Warner logical. 
STRIPED BLISTER BEETLE. 
Inci.osed you will find a fair sample of a 
recently' discovered potato l»u^' in this locali¬ 
ty Are they the genuine Colorado bug? 
rfhev sllip the vines everywhere they go. 
Tin rc is also another species here, smaller, 
,,1 11 ,irker set; but 1 have concluded that 
ncili.ips ihey arc the same bug in different 
of life- They arc wild, ami caught 
AV i5l difficulty. It you can give us the 
„ m , of the bug, oral least assure us it is 
j • the Colorado pest, you will please many 
flinners here. — A. K. OSTRANDER, Jit,, 
Hamburg, If. Y 
You smashed their heads, ancl Uncle 
gum's mail agents smashed their bodies 
until there was little left for us to examine. 
We wish our correspondent would renu mber 
that we prefer our bugs whole, uot mashed 
or hashed. There was just enough left of 
the beetles for us to determine that they 
were the Striped Blister Beetle {Lytta rittata 
—Fan). This is really a Southern species, 
although wc saw them very abundant in 
Central and Southern Illinois years ago. 
They are certainly quite a different insect 
from the Colorado pest, as you will probably 
learn to your cost before another season is 
past. 
Take, a long brush ancl drive these blister¬ 
ing rascals out of your potato fields, for 
they can he driven away almost as easily ns 
sheep. Wo think that you need not he 
greatly alarmed at their presence, although 
they may do considerable damage this sea¬ 
son; blit it is hardly probable that, they will 
appear (at least not very abundantly) next 
season or thereafter. Your locality is really 
too far North for this pest to make a very 
pernnuieu t foothold. 
--- 
ANOTHER POTATO BUG. 
Inclosed please find a specimen of bugs 
that appeared on my potatoes some two 
weeks ago, since which time they have great¬ 
ly increased in numbers, completely strip¬ 
ping the leaves from many of the stalks. 
Now what 1 want to know is, whether they 
are 11 le Colorado bugs that we read so much 
about in Ibi! Rural New-Yorker; ami if 
they are, will they increase so as to material¬ 
ly injure the crop the present season?—II. 
E. Fair Held Co., C't. 
No; these are not the true Colorado pota¬ 
to bug, (Dorypltom, 10 -Umata.) They evi¬ 
dently belong to the same family, and appear 
to be a species of Chelymarpha, lmt are new 
to our cabinet. They are of the same size 
and general form of Chdytnorpha crihraria, 
Fab., but of a different color, and the spots 
upon the elytra larger. They will probably 
increase in numbers, and we would advise 
you to try freshly slaked lime upon the vines. 
Please send us additional specimens. Put 
them in a vial of alcohol for a few hours, 
and then take out and pack in a small tin or 
wooden box. Paper boxes arc generally 
smashed, with their contents, if sent, by mail. 
Also send us your full name and address, as 
we wish to communicate with you privately. 
A WAIL ABOUT BUGS. 
I inclose a pair (male and female) of bugs 
which devour my grape vines. They tall 
suddenly to the ground on touching the leaf 
upon which they arc feeding, and remain 
still ns if dead. I have thirty peach trees 
tlml came into bearing last year, and the 
prevail year they made promising show of 
blossoms and also of fruit But. soon I 
noticed that the fruit, on becoming about 
the size of walnuts, commenced falling from 
the irees, and at the present witling not a 
peaeli remains on the trees. On examining 
them, I find each one is punctured in one to 
a bait a dozen places, and inside 1 find the 
worms. But never in a single case have I 
been able to find the curculio on the peach 
trees or near them, neither by jarring nor 
by chips, &c., placed on the ground near 
the trees. 
I have twenty apple trees that have borne 
flint lie ten years. But the present season 
the fruit has all fallen off, punctured, and they 
are wormy. And all tlm fruit thus fallen 
i have gathered up and destroyed. Thus 
t ir I have not been able to find any curculio 
°r insects about my trees, except those I 
scad yon, which 1 had never seen until last 
year, and do not know what name to give 
them. I have found them only on mv grapes 
? n Raspberries. With the voracious saw- 
JI1 4N these ire very destructive, and but for 
‘ l Pjurof forceps which I make of my thumb 
and forefinger, my vines would have been 
‘festroyed.—L a Roy Sunderland, 
V'unoy, Mm. 
The quill in which the bugs were inclosed 
smashed into splinters, and its contents 
shaved the same fate. Guessing from the 
" casCs > which was the only portion lull 
f ' 'i •, we conclude that your troublesome 
!. ’ 1 !’ Ano/uula lucicola , a very destruc- 
,‘ Ve ' nse<jl t0 gmpe vines. They are quite 
‘ U ‘! n,ltt ‘ l1 ll <e vicinity of New York city, 
< n u< presume equally so in other parts of 
l( -' « oiiiitry. Wc think that yon would have 
y 1V:l ' difficulty in finding curculios it you 
I 'H |e morning among the 
1 cs on apple, plum and peach trees. We 
,'! | Ve C:u, « llt qualities of the rascals in the 
' MCt 0 depositing their eggs in crab ap¬ 
ples this season; but one needs to be careful 
not to jar the trees while looking for curcu¬ 
lios, unless there is something placed under¬ 
neath to catch them as they fall. It is easy 
enough to find curculios or other insects after 
one learns where to look. 
-♦ » » - - 
WOOD NYMPH MOTH: 
Eutlryas Grata.—Fabrlcus. 
I itave inclosed in a small box a moth 
found on the window, which was quite a 
curiosity to myself and family. Having 
never before seen anything like it, please tell 
us, through the Rural New-Yorker, its 
name and something about its habits and 
history.— Samuel J. Sweet, Yates Co.,N. Y. 
We are not surprised at your curiosity in 
wanting to know the name of this beautiful 
moth. To enable, other readers of the Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker to recognize it, we give 
the accompanying illustration (Pig. 1), which 
rboricultnrr. 
Figure 1. 
shows the moth’s natural size, and the fol¬ 
lowing brief description:—Fore wing pure 
white, with a broad stripe of dark purple 
along the front edge extending from the 
shoulders to a little beyond the middle; also 
a broad band of brownish purple around the 
outer bind margin. The bind wings are 
yellow, both on the upper and lower sur¬ 
face; but on Ibe upper there is a purple- 
brown bind border, on which there is a fine 
wavy white line. The upper side of the ab¬ 
domen is yellow, with a row of black dots, 
and a row of the same on each side. The 
under side is white; also the little tufts on 
the fore legs. 
Harris states that the larva (Fig. 2) of 
Figure 2. 
this moth feeds upon the grape vine. It is a 
little over an inch long, of a blueish color, 
transversely banded with deep orange across 
the middle of each ring, the bands being 
dotted with black; the head and feet are 
orange. These caterpillars appear in July 
and August. 'There are several species of 
“blue caterpillars” which feed upon the 
grape that resemble each other very closely, 
but in the moth state they are quite distinct. 
- ♦♦♦ - 
ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES. 
HoIluotrauiinUc Fly — (Carydtilis Corn uni*.) 
I send you an insect which we would 
like to have named and a description of.— 
w. n. ir. 
We have received several specimens of 
this insect, within the past few weeks. The 
same insect was described in the Rural 
New-Yorker, July 29, page 63. 
White Hellebore to Destroy l’otnto Hush. 
Dr. Geo. Duryea of Rahway, N. J., in¬ 
forms us that, he has destroyed, successfully, 
the potato bug and cabbage worm with 
white hellebore. He applies it with a sieve 
or large tin box perforated with holes, and 
sifted over the vines and plants. He has 
tried the experiment on Early Rose pota¬ 
toes, and speaks positively of its accomplish¬ 
ing the purpose desired — it kills the bugs 
almost as soon us it touches them. 
Aiiomiila I,iirii-olii.—Correction. 
I am much surprised to find myself so mis¬ 
represented in the “ Diary of a Ruralist,” in 
the Rural New-Yorker of July 22, p. 43. 
The writer states lie has “discovered that 
the four species described by Fitch are real¬ 
ly but one, the Anomdta lucicola , Burm.” 
And further on lie says, “ Upon referring to 
Dr. Leconte’s catalogue of Coleoptera, I 
find that he has placed Dr. Pitch’s distinct 
species as only synonyms of the A. lucicola.''' 
As most of those who road the above state¬ 
ments will take it for granted that they are 
correct, it is but just that what I say on this 
subject should be presented to-them. My 
words are as follows:—“The fore part of 
July beetles resembling in their appearance 
the May beetle, but of a much smaller size, 
become common on both wild and cultivated 
grape vines, feeding upon the leaves. From 
their colors and marks they would appear 
quite plainly to be of at least four very dis¬ 
tinct species, and Fab rictus has named and 
described three of them as such. But as 
they are always found associated together, 
and similar insects in Europe vary similarly 
in their colors, it is probable they are, as au¬ 
thors have supposed, mere varieties of one 
species.” Now I know not bow language 
can lie more plain and explicit than Ibis is. 
And whoever refers to my notice of this in¬ 
sect, which occurs in mv Third Report on 
Noxious Insects,(Trans. N. Y. State Ag. Soc. 
for 1856, page 403,) will observe it is so con¬ 
spicuously numbered and headed "129. 
Light-loving .1mom.ua, Anotnulu lucicola, 
Fab.,” that I think lie will he surprised that 
anyone should therefrom derive the impres¬ 
sion that I regard it. as “ four distinct spe¬ 
cies.”— Asa Fitch, Salem, If. Y., Aug., 1871. 
OSAGE ORANGE 
Not Profitable North of 11’ N. Latitude. 
The Rural New-Yorker of May 14th, 
1871, contains a very interesting article from 
Mr. Wm. T. Talbott concerning the cul¬ 
ture of the Osage Orange (Maclura auvanti- 
uca). For the readers of the Rural in the 
Southern and warmer portions of our coun¬ 
try, his remarks are excellent; hut 1 ques¬ 
tion the practicability of agriculturists north 
of 41’ north latitude, especially in the State 
of New York ami the Eastern States, deriv¬ 
ing benefit from the culture of the Osage 
Orange us a hedge plant. It is not a native 
of this latitude. It requires a warm, genial 
and dry climate. In Arkansas and 'Texas 
it rises in beautiful proportion, extending 
its branches and foliage to the bight of sixty 
feet, It is then one of the most beautiful of 
native trees, but it is an exotic to the more 
northern territory. I have seen its beauty 
and vigor in Southern Iowa and Illinois, 
and throughout the great Mississippi and 
Missouri Valleys below Omaha, Nebraska 
and Davenport, Iowa. But north of those 
points, and in Wisconsin and minnesota, 1 
have seen miles of dead Osage. I have 
received from the lips of farmers of prac¬ 
tical experience their regrets and assertions 
that they know Osage cannot be grown 
beneficially In those localities. In Wayne 
Co., New York, experience has taught us 
that the Osage is killed by the winter weather. 
Osage on our New York farms dies out, and 
sooner or later becomes a malum in m; and 
an evil, too, which is with difficulty eradi¬ 
cated from the soil and replaced by another 
fence. 1 have no doubt that we may obtain 
hedges which are valuable for more than the 
decoration of land; but it is well to consider 
thcobjections to them, even though they be 
the best vmiclies for the soil. The land is 
shaded, the soil is exhausted, and the pro¬ 
ducts of a land or ridge destroyed. Other 
objections are the liability to accident from 
horses lining driven near the thorns, and, as 
a consequence of this, the difficulty of bar- 
rowing or plowing adjacent to them. Con¬ 
sider with this the slow growth of the hedge 
and the expenses attendant upon its culture 
and protection; consider, too, all the ven¬ 
ture and t rouble and oil on waste of laud in 
the enterprise, and decide if we in the 
northern parts of mu* country and in Canada 
can make the cultivation of Osage Orange 
for hedges feasible, economical and useful. 
I do not contemn the utility of Osage 
Orange. The wood is one of the most valu¬ 
able in the world. For furniture it is valu¬ 
able, as it is susceptible of a high polish. It 
also yields a yellow dye. For ship building 
it is esteemed preferable to live oak. The 
Osage wood was used by the Aborigines of 
the South for bow wood in making their 
serviceable bows. The elasticity, strength 
and toughness of the Osage was deemed by 
the Indians the best of any kind of wood. 
Osage is an indigene of a more dry atmos¬ 
phere than that of New York, like Missouri 
or Kansas, where it flourishes and becomes 
the most beautiful hedge. But. its limited 
bight and sluggish growth, if it does grow 
Imre in a few protected spots, indicate that 
it is not useful for hedging. 
There are other varieties preferable for 
beautifying and adorning our landscapes 
with hedges. Tim Honey Locust ((lleditschia 
triacanthos) is suitable, for hedging in the 
country, concerning which T have written. 
It will make a fence as soon as the Osage. It 
is well supplied with thorns and lias a rapid 
growth. Some of the best bodges in Michi¬ 
gan mid New York are of this plant. It, is 
more robust, but less dense than the Osage, 
This is an advantage for a strong fence. 
'The American Arbor Vibe, the Buck Thorn 
(Rharnnus cathartk-us), Berberry and similar 
varieties, and Hawthorn—tender as it is— 
are preferable to Osage for New Yorkers 
and the North. The Honey Locust, when 
developed, is not alone delicate ami beauti¬ 
ful, but also vigorous in growth and capable 
of useful and ornate culture. 
Newark, N. Y., 1871. Galen Oderkirk. 
- *♦<* - 
ARBORIOHLTURAL NOTES. 
A sties for Peach Trees. 
Dr. George B. Wood, President of the 
American Philosophical Society, has com¬ 
municated a paper to that Society, which 
the Philadelphia Ledger thus epitomizes: 
Peach trees in this vicinity, after producing 
a few crops, not only cease hearing but 
perish themselves in a short, time; whereas, 
their natural life is fifty or sixty years, or 
more. The cause of this defective power of 
growth is believed by Dr. Wood to be owing 
to a deficiency of potash in the soil, and lie 
assures us that if this alkali be supplied to 
the tree so that it shall reach the small roots 
and be absorbed, the fruit-bearing power is 
restored, and the tree itself, if prematurely 
perishing, is revived. Believing with most 
persons that the cause of tlm decay lay in 
worms at the root of the peach tree, lie put 
in operation a plan which he had seen his 
father perform more than fifty years before, 
viz.: of digging around the base of the stem 
a hole four or five inches deep, scraping 
away all (be worms that could be found bur¬ 
rowing at the junction of the stem and root, 
and filling the hollow thus made with fresh 
wood ashes from the fire, which, of course, 
retained all their potash. 'This was done in 
the autumn of 1868, and with a result, the 
following spring, at which lie was himself 
astonished. The trees appeared to have 
been restored to all their early freshness and 
vigor; they put forth bright green leaves, 
blossomed copiously, and bore a crop of 
fruit such as they had never borne before, 
many of the branches breaking down under 
the load of the peaches. 
Dr. Wood, in reflecting on these results, 
and noticing that several of the peach trees 
treated had no worms, cimio to the conclu¬ 
sion that we must look for an explanation to 
some other cause than the destruction of a 
few worms, and this cause lie believes to be 
the ashes, the potash of which being dis¬ 
solved by the rains, bad descended along the 
roots to the rootlets, and presented to them 
the very food, for the want of which they 
were dying. Decaying apple trees, bearing 
stinted and inedible fruit, have been revived 
by a similar process, and with the like 
results. 
Fnll Ulautina Everirroen«. 
Pinnky & Lawrence, Sturgeon Bay, 
Wis., say:—“If moist, wet weather, plant 
evergreens from 15th of August to the 1st 
of October, but not later, unless quite warm 
and moist. Spring planting should not be 
commenced until the ground has become 
warm in any case, and not until nearly the 
time the buds have begun to push. It is a 
very popular notion that trees should be 
planted very early in the spring; this de¬ 
pends much upon the locality where the 
trees havegrown. In this latitude trees do 
not usually begin to start until about June 
1st, and as a rule are better planted June 1st 
than any earlier. We do all our planting 
in June, and have shipped trees as late as 
Jinn: 24lh to Central Illinois, with ns good 
success as those shipped earlier; but this as 
a rule is too late. If deferred until into 
June, the shipping bad best be postponed 
until August or September, when the new 
growth lias become sufficiently hardened, 
and I lie terminal bud well developed; in 
very early seasons this may be as early as 
July 20111 .” 
arm (f ronermn. 
icrbsimm, 
NOTES FOR HEKDSMEN. 
Carbolic Monp for I,ice, 
A subscriber asks if any Rural herdsman 
lias baa any experience in the use of carbolic 
soap as a lice exterminator; also for an ef¬ 
fectual remedy for the affliction. We have 
published a dozen remedies the past year. 
Vermin on Stock, 
A correspondent of the WiUiamctte 
Farmer feeds his stock a tablespoonful of 
sulphur to each animal, with their salt, once 
in two weeks. When he lias done so, no 
vermin have troubled them, and his dairy 
cows have not been affected with garget, nor 
ids sheep with grub in the head. He lias 
practiced this twenty years. 
Wliui Ails my Ox? 
Last February he commenced losing 
saliva, and a short time afterwards I noticed 
some small blisters had raised on his tongue. 
[ cut Ids tongue where the blisters were, so 
that it bled about a pint, and washed it with 
a mixture of chloride of lime and water; 
after that, ho kept, getting better, until I 
thought him well enough to work, when, 
suddenly, l noticed bis longue was swelled 
very bad, so that it caused him to hold his 
month open ; and now (his Longue lining still 
swollen) there is a hunch raised under bis 
chops as large as a pint cup, and remains 
swelled hard. If any one can inform me of 
the name of t,hc disease and how to cure it, 
it would be thankfully received.—B. H. 
Young, Winona Co., Minn. 
Rem city for Scours. 
Among the many remedies given for 
scouring in stock, 1 find none so good as 
strong coffee. We have saved the lives of 
colts, cows, calves and pigs. Make the cof¬ 
fee strong, and if they can not be induced to 
drink, pour it in through a funnel or from a 
bottle; but don’t pull out the animal’s 
tongue, as is recommended by some, because 
it is most sure to get into the windpipe. 
We saved a valuable Cow by giving ground 
coffee in some bran, salted to suit the taste. 
We once bought a pair of Chester White 
pigs, and at. six weeks old one of them com¬ 
menced scouring, and I despaired of its life. 
All remedies failed to check it. We gave it 
a few spoonfuls of strong coffee, which ef¬ 
fected a cure. This remedy is simple and 
always on hand, and can be given safely in 
quantities t.o effect a cure.— Subscriber. 
SALT AS A SOLVENT FOR SILICA. 
I notice in the Rural New-Yorker of 
August 5, that Mr. Thomas Taylor still 
holds bis erroneous ideas relating to the sol¬ 
vent action upon silica of common salt. I 
will briefly point out the defects in bis state¬ 
ments, and with this the discussion, as far as 
I am concerned, must close. 
Mr. Taylor says that my “ great error 
consists in not taking into consideration (lie 
fact that suit in I be soil is decomposed by 
contact with a large variety of substances,” 
whereas this decomposition of the salt, in¬ 
cludes precisely the chemical reactions which 
I, justly, assumed to be loo well known to 
call for repeated or elaborate explanation. 
1 will, however,attempt to make plain, even 
to him, the manner in which salt, dissolves 
silica when disseminated in thu soil. 
The decomposition, Which Mr. Taylor 
admits, is simply the separation of the sodi¬ 
um from the chlorine, of which two elements 
common salt is composed. The sodium by 
oxidation becomes soda, and the chlorine, 
by combination with hydrogen — evolved 
from the decay of organic matter and from 
other sources—is converted into hydro-chlo¬ 
ric acid, which is one ol the most powerful 
solvents of silica known in chemistry. This 
hydro-chloric acid acting on the sand grains 
dissolves the silica and insures the greater 
percentage of this element, v liicl) analysis of 
the ash lias shown to exist, in the straw of 
grains grown on sailed, sandy land, as com¬ 
pared with tlml from land with like diame¬ 
ter not manured with salt. A fine practical 
illustration of the solvent action of hydro¬ 
chloric acid—which is obtained in immense 
quantities as an incidental product in ilio 
manufacture of soda ash from common salt 
—is furnished in the preparation of paper 
stock from East Indian cane. The cane, 
crushed between rollers, is steeped in Hie 
acid, diluted with water, by which means 
the silicious outer coating is dissolved away. 
A more annoying example is frequently ex¬ 
perienced in analyses in which hydro-chloric 
acid is an agent, and in which, from the sol¬ 
vent properties of the acid, the process is 
hindered and the accuracy of the results 
made doubtful by the presence of gelatin¬ 
ous silica. 
I forbear to touch upon the extraneous 
matter presented in Mr. Taylor’s communi¬ 
cation, for this discussion lias already cov¬ 
ered all that is likely to lie of interest or 
utilily to practical farmers. But i may bo 
permitted to suggest to Mr. Taylor Unit no 
mere course of reading or accumulation of 
isolated facts will lead to any reliable or use¬ 
ful knowledge of chemistry. This cun only 
be gained by the mustcry of principles which 
arc immutable in their nature and are at 
once the cause and the explanation of all 
that occurs in the realm of science. If Mr. 
'Taylor will prove himself us active in pen¬ 
etrating the mysteries of these as lie lias been 
in collating irrelevant paragraphs to sustain 
a groundless position, no one, with greater 
pleasure than myself, will mark Ids progress 
iu a field of investigation where every hour 
of study brings us into closer familiarity 
with laws that govern the universe, and in 
which, more than in any other, knowledge 
is its own exceeding great reward. 
James A. Whitney. 
ECONOMICAL NOTES. 
To Get 1C. i*1 of Fern Bok«. 
Andrew Scott is informed that we know 
of no better way to get, rid of the bogs of 
brakes or ferns than to grub them up, let 
them dry and burn them up. 
To Prepare Cotton SeeU for Manure. 
G. A. W. Steadman writes Our Homo 
Journal:—“ Fanners have lost much of the 
value and strength of cot ton seed as a manure, 
from its growing when used as a fertilizer 
for corn. To prevent this, in a few hours’ 
time, the following process should be fol¬ 
lowed ;—Keep your seed dry until you wish 
to use it for corn ; fill a barrel full of tbeseed, 
and pour two gallons of boiling water on it, 
and in two hours the vegetation is destroyed 
and the strength of the seed not injured. Or 
put the seed iu piles in the field, say fifteen 
bushels in a pile, one kettle full of boiling 
water poured on each pile, will kill the seed 
and not take any strength from them as a 
manure.”__ 
Noxious Weeds. 
It seems to be a groat puzzle to some per¬ 
sons how to get rid of noxious weeds. There 
is one certain method which never fails if 
it. is properly and persistently put into prac¬ 
tice viz , keep nil the leaves and stems cut 
close down to the surface. It makes but 
little difference wlmt kind of instrument is 
used For this purpose, whether it be hoe, plow 
or cultivator, only let them be used so fre¬ 
quently that the plant can get.no opportuni¬ 
ty for breathing, «a it were, through its 
leaves. Them is »u> species of noxious plant 
that will live for any considerable time -wit li¬ 
mit leaves, and this peculiar characteristic 
should lie taken advantage of in their de¬ 
struction. Even Canada thistles and Toad 
flax will succumb under such treatment. 
