286 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[August,' 
hardly be expected that fences of this descrip¬ 
tion be used very extensively upon the 
farm, but made immediately adjoining the house, 
they 'will improve the appearance, and thus add 
to the salable value of the place, besides giving 
much pleasure to the OMUier. 
Dry Earth as a Deodorizer. 
It is very seldom that one finds a privy in 
the country which is not a nuisance. Those 
who are careful and neat about most matters, 
generally utterly neglect this necessary append¬ 
age to their premises. It is well known that 
the poudrettc -which is made and sold in such 
large quantities is only night soil, deodorized by 
mixing it -ndlh the dredgings of a canal and 
drying it. It is commonly supposed that some 
particular kind of earth is necessary, and in the 
absence of that, none at all is used. Any kind 
of earth, well dried, and all the better if sifted, 
will answer to mix with the night soil. The 
Rev. H. Moule, of England, states, that he finds 
that the earth after being used once and then 
thoroughly dried, is equally as efficacious as at 
first, and that he was using the same earth for 
the fifth time, the resulting compound being so 
perfectly odorless, that a pei'son unacquainted 
with its composition would not suspect what it 
was. Aside from considerations of comfort and 
health, this plan is worth adopting for the value 
of the resulting manure. He says: — 
“A farmer and several laborers to whom I 
mentioned the following simple plan at once en¬ 
tered into it: the present vault is to be discon¬ 
tinued, and in the place of it there is to be under 
the seat a small enclosure of brick or stone, six 
or nine inches deep. To preserve the full value 
of the manure for the garden, the enclosure 
should be paved, or have a flat stone for its bot¬ 
tom. It would, of course, be closed with a 
door. On one side would be a small rough 
shed, capable of covering and keeping dry a 
cart-load of earth for the purpose of mixing, 
and on the other side a similar shed into which 
the soil so mixed Avould day by day be thrown, 
for the purpose of drying. When dry, this i 
would be used again, and the uses of tlie two 
sheds be reversed. By thus repeatedly using it, 
and shifting it backwards and forwards from 
one shed to the other, one load of earth wdll be 
found sufficient for five persons, certainly for six 
months, and, I believe, for twelve. This is the 
simplest, but by no means the least offensive 
mouC applying this remarkable agent.” 
Willow Hedges. 
The vexed question of living Willow fences, 
is thus treated by our correspondent G. G. 
Greene, of Hudson: 
I have heard much complaint from persons 
who have undertaken to make hedges of willow, 
that they were unable to make them grow', or 
that they died out in places after having started. 
The soil at times may have been too dry and 
poor, or they were not properly put out or cared 
for: the following plan which I have followed 
with very great success, will, I think, ensure a 
hedge in almost any soil, and at almost any sea¬ 
son. In cutting or trimming up old willow 
trees, I take the limbs varying fi'om two to six 
inches in diameter, cut them up in pieces as 
long as they will cut tolerably strait, say four, 
six, or ten feet long. I plow a furrow if prac¬ 
ticable, just where I desire the fence, or dig a 
shallow trench, placing these pieces in the 
trench in a straight continuous line, and cover 
them up with earth ; if the soil is wet, I leave 
the tops exposed, if dry, I cover, say an inch in 
depth: the sprouts spring up very rapidly, 
much thicker than they can be grown in any 
other way, and they w’ill make as much growth 
in one season as they will in tw'o years by the 
i ordinary mode of planting. They make a bet¬ 
ter hedge than can be grown of w'illow in any 
other way, for these reasons: 
They are sure to grow; the sprouts come up 
so thick as to admit of being trimmed the first 
season, and they grow more rapidly than in any 
other w'ay; their roots are one continuous mass 
and the fence can not be pulled up or blown 
dowui; they do not die out in places; they can 
be grow'ii on any kind of soil; will make a 
fence cheaply and effectively, which can not be 
said of half the -willow hedges I have seen. 
In the fall a furrow should be turned up 
against them, and at the proper season they 
may be trimmed to suit the owner’s views. 
Along w’ater courses, Avherethe soil is in dan¬ 
ger of w’ashing awniy, they answer an excellent 
purpose planted in this w'ay, as their roots pen¬ 
etrate the soil rapidly, and soon link it together 
in a firm mass. 
- » ■ ■ ■- 
The Mole-Cricket. —(GrylloMpa borealis.) 
A correspondent sends us a specimen of an 
insect found in his potato ground, and -w'ishes 
to know what it is. It is the American Mole- 
Cricket, and as it is an interesting and not very 
common insect, we have had its portrait taken, 
to enable others to see what it is like. The .sci¬ 
entific name, GryllotaljM, means Cricket-mole, 
a name which the peculiar structure and habits 
of the animal readil}' enough suggest.. The 
engraving is of the natural size; the animal is 
covered -^^ith fine velvety hairs, and is of a drab 
MOLE CRICLET. 
or fiiwn color. The wings are so short as to be 
insufficient for flying; but what the insect lacks 
in this means of locomotion is made up to it in 
the size and strength of its enormous fore-legs, 
which are especially adapted to its favorite 
mode of travel—that of burrowing throngh the 
ground like a mole. By means of these exca¬ 
vators, the Mole-Crickets push long galleries 
through the soft earth, and where they are 
numerous, do much damage. With us, the in¬ 
sects are not sufficiently abundant to be trouble¬ 
some, but ill Europe a related species is one of 
the pests of the garden, especially in the warmer 
countries. While Harris states that they live 
upon the tender roots of plants, the recent 
French authors say that their food is entirely 
insects and their larval, and that the damage 
they do to plants is only in cutting off the 
roots of such as come in the way of their under¬ 
ground engineering. In some parts of France 
they are so destructive in hot-beds, that it is 
necessary to drench the manure with hot urine 
before making up the beds. 
- - — ■ «(»— --- 
More About “ Hew Peas.” 
In May last, we gave some account of the 
trials of new peas by the London Horticultural 
Societi'. A venerable Connecticut correspond¬ 
ent thus recounts his trial for the Agriculturist: 
“ ‘ Carter’s First Crop of Peas.’—I hope he 
may never raise a second crop of peas, or any 
other seeds. I think the real value of them by 
the bushel would be from $1.3.5 to $1.50. I 
w’as so foolish as to pay $1.50 per quart. I had 
them planted very early, intending to beat my 
neighbors, who planted the good old kinds. 
The result is a monstrous crop of vines, seven 
feet high, and still growing. They remind of 
the story my good mother told me 70 years ago, 
of Jack the Giant Killer’s Bean, which grew 
up to the moon. About three w'eeks after the 
Carters were jilanted, and well up, I planted a 
few rows of Dan O’Rourke. The result is, the 
O’Rourkes are in full bearing, while the Carters 
are just beginning to show small pods, which 
look as if they might have a few' peas in them 
some time. The originator of the fraud ought 
to be indicted for swindling, and every dealer 
that bought of him ought to refuse to pay for 
them, if he has not already got his pay; and if he 
has, to follow'him up, and make him refund the 
money if possible. I bought from seedsmen in 
good repute; but seedsmen in good repute do 
very wrong to sell seeds of any kind that they 
know nothing about, and to advertise them to 
be two weeks earlier than any other kind, and 
feet high, w’hen they are four w'eeks later, and 
mine will, undoubtedly, be ten feet high or 
more. I do not care for the money spent, but 
I do for green peas.” 
More About Mildew. 
Ill June last we gave an account of the uses 
of sulphur, for stopping the ravages of mildew'. 
Since then w'e have seen in the Floral World a 
letter from P. Lazaris, Athens, Greece, in which 
he gives an account of his experiments with 
sulphur, a highly sulphurous earth and com¬ 
mon cla}'. Mildewed vines seemed to be equal¬ 
ly benefitted Avhen dusted with either of these, 
w'hile vines along side of those thus treated, but 
to which nothing w'as applied, Averc injured by 
inildeAA'. Mr. L. thinks that the sulphur exer¬ 
cises no specific influence upon the inildeAv be- 
j'ond that of any other poAvder, and attributes 
the Avhole curative effect of sulphur or any 
other poAvder to its power of absorbing mois¬ 
ture from the mildcAV fungus, and thus destro}'- 
ing it. We think Mr. L’s views w'orthy the at¬ 
tention of grape-growers, especially as we have 
someAvliere recently read—Avhere, has escaped 
our memory ,or we Avould give credit—of a grape- 
groAver avIio, falling short in his supply of sul¬ 
phur, used lime and ashes, and thought them 
more efficacious than sulphur. In some parts 
of Europe I'oad-dust Avas used, some years ago, 
Avith alleged efficacy in preventing mildcAV. If 
these several experiences in using dry powders 
.are reliable, w'e must then conclude that sulphur 
may prevent mildeAV in tw'o Avays; 1st—by its 
emanations when used, as it often is under 
glass, sprinkled on the ground and on the flues; 
2d—by acting as an absorbing powder Avhen 
dusted on A'ines out-of-doors. 'This is an inter- 
