MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
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TUG AMERICAN TEDIT CATERPILLAR. 
Although there are several species of the 
caterpillar tribe, that infest our orchards, yet 
there is no other one of them so universal and 
so destructive as the American Tent Caterpil¬ 
lar— Clisiocampa Americana, of i)r. Harris. 
And hence no vigilance should be spared to 
destroy them, wherever and whenever they are 
found. Where but little attention has been 
paid to their destruction, they have been 
found to increase so rapidly that the orchards 
bear a sorry appearance. Dr. Harris, in his 
invaluable treatise on “Insects Injurious to 
Vegetation,” remarks that “the tre.e where 
they have been suffered to breed for a 
succession of years, become prematurely old, 
in consequence of the efforts they are obliged 
to make to repair, at an unseasonble time, the 
loss of their foliage, and are rendered unfruit¬ 
ful, and consequently unprofitable.” 
The wild cherry tree is their natural home, 
and on these they may generally be seen in 
abundance. Hence, in our efforts to be rid of 
them, we should spare none of these; else they 
will continue to plague us almost as much as 
though we did nothing. But to be fully suc¬ 
cessful, it is necessary that all should be equal¬ 
ly active in the warfare. And it is here as in 
other things—the careful and provident are 
forced to suffer and bear the greatly increased 
labors forced upon them by the indolent and 
thoughtless. 
JYow is the best of all times to examine the 
orchard and garden, to find their eggs, and so 
destroy them before they are hatched. If a 
tree is closely scrutinized, they may be seen on 
the small branches, in the form of a short cyl¬ 
inder encircling the limb, and looking like a 
brownish ring. This ring is composed of some 
three to four hundred eggs, set upon their ends, 
and compressed together, and the whole cov¬ 
ered with a good coating of water-proof var¬ 
nish. Discovering them, now they are readily 
removed with the thumb-nail and finger. 
About the beginning of May, or as soon as 
tire leaves unfold, they are hatched, and the 
whole brood then make their way.to the forks 
of the branches below them, where they form 
a web, which is their shelter at all times when 
not feeding. As they increase in size their tent 
is enlarged, till at last it becomes of large size, 
sometimes nearly or quite a foot in diameter. 
They have their regular feeding hours, which 
are twice a day—once in the forenoon and once 
in the afternoon. At all other times, and du¬ 
ring foul weather, they are found in their tents 
and may then be readily destroyed. Especial¬ 
ly is this the case when they are young, and 
their web small. A stick thrust into their 
nests, twisted about till it is all taken up, and 
then crushed against some hard substance, or 
thrust into boiling water, will finish them. If 
any are chanced to be left behind, they should 
be sought out. Upon branches beyond reach, 
a brush or swab, or something of the like, may 
be attached to a pole and used. This should 
be dipped in soap-suds, strong whitewash, or 
cheap oil. Much pains should be taken to 
drench them well, for all that take the. bath 
will be killed. Such nests should be looked 
to frequently, that if any stragglers have been 
left to form a new nest, they may be routed.— 
Death and victory should be the watchword, 
which should be had even at the hazard of 
cutting away the limb and consuming it with 
fire. But this need not be if the proper pains 
are taken at the right time. \ 
The caterpillar remains about seven weeks 
before it changes to the chrysalis form. Dr. 
Harris says, “ They then begin to leave the 
trees upon which they have hitherto lived in 
company, separate from each other, wander 
about awhile, and finally get into some crevice 
or other place of shelter, and make their co¬ 
coons. These are of a regular long oval form, 
composed of a thin and very loosely woven 
web of silk, the meshes of which are filled with 
a thin paste, that on drying is changed to a 
yellow powder, like flour of sulphur, in ap¬ 
pearance. 
From'' fourteen to seventeen days after the 
insect has changed to a chrysalis, it burets its 
chrysulis-skiu, forces its way through the w r et 
and softened end of its cocoon, and appears in 
the winged or miller form. The moth is of a 
reddish brown color, more or less mingled with 
gray on the middle and base of the fore-wings, 
which, besides, are crossed by two oblique, 
straight, dirty white lines. It expands from 
one inch and a quarter to one inch and a half, 
or a little more. They appear in great num¬ 
bers in July, flying about and often entering 
houses by night. At this time they*lay their 
eggs, selecting the wild cherry, in preference to 
all other trees, and next to these the apple 
trees.” The peach tree is not exempt from 
them either. Spring is the usual time for the 
broods to hatch, but the writer has known in¬ 
stances of their hatching in the latter part of 
summer. Insect depredators are increasing up¬ 
on our orchards, our fruits and our grains, and 
the utmost vigilance is necessary to head them 
off t. k. w. 
PEACH GRUBS. 
Mr. Moore: —Your correspondent K, in¬ 
quires if there is no other remedy for the 
peach grub but the knife. From long experi¬ 
ence I have never found any other. No 
Homoeopathic treatment is of the least avail 
after the worm has a fair lodgment under the 
bark, which is infallibly shown by the exuda¬ 
tion of highly-colored gum. Late in the fad 
and early in the spring is the period to thor¬ 
oughly eradicate the pest, and it is wise to 
do it thoroughly, even at the risk of freely 
cutting the bark; for if you do not,"the worms 
will, and at a period that the bark will not 
granulate and the trees recover. The preven¬ 
tion of their depredations is so easy, that no 
one who is willing to take a little trouble ought 
to complain. 
The parent insect is the Zygcena Persicce, 
and can hardly be distinguished from the black 
mud wasp, except that the male has two yel¬ 
low bands around the abdomen. They are 
both a dark steel blue. The female is much 
less in size, and differs a good deal in general 
appearance. She deposits her eggs about the 
middle of July in the cracks of the bark, very 
near the surface of the ground, wh ch very soon 
hatch and bury themselves in the bark beyond ' 
the reach of medicine. Their cocoons will be 
found on the surface about the first of July in 
the course of transformation into the perfect 
insect, when they soon after commence depos¬ 
iting their ova, and continue till the first of Sep¬ 
tember. 
The only security is in fencing the miscreants 
out, and putting a secure barrier between them 
and their haunts to procure a nidus for their 
future progeny; and the most handy and con¬ 
venient process is, to haul up a mound of earth 
around the bole of the tree, four or five inches 
in height, and afoot in diameter; this effectual¬ 
ly prevents the insect from laying its eggs in 
the soft and tender bark at the root. After 
the first frosts the earth should be leveled and 
the bark examined, and if any interlopers are 
found, they are readily discovered and de¬ 
stroyed. 
A shovel or two of leached ashes used in the 
same manner is good and safe; so is straw tied 
round the tree, or thick straw paper; in short 
any kind of fencing that will deter the insect 
from following its natural instinct. 
All pitching, tarring or other liquid applica¬ 
tions are useless, as the bark, in expanding, 
cracks aud exposes the tender surface most 
I convenient for the deposit of eggs. 
March, 1854. B. MANLY. 
PURPLE CANDY-TUFT. 
SAIPIC-LOSSIS ATROPURPUREA 
THE CANDY - TUFT AND SALPIGLOSIS. 
TTiie Purple Ca.ndvToft (Iberis Umbella,) 
ig a native of Caudia, aud receives its name 
partly from this fact, and partly from the form 
of the (lowers. Seeds were taken to England 
about the year 1590. It soon became a great 
favorite, and is now found in nearly every flow¬ 
er garden in the United Kingdom. There is 
much risk in transplanting the Candy Tuft, so 
that it should be sown where it is intended to 
remain. It flourishes on all rich, well drained, 
and well pulverized soils. The Horticultur¬ 
ist says: 
“ "When the plants are going into flower, the 
heads should be examined; and if too numer¬ 
ous, they should be removed. By this treat¬ 
ment, and occasionally loosening the ground 
around the plants, and keeping it free from 
weeds, flowers have been grown three inches 
across, most beautifully colored, being of a very 
dark purple on the outside, and softening to 
nearly white in the centre. The great points 
are, thinning the flowers gradually, as they in¬ 
crease in size, and supplying their roots with 
abundance of rich food when they are going 
into flower. By this mode of treatment much 
finer flowers may be grown than those usually 
seen in our gardens. The Lilac Candy-Tuft 
is a fine variety, of a beautiful lilac color. 
The Rocket Candy-Tuft (T. coronaria) is a 
splendid species, growing two feet high, branch¬ 
ing widely, each plant producing three to live 
racemes of flowers from six to ten inches long, 
and the ceutre one even longer than this, if 
properly cultivated. Cultivation the same as 
the Purple. 
The Sai.piglossis is a native of Chili, and 
was introduced into Europe in 1824. It bears 
a strong resemblance to the Petunia. The 
genus contains many kinds, differing only in 
color, and are all funnel-shaped, like the Petu¬ 
nia, but not so broad. Iu our bed, last year, 
we numbered about a hundred different varie¬ 
ties, many of them distinct and beautiful.— 
They were sown about the first of May, and 
early in July were in full bloom, and attracted 
crowds of admirers. We have found them to 
flourish best on a light, dry soil. They should 
have a place in every flower-garden. 
The name Salpiglossis, which signifies a 
tongue in a tube, is supposed to allude to the 
shape of the stigma, which is plainly seen in 
the centre of the tube-shaped corolla. 
THE CONCORD GRAPE. 
Mr. E. W. Bull, iu Honey’s Magazine, 
describes a new native Hiring Grape that he 
has produced, which, if if shall come up to the 
description, and realize what it at present 
promises, will supply a desideratum in the 
grape family that lias long been needed: 
“ The Concord Grape is a seedling, in the 
second generation, of our native grape, and 
fruited for the first time four years since, being 
at that time the only seedling I had raised 
which showed a decided improvement on the 
wild type. 
Notwithstanding its unfavorable position, it 
has proved a great grower and bearer, and 
very constant to its quality and season. The 
seedling from which the Concord was raised, 
grew near to a Catawba, and, it is quite possi¬ 
ble, was impregnated by it, it having the flavor 
of that variety. The parent vine was a good 
and sweet grape, large, black, and ripe the 20th 
of August. 
The Concord Grape, as I said before, is a 
strong grower: the wood strong, the foliage 
large, thick, strongly nerved, with a woolly un¬ 
der surface, and has never mildewed or rusted 
under any vicissitudes of weather. 
The grape is large, frequently an inch in di¬ 
ameter, and the bunches handsome, shouldered, 
and sometimes weigh a pound. Iu color it is 
a ruddy black, covered with a dense blue bloom, 
the skin very thin, the juice abundant, with a 
sweet aromatic flavor, and it has very little 
pulp.” 
Bavay Plums. —Some three years since, I 
purchased of Messrs. Ellwangkr & Barry, of 
Rochester, a plum tree of the Riene Claude 
He Bavay variety, paying therefor an extra 
price, supposing 1 was purchasing a very supe¬ 
rior kind; and took scions from it and grafted 
other trees which grew vigorously, and bore 
soon an plentifully, but I have been disap¬ 
pointed in the fruit. It is of good size, but 
rots on the tree, before it is fully mellow. I 
have been on the point of cutting them down 
as cumberere of the ground, but thought I 
would first inquire of your many correspond¬ 
ents, what their experience has been with the 
same fruit Is it worthy of a place in a choice 
collection of plums?—S. G., IVeedsport, JV. Y. 
Mr. Justin Chenoworth writes from the 
Dalles, Oregon, that he is growing in his gar¬ 
den a cabbage which he has carefully measur¬ 
ed, and found it to cover a space embraced iu 
a circumference of nearly fourteen feet, being 
four feet and six inches in diameter. The solid 
head is twelve inches in diameter. He thinks 
that the whole would weigh over fifty pounds, 
and the head will probably attain sixteen inch¬ 
es iu diameter. 
If you would have fruit, lop off every dead 
bough, and in the spring, immediately after 
the sap has arisen sufficiently to show where 
the blossoms will be, cut away all the branches ! 
having no indications of blossom, thus concen- j 
trating the sap of the tree upon the maturation 
of its fruits. 
Every farmer should have a well cultivated 
kitchen garden; and for the pleasure and com¬ 
fort of his wife and daughter, a front-yard 
neatly decorated with flowers and shade-trees. 
About such premises, on a well cultivated 
farm, everything looks like thrift and comfort. 
Issued from the United States Patent Office, 
For the week ending March 28, 1854. 
Elijah Valentine and Abel Brad way, of Mon- 
son, Mass., for improvement in machines for 
jointing staves. 
Elbridge Webber, of Gardiner, Maine, for im¬ 
provement in ship’s blocks. 
Ellsworth D. S. Goodyear, of Stapleton, NT. 
Y., assignor to New York Rubber Co., of New 
York, for improvement in processes for treating 
India rubber. 
Robt. H. Harrison, of Washington, D. C., as¬ 
signor to Robt. H. Harrison and John S. Galla¬ 
gher, Jr., of same place, for improvement iu 
churns. 
A. J. Cook, of Enon, Ohio, for improvement 
in the discharging apparatus of harvesters. 
H. G. Ellsworth, of Auburn, N. Y., for im¬ 
provement in belt clasps for machinery. 
Benj. G. Fitzhugh, of Frederick, Md., for im¬ 
provement in harvesters of grain. 
Luther B. Fisher, of Cold water, Michigan, for 
improvement in seed planters. 
Benaiah Fitts, of Worcester, Mass., for im¬ 
provements in feed water apparatus for steam 
boilers. 
Richard Jones, of the county of Burlington, 
N. J., for improvement in making zinc white. 
Seymour Ketchum, of Lancaster, Ohio, for 
improvement ' smut machines. 
Ohas. P. Ba*_ ^ of Zanesville, O., for portable 
head-rest for chairs. 
Anson Balding, of Olney, Ill., for improve¬ 
ment in submarine scoops. ■ 
Thus. W. Chatfield, of Utica, N. Y., for im¬ 
provement in hot-air furnaces. 
Jos. Marks, of Dunkirk, N. Y., assignor to Win. 
Whiting, of Roxbury, Mass., for improvement in 
machinery for operating car-brakes. Patented 
in England, Nov. 23, 1852. 
Jos. Marks, of Boston, Mass., and Jno. How- 
arth, of Salem, Mass., assignors to Wm. Whiting, 
of Roxbury, Mass., for improvement in machin¬ 
ery for operating car-brakes. 
Jno. Absterdam and Wm. Merrell, of Boston, 
Mass., assignors to Jas. A. Woodbury, of Win¬ 
chester, Mass., and Wm. B. Merrill, of Boston, 
Mass., for improved device for tonguing and 
grooving tapering boards. 
Richard D. Mott, of Spring Garden, Pa., for ; 
improvement in stereotype pans. 
Nicholas G. Norcross, of Lowell, Mass., for 
improvement in feed motion for sawing lumber. 
David B. Rogers, of Pittsburgh, Pa, for im¬ 
provement in machines for iorming cultivators’ 
teeth. 
Win. H. Seymour, of Brockport, N. Y., for 
improvement in harvesters. 
Jos. Smart, of the Northern Liberties, Pa., for 
improvement in pumps. 
Henry G. Smith, of Cleveland, Ohio, for im¬ 
proved construction of shingle machines. 
Thos. G. Stagg, of Jersey city, N. J., for ma¬ 
chine for tenoning, Ac., blind slats. 
Jonathan C. Trotter, of Newark, N. Y., for 
improvement in furnaces for zinc white. 
Geo. Trott, of Pittsburgh, Pa, for improved 
oil cup for steam engines. 
W m. Webster, of Morrisania, N. Y„ for im¬ 
provement in machines for bending sheet metal. 
R. A. Wilder, of Schuylkill Haven, Pa, for 
improvement in railroad car wheels. 
Edward H. Ashcroft, of Boston, Mass., for im¬ 
provement in track-cleaners for radroads. 
Jos. Leeds, of Philadelphia, Pa., for improve¬ 
ments in cooking stoves. 
Henry Underhill, of Canandaigua, N. Y., for 
improved hand printing-press. 
Ephraim, Titus tfe Emerson Sizer, and Amos 
Halladay, of Westfield, Mass., for improvement 
in Sacket’s braiding machine. 
Jas. Baxendale, of Fall River, Mass., assignor 
to himself, and Jas. Ferguson, of Taunton, Mass., 
for improved method of operating the doctors 
of calico-printing cylinders. 
RE-ISSUE. 
Horace P. Russ, of New York, for improve¬ 
ment in sub-strata for pavements. Patented 
March 14, 1848. Re-issued March 38, 1854. 
SPECTACLES. 
Reader, has the rapid railroad of time whirl¬ 
ed you past the 50th or 60th degree of the 
north latitude of age? Then you are in the 
frigid regions of manhood, and your optical 
lens are flattened and oblate, and good English 
is all Greek to you, without the aid of convex 
assistant^. YYgs you ever in a situation with¬ 
out your squintacles, that you would give 
a dollar to be able to see, read and write, 
as well as you could in the days of your pup- 
pyhood? If so, read the following discovery, 
and seud the money to the printer, for the ben¬ 
efit of any charity you please. 
Make a pin hole through a slip of common 
playing card, or an address card, or even stiff 
letter paper, and place it close to the eye, shut¬ 
ting the other, and with a good light the vision 
is as perfect as in youth. It is a device that I 
have often availed myself of, to my great ad¬ 
vantage. o. o. 
Screw Propellers. —Horatio O. Perry, of 
Buffalo, N. Y., has taken measures to secure a 
patent for an improvement in propellers. The 
improvement is more particularly applicable to 
the submerged propeller. This improved 
screw is composed of two or more hubs, from 
each of which radiates a series of arms, to 
which the blades are attached, they (the blades) 
extending only a portion of the distance from 
the exterior towards the axis of the screw.— 
Scientijic American. 
Experiments have proved that porous sand 
and other stones when steeped for about 8 
hours in hot coal-tar, (160 Reaumur,) acquire 
a greater degree of hardness and become im¬ 
permeable to water. Bricks require only 4 
hours, and the coal-tar a temperature of 90 
degrees Reaumur to become as hard as rock. 
The latter would answer best for sidewalks. 
The power of a water-wheel depends on its 
construction; but the power of the water is 
obtained by multiplying the number of pounds 
which falls in a minute, by the height of'the 
fall, and divide by 33,000.— Sci. Am. 
TflE BAROMETER OUTDONE. 
A correspondent ofthe Philadelphia North 
American gives an interesting description of an 
ingenious instrument, contrived by Dr. Merry- 
weather, of Yorkshire, England, the great 
working principle of which is found on the sen¬ 
sitiveness of leeches to the changes of the 
weather. It is well known that leeches con¬ 
fined in a bottle partly filled with water, are 
accustomed, previous to a storm, to rousefrom 
their sluggishness, and exhibit signs of extra¬ 
ordinary perturbation. ’They will swim in all 
directions, and rising one after another to the 
top of the water, commence climbing the side 
ofthe bottle. Availing himself of this time- 
honored custom among the leeches, Dr. Merry- 
weather arranged a number of bottles on a 
stand, each containing a leech and a metal 
tube of a particular form, covered with shellac 
varnish, so that no metal could come in contact 
with the animal. When a change in the 
weather was about to take place, the leeches 
would crawl into this metallic tube, and in so 
doing displace a small piece of whalebone 
which was arranged so as to partially close 
the opening. To this whalebone was attached 
a wire, which passing upward through the 
mouth of the bottle, connected with the ham¬ 
mer of a bell, so that whenever the leeches 
were influenced by the electro-magnetic state 
of the atmosphere to ascend the tube, notice of 
the fact would be promptly transmitted to the 
ears of their master. 
But it is not absolutely necessary that every 
one should have such a finished apparatus as 
that of Dr. Merryweather. On board of ves¬ 
sels it would only be necessary to keep a few 
leeches in a bottle, placed in some prominent 
place where the lookout could occasionally 
examine their movements, and the necessary 
warning be conveyed in ample time. 
Dr. Merryweather seems to have tested this 
invention fairly. For an entire year (1850) he 
wrote to the President of the Philosophical 
Society of YVhitby, accounts of the storm in¬ 
dications of his leeches; and in no instance did 
they prove incorrect. If these results are ver¬ 
ified by other observations, a leech barometer 
may be deemed an indispensable appendage 
to every ship and household. 
Seed Planters. — Ives McGaffy, of Philadel¬ 
phia, has taken measures to secure a patent for 
a useful improvement in Seed Planters. The 
plow has two wings of peculiar construction, 
which both open the furrow and cover the 
seed: a- roller passes down the soil on the seed 
after it is planted. The channel for dropping 
the seed is so arranged that it serves to con¬ 
duct both the seed and manure into the fur¬ 
row at the same time—a good arrangement.— 
Scientijic American. 
Threshing Machine. —Spencer Moore, of 
Central Bridge, N. Y., has made au improve¬ 
ment on Threshing Machines. It consists in 
the employment of grain and dust arresters, ar¬ 
ranged in such a manner as to prevent the 
dust and grain from passing upward in the 
face of the operator or feeder—these arresters 
cause all the dust and grain to pass through 
the machine. 
Liquid Glue. —The following recipe, the dis¬ 
covery of a French chemist, is selling about the 
country as a secret, for various prices from one 
to five dollars. It is a handy and valuable 
glue, as it does not gelatinize, nor undergo 
putrefaction and fermentation and become of¬ 
fensive, and can be used cold for all the ordina¬ 
ry purposes of glue, in making or mending fur¬ 
niture, books, broken vessels, that are not ex¬ 
posed to water, &c. 
In a wide-mouthed bottle, dissolve 8 oz. of 
best glue, in a half pint of water, by setting it 
in a vessel of water, and heating till dissolved. 
Then add slowly, constantly stirring, 2i oz. of 
strong aquafortis (nitric acid). Keep it well 
corked, and it will be ready for use. 
Keeping Quinces. —A new fact in domestic 
economy has been communicated to us by 
Mrs. B. Shurtleff of Chelsea At the usual 
time of gathering quinces, they were put into 
barrels filled with water and placed in a cellar. 
A few days since they were opened, and the 
quinces found perfectly sound—not one had 
decayed in the least. We are indebted to 
Mrs. Shurtleff for a specimen of the fruit which 
has thus been kept through the winter, and had 
just been prepared with sugar iu the usual 
way. It has the aroma, peculiar flavor, and 
all the qualities of fresh quince. From Mrs. 
S.’s experiment, we should think this mode of 
keeping quinces an important desideratum.— 
Boston Cultivator. 
Fire Kindler.— A very convenient materi¬ 
al for kindling fires, may be made by melting 
together, in any iron kettle, a quantity of tar 
and rosin—putting in rosin enough to reader 
the mixture moderately hard when cold—and 
while hot stir in a large quantity of charcoal 
dust, or even saw-dust. When the mass is 
cold, break it up with a hammer into lumps, 
of a convenient size, say about as large as a 
hen’s egg. The smaller fragments produced 
in breaking, ecu be re-melted, and again bro¬ 
ken to the required size. It will facilitate the 
breaking operation, to pour the mass while 
hot upon a flat stone or hearth, that it may 
spread out into a flat cake. 
Chapped Hands. — Mix a quarter of a 
pound of unsalted hog’s lard, which should be 
washed first in water, and then in rose water, 
with the yolk of a new laid egg and a large 
spoonful of honey. Add to this as much fine 
oatmeal 1 or almond paste as will make the 
whole into a paste, and apply this after wash¬ 
ing the hands. 
