182 



JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 



their common bam-manure, or to spread on their gardens 

 and low flat land." 



Probably sea-mud or sea-water ^vould produce good ef- 

 fects as preservatives against this and other insects, 



A correspondent of the New England Farmer^ vol. iv. p. 

 284, recommends, from actual experiment, the soaking of 

 seed-corn in a solution of copperas, to preserve it against 

 the wire-worm, other insects, and birds. He says, " The 

 plan which I pursued was as follows : — I used about one 

 and a half pound of copperas in three pecks of corn* 

 I made the water warm, and soaked the corn full forty-eight 

 hours before planting, putting in corn and copperas as we 

 used it out. It is not easy to use too much copperas ; I 

 believe the more the better." This method has been fre- 

 quently and successfully put in practice. See N. E, Far- 

 mer^ vol. V. p. 310. 



The Striped bug, or Yellow fly. — This is a small in- 

 sect of the coleoptera order, or such as have crustaceom 

 elytra^ or wing cases, like the beetle. The elytra of this 

 bug are striped with yellow and black. They prey on the 

 young plants of cucumbers, melons, squashes, and others 

 of the cucurbitacecB species. " These insects may be consid- 

 erably thinned by killing them in a dewy morning, when 

 they have not the free use of their wings, and cannot well 

 escape. But nothing that I have tried has proved so effec- 

 tual as sifting or sprinkling pow^dered soot upon the plants 

 when the morning dew remains on them. This forms a 

 bitter covering for the plants, which the bugs cannot en- 

 dure the taste of" — Deane, "We would recommend 

 sprinkling the plants with a little sulphur or Scotch snuff." 

 — Farmer^s Assistant, But the surest defence against these 

 insects is, enclosing the plants with a frame, and a muslin 

 or gauze covering, as recommended page 91. 



JERUSALEM ARTlCJiOKE, —Helianthus tuherosus. 

 — The Jerusalem artichoke is a hardy perennial, a native 

 of Brazil, and is of the same genus as the sun-flower. It 

 is propagated and cultivated like the potato. We have 

 been informed that this root will grow and produce a 

 profitable crop on poor land, and without manure ; though, 

 with deep ploughing and good manuring, its culture would 

 probably be attended with greater profit. It was much 

 esteemed before potatoes were known. The epithet 

 Jerusalem is a corruption of the Italian word Girasole 

 (from girarey to turn, and sol) or sun-flower; the name arti- 



