298 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
but is not so leafy nor branching. The plant is 
an annual if sown in the spring, and will pro- 
duce a fair crop of hay the first season ; but if 
sown in the autumn, though ratlier apt to win- 
ter-kill, if it lives, it produces fine early pastu- 
rage or a good crop of hay. Its growth is so 
rapid that it interferes seriously with any grain 
crop with which it might be sown, and hence 
is usually put by itself. It dies after maturing- 
seed. Several years ago it -was introduced and 
a good deal said iu its praise, but its merits are 
not sufficient to cause it to be extensively re- 
tained iu cultivation any where iu this country, 
so fai' as we are aware. "We have had several 
specimens sent us for a name ; probably from 
seed accidentally mixed with that of other clover. 
•-. — <»»- — >-•. 
Uses of Salt-Marsh. Sod. 
A correspondent wants to know if salt-marsh 
sod is good for evergreens and other plants. 
As our shore readers have inexhaustible quan- 
tities of this sod within easy reach, we will state 
briefly a few of its manifold uses. There is a 
rude earthwork in sight of our windows thrown 
up in the war of 1812, and the well-preserved 
embankment is a standing monument of the ex- 
cellence of salt-marsh sod for this kind of work. 
It is a spongy mass of vegetable fibre, and does 
not wash like gravel nor surface mold. But 
this tough sod, which is so durable in an em- 
bankment, and never rots when kept dry, be- 
comes very tender and is easily knocked to 
pieces when put in the compost heap or other- 
wise treated to make manure. It is one of the 
best absorbents we have ever used in stables, 
privies, sties, and barn-yards. It is an admira- 
ble article of bedding for horses and cattle, ab- 
sorbing large quantities of urine. "When applied 
to this purpose, it should be cut in large sods, 
say a cubic foot in size, and dried in the sun for 
a few weeks and then removed to a shed or 
hovel near the barn where it is wanted. It is 
a good plan to keep a year's stock on hand ;. and 
the summer and fall are the best time to cut and 
dry it. Pack the floor of the stall as closely as 
possible with a layer of these dry sods, and cover 
them with the usual litter. The heat of the ani- 
mals and the urine will decompose them quite 
rapidly. As soon as they are saturated, say in 
two or three weeks, throw out the wet sods and 
put in dry ones. The wet sods may be put into 
the sty to be worked over by swine, or thrown 
into the yard to be trodden by the cattle, or, 
better yet, put into the compost heap with fer- 
menting manure, where they will soon go to 
pieces. This compost, of which at least seven- 
eighths are salt-marsh sod, we have used very 
largely for several years in a fruit and vegetable 
garden, and in the transplanting of evergreen 
and deciduous trees. Nothing can be better 
for evergreens, whether applied at the time of 
transplanting, or subsequently, as a top-dress- 
ing. It keeps the soil light and moist, and the 
fine fibrous roots penetrate easily in every direc- 
tion. We have never seen a finer growth of 
Norway Spruce, White Spruce, Hemlock, aud 
other evergreens, than that made under this 
treatment. It is also excellent for strawberries 
and all the small fruits. "With salt-marsh sod, 
close by, we should never go a long distance to 
dig muck or peat for absorbents. It does not 
become so quickly available for plant-food, 
probably ; but after a use of muck and peat for 
a dozen years or more, we decidedly prefer the 
sod for bedding in the stalls of animals, and re- 
gard it as quite equal to peat for compost to 
be used upon ordinary garden and field crops. 
Stocking Large Ponds with Fish. 
Massachusetts now claims the control of all 
ponds within her borders, above the area of 
fort}' acres. Until quite recently all ponds 
larger than ten acres were considered public 
property. "Where the State is liberal it is an 
advantage to have this control of large ponds 
vested in the State. It is much easier for a 
company who wish to make improvements to 
get a lease from the State than from a dozen or 
more individual riparian owners. Recently a 
company of gentlemen at South Framingham, 
Mass., have leased Sakum Pond for the term of 
twenty years for the purpose of stocking it and 
its feeders with various kinds offish. It is a 
beautiful sheet of water of ninety acres or more, 
with gravel beach, and wooded shores, in the 
immediate vicinity of the village. They have 
contracted for two hundred adult black bass and 
fifteen thousand young fry, and are to put in 
also landlocked salmon. As the pond is forty 
feet deep, there is little doubt that they will 
thrive if the bass do not exterminate them. 
The company we learn have raised a capital of 
$10,000, and are purposing to do every thing 
that is needful to make it an attractive place 
for fishing and for recreation. This is the first 
instance iu that State, we believe, that a large 
pond has been leased in this way. This is a 
sensible thing to be done both for the lessor 
aud the lessees. The State gets a large sheet 
of water stocked with the most valuable kinds 
of lake fish, and increases its food supply with- 
out cost to itself. The association of gentle- 
men get boating and fishing within a half-hour 
of their places of business, and a pleasant va- 
riety for their tables, at a very small cost. It 
is so near that they can take their wives and 
children with them to share their pleasures. 
This is much more economical than a summer 
trip to Saratoga or Newport, and more sensible 
than a month of solitary life in the Adirondacks 
or Maine woods, to eat salt pork and trout, and 
to be eaten by gnats and mosquitoes. Their ex- 
ample we think is well worth}' of imitation. 
Pisciculture is attracting a good deal of attention 
all over the country,' and there is every indica- 
tion of an approaching fever. If it shall lead 
to the extermination of pickerel, mudpouts, and 
the coarser kinds of fish, and to the introduc- 
tion of black bass, trout, and the other Salmoni- 
dse, to the waters that are fitted to them, it will 
undoubtedly be a great benefit to the public. 
Vitality and Propagation of the Scab Mite. 
BY A. W. THORNTON, M. K. C. S., NO"W OF CALIFORNIA. 
Sir, — During the outbreak of scab in sheep, 
in New South "Wales, Australia, in the years 
1863-64 and 65, 1 devoted much time to the study 
of the disease, and more especially to the habits 
of the insect, which is generally supposed to be 
the cause of the disease; and as the quarantine of 
infected sheep runs, it was a subject of the utmost 
importance in staying the disease. I was led to 
take up the question, " How long will the scab 
insect live if removed from the sheep?" The 
result of these investigations (so far as I am 
aware) being new, may not be devoid of inter- 
est to your readers. 
I procured on the 27th of April 1863 (the au- 
tumn iu that country), some live Acari, aud 
placed them in a glass cell, 5 | 8 of an inch in di- 
ameter, and one line deep, such as is used by 
microscopists for mounting objects; iu this cell, 
I placed five insects with some fragments of 
matter from the wool, but no wool ; and plac tl 
thereon a glass cover aud weight. I kept them 
in a room where there was no fire, and where 
the sun did not shine. Many severe frosts were 
experienced; the cell was opened for examina- 
tion every day, which had the effect of giving 
fresh air to the insects; and the conditions of 
my experiments were more unfavorable to life 
than if the insects had remained in their natur- 
al habitat, or even if they had been in a piece of 
wool, rubbed off against a fence, or tree, where 
they would have had more food, moisture, and 
liberty. For two months the insects remained 
active, and apparently healthy, feeding on the 
matter in the cell. They then became some- 
what lethargic, keeping close to the angles of the 
cell, and burrowing for a place to deposit the 
ova. A fortnight after, I discovered some young 
Acari, fully developed and active, and also some 
eggs which seemed to be dormant; as I could 
not discover any developement of the embryos 
in them. At this time I observed two of the 
original insects were dead, and the ovaries emp- 
ty of germs; other young insects were developed, 
aud old ones died. By the end of the loth week, 
all the old ones had died, and there was a brood 
of lively, young Acari, and ten dormant eggs. 
During my investigations I observed a female 
Acarus carrying an egg around the cell, search- 
ing for a place to deposit it. This insect I kept 
in view until it had deposited its burden. I 
removed this egg to a separate cell, and contin- 
ued my observations on it for twenty-one days, 
during which time I could see the embryo 
being developed within the egg, from day to 
da}' ; on the twenty-first day the investing mem- 
brane of the egg had broken and a perfect insect 
had crawled forth. I removed some of the 
progeny of the first lot of insects to some clean 
wool, and they propagated their species for a 
period of eighteen months longer; each suc- 
cessive generation becoming smaller, and less 
active, until they all died. 
The following conclusions I have drawn as a 
result of long-continued investigation : — 
Acari will live after being removed from the 
sheep and wool, for at least three months un- 
der unfavorable circumstances in winter, during 
which time they propagate their species in 
two ways: one portion being developed into 
life aud activity rapidly, aud the other being in 
the form of ova, which lie dormant for an in- 
definite period, but iu a state to be vivified un- 
der favorable conditions of warmth and mois- 
ture. The insects having deposited their ova, 
die; but there is nothing to warrant the sup- 
position that they may not live much longer 
under favorable conditions. The ova are nat- 
urally deposited in the skin under the concre- 
tions of matter, and while torpid are not affect- 
ed by external applications; consequently, it is 
only the mature insect that is destroyed by 
dressing (dipping) sheep; and we do not yet 
know how long the ova may remain dormant 
and unaffected by the local action of remedies. 
The most successful treatment in Australia, was 
to repeat the dressing two or three times, at in- 
tervals of a week ; one dressing being seldom 
found to eradicate the disease. 
I have also come to the conclusion that the 
scab insect is not the cause of the disease, but 
the effect. And this conclusion is borne out 
among other facts, by a case reported to me by 
an investigating sheep owner, who introduced 
a number of the insects into the fleece of a clean, 
pet sheep, and yet that sheep never became 
affected, although the rest of his flocks were 
heavily scabbed ; and I am further supported 
in this view by the fact that if Acari will live 
