THE CULTIVATOR. 
133 
now constitute the popular class boots of our common 
schools. We want more working, and fewer idle men. 
Teach the young, that they can find profit and honor, 
and happiness in rural pursuits, and they certainly are 
to be found there in a greater measure than any where 
else,—the producing classes will be increased—the state 
will be correspondingly benefitted, and we shall be ex¬ 
empt from those commercial panics which periodically 
convulse the nation, and which may now be inflicted 
upon us at any time by our European creditors. 
The two works to which we allude, are, first, “ Dic¬ 
tionary of terms used in agriculture, and in the sciences 
most intimately connected with its advancement pub¬ 
lished in the Genesee Farmer, and written by Willis 
Gaylord, Esq. The second is “ Early lessons in scienti¬ 
fic agriculture, or conversations on agriculture and the 
subjects connected with it, intended- for the use of young 
men in and out of school.” This is now publishing in 
the Franklin Farmer, and is said to be written by a 
Mr. Lewis, brother of the late Meriwether Lewis, but, 
at all events, a gentleman of an enlightened and useful 
mind._ 
Short Horned Cattle. 
Eleven short horned cattle, ten cows and a bull, pass¬ 
ed through our city a few days since, on their way to 
Kentucky. They are described as first rate animals. 
They were purchased under the direction o( Lord Al- 
thorp, in England, for Henry Clay, Jr. of Kentucky. 
THE BUDGET. 
Millers' 1 Tolls. —This subject has degenerated into a 
personal controversy, of little interest to our readers. 
Our determination to publish nothing further on the 
subject, we hope will be approbated by our respectable 
correspondent, if he will fora moment divest himsell of 
personal feelings. 
Carbonate of Lime as a dressing for land. —We have 
a communication from Mr. Joseph Warbasse, of New¬ 
ton, N. J. who has been in the habit of applying to still 
clays a dressing of ground limestone, of a soft kind 
which abounds in his neighborhood, .with very good ef¬ 
fect. Mr. W. we believe, is a very good farmer, and 
has represented correctly the beneficial effects of the 
carbonate of lime upon his clays; but his philosophy is 
of the by-gone age. Carbonate of lime benefits clays 
by rendering them more porous, and consequently re¬ 
lieves them in some measure from surface water, but 
it will not render wet clays dry, without draining. It 
improves its mechanical texture, and adds to its chemi¬ 
cal powers, and therefore promotes fertility. 
Buckwheat Straw. —A Herkimer correspondent in¬ 
quires in what manner buckwheat straw must be saved 
to render it good food for neat cattle? We cannot an¬ 
swer him from experience, as we do not cultivate buck¬ 
wheat. But we have no hesitation in saying, that buck¬ 
wheat straw, when intended for cattle food, should be 
saved with the like care as hay or corn stalks, that is, 
dried so that it will not heat and mould in the mow or 
stack, with the least possible exposure to rain and dew. 
The stalks being very succulent, we think the curing 
can best be effected in small heaps, or cocks, in the 
field, before the grain is thrashed. 
Queries. —Mr. J. Robinson, of Marbletown, asks us 
several questions—as how he shall prepare his ground 
for wheat? How to rot his flax? If he had better put 
lime in his compost ? If liming seed wheat will pre¬ 
serve the crop from insects ? Whether seed wheat is 
best covered with the plough or harrow? &c. We have 
stated our opinions, and given directions on all these 
matters, in our previous volumes, so far as related to 
general practice, and we must refer to them for answers; 
for Mr. R. must be sensible of the impropriety of our 
repeating what we have recently published. But we 
will summarily observe, that his wheat ground should 
be well prepared, that is, made clean, and fine, and rich, 
by the compost he is preparing as a top-dressing; that 
his flax should he water-rotted, as directed in the Culti¬ 
vator, vol. iii. p. 193; that a small portion of lime will 
benefit his compost; and that wheat maybe ploughed 
shallow, or harrowed in, as the soil is heavy or light, 
wet or dry, the light or dry soil requiring the most co¬ 
vering—the object being to cover all the seed, as near 
the surface as can be to secure a healthy germination 
and growth. 
Italian rye grass. —Mr. Benfoot, Richmond, Va. can 
obtain seed of Italian rye grass, ofThorburn, or Smith, 
or Weaver, seedsmen, New-York, at least in time for 
spring sowing, which season is to be preferred for sow¬ 
ing it. It may be sown precisely like other grass seeds, 
broadcast, by itself or with other seeds, and harrowed 
or bushed in. 
“ Medicus” will, on reflection, see the impropriety of 
answering his special inquiries through the Cultivator, 
inasmuch as our readers would not be likely to be pro¬ 
fited by our answers, and he has not given us the op¬ 
portunity of anwering them by letter. In regard to the 
corn, nineteen-twentieths of which was pulled up by the 
crows; a recurrence of the evil may easily be prevented 
by simply steeping the seed, and then mixing with the 
steep some tar dissolved in hoi water. We are sure the 
crows will not eat it. 
Diseases of Sheep. 
Mr. Cultivator —In your May number, there is a 
letter from Lewis Bailey, of Fairfax co. Va. who de¬ 
sires information respecting the cause and cure of a pecu¬ 
liar disease which had attacked his sheep. From Mr. 
Bailey’s description of the disease, I should infer that 
it was an inflammation of the brain, caused by confine¬ 
ment and bad air, which, it is well known in the old 
country,” will produce symptoms similar to those he 
mentions. „ . 
The following is the common and usually successtul 
method of treating it in Great-Britain-Two ounces of 
castor oil are given to each animal, and its head washed 
with spirits of hartshorn, or (as some prefer,) cold vi¬ 
negar and water; and if affected with blindness, it is 
bled in the veins which run from the corners of the eyes 
towards the nose. Until recovered, the sheep are not 
allowed water, but supplied instead with as much strong 
green tea, sweetened with molasses, as they will drink. 
Of course, in order to ensure success, they must have 
roomy pens and plenty of air. 
A SCOTCH PLOUGHMAN. 
Mildew—Hoot Culture. 
In looking through vol. iv. p. 159, of the Cultivator, 
my attention was drawn to the comments of the con¬ 
ductor on an article headed “Mildew on Gooseberries 
and Grapes.” The comments are based on the theory, 
that mildew is produced by a parasitic plant. If this 
theory be correct, it will or ought to apply to wheat and 
other grain. Facts,* reason and observation certainly 
go far to prove this theory fallacious. Mildew on wheat 
cannot be traced to the same cause, because the effects 
would disprove the cause. Were it occasioned by the 
parasite, the disease would be gradual and could be no¬ 
ticed in its progress, while on the contrary, it is known 
to be sudden, the effect attending the cause. One year 
ago, a farmer of my acquaintance had a beautiful field 
of wheat, which he examined in the morning, and found 
the grain had nearly approached the dough slate, and 
the straw had a bright, healthy appearance. Being ab¬ 
sent through the day, he found to his great surprise, in 
the evening, that his whole field was “struck with mil¬ 
dew,” the straw much affected and discolored, entirely 
disappointing his hopes, in a single day. The grain 
weighed only forty pounds per bushel; the maturing 
process having been suddenly arrested. Itis presumed, 
the wheat was affected the preceding night, and the ef¬ 
fect was made visible by the sun’s influence the follow¬ 
ing day, something like frost. Flat and low grounds 
are most liable to mildew, while those elevated and un¬ 
dulating escape. My opinion is—although there may 
be a combination of causes—yet in the main, it must 
be attributed to atmospheric influence, instead of the 
parasitic plant. The critical period is about the time 
of full moon, a fact not unsupported by philosophy. 
Root culture has fairly commenced in this vicinity— 
our farmers are making large calculations in relation to 
its benefit. The early season was full wet and cool, 
which prevented the beets from vegetating well. The 
sugar beets prevail at present, but I expect to see the 
farmers give mangel wurzel the preference, when they 
shall have acquainted themselves with the diuretic cha¬ 
racter of the sugar beet. Mangel wurzel possesses al¬ 
so the important advantage of keeping longer and bet¬ 
ter. The vernacular name of this root being still pre¬ 
served and perpetuated, I was amused to see the hono¬ 
rable conductor attempt, in a late number of the Culti¬ 
vator, to translate pure German into English: “man¬ 
gold,” according to the translator, signifying “ beet,” 
and “wurzel, root, beet root.” The conductor is un¬ 
sparing occasionally of sarcasm and strictures with the 
correspondents of the Cultivator; so I hope I shall be 
pardoned for the censorial notice I have taken, either 
of his theory of mildew, or his German and English 
translation. Mangel signifies scarcity, making the 
literal translation scarcity root, j 
We have just finished a very abundant harvest. 
W. PENN KINZER. 
Spring Lawn Farm, Pequea, Lan. co. Fa. July 27, 1839. 
The Peach Tree Grub—The Bee Moth. 
Jackson, Tenn. Aug. 16, 1839. 
Judge Buel —Dear Sir— I have noticed in your va¬ 
luable paper several things recommended to destroy the 
grub in the peach tree; but from the experience I have 
had on the subject, I have seen nothing recommended, 
in my opinion, to cure the evil. Being myself fond of 
good fruit and raising fruit trees, I have for the last 
five years paid particular attention to the movements of 
the grub on the peach tree. I first discovered, during 
the summer and fall, in and under the glue near the 
* The “ facts and reasons” of our correspondent go rather 
to confirm, in our opinion, than to disprove our theory, that 
mildew is a parasitic plant. Had the state of the atmosphere 
been noted when the wheat crop of his neighbor was struck 
with rust, we presume our correspondent would have de¬ 
scribed it as humid, hot and light, which is that condition, 
and perhaps the only condition, in which the seeds of this 
parasite are wafted on the “wings of the wind,” attach 
themselves to the stems of plants congenial to their growth, 
and feed upon their juices. If the mushroom springs up in a 
night, is it at all strange that the minute plants of mildew 
should grow to maturity in a few hours'! There are innu¬ 
merable animalcula, whose figures cannot be discerned with¬ 
out the aid of a magnifying glass; and there are innumerable 
parasitic plants, whose seeds escape our observation. And 
if mildew is not a vegetable, we beg to ask, what is it ? 
f Loudon spells this root mangold, wurzel, and gives the 
derivation of the term, which we adopted from memory.—. 
Scarcity is the name of a species of the beet family. Our er¬ 
ror consisted in translating mangel wurzel beet root, instead 
of scarcity beet root. 
We invite, on all occasions, liberal criticism. It is tlie col¬ 
lision of flint and steel that elicits light.— Cortd. 
roots of the tree, small knots of worms of different 
lengths, with a black or brown head. After making 
this discovery, the next winter and spring I commenced 
cutting in with a knife at the place I found they had 
entered the bark, and frequently found them eating un¬ 
der the bark of the root; and in taking up small trees 
to set out in the spring, I made it a rule to take a knife 
and follow them from the place they had entered, and 
would frequently find them under the bark, five or six 
inches from the place of entrance. After making this 
discovery I commenced clearing round the trees during 
the summer and fall, leaving the tops of the roots naked; 
and put round them fresh dry ashes, and sometimes tan 
from the tan-yard. This I found to be of considerable 
benefit in destroying the young grubs before they en¬ 
tered the root. Wishing to ascertain at what time the 
grub changes or leaves the root, I commenced an exa¬ 
mination at different times during the spring and sum¬ 
mer, and on the 20th day of August last, I discovered a 
a great number had come out; and under almost 
every place where I found old glue at the surface, and 
from that inches under ground, I found the grub en¬ 
cased, sticking to the root of the tree. I found some of 
the grubs had changed and left the encasement; and at 
those trees I found a black, slender looking bug which 
seemed to be cutting the bark near the surface; and at 
those trees I found fresh glue and small young grubs. 
I then had all the grubs destroyed, the trees cleaned 
round, and fresh ashes put round some and tan round 
others. This year I commenced my examinations the 
1st June; found no grubs out encased: on the 18th 
July I discovered a few; and up to this time I have not 
found more than doz. on from 55 to 60 trees. Last 
summer I had several old trees which appeared much 
on the decline; leaves yellow and fruit small; this 
season the leaves look well and fruit very good. 
I saw last year recommended in your paper to plant 
peach trees in the yard so that the fowls could destroy 
the grub: this, I believe, will not answer, unless the 
grass,&c. is keptfrom about the roots; as the firs! grub 
discovered by me encased was on a tree in the yard, 
where the fowls had free access. I have taken up at 
different times peach trees on the decline, and found that 
the decline of the tree goes on in proportion to the num¬ 
ber of grubs and the distance they have cut round the 
root. Some trees planted at the same time die earlka;.: 
than others; this is owing to the number of grubs hast 
deposited ; the greater the increase, the sooner they 
cut round the root. From the discoveries I have made 
of the grubs, and the different experiments to destroy 
them, lam now fully convinced the better way to de¬ 
stroy them is while they are encased and about to 
change ; and while the young grubs are in the glue be¬ 
fore they enter the bark. Last spring I raised the 
earth a little on the roots of some of my trees, which I 
found an advantage in getting at the grub while en¬ 
cased, as they will approach near the surface ; when the 
earth is raised and light it is very easy to get at them. 
I had concluded to send you in a newspaper which will 
go by this mail, four of the grubs incased, and two of 
the bugs, which you can examine. I think it likely by 
the time this reaches you, it will be a good time to exa¬ 
mine for them in your country. 
I see from your paper the bee moth is very trouble¬ 
some in your section of country. When I commenced 
house keeping, I purchased a few stands of bees and the 
moth destroyed them all the first year. Upon exami¬ 
nation, I found that the moth deposited the eggs in a 
web between the bench and the box: and as soon as they 
hatched they crawled up to the comb, and formed a 
web round them so the bees could not destroy them. I 
made it a rule to go to the stands two or three times a 
week, ar d brush off the eggs and web deposited;, but 
finding this troublesome, I concluded to raise the boxes 
by putting small wedges under each corner: this I found 
of great service; but I discovered, unless the w r edges 
were made very smooth, the eggs were frequently de¬ 
posited under the wedges. I then concluded to drive a 
ten-penny nail into each corner and let the box rest on 
them, so the bees could pass under all round. Since I 
adopted this plan which has been twelve years, I have 
not, as I recollect, been troubled with a single bee moth. 
I am not in the habit of writing any thing to go in a 
newspaper,—but if j'ou think the experiments I have 
made will be of seivice to the public you can publish 
them. Very respectfully your ob’t servant. 
SAMUEL LANCASTER. 
Various matters considered. 
Dear Sir —A few days ago one of our most respec¬ 
table physicians came into our store, opened a volume 
of the Cultivator, and read the communication of mine 
saying that bots never injured the horse. He then re¬ 
marked with emphasis, that he had seen the maw of a 
horse where the bots had eaten through it, the evidence 
of injury and consequent death of the horse. I answer¬ 
ed, that in my view, it was evidence of another fact. 
That when the horse was dying and dead, his maw be¬ 
came cold and uncomfortable to the bots, and they 
would “ go ahead” by perforating the maw, to escape 
from the cold. I asked if he had seen parasites crawl 
from animals soon after their death, to escape from the 
uncomfortable cold ? That head lice run over the face 
of the human subject, after death, when the head be¬ 
comes cold. He left us abruptly, without answering. 
On reading the remarks of your scientific correspon¬ 
dent, J. M. Garnet, in favor of applying manures to the 
surface, rather than ploughing them under : I ask, whe¬ 
ther the value of his experiment of spring ploughing 
over that of autumn, is not to be attributed to thf 
