MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
THE LEADING AMERICAN WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D, T. MOOEE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors. 
CHAS. D. BRAGDON. Western Corresponding Editor. 
Tire Rfral New-Yorker is designed to be unsurpassed in 
Value. Purity, Usefulness and Variety of Contents, and unique 
and beautiful in Appearance. Its Conductor devotes bis per¬ 
sonal attention to the supervision of its various departments, 
and earnestly labors to render tbe Rural an eminently Reliable 
Guide on all the important Practical, Scientific and other 
Subjects intimately connected With rhe business of those whose 
interests it zealously advocates) As a Family Jocr-val it, is 
eminently Instructive and Entertaining — being so conducted 
that it CAn be safely taken to the Hearts and Homes of people of 
intelligence, taste and discrimination. It embraces more Agri¬ 
cultural, Horticultural, Scientific, Educational, Literary and 
News Matter, interspersed with appropriate and beautiful 
Engravings, than any other journal,—rendering it the most 
complete Agmcowcual. Litkrary and Family Newspaper 
in America. 
For Terms and other particulars, see last page. 
TESTING- NEW PLANTS. 
A commendable anxiety is evinced by American 
farmers to add to the list of valuable plants, to 
obtain which they are willing to pay a reasonable, 
and sometimes a very unreasonable, price. This 
desire is too often taken advantage of by those who 
are willing to “turn an honest penny," and hence 
every year many wonderful tliiugs are advertised, 
growth, it very much resembles. A few days after, 
I was astonished to see it develop into Chess, ( Bro¬ 
mus secalimts.) This was the first ripe specimen of 
Willard's bromus I had seen. I examined it, with 
care, and, to avoid the possibility of a mistake, I 
submitted specimens of it to Professor Gray, of 
Cambridge, Mass., and to Professor Dewey, of 
Rochester, New York, both pf whom, after exami¬ 
nation, pronounced it genuine chess. 
But Mr. Willard having quoted from the report 
of a committee of an agricultural society, in which 
it was said that if a ‘jury of cows should confirm 
the opinion of Mr. Willard as to the superiority 
of the grass, then will the agricultural community 
owe him a debt of gratitude for having introduced 
to notice hero a. species of grass which is highly 
beneficial on light, sandy soils, much superior to 
any other species, and producing most abundantly 
on land of better quality,’ I directed it to be sub¬ 
mitted to such a jury, which unhesitatingly pro¬ 
nounced a verdict.” The cows preferred new 
swamp hay to the chess hay. 
This chess operation should have answered for a 
century, yet in 1857 a variety of chess (Brovins 
unioloides, J was obtained by our government from 
Peru, and distributed through the Patent Office, 
which proved no more valuable and no less a 
nuisance than our common chess. Such facts prove 
the necessity of caution, and while we would not 
discourage agricultural experiments, or the testing 
of new plants that may become candidates for pub¬ 
lic favor, a word of timely caution may not be 
unnecessary or unprofitable. 
—- 
SNOW-DRIFTS. 
Snow-drifts arc prominent features in New 
York landscapes during a portion of every year, f 
which, if the owners could he believed, are far supe- have heard artistically disposed persons eulogize 
nor to an\Hung ever before cultivated or known* their outlines, their immaculate color, and the 
™ m08t ot lbos * a . re never Leard Of the second matchless beauty of the crystal gems that form 
one season wiug sufficient to satisfy every them. But I never saw a teamster badly -stuck” 
experimenter that in buying seeds he unwittingly j n a drift, who found anything to admire there ;-be 
sold himself. The present spring we have seeds of always seemed to take a sober view of human life, 
a new coffee plant advertised, well suited to a and evidently regarded that particular snow-bean 
northern climate, but which has no more relation¬ 
ship to genuine coffee than marrowfat peas. .Most 
of our readers will remember the noise made last 
season about Japanese wheat, which proved to be 
nothing hut a millet. Cases similar, and even more 
glaring, are doubtless familiar to all. The agricul¬ 
tural press has in most cases given timely caution, 
and saved the farmers of the country from both 
disappointment and loss. 
A little knowledge of the general principles of 
botany would he of immense advantage to the prac¬ 
tical class, and often save them from becoming the 
dupes of the ignorant or designing. That there is 
a growing interest in this department of knowledge, 
we have abundant evidence in the many inquiries 
we receive for information, and the great number of 
plants sent us for name. Some years ago a Bromus 
was advertised extensively under the name of Wil- 
and evidently regarded that particular snow-heap Tastes, souses, I'm determined to be rich; 
as an unmitigated nuisance. So 10115 fts tlmt alcllClms b ,lR ‘ sun i 
1T , Can transmute into gold whnte'erl like 
' til. suppose the ’War power, in the liberal On earth, 111 air or water! while a banquet 
exercise of its prerogatives, should close our ft ever spread before me. in a hall 
thoroughfares, without any very apparent - military • Of heaven s own building, perfumed with the breath 
necessity,” or compel ns to go through by an im- Nature’s self, ami ringing tg the sounds 
mense expenditure of patience and horse flesh— Of her own choristers.” 
should wo not groan under such a “despotism?” In this mood, I came to the domicile of my worthy 
buch non-intercourse acts would make a civil war, friend, John JIokhanplk, Esq., who greeted me 
it wo hadn’t oue before. I beg to remind you that with a hearty welcome, adding, *• By the by. I have 
snow-drifts, without any Military necessity, do just a prisoner, a queer • pup-bull-dog-headed’ caterpil- 
that sort of thing. With no respect for men or their lar. I caught, the villain in the very act of cutting 
pressing needs, they forbid the use of the public off' entire bunches of green grapes, which I first 
highway, without previous notice! Who has not noticed lying under the vines. Wondering what 
seen whole districts barricaded with snow day after mischievous scamp was engaged at such work, lo 
day, and week alter week — none of your - paper and behold ! I saw the rascal, and watched him till 
and would be the only expense of keeping the road 
open. Those who can get stones will please attend. 
Third —There are large accumulations of snow in 
low places, which may be avoided by raising the 
road and depressing the fences. If nothing else will 
suffice, then throw up a turnpike, and the snow will 
blow oft from it. This will benefit the road by 
making it more level and of course drier. In this 
case the road will be frequently bare, and a good 
track should be secured for sleighs at the side of the 
road, and indeed that should always be provided in 
all roads. 
Fourth — It is better to take down rail fences, and 
put. them up in the spring, than to expose travelers 
to the accumulated horrors of a drifted road. 
Lastly, if we have a conservative party that'ioi// 
hare drifts, and such lime honored institutions, will 
they do us the favor, in the mean lime, to keep the 
lots open and let 11 s travel there; or if that boon is 
denied, will they put up stakes on both sides of the 
track so that, we can keep over it, however giddy 
our elevation. Small iiivors will be thankfully 
received.— 11. t. b. 
--- 
THE FARMER AND ENTOMOLOGIST. - No. II. 
Ens. Rural New-Yorker:—I t was a pleasant 
day in the latter part of July, 1861, that tempted 
me to leave the “hurdy-gurdies,” grinding Handel 
in the dusty streets of our populous town, to seek 
the quiet shade ol the country or made vocal by its 
feathered songsters and chirping: insects. 
To the student of Nature, every nook or corner 
along’ (lie road side, every plant, shrub or tree, will 
afford matter for inspection and food for thought. 
Each season has its varied store, so that, when the 
gay promise of spring is transformed into summer, 
glowing summer to the fruitful autumn, even win¬ 
ter, so cheerless, is not wholly void, but yields its 
objects for study and contemplation. 
In my ramble, the following lines of J. N. Barker 
occurred to me, when he says: 
“Thanks to my bumble nature, while I've limbs, 
Tastes, senses, I'm determined to be rich ; 
So bins: as tliat alchemist, (lie sun, 
Can transmute into gold Wliate er I like 
On earth, In air or water! while a banquet 
ts ever spread before me. in a hall 
. Of heaven’s own building, perfumed with the breath 
# Of Nature's self, and ringing to the sounds 
Of her own choristers.” 
In this mood, I came to the domicile of my worthy 
friend, John IIoeiiaxule, Esq., who greeted me 
with a hearty welcome, adding, “By the by. I have 
blockades. ’ so harrowing to English sensibilities, 
but the genuine “ effectual" sort, that stops you 
whether or no! Visits of pleasure, and the weightier 
t>„ , T . nuviuvi t loiw 01 uieanuve, auu me wtHgnuer 
twn, flT™ t N T' y i, ri T 6 - L0U d ka0W demand9 of toa pork market and apple trade, must 
nm i It 1 “ ! o m< '“ ° f lh , 0 WOrthy of a11 **keld in abeyance. Children find infinite dif- 
cultivation; aud the only one that has ever been 
considered worthy the notice of the farmer is Bro¬ 
mus an-amis, and even this was discarded long 
since. Yet this Bromus of Willard, which was 
nothing but our common chess, (Bromus secalinus,) 
was purchased by hundreds of farmers at four or 
five dollars a bushel. Flint gives the following 
interesting account of this chess speculation: 
Acuities in the pursuit of knowledge, congregations 
grow small, and even stores and taverns for a while 
lose their victims. 
satisfied he was the culprit, 1 assure you I put an 
end to his depredations, and secured him for your 
inspection. 1 have read of caterpillars called 
4 sphinx.' I could conceive no better idea ol such 
a monstrosity.” 
I supposed it to he one of those large caterpillars 
usually found on grapes, nearly allied to the genus 
sphinx, one of which Mr. Harris named Philarn- 
A NEWLY DISCOVERED DEPREDATOR OX THE GRAPE TINE. 
Fig. 1, Lan a or Caterpillar. Fig. 2, The empty Chrysalis. Fig. 3. TI 10 Imago—I’apaiio_? 
supports itself with its caudal pair and four pairs I have, however, come to the conclusion that a law 
of pi olegs, when at rest, as you see. Now irritate ought to be passed against killing insectivorous 
the fellow with the point ol a pin—there. ’ birds. 1 have numerous cages, as you see, around 
“ Why, just, see—the creature protrudes a forked my garden, for the wrens. I do not even frighten 
tongue from the nape of its neck,” exclaimed my dl ° birds from my cherry trees, as rlid a neighbor 
friend, “and what a queer smell. What is the mean- of uiino, by putting a young chicken hawk into a 
frig of tliat?” cage and suspending it in the tree, and feed the 
“That is a tentaculated, fleshy,furcate append- fcllovv wirh insectivorous birds while acting as a 
age, called the nuchal fork, or vulgarly, the -stink « uarf \ t0 hU fruit ’ rd wring rascal's neck off, 
horns,’ and is no doubt a weapon of defense, iti and give the birds fair play. What il they pick a 
order to frighten off the insidious ichneumon fly, |-ew — t! my also clear the trees from insect depreda- 
desirous to lodge an egg into its fat and smooth t01 ' H ’ But bilking about chrysalids, I could not 
carcass. The common green, black and yellow help moralizing upon the wonderful transformation, 
spotted, or banded, caterpillar, found on tbe fennel To conaider tbat lhe disgusting worm we call eater- 
and parsley, is provided with the fork, and when P niar < focdin S n P on th <‘ erode leaves of vegetation, 
irritated, will give the head a toss, and thrust out becorat>3 enveloped and swaddled like an Egyptian 
the concealed, harmless stink lmn.. in B hape mnch hung 1,1 air naked, or inclosed iu a 
like the letter Y. These, when raised, are the sdk - v crJC00n , without apparent life—a, motionless, 
larva: of the Papilio asteriasf but they have not fix'"! thing—then in due time to burst its cerements, 
the first three segments enlarged like the one under and to come ,01 ' tb a nc ' w creature, robed in garments 
consideration, which latter is in character like the °f Scanty. to wing its way from flower to flower, 
larva of the large yellow and black striped swallow- si PI ,in K their neetared sweets, is truly surprising, 
tailed butterfly, the Papilio litmus, found on the aad calculated to teach a useful lesson, 
sassafras and spiceberry bushes in their larva state, Surprised at my friend's change of the subject, I 
only that they are green, with yellow edgings, while observed—“Yonr idea and reflections are by no 
this individual before us is of a pinkish brown means new. This fact was early noticed. One 
mottled color.” genu9, called Psyche—from the Greek, meaning the 
“ The little attention I have paid to the trans- human soul—was used, both by the ancient Egvp- 
formation of insects, has only bothered mo,” said t!ans and Greeks, as au emblem of immortality, 
my friend. “ I was induced,” be continued, “a few Some P oet a,so embodied the idea in twenty 
years ago to satisfy myself that caterpillars turn verses > found in tlle Introduction to Entomology by 
into butterflies, and collected quite a number of &iruy & Sfexse, page 75. The 15th verse says: 
Ml last delinquent path-masters make a kind of pclus, which means “ I love the vine.” Mr. II. also 
“track” for a “decoy!" Ignorant and unsophisti¬ 
cated, or perhaps compelled by business engage¬ 
ments, you venture forth upon the “ wavy deep,"— 
your steeds struggle resolutely, but vainly, and at 
Nothing more clearly illustrates the want of last sink exhausted in the pliant snow. I hope and 
accurate knowledge of subjects intimately con- pray that you are a good man, and wont indulge in 
nected with agriculture, and immediately affecting any unseemly remarks, or thoughts, either. You 
fllA fa N.H t „ A. „ . A At it . . .... 
the fanners’ interests, than the more recent history 
of die propagation of this worthless pest to our 
grain-fields, it was, within the memory of many 
farmers who suffered from it, heralded in the 
papers, in connection with the names of distin¬ 
guished friends of agriculture, with the earnest 
hope that it might receive extended trials. Mon¬ 
strous prices were charged aud paid by the farmer 
for its seed, iu many cases four and five dollars a 
bushel, a pledge being exacted that it. should not be 
allowed to go to seed. Committees of agricultural 
societies were invited to examine aud report upon 
it; and in a letter now lying before me, the disin¬ 
terested propagator very kindly offers to put up ten 
barrels of bromus seed for one hundred dollars, 
saying that -ol course the earliest applicants will 
be sure of obtaining till all is gone, which would 
scarcely give a barrel to a State. * * * Years 
must elapse before the country can be supplied as 
it now is with herd-grass and clover seed. My 
offer invites co-operation aud participation in the 
profits and pleasures now available —for taking 
advantage of the honest credulity of the public? 
A quantity of bromus seed was sent to the State 
harm of Massachusetts, for the purpose of experi¬ 
ment, with a letter with directions to sow with 
clover, iu the spring of 1855. The crop was cut 
v nle yet green, and before the grass had developed 
sufficiently to distinguish it with certainty. The fol¬ 
lowing year directions were given to let it stand 
atei in the season. While engaged in the collec- 
1011 and study of specimens, in the course of the 
summer of ISoG. l gathered samples of the grass 
v u n it was still immature. Without giving it a 
will please to unharness, and by dint 0 !' much 
stamping or shoveling you will get your team out, 
and then your vehicle. My horse has been laid up 
lor a week since getting out; may you have better 
luck. 
Are drifts a necessity? Must we, and our chil¬ 
dren. and our childrens’ children endure them for lhe 
term of our natural lives? Drifts are not a neces¬ 
sity. They may be avoided in every ease, by 
attention to the following considerations: 
l irsl Leave forest trees along the line of the 
highway where the general surface of the ground 
would induce drifts. A narrow strip of woods, if 
made thick by underbrush, or evergreen, would 
suffice. The trees would pay their way lor fuel, 
(replacing the largo ones removed by smaller,) and 
by Lhe protection they would afford to crops, fences 
and farm stock. Save belts of wood when you 
“clear” new countries, or put them out where they 
are needed. May we not be permitted to hope that 
the “intelligence of the age” will yot busy itself 
with the pi-bper disposal of our forests, placing 
them where they will do the most good? Now, they 
are arranged by caprice, following this general rule: 
-Get them out of eight if possible, and by all 
means where they can do no good to the traveler.” 
Second —Drifts are generally occasioned by rail, 
or open board fences, atul may be essentially pre¬ 
vented by substituting stone wall. Build a half¬ 
wall, and remove the tup rails during the winter, 
and you w ill have little or no trouble from drifts. 
Many roads are blocked to the Serious annoyance of 
the traveling public, that might remain open by 
substituting the halt-wall, and that too, when such a 
rerv eWo a™™,- 4 - ... 0 -» - Luomu-ffau, mm too, waen 
Ihe } Tirnrni ammatK ' n at ! he tlme » 1 Pronounced it fence would be as cheap as any other. The r 
(iriensis > which, at that stage of its .and return of the top rails would cost ven 
he removal 
very little. 
says:—- The grape vine suffers still more severely 
from the ravages of another kind of sphinx cater¬ 
pillars, smaller in size than that of the preceding 
[ Acheiuonf and, like them, solitary in their habits 
but more numerous; and. nor content with eating 
the leaves alone, in their progress from leaf to leaf 
down the stein, they stop at every cluster of fruit, 
and, either from stupidity or disappointment, nip 
off the stalks of the half grown grapes, and allow 
them to fall to the ground untasted. 1 have gath¬ 
ered under a single vine above a quart of unripe 
grapes thus detached during one night by these 
caterpillars.” 
In the meantime the prisoner was brought forth 
and put on the stand. To my surprise, instead ol 
lhe larva of the hawk moth family. 1 beheld iu the 
Criminal the evidence of belonging to a family 
heretofore unsuspected of mischief to the grape or 
fruit of any kind, that. I am aw are of. this being the 
larva of the genus Papilio, a tribe of diurnal or 
day-tlying swallow-tailed butterflies. 
“This is something new, friend John,” I said, 
" but no sphinx caterpillar. Are you sure that you 
have the guilty one?—his doings are so much like 
the caterpillars Mr. Harris mentions; and he was 
too wide awake to mistake this individual species 
for the class of hog-nosed caterpillars lie speaks 
about, for they have the fourth aud fifth joints or 
segments large, while the first, second ami third are 
gradually smaller toward the small head: besides, 
they have either a curved horn or eye-like spot near 
the caudal extremity, and underho their transform¬ 
ations iu the ground.” 
“ That this is the criminal I will swear to,” suid 
honest John, (though he is conscientious against 
swearing, and always “affirms” in court.) 
“Well,” said I, “that settles the question. This 
chap, you perceive, has the first three segments 
united into one above, with an eye-like spot on 
each side. The real head is what appears as merely 
a snout. There is also a series of small blue spots 
across the hind margin. The fourth and fifth seg- 
ments are raised, and have no prolegs ; the insect 
carcass. The common green, black and yellow 
spotted, or banded, caterpillar, found on the fennel 
and parsley, is provided with the fork, and when 
irritated, will give the head a toss, and thrust out 
the concealed, harmless slink horn, in shape much 
like the letter Y, These, when raised, are the 
larva' of the Papilio asterias ," but they have not 
the first three segments enlarged like the one under 
consideration, which latter is in character like the 
larva of the large yellow and black striped swallow¬ 
tailed butterfly, the Papilio iurnus, found on the 
sassafras and spiceberry bushes in their larva state, 
only that they are green, with yellow edgings, while 
this individual before us is of a pinkish brown 
mottled color.” 
“ The little attention I have paid to the trans¬ 
formation of insects, has only bothered me,” said 
my friend. “ 1 was induced,” he continued, “ a few 
years ago to satisfy myself that caterpillars turn 
into butterflies, and collected quite a number of 
different kinds. These I put into separate paper 
boxes, with a few of the leaves upon which they 
fed. I inspected my prisoners daily, anti soon 
found thorn transformed into chrysalids—some sus¬ 
pended centrally by two threads and affixed by the 
tail, others by the tail only; others again were 
inclosed in silky cocoons; while the ball perished. 
Subsequently, I actually found different kinds of 
butterflies and moths in my boxes, but, to my 
astonishment, in one I found a yellow, waspish 
insect tliat I knew did not belong to the Lepidop- 
tera. This, I was afterward informed, was the 
Tragus fulgens, a parasitic, hymenopterous insect 
I confess it is highly interesting, but alas ! it don’t 
pay, so L abandoned it to those having leisure or ; 
inclination for such pursuits; besides, thei’e is no 
end to the matter—their name is legiou.” 
“Truly," said J, “considering we have about 
four hundred genera and about two thousand species 
enumerated in a catalogue lately published by the 
Smithsonian Institute, they present a formidable 
phalanx, and may all be brought under the three 
primary divisions;—those flying by daylight, the 
true butterflies, called Diumals ; those flying at 
twilight, the hawk moths. Crepusculars; and those 
on the wing during the night, the true moths or 
Ph(do;na —the Xodna. When we consider that the 
females usually deposit from two to live hundred 
eggs, so that from one thousand different sorts there 
will be on an average three hundred thousand 
caterpillars, allowing one-half to be females, the 
second brood would consist ol forty-live million and 
the third generation no less than six thousand 
seven hundred and fifty million. These being 
chiefly vegetable feeders, are highly injurious to 
our field aud garden crops, and hence of interest to 
the farmer and pomologist. Besides," 1 continued, 
“ they not only despoil the blossoms and fruit of 
our orchards, or disfigure them with their webs, 
some live in the solid timber, or ill the pith and 
stems of the plants; others, again, attack our woolen 
garments, furs, leather, meat, wax, flour and lard; 
uor are the books and cabinet ot the student or 
entomologist exempted from their depredations.” 
“ Well, well," said J'mix, rather impatiently, “ all 
this 1 have been taught by experience, and find it 
necessary to be vigilant; but the remedy is what 
we farmers want, without the trouble of telling 
what species they are—they are alike obnoxious. 
1 Shall the poor worm Unit shocks thy sight— 
The humblest form in Nnture's train— 
Thus rise hi new-born luster bright, 
And yet the emblem teach iu vain V 
The concluding verse reads : 
1 Go, mortalin thy reptile state 
Enough to know to thee is given ; 
Go, and the joyful truth relate. 
Frail child of earth ! high heir of heaven !’ 
Thus we see, dear sir, 
• Nature hath made nothing so base, but can 
Read some instruction to the wisest man; ’ 
and that 
‘ In contemplation of created things 
By steps we may ascend to God.’ ” 
Thus, after an hour's conversation, to our mutual 
edification. I bent, my steps homeward, with the 
imprisoned caterpillar, in order to observe its final 
transformation. The next day I found the cater¬ 
pillar attached by the tail, and the looped bridle or 
girth spun, aud his body suspended therein, prepa¬ 
ratory to changing into a chrysalis. This happened 
on the 25th of July. On the 6th of August i found 
the living imago in the box, and the chrysalis split 
and empty, as shown by figure 2. Figure 3 repre¬ 
sents the butterfly, natural size, with its wings back 
to buck, showing the bronzed, brownish under side, 
with the black markings, the yellowish and orange- 
shaded eye-like marginal spots, and light blue, 
speckled surroundings. The black markings are 
very much like those of the Papilio Iurnus, and a 
gentleman has assured me that he has observed 
both kinds so closely as to convince him that the 
color is only a sexual difference. This I am in¬ 
clined to doubt, however well assured I am that 
many considered as distinct species are but male 
and female of the same species; because I have 
raised both kinds from the larva, and they differ as 
much in habit, color aud appearance as do the per¬ 
fect insects. 
Here we have a dangerous species to the grape, 
undescribed before, to the best of my knowledge, 
and therefore consider it best to introduce the sub¬ 
ject for the benefit of your readers. j. s. 
Lancaster, Pa. 
• The upper side of the wings of figure 3 is jet black, with 
tin* marginal blue spots, &c., very much like the PapUiu 
a.sterias, only of a larger size. 
TWO DOLLARS A. YLOyATL. 
“PROGRESS -A.1NTD IMPROVEHNIFCNTT.” 
[SIfN'GEL.E NO. FTOTJfR. CENTS. 
TOL. xm. NO. 14.1 
ROCHESTER, N.Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 1862. 
fWHOLE NO. 638. 
