CORN FOR SHIPPING.-AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
87 
their limbs and prepare for labor, before they un- 
I loose their hold of the twig on which they had been 
deposited and fall to the ground, when they imme¬ 
diately disappear in search of food in the roots of 
the parent tree. 
If the eggs that are about to be hatched, be 
placed over a glass jar filled with earth, the young 
grubs will in a few hours after their escape from 
the egg, be seen at the bottom of the jar, endeavor¬ 
ing to force their way still deeper. When first 
hatched they are very small and white, but soon 
change to a yellow brown. They exist in separate 
tribes, occupying a different section of country, 
making their appearance in different years, but in¬ 
variably after the same interval of time. For a 
year or two before and after the appearance of the 
main body a few scattered individuals will generally 
be found. Their favorite trees appear to be the 
oaks and fruit trees in general, avoiding the fir, 
walnut, and hickory tribes, though they will occa¬ 
sionally deposit their eggs on them should no other 
tree be convenient at the proper moment. From 
the universal belief that the cicadas were harmless, 
no means has yet been adopted to restrain their 
numbers, though no insect has more natural 
enemies ; helpless and unresisting they fall an easy 
prey to all that attack them, and reptiles, birds and 
beasts alike seek them eagerly, and find them 
nourishing food. The larvae will subsist on the 
roots of trees several years after the trees have been 
cut down, provided the roots remain alive, which is 
frequently the case. The roots of an apple tree 
will continue growing and throw up suckers six or 
seven years after the tree has been removed. On 
the return of the locusts, hogs and ducks will be 
found efficient aids, as they are untiring in their 
search after them. In the grub state, moles and 
ground mice are their chief enemies. 
M. H. Morris. 
Germantown, Pa., Feb. 2d, 1847. 
THE BEST VARIETIES OF CORN FOR 
SHIPPING. 
On page 208, in the fifth volume of the Agricul¬ 
turist, in a condensed account of the properties of 
Indian corn, &c., purporting to have been taken 
from Dr. Jackson’s Final Report on the Geology and 
Mineralogy of New Hampshire, will be found the 
following extract:—“ The use of the oil in corn is 
obviously to prevent the rapid decomposition of the 
grain in the soil, and to retain a portion of food 
until needed by the young plant, and is always the 
last portion of the grain taken up. It serves to 
keep meal from souring readily, and it will be ob¬ 
served that a flint corn meal will keep sweet for 
‘ years, even when put up in large quantities; but 
the Tuscarora meal will sour in a short time. The 
latter is the most digestible grain for horses, and is 
soft, but it is of little value for feeding swine. It 
. is a good kind of grain for rapid cooking, for its 
meal is quickly boiled or baked.” 
It is further remarked on page 361 of the same 
volume that “ the varieties of corn which will best 
bear transportation by sea, are those containing a 
large proportion of oil, such as the Golden Sioux, 
the King Philip, or Northern eight-rowed Yellow, 
the Dutton, the Browne, the Rhode Island White- 
Flint, &c. ; but the flour made from those varieties 
is not so palatable to those unaccustomed to its use, 
as that made from the soft, farinaceous varieties of 
the South and West, which are improved by kiln- 
drying.” 
I also read a communication in the N. Y. Journal 
of Commerce some months ago, which has since 
been extensively copied into other papers, stating 
that, as Indian corn meal contains so much fat, 
it is liable to become rancid if kept too long, and is 
then more or less unfit for use, and that white 
meal will keep rather better, and from its being 
lighter and milder it is much preferred for use in 
warm climates, &c. 
As the last statement is at variance with those 
made by Dr. Jackson and yourself, I am at a loss 
to know what variety of corn to plant the coming 
season that will yield the most profitable return. 
By informing me what variety is most sought fo 
by shippers you will oblige A Young Farmer. 
On inquiry among merchants we find that at one 
time, yellow corn will be in demand, at another the 
white, and then both varieties mixed; but generally 
the latter is objected to. 
For the purpose of shipment, we would recom¬ 
mend the culture of the most productive flint varie¬ 
ties, either yellow or white, north of Maryland; 
but in other parts of the United States, we think 
the large gourd-seed and other productive kinds 
will prove the most profitable, notwithstanding the 
necessary expense of kiln-drying. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
The Annual Meeting of this Society for the 
election of officers for the ensuing year, was held 
at the Historical Society’s Rooms, on the 1st of 
February, and the following gentlemen were elected: 
For President , Hon. Luther Bradish; for Vice Presi¬ 
dents, Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen, James Lenox, 
James Boorman, A. H. Stevens, M.D., T. A. Emmet, 
H. Maxwell, S. Whitney, S. Knapp, Vice Chancellor 
McCoun, Cyrus Mason, D.D., W. A. Seeley, J. S. 
Livingston ; for Treasurer, A. P. Halsey; for Recording 
Secretary , R. Ogden Doremus; for Corresponding Secre¬ 
tary, A. H. Green; for Executive Committee , R. L. Pell, 
J.W. Draper. M.D., Archibald Russell, Edward Clark, 
D. P. Gardner, M.D., R. K. Delafield, Shepard Knapp; 
Caution in applying Coal Tar to Peach Trees -.— 
Dr. Alexander H. Stevens stated that the appli¬ 
cation of coal tar to peach trees, as laid down by 
late authority, in the state in which it comes from 
the gas-house, for the purpose of destroying the 
borer, he had been credibly informed, invariably 
killed them; but if used after undergoing the pro¬ 
cess of distillation, he had found from experience 
that it was an effectual remedy without injury to 
the trees. Dr. D. P. Gardner remarked that the 
article referred to by Dr. Stevens was obtained from 
the coal tar of the gas-house in Canal street, and 
had been submitted to distillation by Messrs. Black- 
well, at Astoria, for the purpose of extracting the 
foetid naptha' it contained. Naptha, he said, is a 
very penetrating substance, and doubtless is destruc¬ 
tive whenever applied to plants and trees in any 
considerable quantity. If, therefore, the coal tar 
employed by Dr. Stevens proved effectual without 
injury to the trees, it probably arose from the sepa 
ration of the naptha. 
