30 
YANKEE FARMING.-NO. 8- 
living state, I cannot give any account of its habits 
and transformations from personal observation; but 
will add some remarks upon those of the European 
Psyla of the pear tree, as related in foreign works. 
It is not unlikely that they will apply equally well 
to your insect. 
y The Pear Psyla , of Europe, in its winged state, 
is about the size of a large aphis. The sexes pair 
in the spring; and the female lays her eggs as soon 
as the buds begin to expand. The eggs are de¬ 
posited in great numbers, near each other, on the 
young leaves, blossoms, newly-formed fruit, and 
shoots. They are oblong, yellowish, and look 
somewhat like s grains of pollen. The young, 
hatched therefrom soon afterwards, resemble wing¬ 
less plant lice, and are of a dark yellow color. 
They change their skins and color repeatedly ; and 
in the course of their growth acquire rudimentary 
wings, when they are said to have entered the 
pupa state. While still young, they fix themselves 
to the bark of the twigs of the last year’s growth, 
one after another, in rows, and there remain till 
their last change approaches. By means of their 
suckers, which come from the under side of the 
head near the breast, they puncture the bark and 
imbibe the sap. Like many aphides, they gorge 
themselves to such a degree, that the fluid issues 
constanty from their bodies in drops, is ejected over 
the surface of the twigs, and mingled with their 
more solid castings, defiles the bark, and gives it a 
blackish color, precisely, it would seem, like that 
of the twigs which you sent to me. They con¬ 
tinue their polluting and exhausting spoliations 
throughout the summer ; and, in the autumn, hav¬ 
ing come to their growth, they disperse among the 
leaves, cast off their pupa skins, issue in the wing¬ 
ed or a^ult state, and are ready to take wing in 
search of winter quarters. In some sheltered cre¬ 
vice, or other retreat, they pass the winter; and, on 
the return of spring, come forth, pair,.and lay their 
eggs. 
It is observed that when considerable numbers at¬ 
tack a pear tree, the latter soon assumes an un¬ 
healthy appearance, its growth is checked, its 
leaves and shoots curl up, and the tree dries by de¬ 
grees, if not freed from its depredators. 
Kollar recommends brushing off the insects when 
young, with a brush of hog’s bristles, and crushing 
under foot those that fall ; and advised also that, 
in the month of May, when the winged females are 
about laying their eggs, the insects should be 
searched for, and destroyed by hand. Such a pro¬ 
cess, however, would be thought altogether too 
tedious and uncertain here. I would therefore 
suggest the expediency of washing the twigs with 
a brush dipped in strong soapsuds, containing a 
considerable quantity of flour of sulphur stirred 
into it. If this be done before the buds expand , the 
latter will not be injured thereby, while the sul¬ 
phur and soap will so coat the twigs as to detgr the 
psylce from laying their eggs upon them. A 
weaker application of the same may suffice to kill 
the young insects after they have fastened them¬ 
selves upon the bark. 
On some of the little twigs sent, I saw a few of 
the scale insects belonging to the genus coccus. 
These have been very troublesome to my young 
apple trees; aud I have got rid of them, after fail¬ 
ing with Judge Buel’s wash, by painting the trees, 
from bottom to the tips of the twigs, with soft soap, 
early in the spring. Common household soft soap, 
applied in this way, proved completely effectual. 
It was put on with a painter’s brush. 
The insects accompanying the foregoing letter, 
were of a brownish color, with transparent wings, 
marked by a few dark veins. Each measured one 
tenth of an inch, or rather more, from the forehead 
to the tips of the closed wings. The front of the 
head is notched in the middle. The eyes are large 
and prominent, and with the thorax, resemble some¬ 
what in form those of our common cicada. The 
antennae are longer than the body, slender, or 
threadlike, and tipped at the end with two little 
bristles. The body of the female is pointed at the 
end, and is more of a reddish hue than that of the 
male. Thaddeus W. Harris 
Cambridge , Mass., Dec. 9th, 1848. 
YANKEE FARMING.—No. 8. 
Good people all of every sort, 
Give ear unto my song ; 
And if you find it wondrous short, 
It cannot hold you long.— Goldsmith. 
Improvement of Bog Meadows .—My readers (if 
perchance I happen to have any), will recollect in 
the first number of these sketches,* that I spoke of 
Uncle Sim’s bog meadows; but as many out of good 
old Yankeedom may not know exactly what these 
are, I will take the liberty of briefly explaining. 
A bog meadow, then, is a flat, alluvial formation, 
of a greater or less depth of rich, vegetable soil, 
abounding with springs, or so much overflowed by 
some stream running through it, as to keep the 
ground completely saturated with water; and 
hence, precludes the growth of anything more 
valuable upon it than a coarse, watery grass, of a 
very poor quality. Such a meadow is generally 
easily drained by ditching it .sufficiently to carry off 
the spring water, or by excavating the bed of the 
stream bordering it; yet, occasionally, both these 
operations become necessary. But whenever well 
done, a bog meadow or swamp, is soon changed 
into the most valuable land we have for the produc¬ 
tion of red top, Timothy, and clover; and frequent¬ 
ly when put under the plow, proves first-rate com 
and potato land. 
Attached to Uncle Sim’s farm, were about twenty 
acres of this kind of bog meadow; and though the 
grass which grew there was hardly equal to rye 
straw, yet he annually mowed it at a cost of labor 
greater than the miserable hay was worth when 
stacked ; and this he fed to his young cattle during 
the winter, which checked their growth, and left 
them in the spring as poor as a half-starved crow. 
Year after year had I endeavored to persuade 
him to drain this meadow; and moreover, when 
done, in consequence of there being several feet fall 
in the stream just before it entered its borders, he 
could easily build a dam across with a v sluice way, 
through which to irrigate it at will, and thus keep 
up its fertility without the trouble of manuring; 
and yet take large crops from it every year, worth 
at least 3ix times what it now produced. 
Till Uncle Sim had got stuck in the snow with 
* See vol. 7, page 30 of the Agriculturist.—E d. 
