314 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[August, 
known to have suffered, not from cold, but from a 
long continued high temperature. Some of our 
cultivators, following the English method, planted 
the tall-growing kinds, such as L. auralum , in their 
beds of rhododendrons. This was done for effect, 
merely, as it gave the lily-flowers the rich dark- 
green of the rhododendrons as a background the 
better to show off their colors, and it added to the 
attractiveness of the rhododendron plantations by 
clothing them a second time with flowers, as the 
lilies do not bloom until long after the shrubs have 
finished their display. Some of our friends who 
planted their lily-bulbs in this manner found a 
marked improvement; the flowers showing an in¬ 
crease in size and numbers. One who had never 
been able to get but one bloom from L. auratum 
when in an ordinary border, the bulbs either break¬ 
ing up into numerous small ones, or dying out alto¬ 
gether, a trouble ascribed to the severity of the 
winter, accidentally left out the bulbs that were 
among the shrubs, and instead of losing them, as 
he expected, found the second summer’s bloom 
much finer than the first. These experiences in 
different localities led to the discovery that our 
failure to secure results with lilies at all approach¬ 
ing those of the English gardeners, who make 
nothing of 50 or more flowers on the stem of a L. 
auratum, was not due to our more severe winters, 
but to the long continued heat of summer. The 
shade of the rhododendrons kept the soil cool and 
moist, and gave the bulbs just the most favorable 
conditions for their growth. Planting the tall lilies 
among deciduous shrubs can be practised by those 
who have no rhododendron beds. Where the lilies 
are grown in open beds, we have no doubt a light 
mulch, preferably of leaves, would be of great 
benefit to all the species. Among the lilies that 
flowered very satisfactorily with us this season is 
one known as Kramer’s Lily, Lilium Krameri. This 
is of special interest, as it is supposed to be one of 
the hybrids of the Japanese gardeners, and it is 
thought that L. longifiorum and L. auratum are its 
parents. This, which the engraving shows of about 
half the real size, has the general habit of L. longi- 
florum , but is of a delicate rose-color within, and 
has a fragrance similar to, but less oppressive, than 
that of L. auratum , and is one of the best of its class. 
The Lubber Grasshopper. 
A tin box came by mail with no mark as to its 
contents, and no letter referring to it, had been re¬ 
ceived. In such cases great caution is required in 
opening the package, as one has to be prepared for 
whatever may present itself. Slowly raising the 
cover there appeared the drollest, most knowing 
looking face !—much too small for that of a quad¬ 
ruped, and it seemed too large for that of an in¬ 
sect. Further examination showed it to be an 
insect—and a good deal of an insect when we con¬ 
sider that there were three inches of it! A letter 
received the next day from L Phelps, Orange Co., 
Florida, explained that he had sent a troublesome 
grasshopper to find out what it was. Having the 
good fortune to possess a set of Prof. Townend 
Glover’s beautiful illustrations of the Orthoptera, 
we found that he had given the portrait of the in¬ 
sect and we here reproduce it. The engraving is 
rather below the size of our largest specimen, the 
body of which measured quite 3 inches in length, 
while its “ hoppers,” as boys call the hind legs, 
are at least 3i inches long. The body, legs, and 
head, are yellowish, barred and spotted with black; 
the wing covers, which are thought by many to be 
the wings, in addition to yellow and black, have a 
handsome shading of rose-color. The portrait, in 
profile, fails to show the full face, which had 
such an intelligent expression that it did not 
seem altogether right to drown the creature in 
alcohol in order to preserve it. The eggs are laid 
in the ground, and the larvse, as is the case with 
other grasshoppers, are much like the perfect in¬ 
sect in shape and movements, but are without 
wings, and are black with orange-red markings. 
Though the perfect insect has wings they are too 
small to be of use ; it can not fly, and as it is very 
sluggish in crawling and clumsy in jumping, it has 
received the name of “Lubber Grasshopper.” It3 
scientific name is Romalea microptera —the Small¬ 
winged Romalea. The “ Lubber ” feeds upon 
foliage of various kinds, but shows a preference for 
the leaves of the Orange-tree, as Mr. P. writes : 
“especially the tender ones, and the buds that I 
have put in, and are my pride.” The insects have 
long been known along the Gulf Coast, as far west 
as Louisiana, as destructive to garden vegetables 
of various kinds, and they are said also to eat the 
fruit of the peach and tig. However moderate their 
other movements, they are not slow in eating, and 
in all stages of their existence devour orange 
leaves most voraciously. As they are obliged to 
the lubber grasshopper ( Romalea microptera :). 
crawl up the trees, it would not be difficult to ar¬ 
range some barrier to their ascent. They are quite 
too much for domestic fowls, which refuse them. 
Being, even when young, slow to get out of the 
way, they are readily crushed under foot or caught 
in a net. As their destructive powers increase 
with their growth, they should be proceeded against 
when quite young ; when they first make their ap¬ 
pearance they are less than an inch long, and being 
so much blacker than the mature insect, may not 
be recognized as the same. They might be readily 
disposed of by the use of Paris Green or London 
Purple upon their food. We would suggest as 
more economical than poisoning the trees, to place 
leafy branches of the wild orange, or those that can 
be spared from cultivated trees, in pails or other 
vessels of water, to keep them fresh, and apply the 
poison to the leaves of these. The lazy insects 
would no doubt gather on these traps, as they 
would be saved the trouble of climbing for food. 
Fruit Dryers and Fruit Drying. 
The great superiority of fruit dried by artificial 
heat, over that prepared in the sun, has turned the 
attention of many to the subject. So superior is 
the artificially dried fruit that in the market it bears 
as a trade name “Evaporated Fruit,” to distinguish 
it from the common article, while the price at 
which it sells is so much higher that it may proper¬ 
ly excite the interest of fruit growers. In October 
last we gave an account of the “ Zimmerman,” one 
of the modern dryers and our experience with it, 
but there are many who wish to operate upon a 
larger scale than is possible with a portable dryer, 
and several of these have written asking us to give 
a plan for constructing a large dryer. While we 
would willingly aid our correspondents, we are here 
met at the outset by the fact, that the various 
Dryers and Evaporators, large and small, are pat¬ 
ented, and it would hardly be possible for us to 
suggest a contrivance for drying without uncon¬ 
sciously interfering with some one of half a dozen 
patents—especially as we do not know what each 
claims as his particular invention. Any fruit dryer 
must consist of a source of heat, and something to 
hold the fruit while it is drying. The mere drying 
of fruit by artificial heat, we suppose, cannot be 
patented ; could it be, every woman who dries her 
sweet corn and pumpkin in the stove oven, with 
the door open, would be an infringer. Any im¬ 
proved or original methods of constructing these 
essential parts, is very properly patentable, and 
whoever would put up an apparatus for drying, 
must avoid interference with these patents. Some 
patents are trivial, they do not cover inventions, 
but are for things that have long been in common 
use, and never should have been granted ; and not¬ 
withstanding that such patents exist they are nui¬ 
sances. We believe in patents, and are sure that 
our patent system, imperfect as it is, and as strange¬ 
ly administered as it sometimes seems to be, has 
vastly promoted the prosperity of the country. If 
there is any feature about it that we do not like, 
so long as it is the law, all good citizens will observe 
it. While we would do all in our power to aid one 
in resisting a false claim m regard to a patent, we 
would not know¬ 
ingly aid one in 
interfering with 
a regularly se¬ 
cured patent, 
however absurd 
the granting of 
it may seem. So 
in the matter 
of fruit dryers, 
while we would 
gladly aid those 
who wish to do 
so, to construct 
them, we should 
do wrong were 
we to give a plan 
that trespassed 
upon the rights 
of others. The 
best we can do is 
to describe an unpatented arrangement, which in¬ 
cludes all the essentials of a successful dryer. The 
firstdeviceforartificial drying we ever examined, was 
used in the. preparation of vegetables in immense 
quantities for the army during the war. Enclosures 
or rooms of convenient size were made of frame 
work, and the sides covered with cotton cloth. The 
diagram giving an end section of one of these dry¬ 
ing rooms will show the arrangement. At a, a, are 
steam pipes, the source of heat; these ran around 
three sides of the enclosure, near the bottom ; slats 
b, b, were fastened across at intervals, to hold the 
trays, c, c, which were simple frames with a bottom 
of mosquito netting or other open fabric. The 
frames were alternately close against the side of 
the enclosure so that the hot air would take 
the course shown by the arrows. The 'cab¬ 
bages, carrots, etc., sliced thin, and spread on 
the trays, were rapidly and perfectly dried. The 
whole was a temporary arrangement, put up in 
some vacant loft, but the product could not have 
been better had the most expensive apparatus been 
employed. This illustrates the general principle 
upon which all dryers are constructed ; there is a 
source of heat in the steam pipes, and trays to hold 
the fruit or whatever is to be dried, and an arrange¬ 
ment by which the hot air is caused to circulate 
among the trays 
in the most com¬ 
plete manner. 
There was of 
course an open¬ 
ing for letting 
in an abundant 
supply of fresh 
air below, and 
another for the 
exit of the hot 
and moist air 
above. What¬ 
ever else there 
may be about a 
dryer, these con¬ 
ditions must be 
met. This description of an unpatented arrange¬ 
ment may be of service to those who wish to 
experiment in the matter. If a stove is used to 
supply the heat, of course a room inclosed by cot¬ 
ton cloth is out of the question. A word of caution 
is necessary here : wood work of any kind long 
exposed to a temperature much below that at which 
it is charred, becomes after a while exceedingly 
combustible, and will take fire with the greatest 
ease. Hence danger from fire is always present 
DIAGRAM OF DRYING ROOM. 
