66 
ladies’ department. 
quantity of* wormy fruit, which contained the first 
generation, that had been suffered to remain on the 
ground or tree. The grubs of the second genera¬ 
tion, which do not leave the fruit until September, 
either perish,or remain in the chrysalis state under the 
bark, until spring recalls them to life and mischief. 
But though thus beautifully and curiously 
guarded fron^ observation in their helpless state, 
they have hosts of enemies, whose prying eyes dis¬ 
cover them through their dark and close disguise. 
The woodpecker and his troop of feathered friends 
the sparrows, sapsuckers and wrens, with their 
restless wings and hungry beaks prying into every 
dark cranny, learn early from their unerring teach¬ 
er, Instinct, that good and wholesome food is to be 
found beneath the uninviting dirt-colored mantle that 
the poor worm had vainly thought to shelter itself 
under. Then a little wasp-shaped insect, called 
ichneuman, knows right well from the same teach¬ 
er, that there lies the best food for her young ones 
—so with a long horsehair-like appendage which 
she carries, she penetrates the tough silk cover, and 
deposits her eggs in the body of the worm so inge¬ 
niously, that the life of the worm is not endangered 
until the ichneuman-gmb has gained maturity, 
when the apple worm dies, and the ichneuman 
commences its life of useful destruction. Nor are 
these all; the little despised and grim-looking 
crab-like spider, found under the bark of trees and 
in little dark crannies, is always on the watch for the 
apple moth as soon as it makes its appearance in 
the spring—and many hundreds fall victims to 
these much-abused, but most useful little creatures. 
Old Lady. 
COUNTRY SCHOOLS. 
I respectfully request the favor of a corner in 
your Ladies’ Department, for the purpose of point¬ 
ing out what seems to me to be a very erroneous 
conclusion of your correspondent, E. S., in the 
December No. of your last volume, in reference to 
the education of farmers’ children. After advert¬ 
ing to the “ melancholy fact, that most of our 
country schools are miserably deficient in teachers 
capable of imparting a knowledge of anything 
above what the children of the poorest day-laborer 
should be familiar with,” she recommends as the 
best substitute for maternal instruction, the union 
of two or more neighboring families in the em¬ 
ployment of a governess of suitable qualifications— 
intellectual and moral—and proceeds to intimate 
that young ladies possessed of these qualifications, 
and “ likely to be dependent on their own exer¬ 
tions, are at the present time educated with the ex¬ 
press view of their becoming teachers,” and that 
“ consequently, there will be less difficulty in pro¬ 
curing persons competent to the task assigned 
them.” Now permit me to ask “ E. S.” whether 
the object she has in view—the proper education 
of the children of farmers and others residing in 
our rural districts, would not be much better and 
more permanently promoted, by increasing the 
number both of young gentlemen and ladies now 
obtaining in the Normal schools in our own and 
the eastern States, those qualifications which shall 
fit them to become competent teachers, and when 
thus qualified placing them with an adequate com¬ 
pensation in charge of the district schools ? ' 
If “ E. S.” will visit the noble institution now in 
successful operation in this city exclusively de¬ 
voted to this object, I am very sure she would not 
desire to restrict the benefits which this class of 
teachers are competent to bestow on a few families 
only. I venture to assure her that the time is not 
far distant when it will be in the power of every 
school district in the State, to avail itself of the 
services of teachers thoroughly impressed with the 
responsible duties of their station—intellectually 
and morally prepared for their discharge—and capa¬ 
ble of training the expanding minds of our youth 
in every department of science, from the lowest to 
the highest. 
There is one more consideration to which I deem 
it proper to advert in this connection, and that is 
this: Neither the States of Massachusetts nor 
New York would probably feel disposed to incur 
the heavy expense of supporting institutions of this 
kind, so beneficial in their tendency, and useful in 
their results, if those for whose education they 
have thus liberally provided, were to limit their 
field of labor in the cause of education to some two 
or three families in each district, who could best 
afford to compensate them for their superior attain¬ 
ments. The irresistible effect of such a measure 
would be effectually to destroy the district school, 
not only by withdrawing from its support those 
most able to encourage and sustain it, but by pre¬ 
venting the employment of teachers who alone are 
capable of doing adequate justice to their high pro¬ 
fession. 
If, in addition to the State Normal School, at 
Albany, a similar one could be located in the 
western portion of the State, embracing within its 
design a practical course of instruction in agricul¬ 
tural science, the results could not fail, in my judg¬ 
ment, to prove beneficial. But I fear I am exceed¬ 
ing the proper province of a lady, in suggesting 
such an extension of our system of public educa¬ 
tion, and I therefore leave this point to the “ lords 
paramount,” contenting myself with an earnest 
protest against the plan of monopolizing the best 
teachers in a few wealthy families, at the hazard 
of perpetuating ignorance in the residue. “ E. S.” 
will, I am confident, on more mature deliberation, 
coincide in this view of the subject. S. H. R. 
Albany , N. Y. 
To PROTECT TENDER PLANTS AND EVER-BLOOM¬ 
ING Roses in Winter. —Bury well rotted old ma¬ 
nure over the roots, but not in contact with the stem ; 
cover the ground about the plant with stones, to 
keep in the heat, and stick cedar bushes about them, 
to protect the tender stems. This is a much better 
method than tying them up with straw, or boxing 
with leaves, as in either case they are often injured 
by damp and heat. 
To wash Flannels.— Make two tubs of strong 
soapsuds, and wash the pieces while it is as hot as 
the hands can bear it. Rinse in hot, soft water, 
wring lightly and shake well, and hang where they 
will dry quickly. Do one piece at a time; for if 
allowed to become cold while wet, and then again 
hot, the flannel will inevitably shrink and become 
harsh. When nearly dry, fold them very smooth, 
and press with a hot iron. 
