118 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 2. 



Forlhe-JVew Genesee Farmer, 

 Inflamablc Gas exlialcd by Flowers. 



Mkssks. Editors— Having reccmly Hied some ex- 

 peiimente on the Dictamnus rubia, or Red Fiaxinell, 

 I have thought it desiraUe to communicate the result 

 of the same through the medium of the Farmer. 



The Dictamnus rubra (and alba J is one of our most 

 hardy herbaceous perennial plants, and ia universally 

 admired, not only for its great beauty, but ako for its 

 peculiar fragrance. Its bright leaves, its erect posi- 

 tion, its long spikes of fine flowers, cannot fail to at- 

 tract the attention of the most casual observer. 



In some nursery catalogues it is stated that this plant 

 exhales an inflammable gas; yet probably but few 

 persons have tried any experiments to test this pe- 

 culiar property of this plant. A fere days since, 

 having several of these plants in full bloom, (and 

 it is only when in full bloom that they appear to 

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

 den in the evening to try the experiment On ap- 

 plying a lighted candle to the base of the spike of 

 flowers, it instantly exploded, and in a moment the 

 whole flower was enwrapped in a blaze. On apply- 

 ing the candle to the top of the flower, it had no cflibct. 

 When applied half wny down, the gas only above that 

 point would explode, but none below; and thus the 

 explosion was only complete when the torch was ap- 

 plied to the base' of the stem or flower. 



I also triedthe same experiment on the Dictamnus 

 alba, which produced similar results, oidy that the 

 quantity of gas emitted from this plant appeared to b. 

 much lees than that emitted from the rubra. The 

 explosion is something like that produced from the 

 ignition of a small quantity of gunpowdir; yet it 

 produces no injury to the ilowers. 



B. HODGE. 



Buffalo Nursery, June, 1841. 



For the New Genesee Farmer. 

 Best Time for Cutting Timber. 



To THE Editors — Your article in a recent number 

 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. 

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

 every period of the summer is equally good. In the 

 early part of th*eecson the flow of sap is so abundant, 

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

 ber ia liable to produce fermentation, and consequent- 

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

 circulation is almost inactive — when the sap nearly 

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

 that reason would designate that as the ?7iost proper 

 time to perform the 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 instead of hastening decay, will no 

 doubt contribute to durability. 



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

 It occurs in the month of August, a few days earlier 

 or later, according to circumstances, but generally 

 from the 15th to the 20th, and continues only for a 

 very limited time. If the weather is dry, its continu- 

 ance will be somewhat longer. Persons who are in 

 the habit of inoculating fruit trees, select the period of 

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

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

 ting some species. 



I have frequently had timber cut in August, and I 

 can certify that the wood is very compact and solid. 

 Ithas a diflerent appearance from that cutin winter — 

 looking and feeling as if it had been oiled. My own 

 experience does not extend farther back than ten or 

 twelve years: but I have known, and could cite, a 

 number of eases of remarkable ihirabilrty, when the 



timber has been cut according to the old Dutch rule, 

 in the dark of the inoo7iin August,— \\h\i:\\ is as near 

 the e.xact time, as any person, relying on lunar in- 

 fluence, could appio.^mate to it; and every third year 

 the rules might very neaiiy cori-eapond. 



The period mentioned, appears \a constitute some- 

 thing of a crisis in almost all vegetation of a ligneous 

 character. The simple belting of a tree, will so ef- 

 fectually destroy vitality, that not a tprout will ever 

 shoot up liom the roots or stump. It is the only time 

 at which I have ever even partially succeeded in sub- 

 duing the " round cap" ( Cqihalanthus occidcntalisj 

 which infests our meodowB and flat grounds, and which 

 grows from the smallest section jf a root I eradica- 

 ted it entirely, by a single operation, so that there was 

 scarcely n ve=tige of it for several years afterwards. 



Close observation is necessary, to enable one to de- 

 signate the precise time when the work should be per- 

 formed. The moment to begin, ia when the hark ia 

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



Virginia, C mo. 20, I?41. 



The Hessian Fly. 



F.\trii:t from rcmarlis on the Hessian Fly, rcail lieforc tlic 

 Callioun Ciiunty IJliihignn] Agiicultur.ll Society, by tlie 

 presidciit, Judge ilicKoE. 



" Gr.NTi.KJiKN — We have a fine climate, less sub- 

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

 from too much wetness to drought, from deep snow 

 to bare ground, than is enjoyed at the east. The soil 

 id this country is for the most pait a sindy or gravelly 

 loam; rain soon subsides in the earth, while the great 

 proportion of lime it contains, secures the crop against 

 the dangers of excca.-ive dryness. It is is easily cul- 

 tivated, and its ingredients are cxnuily adapted for the 

 production of wheat and for grazing; two branches ol 

 business which should always enter into our system ol 

 Agriculture. 



" But we labor under two embarassments; the one 

 which is of paramount importance to all others, be- 

 cause it is the nursing mother of aU of them, is the 

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

 duce us, by its profitableness, so to cultivate our 

 I'arma as to have at least one hali'or two- thirds of oui 

 lots in grass while the others are under the operation 

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

 pcnsable, especially where the price of Agricul'ura; 

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



" The second embarassmciit arises from the ) rcvn- 

 'euce of the Hessian Fly, which has the Inst season 

 destroyed, it is believed, more tliuu Iwo-ihirds of the 

 wheat crop in this country. Tins foniiidiible insect 

 was first discovered on Long Island, about sixly ycaif 

 itTO, and was 6uj)p0£cd to have been brought from 

 Germany in a ship which transported the Hessian 

 Army to Long Islantl during the Revolutionary War. 

 It ha.^, however, been well ascertained that the insect 

 is indigenous in the United States. 



*' From tlie best accounts we have been able to ob 

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

 weak 'St plant. In this respect it resembles nios! othe; 

 insect leprcdators, who prefer to make their repasts on 

 ihe delicate sacchar'ne juice of plants of a stunted 

 growth. It is a viperous, and usually deposits its eggs 

 in the gutter on the upper leaves, and in some instan- 

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

 or fiye days the eggs batch, and the caterpillars crawl 

 down the leaf to its intersection with the stalk, where 

 they may be found beneath the sheath, so ininute a; 

 scarcely to be seen by the naked eye. This insect bus 

 two generations in a year, distinctly marked, alikough 

 in scattered instances it aray be found in all its varimis 

 states of existence, from April to October. First 

 ScncralioH. In spring, the egm are lain iir the latter 

 end of April or begini ng of Miy, and are hatched, 

 and the caterpillars apptui in May. In the latter end 

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

 salis or flax seed stale; at harvest apart of the chrysalis 

 are carried off the field with the grain, but most of 

 ihem remain in the stubble in their original neat at tie 

 intersection of the leaf with the stalk. The later erd 

 of July or first of August, they take wings and depo- 

 sit their eggs the latter end of August and in Sepien'- 

 bcr. Second generation. In a few daj^ after the 

 eggs are laid, they are hatched, and the caterpillars 

 pass into the chrysalis or flax seed state in Octoler, 

 and in this state they remain during winter, and • p- 

 pear with wings and lay their eggs the lattsr end of, 

 April or besfinning of Mirj-. 



"The fly is not found, or at least rarely, on lauds 

 th.at are subject to early and late frosts, ench as our 

 prairies, or the high lands on the bead wateis of our 

 elreams. But it would seem that the other parts of 

 the State must be particularly subject to its ravages, 

 and that there is no variety of wheat that can long re- 

 sist 'his formidable enemy. 



" I'rcccntice — The preventives which arc most 

 likely to be cilicicnt, are, not to tow until October; in 

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

 its eggs, while the plants are wet with rain or dew, 

 sow the wheat field with caustic lime, or feed down 

 the wheat close to the ground, by a diove of cattle, or 

 what is better, by a flock ol' sheep, siifiicientiy large to 

 perform the ojieration in a few days — not to sow a field 

 of wheat adjoining one from \\ hicb a crop has bicn re- 

 cently taken — plough unilcr wheat stubble in autumn 

 — destroy all the voluntary wheat plants that may ap- 

 pear on the stubble ground before OcUiber, by the use 

 of a drag or in some other way, and cultivate land in 

 the best manner, so as to have no weak or stunted 

 plants. 



" Rotation of crops a prcrcntirc. — Butall this trou- 

 ble to guard against the Hessian Fly may be saved by 

 the introduction of a proper system of rotation of 

 croi'S. A stiict adherence to the true principles of 

 husbandry admits, nevertheless, of a consideiable va- 

 riation." — Western Fanner. 



Impovt.Htit Discovcvy-=Bt'stioyjng Insects. 



We embrace tho earliest moment, al'icr the receipt 

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

 The season is not yet so far advanced that the process 

 may not be betreficial to those who put it in operation: 

 M. P. Wii.DKR, Esq., President of the Massachusetls 

 Horticnlturul iiocicti/: 

 Sir — Having discovered a cheap and effectual 

 mode of destroying the Hose Slug. 1 wi-h to be- 

 come a competitor lor the premium oflercd by the 

 Massachusetts Horticulturid Society. After very ma- 

 ny satisfactory experiments with the following sub- 

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

 in either of the states in which it appears on the 

 plant, as the fly, when it is laying its eggs, or tho 

 slug when it is commiituig its depredations on the 

 foliage. 



Whale Oil Soap, dissolved at the rate of two 

 pounds to fftccn gallons of water. I have used it 

 stronger without injury to the plants, but find the 

 above mixture effectual in the destiuction of the in- 

 sect. As I find, from experiments, there is a difli2r- 

 cnco in the strength of the soap, it will be better for 

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

 does not kill tho insect, add a little more soap, with 

 caution. In corresponding with Me.-srs. Downer, 

 Austin & Co., on the difTerence in iia appearance, 

 they say — " Whale Oil Soap varies much in its re- 

 lative strength, the article not being made as Soap, 

 but being formed in our process of bleaching oil. 

 When it is of very sharp taste, and daik appearance, 

 the alkali predominates, and when light colored and 

 flat taste, the grease prrdom.inates." The former I 

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

 and find it equally cfllctuul, but requiring a little 

 nioie soap — say two pounds to thirteen gallons of 

 water. 



Mode if prcpaiation. Take whatever quantity of 

 soap you wish to prepare, and ditsolvc it in boiling 

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

 it through a fine wire or hair scive, which takes out 

 the dirt, and prevents its stopping the valves 

 of the engine or the nose of the syringe; then add 

 cold water to make it the proper strength; apply it to 

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

 much force as practicable, and be sure thateveiy part 

 of the haves ia well saturntcd with the liquid. Wlint 

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

 stroying the worms and enriching the soil, and from 

 its trifling cost, it can be used with profu.«ion. A 

 hogshead of 13(3 gallons costs forty-five cents — not 

 quite four mills per gallon. Early in the morning, 

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

 the plants. 



As there are many other troublesome and destruc- 

 tive inscsts the above preparation will destroy us ef- 

 fectually as the rose slug, it may be of benefit to the 

 community to know the different kinds upon which 

 I have ti ied it with success. 



7'he Thrips, often called the Vine Fretler, a small, 

 I'ght colored or spotted fly, quick in motion, which in 

 some places are making the rose bush nearly as bad 

 in appearance as the ciiccta of the slug. Aphis, or 

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

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

 destiuetive to, the young shoots of tlie Bosc, ths 



