418 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[October, 
Xlie Doctor’s Correspondence. 
A young friend in Michigan, Fred. W. Harrison, would 
like to know about a tree, and an insect that he found 
upon it. He writes: “ I noticed the tree this week for 
the first time ; it was by the road-side, and from the ap¬ 
pearance of its leaves, I at first thought it was a Poplar, 
but its bark is thicker and rougher, than that of the 
Poplar of the same size. Upon the end of every branch 
of this tree, is a curious, unnatural growth,which is hol¬ 
low. and full of little flies and lice, not unlike turnip- 
lice. I send you by the same mail, some pressed leaves, 
a piece of bark, a twig with said growth, and some of 
the iusecis. lama young farmer, much interested in 
your writings, and trust "that my description, and the 
specimens, will enable you to inform me about the tree 
and the insect.”—Good for the young farmer, and I com¬ 
mend his letter to others of my young correspondents. 
He sends just the specimens needed, and tells what he 
Fig. 1.— THE VAGABOND GALL. 
knows about them. Many send specimens, and merely 
ask, "Wlmt is it?” when a few words telling how and 
where the things in question were found, and what was 
noticed, would be a great help in making them out. 
Firstly—As to the Tree. 
My young friend speaks of “ the Poplar,” as if there 
were butone kind, while we have this side of the Mis¬ 
sissippi, at least six very different poplars. I take this 
one to be the "Necklace-bearing Poplar.” Its botanical 
name is Populus (Poplar,) monilifera (Necklace-bearing). 
Here both the common and the botanical names refer to 
the same thing. In the fruit-bearing tree (for poplars 
have their stamiuate and pistillate, or fertile, flowers 
upon different trees), the little roundish pods that con¬ 
tain the minute seeds, are attached to a long slender 
stem, and the whole looks somewhat like beads strung 
to form a necklace. The tree is found from New Eng¬ 
land to the far West, where, in common with other 
Poplars, it is called “ Cotton-wood.” In many States, 
the name "Poplar” is given to the Tulip-tree, or 
White-wood, a tree very unlike the true Poplars. 
The “Curious Uuuatural Growth,” 
which is represented of about the natural size in fig. 1, 
is a kind of gall. That which is generally known as the 
Fig. 2.— GALL INSECT. 
gall, or “Nut-gall,” is roundish, about the size of a boy’s 
marble, or less, nearly smooth and regular, heavy and al¬ 
most solid ; it is very astringent or “ puckery ” to the 
taste, and is used in dyeing, and calico printing, in tan¬ 
ning fine leather, and in making black ink. They are 
found on an oak in Asia, on which they are produced by 
a small insect, which deposits her eggs in the tender 
shoot, which she punctures or pricks for the purpose. 
The term gall is now used for excrescences, or “ unnat¬ 
ural growths.” produced by insects on all sorts of plants. 
Galls are very numerous, and are produced by very dif¬ 
ferent insects, by beetles, moths, flies, and by plant-lice. 
I must now speak only of the gall from Michigan. About 
15 years ago, the late Mr. B. D. Walsh published, in the 
“American Entomologist,” an account of our native 
galls; he there called the one sent by my young friend 
Tlie Vagabond Gall, 
and I borrow his picture of the gall, (fig. 1,) and 
the insect (fig. 2,) which makes it. The insect 
is a plant-louse, and long before it was known 
to have anything to do with making galls, it was des¬ 
cribed as the “ Vagabond Plant-louse ” (Pemphigus vag-' 
abundus,) on account of its vagabond habit of wandering 
to great distances. The body of the insect is black, and 
its wings are delicate and transparent; the real size of 
the insect is shown by the lines below figure 2. Master 
Fred, speaks of “little flies and lice;” but the “lice” 
are the same as the “flies,” being wing-less females. 
Mr. Walsh does not state how the gall is produced, but 
it is probable that a wing-less female anchors herself by 
J her beak, and the “ unnatural growth ” forms and envel¬ 
opes her; at any rate, the gall is found to contain a 
louse, which rapidly produces young lice, which are 
ready to leave their house, the gall, in early autumn. 
Mr. W. states that while these galls are very abundant 
in some years, in other years no fresh ones are to be 
seen, though the old galls remain on the tree for several 
years, and when the leaves are off, give it a singular ap¬ 
pearance. My correspondent says; 
“1 a in a Young Farmer,” 
and much interested”—he says, in my writings, but that 
is only because they are ou subjects that interest him. 
I wish that every “young farmer” could bo “much in¬ 
terested” in the things around him, the matters of his 
daily life—what old farmers we should have ! 
Boys! I would like to say one earnest word to yon. 
Much is said about “keeping boys on the farm.” I 
don't expect that all boys will stay on the farm, and it is 
not desirable that they should, though many more can, 
and ought, than now do stay. The trouble with you is, 
that you do not know the opportunities of a farm life, 
for making broad intelligent men of you. I was born 
and brought up in the city, and when supposed to be 
“ educated,” went into a store. It was only when I was 
18 or 20 years old that I knew that wild plants, insects, 
minerals, etc., were worth looking at. I well remember 
the first plant I examined—what a new world was 
opened 1 My point is, boys, that you have all these things 
open before you in your early days; your daily life is 
surrounded by them. 
The Rile of a Farmer’s Boy 
need never be dull and uninteresting, if he will but use 
his eyes, and inquire about whatever seems strange. 
While I know that some of you will, and ought to, leave 
the farm, those who remain at home, and rightly use the 
privileges of that home, are the ones to be congratulated. 
Boys, think seriously of this. The Doctor. 
Two Odd Cluttirs and Their 
History. 
Glad to learn of any novelty that would add a treasure 
to the “Curiosity Shop” of my little nieces, I 
watched a friend with much interest in the shaping of 
the little chair shown in figure 1. The quill feath- 
| ers from the wing of the turkey, are the only ones re¬ 
quired. The four uprights are made of the thickest por¬ 
tion of the quill, and are placed with pointed ends 
downward, to form the legs of the chair. The two in 
tlie back are four inches in length, those at the front two 
and a half. The lower cross-pieces and arms, two inches 
in length, are made of a more slender portion of the 
quill than the uprights, and are stripped of the plume, 
and smoothed with a sharp knife. The pieces which 
compose the ornamental back are made from the tips of 
the feathers, and are formed by cutting the filaments 
into pointed shape, as shown in the illustration. The 
seat is made of four pieces of a thick portion of the 
quill, each of which is smoothed on the outer side, and 
the filaments so cut on the inner side, as to form a one- 
quarter section. This must be very neatly done, and 
the sections cut to slightly over-lap in forming the seat. 
All the parts are held firmly together by medium-sized 
pins, which are driven through the uprights, and length¬ 
wise into the cross-pieces. Much taste can be exercised 
in the choosing of feathers for this purpose, those with 
attractive markings being the most desirable. It was 
my sad pleasure not many weeks since, to visit, at a 
home for the insane, a friend I had not seen in thirteen 
years, and who in the interval had from a series of mis¬ 
fortunes become deranged. Deplorable as her state is, 
I was glad to find that her hallucinations were pleasant 
and comfortable ones. In the midst of all these wander¬ 
ings, she keeps her room, clothing, and person in perfect 
order, and except when talking to visitors, is very busily 
engaged. As the matron said, “ She made a thousand 
and one pretty notions.” Her walls were covered with 
picture frames and brackets, and her tables with really 
beautiful articles. I examined everything carefully, and 
wondered how a mind so restless and imaginative, could 
fashion so many things, perfect in shape, and harmoni¬ 
ous in color. I examined so much the novel chair, 
shown in figure 2, that she begged me to take it home. 
The foundation of the cushion is a portion 
of the large end of a bottle cork, the upper side is 
padded with cotton. a~d the whole neatly covered with. 
Fig. 1.—FEATHER CHAIR. 
pearl-colored silk. Embroidery in cross-stitches, orna¬ 
ments the edge, and is done in “ single zephyr ” worsted 
of a deep garnet color. The legs are made of strong- 
pins. A small black bead is first slipped close to the- 
head to represent a roller ; then the whole is wound 
closely with the garnet worsted, and a large milk-white- 
cut-glass bead is slipped over the worsted, and brought 
to rest against the black one, and although the pins are 
closely wound, the worsted will recede from the points, 
and become firm in place. The back of the chair is formed, 
of a medium-sized hair pin, with the ends bent out¬ 
ward. Half an inch above the lower end, garnet worsted 
is woven in “ over and under stitch,” until three-fourths 
of an inch of the hair-pin is covered; then a white bead 
is slipped over each prong of the hair-pin, and placed 
closely against the worsted. Half an inch more of space 
is woven of the worsted, then two more beads are added, 
as before, and 
above them 
worsted is again 
woven to the 
space of one- 
fourth of an 
inch. The parts 
of the hair-pin 
above this point, 
are then wound 
like the legs, 
and the white 
and black beads 
finish the ends ; 
the black bead 
should be made 
secure by wax. 
The uncovered 
part of the hair¬ 
pin is then in¬ 
serted in a neat¬ 
ly cut incision 
in the edge of the cushion, when it assumes the form of 
a back. All is made complete by stretching a cord made 
of the worsted, from the points of the hair-pin, to 
the lower beads, and from them to the back of the 
cushion. Aunt Ida. 
Fig. 2.—CHAIR FROM A HAIR-PIN. 
A Tnsmaiiiaii Kain>Giinge. 
In April last, the Doctor's Talks had something to say 
about rain, and rain-gauges, and a simple instrument, 
sent by a friend in Massachusetts, was described and 
figured. Now comes another Rain-gauge, from “B,” at 
Hobart, Tasmania. If you do notkno w where Tasmania 
is. perhaps it is because you have been taught to call it 
by its old name. Van Dieman's Land. Our correspondent 
sends a drawiugand says: “ At our observatory, I learn¬ 
ed that a round receiver is used, exactly 8 inches in 
diameter, and that 31 fluid ounces of water caught in 
that, represents a rain-fall ofjof an inch. - Then I hunted 
up a large bottle, holding three quarts or more, and 
made a line down it with my glazier’s diamond. Then 
I got my chemist to put in 31 ounces of water, and mark 
the hight at which it stands, as 1-inch ; 31- ounces more 
of water, makes 1-inch, and so on. Around an ordinary 
9-inch tin funnel. I get the tinsmith to solder on a strip 
of tin ; this is bevelled as in the engraving, so as to 
make the top exactly 8 inches across ; then the rain 
pitching in, can't jump out. Finally I cut a hole in the 
