and the same remedy may be applied 

 to both; the spring and fall generations are to be found 

 near the roots of the plants, and the eummer are at the 

 several joints. There is another insect lodged in the 

 straw above the upper joint, which causes the prema- 

 ture appearance of ripeness of the head and prevents 

 the grain from forming; it has not yet done much inju- 

 ry, but may hereafter increase. 



There ii also an insect which attacks the roots of 

 wheat and causes the stunt or sedge; it is probably a 

 species of aphis, and the remedy must be applied to the 

 soil. I would recommend salt or ashes; ijerhaps lime 

 might be good. JAMES WOKTH. 



Sharon, March 1, 1841. 



The Artesian Well at Paris. 



Late accounts from Paris mention the complete suc- 

 cess of obtaining water from beneath the beds of chalk 

 which underlay that city, after seven years of assidu- 

 ous toil, and an expenditure of one hundred and sixty 

 thousand francs. The depth is varioucly stated — one 

 account makes it 1837 feet. The iron rod of the au- 

 ger was " as thick as an ordinary axle tree" (just the 

 thickness of a lump of chalk;) and " on the 26th of 

 February," at the moment of withdrawhig it, a copi- 

 ous gush of warm water followed. The temperature 

 was 86" of Farenheit. Worm baths for publicaccom- 

 modation are to be constructed. The engineer was 

 honored with a decoration, and he is to be employed 

 on three other such wells. Enthusiasm was at its 

 height. Ministers had been to see it. Crowds had 

 carried away portions of the water in vials and bottles, 

 and some bad shared Ihtmsches in public with the 

 warm fluid 1 



It has long been supposed that the central parts of 

 the earth consist of melted matter at a high tempera- 

 ture; and experiments in deep mines have invariably 

 shown an increase of heal with an increase of depth. 

 The mines of some countries however, are wanner * 

 than the mines of other countries, at similar distances 

 below the surface; and this might be reasonably expect- 

 ed from chasms which allow the heat to rise through 

 them in some places, and from thick masses of solid 

 rock which resist its ascent in other places. In the 

 mines of Cornwall, at 962 feet the water was at 74 ° ; 

 and at 1200 feet at 78 ° . This shows an increase of 

 one degree to 59J feet. 



It had been calculated however, by Cordier that 51 

 feet correspond to 'a degree in France; and that the 

 depth at which water would boil from the natural heat 

 of ihe earth under the city of Paris, is 8212 feet, or 

 nearly a mile and a half. 



*Corilier admits this m.-iy be twice, or even thrice, as great 

 a oae countryhas another. 



In applying this rule for calculation, we must com. 

 mence with the temperature of the earth near the sun 

 face; and if we assume this at 50 ° , and divide 183' 

 by 51, the quotient (36) added to 50 will give the ob- 

 arrcd temperature with great exactness. 

 ; Warm springs may therefore only indicate the gieal 

 depths from which they rise; or they may derive theij 

 heat from volcanic action in the neighborhood. 



The temperature of the sea, on the contrary di 

 creases with its depth; because if the rocks at thebot. 

 tom were even at the boiling point, the heat would bi 

 speedily carried up to the surlace, and colder portioni 

 of the water immediately come in contact. The cold, 

 ness of the sea therefore, constitues no argumciil 

 argainst central heat. But the water under the greal $9 

 basin at Paris could not escape till the reservoir wai 

 tapped, and contequenlly the heat was retained, t 



Farniers-»their iudependeut couditiou-theil 

 happy exemption from the evils of the timesi 



Mkssrs, Editors — Blessed is that man who from 

 his own farm can, by ordinary industry, procure all the 

 comforts and necessaiies of life, and sleep contented. 



Look at the great mass of speculators, and see whal 

 is their condition. The country brought to the brink 

 of ruin by their example; new varieties added to 

 crime by their high handed practices; the whole tra. 

 ding and manufacturing community paralized or em- 

 harassed, solely by the consequences of their infla- 

 tions 1 1 1 



In excluding farmers from sharing the evils of thoj 

 times, I do not mean him who has left his Icgitimati 

 calling to join in speculation, nor him who with the] 

 poor ambition for banking, lends his title to fee siin. 

 pie, as if he were only eager to join in the general ru- 

 in. But, I repeat, blessed is that man who is content- 

 ed to receive from his own farm, those comforts which 

 moderate industry never fail to procure. To him 

 alone is permitted the heart to feel, and the eyes 

 to see, the true glory of heaven at night, and the 

 brightness of the earth in the morning. No fcverei 

 dream poisons his sleep; no rising sun wakes him to 

 grinding responsibility, diminished self-respect, ruin 

 and disgrace. 



If he loves reading and study, rainy days, long 

 evenings, and the hours of relaxation from his daily 

 task, give him sufficient leisure. If he lacks books, 

 the School District Library alone, enlarged as it now* 

 is, contains a store house of useful and even scientific j 

 knowledge. If he loves agricultural chemistry, his 

 farm is a laboratory in which, with little aid from the 

 schools, he may most delightfully unite the utile with 

 Ihedulci. S. W. 



The only things in which we can be said to have; 

 any property are onr ociions. Our thoughts maybe 

 bad, yet produce no poison; they may be good, yet 

 produce no fruit. Our riches may be taken Irom ua 

 by misfortune, our reputation by malice, our spirits by 

 calamity, our health by disease, our friends by death; 

 but our actions must follow us beyond the grave. 

 These are the only title-deeds of which wo cannot be 

 disinherited. — Lacon. 



F'om the American Citizen, 

 British Corn Laws. 



Having seen with much sati^faetion, several articles 

 in the American Citizen, on the oppressive nature of 

 the English Corn Laws, I am induced to send the fol- 

 lowing tables, taken from an old newspaper which 

 accident lately threw into my hands. 



'■ English Corn Laws. — The N. Y. Courier soys: 

 the following accurate and very voluable table, exhib- 

 iting the rate of duly per barrel on flour imported inlo 

 England, was prepared several years since, by a high- 

 ly intelligent American merchant, then residing in 

 Liverpool. Its accuracy cannot be questioned, and 

 we consider it a table well worthy of preservation by 

 all who are in any way interested in the exports of' 

 bread stufi's to Great Britain, under the present exist- 

 ing Coin Laws of Great Britain, Act 9lh, George 



