Entomological. 
SNOUT-BEETLES 
Injurious to Fruits and Vegetables. 
BY CHAS. V. RILEY. 
[Rend before the III. State Horticultural Society.] 
Insects, like other animals, derive their 
nourishment from the vegetable and animal 
kingdoms; but a glance is sufficient to show 
that they possess a fur greater field of opera¬ 
tions than all the other animals combined. 
Indeed, the food of insects is a theme so 
large that. I might occupy your entire time 
by dwelling upon it alone. The other ani¬ 
mals use as food but a very small portion of 
the inexhaustible treasures of the vegetable 
kingdom, and the remainder is unpalatable 
or even poisonous to them. Not bo with in¬ 
sects, for, from the gigantic Banyan which 
covers acres with its shade, or the majesLie 
Oak to the invisible fungus, the vegetable 
creation is one vast banquet, to which they 
sit down as guests. The larger plant-feed¬ 
ing animals are also generally confined, in 
their diet, to the leaves, seeds or stalks, be¬ 
ing either foliticeous or farinaceous; but 
insects make every possible part of a plant 
yield them valuable provender. We have 
an excellent illustration of this omnipresent 
character of insects in those species which 
are well known to attack the common apple 
tree. Thus, beginning at the root, we find 
it rendered knotty and unhealthy on the 
outside by the common Root louse, (Erioxo- 
mapyn —Fitch,) while the heart is often en¬ 
tirely destroyed by one or the other of two 
gigantic Root-borers, (Priomut imbricomis, 
Linn, and P. laUcollix , Drury.) The trunk 
is riddled by the larvae of several Long-hom 
beetles, and pre-eminently by the Two- 
striped Superda, (Sapurdu bivittata —Say,) 
as well as by Other smaller beetles ; the liber 
and alburnum are destroyed by the Flat¬ 
headed Borer, (Ohrysdbothris femomta — 
Faijr.,) the outer bark eaten by bark beetles 
(Scolylus family) and sucked by Bark lice 
peculiar to it. The branches and twigs are 
lxored along the axis and pruned by tin: 
larva* of the common Pnmer (fSlaphidion 
niUosum —Fabr.,) and by that of the Parallel 
Primer (E. jtaralbslttm — Lec.,) girdled hv the 
'I' wig-gird lor, I Oucidcrm eingulatus —Say 4 ,) 
sawed and rasped by the Periodical Cicadas, 
(Cicada ee.ptetm/ec-im — Linn, and C. / rede¬ 
em —III lev,) otherwise known as Scveuteen- 
year Locusts, by tree-hoppers and a dozen 
other IIoinoptefouH insects; bored into from 
the side by the Twig-borer (Boxtrichux bica,u- 
dot us- —Say,) wounded by the bites of such 
beetles as the New York Weevil, (lthycerus 
novcubovacemis — Forster,) or pierced as by 
a red-hot wire by small boring beetles (Sco- 
ly tala'.) 
The lmds before they expand are infested 
with the larvffi of the apple bud-moth, (<7ra- 
pholitbaOCltlana, IlAUU.)or entirely devoured 
by voracious climbing cut-worms, Agrotis 
scandem , Rm.wy, etc.) The blossom has no 
sooner unfolded its delicate and beautiful 
petals than it is devoured entire either by 
the Brazen Blister Beetle (Lytta amea, Say,) 
the Striped Cucumber Beetle, ( Diabvotica 
vittata, Farr.,) the Rose hug, or by a great 
many other insects that might be mentioned, 
some, as the different bees, confining them¬ 
selves to the pollen or honey from the nec¬ 
taries, while others again prefer other parts. 
The young fruit is either eaten partly or en¬ 
tirely by Snapping beetles, (Mdanotm com - 
munis and M. ineertux) or punctured by 
cither the Plum or the Apple Cured)ins, and 
afterwards bored through and through by 
their larvffi or by that ubiquitous Apple 
worm, (Curpocapsa pomoneUa ;) as it matures 
it is eaten into by the larva of the Plum 
Mothf (Scmasia pruniwra, Wai.sh,) ren¬ 
dered putrid by the Apple Maggot (Trypeia 
pomoneUa , Walsh,) and by the Apple Midge, 
{Mo. lob cm mali , Fitch ;) as it ripens it is 
gouged by the Flower Beetles, (Euryomia 
inila and E. mdancholiM,) and disfigured by 
a variety of oilier insects, while Ihc skin is 
often gnawed off and corroded by the larvffi 
of the Rose Leaf-roller, (Loxotamia roiaoeana, 
Harr. ;) and even the seed, if it should be 
preserved, u til be attacked by the Grain 
Si Ivan us, (Silmnus surinanionsis, Linn,) the 
Dwarf Trogosita, (T. mi tut, Mtclsh,) and the 
larvffi of one or two small moths. And, as 
to the leaves, they arc not only sapped and 
curled by the apple Plant-louse (Aphis mali, 
Fabr,) and by leaf-hoppers; rolled by sev¬ 
eral leaf-rollers; folded at the edges by a 
small pale, undeserihed worm which I shall 
soon describe; blistered by the Rosy Hispa, 
(Uroplata rosea, Wkbich ;) crumpled by the 
Leaf Crumpler, (Phycita nebula, Walhit,) 
mined by the Apple Micropteryx, ( Micro - 
pteryx jiominonUa, Pack. ;) skeletonized and 
tied together by another undescribed worm, 
which I shall someday name Arobasis Ham- 
tnondii, in honor of one of your members— 
but they are greedily devoured by a whole 
horde of caterpillars, from the tiny Micro- 
pteryx to the immense Cocropia Worm, some 
* I have bred apeoiweua of this insect from apple 
twigs. 
+ Inappropriately so culled by Mr. Walsh, as I 
shall presently show. 
of which confine themselves to the paren¬ 
chyma, some to the epidermis, some to the 
tender parts, without touching the veins, 
while others bodily devour the whole leaf. 
The sap forms the solo food of some insects, 
and even when the poor apple tree dies, a 
host of different insects revel in its dead and 
decaying parts, and hasten its dissolution, so 
that it may the more quickly he resolved 
into the mold from which it. had, while liv¬ 
ing, derived most of its support, and through 
which it is to give nourishment fortbeyoung 
trees which arc to take its place. 
Thus we perceive that there is not a single 
part of the apple tree which is not made to 
cradle, or to give nourishment to some par¬ 
ticular insect, and the same might, he said of 
almost every plant that grows on the face of 
the earth, even those which produce resin¬ 
ous or gummy substances, or which are 
pithy in the center, having special insects 
which feed upon these parts and on nothing 
else. There are insects—the gall makers for 
instance—which, not satisfied with any ex¬ 
isting part of the plants, as such, cause ab¬ 
normal growth, iu which their youug are 
reared. 
Nor are insects confined to vegetables in 
their recent slate. The block of hickory 
wood, fifty years after it is made up into 
wagon wheels, is as palatable to the Banded 
Borer, (Cerasphorus cinctut, Drury,) which 
causes “ powder-post,” as it was to tin: Paint¬ 
ed Borer,( Olytuspidus, Drury,) while green 
and growing; aud a beam of oak, when it 
has supported the roof of a building for cen¬ 
turies, is as much Lo the taste of au Anobium 
as the same tree was while growing, to the 
American Timber Beetle, (liylemtux Ameri¬ 
ca nm, Harr.) Some, to use the words'of 
Spence, “ would sooner feast on the herba¬ 
rium of Brunfelsius, than on the greenest 
herbs that grow," and others, “ to w hom 
*-a river and a sea 
Are a dish of tea, 
And a kinjrdom bread and butter,’ 
would prefer the geographical treasures of 
Saxton or Speed, in spile of their ink and 
alum, to the freshest rind of the flax plant.” 
Indeed, it, would be difficult to mention a 
substance, wdiether animal or vegetable, on 
which insects do not subsist. They revel 
and grow fat. on such innutritions substances 
as cork, hair, wool and leathers; and with 
powers of stomach which the dyspeptic suf¬ 
ferer may envy, will live luxuriously on horn; 
they insinuate themselves into the dead car¬ 
cases of their own class; they are at. home 
iu I ho hottest and strongest spices, in the 
foulest filth, in the most putrid carrion; they 
can live and thrive upon, or within ihe liv¬ 
ing bodies of the larger animals, or of those 
of their own class; they arc at. home iu the 
intestinal heat of many large animals, revel¬ 
ing In the horse's stomach, in a hath of chyme 
of 102° Fa hr., or in the bowels of man, in an 
equally high temperature. Some have even 
been supposed to feed on minerals, and, not 
to dwell upon Barchewitz’h talc of East 
India ants, which eat iron, certain it is, 
that the larvae of our May flics do eat earth, 
and T have known the larva? of the common 
May Beetle to feed for three months upon 
nothing but pure soil; but in both these 
cases the insects undoubtedly derive nour¬ 
ishment from the vegetable matter which is 
extracted from the earth by the action of the 
stomach. 
These facts will serve to show you that, 
seek where you may, you cannot find a place 
or u substance in which or on which, some 
insect does not, feed. They people the skyey 
vast above, swhn at ease in the water, and 
penetrate the solid earth beneath our feet,; 
while some of them inhabit indifferently all 
three of the elements at different epochs of 
I heir lives. 
Now when wo reflect that there are at 
least half a million—if not a full million— 
distinct specie* of insects in this sublunary 
world of ours, and that their habits and 
habitations are so diversified, it would really 
seem as though entomology was a subject 
too vast for ipiy one man to shoulder; and 
indeed it is in all conscience extensive 
enough. The science of entomology is how¬ 
ever, so perfect in itself, and its classifications 
so beautiful anil simple that a particular 
species is referred to its Order, its Family, 
its Genus, and finally separated from the 
other species of that genus, with the greatest 
ease, and with a feeling of true satisfaction 
and triumph, by those who have mastered 
the rudiments of the science. And, very 
fortunately, it is not, necessary for the practi¬ 
cal fruit grower to enter into the minutiae of 
species or even of genera in order to learn 
the habits of the insects which interest him 
ill one way or another. These minutiae 
must he left to the professed entomologist. 
There is not an iusect on the face of the 
globe which cannot be placed in one or the 
other of seven, or more properly speaking, 
eight great Orders; so that, unlike the Bota¬ 
nist, the Entomologist is not bewildered by 
an innumerable array of these Orders, 
though lie has five times as many species to 
deal with. Those Orders comprise about 
two hundred Families, many of which may, 
for practical purposes, be grouped into one 
family—as, for instance, the seven Families 
of Digger-wasps and the five large Families 
which have all the same habits as the true 
or genuine Ichneumon-flies. Many more 
may he neglected as small, rare, or unim¬ 
portant ; so that practically there will remain 
about a hundred family types to he learned. 
Each family, as Aoassiz lias well remarked, 
may, with a little practice, he distinguished 
at a glance by its general appearance, just 
as every child, with a little practice, learns 
to distinguish the Family of A’s from the 
Family of B’s, aud these from the Family of 
O’s in the alphabet, There is the old Eng¬ 
lish A, the German text, A, and a host, of 
ornamental A’s, both in the capital letter 
and the small or “ lower-case ” letter, as the 
printers call it; but the Family likeness runs 
through all, and it is astonishing how quick 
a child learns to distinguish each family 
type. It is true there are a few abnormal 
or eccentric insects—there were some which 
deceived even Linnaeus —which put on the 
habit of strange families, just as an eel, 
which is a true fish with fins, puts on the 
habit of a snake—a reptile without fins. 
But these are the exceptions and not the 
rule.—[To be continued. 
(Tbe Apiarian. 
AETEFIOIAL SWARMING. 
Frank Saw in asks: —“ 1. How early in 
the season will it do to form new colonies?” 
Just as soon as the colonics arc strong 
enough in bees to he divided—provided the 
honey harvest is good. When they arc 
about prepared to swarm naturally — i e., 
have queen cells about ready to seal. 
“ 2. Is there no danger of taking the only 
queen from the old swarm, thus leaving it 
penniless?” 
You ought to take her from the old swarm 
—that is the proper way. In natural swarm¬ 
ing the old queen leaves the parent hive 
with the first swarm. You may divide, 
however, without knowing or curing which 
colony, Ihc old or new, contains the queen. 
“How many swarms tnay be taken 
from the parent swarm in one season ?” 
Generally but one, with safety. 
”4. By what, means may the queen be 
captured ?” 
You do not need to capture her. 
“ 5. Can a. swarm be artificially obtained 
from a common board hive?" 
Yes; but it will seldom pay. If you have 
not movable-comb hives, belter not under¬ 
take artificial swMjuing- However, if In any 
case you desire tT>do so, ftiverl the box hive, 
or “ gum,” place an empty hive or box over 
It, and by beating the sides with slicks, drive 
the bees up, till you see the queen go up, or 
till you think she has gone up. You do not 
need mom t han half the bees, provided you 
get the queen with them—but the queen you 
must have, in this mode of swarming. Then 
place and secure in the top of the hive you 
design to put, t he new swarm into, a piece of 
comb containing brood and honey; put, the 
swarm into it, and set it where the parent 
hive stood, moving the parent stock to a new 
stand. 
In dividing with frame hives, the easiest 
method is, to take out about half the combs, 
dividing the brood mid honey about equally, 
and filling vacancies with empty frames, set 
the old hive a short distance to one side, say 
two feet, and placd the new hive, containing 
the combs you removed from the old hive, 
with the bees adhering to them, about the 
same distance to the other side of the spot, 
on which stood the old hive. If there are 
queen cells containing larvffi, eggs or queens, 
place some in each hive; iT no cells, put 
eggs in each hive. In a few hours you can 
easily tell which hive contains the old queen. 
The bees having her will be quiet, while the 
bees in the other hive will be running out 
and in, and about the entrance, searching 
for her. You may, then, if you wish to do 
just, right, give more of the brood to the 
hive that is queen less, say three-fourths of 
all, and all will he right. ' W. C. Condit. 
Howard Springs, Tenn. 
--- 
The Hive Mr. Print Dhos. 
In answer to an inquiry by Mr. Quinby 
(in Rural New-Yorker, October 22d.) as 
to the style of hive used and manner of put¬ 
ting on' boxes, &c., 1 use the. Laugstroth 
Hive exclusively, and consider it the best. 
The dimension's are eighteen and three- 
fourth inches long by fourteen inches wide, 
and ten inches in depth, with sufficient, room 
in the chamber for twelve boxes, six on the 
surface of the honey board and six above, so 
ns to afford room for all the bees to work. 
The colony that made the large amount of 
honey was transferred from an old box hive 
in May to a frame hive. I afterwards di¬ 
vided them, and made three stocks, which 
were quite thrifty. It is my custom to swarm 
my bees artificially, which I consider a great 
improvement. 
Will Mr. Quinby, or others, please inform 
me, through the Rural New-Yorker, as 
to which is considered the best honev-empty- 
ing machine, giving descriptions of same? 
Also,where 1 can obtain the same?— Eta 
N. Pratt. 
Answers to the last inquiry must appear 
in our advertising columus. 
■Rib (frops. 
SMUT CAUSED BY INSECTS. 
On several occasions, during the past year 
letters have been received by the Farmers’ 
Club of this city, from correspondents who 
asserted that smut iu wheat was caused or 
produced by insects. One writer said that 
he had proved this to be true from the fact 
that worms were found in the joints of the 
stems hearing smut; but he admitted that 
worms were also found in stalks bearing 
sound grain, thereby showing that if this 
well known joint worm (Isomnahardei of 
Harms) has caused smut in some instances, 
it failed to do so in others. The extensive 
and destructive ravages of this insect are far 
too well known iu localities where smut is 
seldom or never seen, to cause us even to 
surmise It has anything to do with this 
parasite. We might, with just as much pro¬ 
priety and reason, assert that the moss found 
hanging from the brandies of trees, was 
caused by the borers often found in their 
stems. 
Mr. Devine, Tolouo, Ill., recently wrote 
to the Club, making a statement, similar 
to that of the writer referred to above, al¬ 
though ho believed the insect stung the grain 
instead of the stems, and that any one could 
discover by microscopic examination that, 
smut was caused by an insect; but bow, or 
by what species we were not informed. In 
answer to this correspondent I replied that 
by the same course of reasoning a housewife 
might, suppose that when she found both 
mold and skippers hi her cheese, that the 
latter was caused by the former. 
This statement of mine seems to have 
raised the ire of Mr. John Baunii, Martins- 
burg, 11!., w hose letter was published in the 
Rural New-Yorker, Dec. 17th, and in 
which he favors the insect side of this ques¬ 
tion. lie Bays that, many intelligent farmers 
take the same view of the subject that, he 
does, and unless their eyesight deceives 
them, they could see where the insect had 
laid its eggs. But whether any eggs or in¬ 
sects were ever fountyii the smut we arc not 
informed, although it would prove nothing 
either way, if they had been, because it 
must still remain to be shown whether they 
caused the smut or bad been deposited in it 
by some insect which had selected this 
diseased grain as a nidus for Its eggs. If 
maggots are found in a dead horse, it does 
not prove that they were the creators of this 
quadruped or cause of his death. 
Binut in wheat is a well known micro¬ 
scopic fungus (plant) (Uxtilago segetum). 
Another species (IT. maydis) is known as 
smut in corn; other species of the same 
genus are found on grasses. But. I am not 
aware that any insect, has been accused of 
being the father or mother of the latter spe¬ 
cies, although it may be that Mr. Barnd 
lias a theory of this kind. In the letter re¬ 
ferred to above the gentleman asks “ why is 
it that ou the same head of wheat some 
kernels arc sound and others blasted?" 
Simply because the sound kernels were 
capable of resisting the attacks of the fungus 
(smut.) I might, as well ask why does one 
branch of a tree die while others remain 
alive. 
Again, Mr. BarkdosIis, “ Why is it that 
every blasted kernel 1ms a sting upon it?” 
My answer to this is, it is not proven that, 
such is the case until you produce the insect 
or better evidence than a mere assertion that 
such a thing has taken place. 
The allusion of the gentleman to plums 
dropping and rotting as t he results of a sting 
from the curculio, is scarcely analogous to 
our smut question, because the curculios are 
not the cause or originators of plums, as 
claimed for insects in producing smut. Rot¬ 
ten plums, or those stung by curculios, are 
not capable of producing another crop of 
the same kind of diseased frr.il, while each 
head of smutty wheat contains over ton mil¬ 
lion of spores which answer the same pur¬ 
pose as seed for multiplying their particular 
species of fungus. Insects often cause galls 
to be produced on various plants, such as 
oaks and willows; but galls never spread 
and multiply by seeds, because they con¬ 
tain none. But rust, smut and mildew 
are plants, created and brought into exist¬ 
ence by a higher and more intelligent Being 
than the worm that crawls in the filth of the 
earth. A. S. Fuller. 
-- 
HOP GROWING. 
Those who contemplate hop growing 
should bear in mind the simple fact that the 
excitement so long associated with the busi¬ 
ness has passed away. If sudden wealth to 
some has been the result of this excitement, 
w 7 e cannot reasonably expect the same suc¬ 
cess in the future. War times arc passed, 
as are war prices, and the business lias set¬ 
tled down on a common basis, with prices 
ruling much lower than growers ask for. 
Growers have learned this much this season, 
and should take advantage of their late in¬ 
struction. 
Hops sold so readily at tall figures during 
the war, that in sections where hops would 
grow acre after acre was planted, and now 
the acreage is kept up with the hope that 
hereafter, through the failure of the crop in 
other sections, a good living price maybe 
realized. We have planted too many hops, 
and have obtained too large a yield for our 
profit. The vermin benefited us by reduc¬ 
ing tbe number of pounds, and destroying 
the gardens in Europe; but we can reason¬ 
ably expect a discontinuance of tlicir visits 
in tbe future; so, by ordinary calculation, a 
large yield per acre may bo expected. 
Those engaged in the business will quite 
likely keep it up, while their poles last, as 
they are already in possession of all the im¬ 
plements needed, with hop house, &c. We 
cannot expect, these yards will be plowed 
up so long as prices range above cost of pro¬ 
duction, and the hope remains that some 
other grower, less persevering, may leave 
the growing of hops for other business more 
congenial and profitable. 
Now, will it pay the farmer not already 
engaged, to fit land, buy poles, and erect 
bop-houses for the purpose of growing hops? 
Would it not be wiser to invest money in 
stock which brings ready returns and in¬ 
creases the productiveness of the farm, 
instead of diminishing it? S. F. Tooley. 
Our correspondent’s suggestion to those 
who are thinking of engaging in hop pro¬ 
duction is a pet liuent one. But it. should 
not be forgotten that we are importing hops, 
and that their consumption is annually in¬ 
creasing in this country. Men who leave a 
business suddenly, with which they are fa¬ 
miliar, and for the prosecution of which they 
have acquired the necessary facilities, for 
some other business, with which they are 
not, familiar, because It promises a greater 
profit, often make a great mistake. At any 
rate, they usually have to pay dearly for 
what they learn by such change. 
♦ »•»- 
PREMIUM CORN GROWING. 
TriEonY will not. grow bread and meat for 
the million. Farmers want/aefo. In an ar¬ 
ticle published in the Rural New-Yorker 
about three years ago, I described my pro¬ 
cess of corn growing, the points being deep 
planting and thorough cultivation. I was very 
bitterly taken to do by certain men of Ihe 
shallow persuasion, because of my idea of the 
necessity of furrows ten inches deop for corn. 
I now give you the result of this year’sopera- 
tions, in ihe same direction, disclaiming any 
desire of controversy. 
We (my son now being Interested with me) 
took six acres Of so-called hard pan swamp— 
cleared six icon years ago. and thoroughly 
drained four years ago—slumped it. clean, 
and plowed it ten inches deep in April; 
planted it May lGlb, one and a-half inches 
deep, in rows three and a-half feet apart, each 
way. Five stalks were allowed to grow in a 
hill; no manure used ; entire cost of growing 
and cribbing the crop per acre, $ 13 . 50 . Har¬ 
vested from our premium acre, 170 bushels of 
ears of corn, all sound, and it was hard to 
decide which acre was beat. Value of corn 
from one acre, at fifty cents per bushel, the 
market price, $80.50; entire cost of crop per 
acre, $13.50. Net profit, $70. 
There also grew on this acre, two bushels 
of beans, worth in our market, $2,50 per 
bushel, and three large wagon loads of pump¬ 
kins, worth $1 per load. Total, $8, which 
will twice pay the interest, and tux on the acre. 
By deep plowing , thorough cultivation, and 
doner , we have reclaimed a poor farm, so 
as to take first premiums this year, at the 
Crawford Co. Fair, on farm, potatoes and 
corn. If shallow men—plow men—cau beat 
this, we will quietly try again. 
Yours, for improvement, 
Alvah Beeman. 
Potter’s Corners, Crawford Co., Pa., 1870. 
FIELD NOTES. 
Potiitoet from Seed Hull*. 
Mr. W. F. Stanton, Wayne Co., Pa., 
writes that last spring he sowed potato seed 
from the Excelsior potato, the plants of 
which were transplanted into good garden 
soil. These plants grew finely. He began 
to dig as the tops ripened — from August to 
October—keeping each distinct variety sep¬ 
arate. There were eighteen varieties. The 
tubers averaged in size that of a large hen’s 
off?, the largest measuring nine and one-half 
inches longest circumference. Mr. S., of 
course replants these varieties the coming 
season. 
Ptorwny nml Wlilu* Cnnuctn Ontfl. 
I had two and a-half acres of each of 
these oats in one lot. The Nor ways threshed 
out one hundred and eight bushels, the 
Canada ninety-two; the Norway weighed 
thirty-six pounds to the bushel, the Canada 
thirty-eight. The above measure is as they 
ran from the machine ; of course, they will 
weigh out more. Land in corn, the previous 
year, and quite clean. 
niiM.HOiii'i Turnips. 
James Jenkins writes us that Mr. J. M. 
\V. Seeley brought a lot of turnips into 
Carthage, Mo., the largest of which weighed 
thirteen and a-half pounds and measured 
thirty-two inches in circumference. 
