338 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
commonly wrapped in a sheet or blanket, and 
another on the pommel, and a basket in one hand. 
With the proceeds they buy most of the clothing 
that is not made at home (for, happily the wheel 
and the loom hold their place in almost every house), 
perhaps some sugar, and their small finery. But 
“tree-sugar” is made for home consumption, and 
serves for the coffee (tea is unknown, at one place, 
where our tea was pronounced “ not bad to take,” 
we were requested to tell them what they should 
call for if they ever got any at the store); and the 
best of honey abounds. In these mountains milk 
and honey literally flow without price. At least we 
could never get the people to fix any. 
From the country stores the roots and herbs pass 
to the larger dealers, and from these only would you 
get any idea of the magnitude of the business. 
You should see the herb-warehouse of Mr. Cowles 
at Gap Creek, in Ashe County, and the much larger 
one at Statesville, of the enterprising Wallace 
Brothers, under the charge of Professor Hyams, 
three of whose sons are in the business at different 
points, and one of them in McDowell County, where 
he was the fortunate rediscover of the long-lost 
Shortia. Bales upon bales of roots and herbs, com¬ 
pacted by a powerful screw-press, accumulate in 
these warehouses, and pass on to northern cities and 
ports. What becomes of them ? Some are stand¬ 
ard articles of the Materia Medica, such as Man¬ 
drake-root, from which Pbdophyllin is made. One 
day, while we were present, an order came to one 
of these establishments for ten tons of Mandrake 
to go to France. The larger number of articles go 
into patent medicines. You may form some idea 
of the demand for this purpose from two orders 
just received, one for an unlimited amount of Liv¬ 
er-leaf ( Hepatica), the other for two tons of Maiden¬ 
hair ( Adianlum ). Consider what a quantity of 
these, in a dried state, would go to a ton ! 
And now, if 1 begin to tell you anything about 
Azaleas and Laurels—both Rhododendrons and 
Kalmia, there will be no end. We were just in the 
season for these in all their glory, having timed it 
accordingly. You may say there is no need to go to 
the mountains of North Carolina for these, but you 
will get new ideas if you do. Nowhere else can 
you see wooded hillsides of the richest green 
break out into flame with Azalea calendulacea, and 
nowhere but in Roan can you see some miles of 
grassy mountain-top all ruddy and rosy with Rho¬ 
dodendron Catawbiense. Now you can comfortably 
reach the top of Roan Mountain in 36 hours from 
New York, and be in mountain air all the way after 
leaving Lynchburg, and on the mountain be most 
comfortably and cheaply housed and fed, at the 
Cleveland Hotel, at an elevation a few hundred feet 
higher than the top of Mount Washington, and en¬ 
joy an air which is cool without bleakness, and 
views such as w e have never elsewhere seen the like. 
A Useful Fodder Rack. 
The use of fodder racks in the barn-yard is often 
objected to, for the reason that, if they do not en¬ 
courage, they give opportunities for the manifesta¬ 
tion of the fighting propensities of the animals, 
which often produces confusion, and sometimes 
damage. To avoid this, the racks may be made as 
shown in the accompanying engraving. Rough,small 
timber may be used for these, or even short rails. 
A separate feeding place being provided for each ani¬ 
mal, the herd may stand at the rack, in peace. 
The “Walking-Stick,” and its Depreda¬ 
tions upon Forest-Trees. 
In the Amei-ican Agriculturist for June, 1877, we 
THE WALKING STICK” AND ITS WORK ON LEAVES. 
gave some account of the destructive work of one 
of the insects known as “ Walking-stick,” upon the 
forest-trees in Yates Co., N. Y. A very intelligent 
farmer, W. C. Snow, Esq., having given us his ob¬ 
servations by letter, and in personal interview, we 
gave these in the number referred to, with an en¬ 
graving of one of these insects, with a view to call¬ 
ing the attention of others to this remarkable 
enemy to our forests. We also advised Prof. C. Y. 
Riley of the matter, and placed him in communica¬ 
tion with Mr. Snow. When Prof. R. gave impor¬ 
tance to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, by 
accepting the appointment as Entomologist, one of 
his earliest investigations was made in the forest 
of Mr. Snow, to which he made two visits. An ac¬ 
count of his observations upon this insect will be 
found in his Report to the Dept, whenever that 
shall appear, but as Prof. R has given us the chief 
points in advance of its publication, and a copy of 
the engraving prepared for the Report, we make 
such use of the materials as will supplement the 
account given in 1877. We may add here, as some 
may not have that volume, that this insect, known 
also as the “ Stick Bug,” belongs to the same family 
of insects as the Grasshoppers, Locusts, Katydids, 
etc., the Orthoptera, or straight-winged insects. 
This is always wingless. Its scientific name is 
Diapheromera femorata. The trees especially at¬ 
tacked were, first, the Black, Red, and Chestnut 
Oaks, and after these the White Oak and the Hicko¬ 
ries. The work of the insect is first manifested just 
after the wheat harvest, and continues until Sep¬ 
tember, when the trees are as completely stripped 
as if by fire. They are in such numbers as to make 
it unpleasant to enter the woods, and they cover 
underbrush, fences, etc., with their repulsive forms 
when they travel from one exhausted feeding 
ground to a new one. The insects appear in con¬ 
siderable numbers only on alternate years, and 
do their work so thoroughly that the 
portion of the forest infested by them is 
quite leafless, and is noticable from a long 
distance. The insects hatch in May, but 
at first are small, aud being green they are 
not noticed ; as they grow and change their 
skins, they become larger and of a brownish 
color until they attain the full size shown 
in the engraving, which shows not only 
the insects, but the manner in which they 
treat the leaves. At a and b the enlarged 
egg is shown in two positions; these 
are black and polished, with a white stripe, 
and look much like a seed of some plant of 
the Pea Family. At c are shown the young 
just hatching. Each female lays upwards 
of a hundred eggs, dropping them while 
she is upon the tree. At the proper season, 
when the insects are numerous, the falling 
of the eggs upon the dried leaves sounds 
like the pattering of rain. The eggs are con¬ 
cealed by the leaves, but are so numerous 
that they may be scraped up in quanti¬ 
ties. The appearance of the insect in injuri¬ 
ous numbers every other year is accounted 
for by the singular fact that the greater 
part of the eggs do not hatch until the second 
year. As the trees can not long survive 
these attacks, many in Mr. Snow’s forest 
having died, it becomes an important mat¬ 
ter, not only to the few who have suffered 
from their attacks, but to all 
interested in forestry, to check 
their further increase. As 
with other insects, when they 
become very numerous, their 
natural enemies will increase 
in proportion, but it is im¬ 
portant to aid these by artificial 
means. The methods suggest¬ 
ed by Prof. Riley are : to bum 
the dead leaves under which 
the eggs lie, or to dig or plow 
them under, according to circumstances; 
and to poison the young insects, as, when 
first hatched, they feed upon the foliage of 
the under-brash. He proposes, where it can 
be done without danger to domestic animals, 
to sprinkle the under-growth with Paris 
Green. The fact that they occupy a well defined 
area, renders both of these methods practicable. 
Fig. L 
A Simple Stump Puller. 
Stumps of small size, larger ones that are half 
decayed, or even'whole trees, may be torn out by 
the roots, by the use of simple appliances. These 
are a stout iron hook, a strong lever, a heavy chain, 
and a pair of horses or cattle, to be hitched to the 
chain. The hook, figure 1, is provided with a 
chain and ring, a sharp point, and a head by which 
it is driven into the stump, without battering it. 
It should be curved to fit the circumference of the 
Fig. 2.— METHOD OF OPERATION. 
stump or tree. A lever is passed through the ring, 
aud the team is hitched in the usual way to the 
other end, as shown at figure 2. The method of 
operation is made plain by the above engraving. 
