tori) of a finralrst 
DAILY RURAL LITE 
From ilie Diary of n Gentleman near New 
Voilt City. 
(Striking Cuttings. 
Aug. 15.—Those who wish to preserve 
plants of the soft, succulent species, should 
begin to strike cuttings. I have found no 
difficulty in multiplying Coleuses, Begonias, 
Tradescantiae, and similar plants, by cuttings 
placed in a half-shady border, or under 
boxes with a light of glass Tor a cover. 
Make the cuttings of two or three joints, 
removing all but one or two of the leaves, 
and then place in a soil composed of at least 
one-half sand. Give plenty of water once a 
day, or once in two or lliree days, as re¬ 
quired, to keep the soil about them moist, 
but not too wet. 
Heliotropes, Salvias, and even the Monthly 
Roses, may be readily propagated in this 
way during the warm days of September, 
and the little plants thus grown are much 
more readily preserved through winter than 
the original stock, L have a little shady 
nook among some rocks where I struck 
scores of cuttings last season, and am now 
trying the same tiling this year, with every 
prospect of success. The truth is, very few 
persons try to see what they can do; and if 
they fail to have plenty of handsome plants 
some one else is sure to be blamed instead 
of themselves. 
In mi Kilitnv’N Suiiotimi, 
Aug. 22.—The Editor of the Ritual New- 
Yorker invited me to spend a day in his 
sanctum, and here I am noticing whatever 
transpires. Like many others, 1 supposed 
editors had a pretty easy lime, secure from 
intrusion and where they could cut and 
slash the communications of correspondents, 
tire a gun loaded with irony at their ene¬ 
mies, or tickle their friends with praise, 
without fear of molestation or consequences. 
1 had scarcely become seated by the side of 
Mr. Editor when a shrill whistle rang out 
near lus desk and almost made me jump out 
of my chair; but Mr. Editor leisurely look 
up a small India rubber tube lying near his 
left, hand, when 1 saw from whence the 
noise came; and as he placed his mouth to 
this speaking tube and said “ Well?” some 
one replied, “ l want a half column more of 
Horseman.” Of course this request came 
from the composing-room up in the fifth 
story of the building. Another pipe led 
down into the business office, and in addi¬ 
tion to these talking pipes there was a sort 
of dumb-waiter, such as we use to carry the 
dishes up and down between the basement 
kitchen and the dining-room, only it was 
smaller, being just large enough to hold let¬ 
ters and papers. It appeared to me as 
though these boxes were constantly running 
up and down, ami every few minutes the 
whistle would give notice that something 
was wanted. “ Herdsman ” was “ too long 
by four lines,” and the Editor must carefully 
read over the article and cut off just that 
much and no more. “Horseman” required 
lengthening two “ sticks," and “ Hygienic " 
a slick and a-lialf; and there was a great 
deal of talk about different kinds of type, 
such its caps, roman, brevier, italics, lower 
case, &c., about which 1 would like to have 
inquired, but did not wish to bother the 
Editor with such questions. Once after the 
whistle sounded from up stairs the Editor 
handed me a proof of my last “ Diary," and 
said, “ Please add about twenty words, so 
that it will just till a column and a-lialf, and 
allow us to use another article wc have up, 
suitable to occupy the remaining space.” 
When a follow has said all lie wants to on 
any given subject, it is not so easy a task to 
write just twenty words and have them fit 
in smoothly. 
After some study 1 managed to do as re¬ 
quested, but would have much rather writ¬ 
ten a whole column without restrictions as 
to space. About, noon the letters for the 
Editorial Department came up, and I was 
invited to “ take a hand” in assorting them. 
1 suppose that the correspondents and 
readers of the Rural New-Yorker are 
about as intelligent a class of people as we 
find anywhere; but bless met how some of 
them do spell their words! hearse for horse, 
dier for clear, and honny Lease, instead of 
honeybees; but these variations in orthog¬ 
raphy <1 id not seem to have the least effect 
upon the Editor; for if the writer gave a 
fact worth noting, his ready pen put it in 
good shape, and doubtless the author, when 
he or she saw it in print, considered it all 
right, and just as it was originally written. 
And then such questious that were asked 
and information requested upon subjects as 
foreign to anything ever touched upon in 
the Rural New-Yorker as astronomy is 
to pig pens. But all this bother was noth¬ 
ing in comparison to the persons who called 
for favors; one wanted a patent noticed; 
another wished to sell a sketch which he i 
or a few love stories. Each had to be re¬ 
ceived cordially, or at least civilly ; but an 
Editor lias often to say “No," whether it 
offends or otherwise. I was glad when the 
time came for me to lake the cars for home, 
and 1 left, thinking that an editor’s life was 
not such an enviable one after all, even with 
a big salary attached. 
Ciirculion in Mushrooms. 
Aug. 23.—So much lias been said in horti¬ 
cultural journals about the Curculio that I 
believe there are many persons who think 
there is really but one species instead of 
hundreds. There is scarcely a fruit, nut, 
seed, plant or gall that does not become a 
nidus ir» which the female of some one or 
more of the curculionidee deposits her eggs. 
To-day, in examining a mushroom (Fungus) 
growing on ail old log, I found the larva, 
pupa and perfect beetle of the Crotopans 
lunatus of Fabric us, or, as it may be called, 
Mushroom Curculio. Mr. Charles Y. 
Rri.Ey iu his third annual report as State 
Entomologist of Missouri, page 10, refers 
to this fact hi a foot note. Therefore it ap¬ 
pears that even I lie fungi are not exempt 
from the attacks of these beetles. 
Tiopliy Tomato. 
Aug. 24.—1 have been much pleased with 
the Trophy tomato this season; but it is a 
late sort instead of early. Scattering plants 
of the old round, smooth red, which acci¬ 
dentally came up iu many parts of my gar¬ 
den, and were allowed to grow, gave me ripe 
fruit nearly two weeks iu advance of the 
Trophy,—plants which were started in a hot 
bed. I have not yet made up my mind to 
throw out the old, reliable sorts. Progress 
among tomatoes is a good deal like drawing 
water with Lwo buckets, while one is coming 
up the oilier is going down; and if we gain 
in size and quality, wc lose in earliness or 
something else. 
Moldy Weittiier. 
Aug. 25.—I am getting tired of this ever¬ 
lasting rainy weather. My grape leaves are 
covered with mildew and the fruit is rolling. 
Even some of the flowering shrubs are cov 
ered with mildew, the leaves being white as 
though sprinkled with flour. The yreen 
aphis are abundant on all the suit wooded 
plants, and no killing solution can be applied 
with any effect so long us it continues to 
rain, rain. The books in my office are be¬ 
ginning to mold, and although the thermom¬ 
eter stood at. 90 J in the shade to-day, I had 
to build a fire to prevent further damage to 
books and cabinet of insects. Scolding and 
fretting about the weather is about as foolish 
a thing as one can do; still, when dampness 
creeps in among our treasures, it is hard 
work to keep quiet. 
A u l u iu ii It it «•*. 
Aug. 20.—My autumn bearing raspberries 
have done splendidly this season, owing to 
abundance of rain. Belle Fontenay ,Mer- 
ville des 4 Saisons, SurpasscFastolff, Linn’s 
Everbearing and several other sorts are giv¬ 
ing us fruit, but who wants raspberries when 
they have other and better fruits, such as 
peaches and pears, in abundance. And then 
there is another objection to these small 
fruits iu autumn ; the flies, wasps, bees and 
ants attack them, leaving very few berries in 
ft condition fit for the table. Double bear¬ 
ing raspberries and perpetual strawberries 
are very nice things to talk about, but they 
are blessings so long and thinly drawn out 
that 1 cannot appreciate them. 
lie (Oarbfncr. 
rborratlhtrf. 
ARBORIGULTURAL NOTES. 
Balsnin Fir Seedlings. 
As a subscriber to your most excellent 
paper, I would be pleased if you can give 
me any information in regard to planting 
the seed of the Balsam Fir; when is the 
proper time to plant, and what is their 
management until they become hardy.— 
Joseph Thompson, Albany , 11%. 
Tiie seed of the Balsam Fir (Abies bal- 
sumea) should be managed the same as other 
evergreen trees. See Rural New-Yorker, 
March 25, 1871, for a short description of 
proper mode of growiug evergreens from 
seed. 
Cnlilovnla Encouraging Tree Planting. 
The Santa Clara, Cal,, Agricultural Soci¬ 
ety offers a premium of $10 for the best one 
hundred fruit trees of mixed varieties, 
planted out within the last year in one body, 
or in different places on the same farm or 
plantation; for the best five hundred, $20 ; 
for the best one hundred, single variety, $5. 
Honey Locum! Hedges—Treatment. 
J. J. Thomas says a very common error in 
the culture of Honey Locust hedges is in not 
cutting them back enough. Close pruning 
is necessary to overcome its natural tendeucy 
to an upright and comparatively sleuder 
growth. He thinks such a hedge should be 
thought would make a suitable first page cut very near the surface, the second time 
picture ; and there were several who called three inches higher, again four or five inches 
to see if the Editor was in want of poetry higher. 
INFESTED CABBAGES. 
I would like to know if there is any bet¬ 
ter way of destroying the large green worms 
found on cabbage than killing them by 
hand; they have troubled iny cabbages very 
much for the past few weeks, and I also find 
them on my sea kale.—B. O. S., Long Lake, 
N. Y., 1871. 
After the cabbages have begun to head 
we do not know of anything that can lie 
put on to kill the worms which will not in¬ 
jure the plants as well. Strong aininoniacnl 
manures, such as bone dust mixed with 
fresh lime, will kill the worms when ex¬ 
posed so that the ammonia will reach them ; 
but after they Lave buried themselves in 
the beads the case assumes a different as¬ 
pect, and the worms are safe from outward 
application. 
-♦ »» 
HOW TO GROW EARLY TOMATOES. 
* 
P. E Bucks, in Canada Farmer, says:— 
“ There is no doubt in my mind from prac¬ 
tical experience, that cut tings taken from the 
plants in tire autumn, just before freezing up 
time, stuck iu damp soil, and when well 
rooted removed to six inch pots, kept in an 
atmosphere of 40 to 50 degrees, and watered 
just sufficiently to keep them alive during 
winter, and by keeping the shoots as they 
appear properly pinched, and a part of the 
larger leaves, so as to retard growth as much 
as possible, is the true way of obtaining the 
earliest fruit. It will be found that if tlie 
plants are well attended to, by the spring 
they will be thick and strong at the base, 
and as woody almost as a wall flower. Grow¬ 
iug tomatoes, as almost all gardeners do, in 
hotbeds, is decidedly the wrong method, as 
no doubt many of them have found out. 
The hotbed plants are weak and spindling. 
Many put down seeds in this way so early 
that the plants run up to the glass before llie 
Weather becomes efficiently warm to pit) 
them out in the open ground, and the leaves 
either scorch or become frost bitten. I have 
seen many a frame of tomatoes tor which I 
would not giwJj.'.•: cents for the best five 
hundred plants in them." 
-♦ ♦♦.- 
GARDEN NOTES. 
Walt for ToiiutlncM, 
A market gardener of Lake county, 111., 
says that he has the most remarkable success 
in the use of salt upon it is tomato plants. 
He applies it at various times during Hie 
season, and in every case Us cited is marked 
iu the increased growth of both plant and 
fruit. In some cases lie lays the roots of 
backward plants bare, sprinkles them with 
a tablespoonful of ordinary barrel salt, and 
covers with soil. Plants treated in this way 
take au immediate start, and develop line 
fruit. 
The Tomato Perennial la Southern Cali¬ 
fornia. 
TnE Ventura Signal says that the tomato 
in Southern California is a perennial plant, 
which blooms aud bears fruit during the 
entire year, when properly cared for. Near 
the seashore, where there are no frosts, the 
editor has seen them of five year’s growth, 
looking as fresh and vigorous as at any time 
of their existence, lie adds:—“ There are 
many classes of the vegetable kind perennial 
here that are elsewhere annual. Among 
others we have observed the‘deadly night¬ 
shade,’ which becomes quite a shrub, and of 
such luxuriant growth in many places as to 
form beautiful aud secure hedges." 
Trophy Tomato not Ripcuiiur. 
What nils my tomatoes? 1 have about 
thirty plants of the Trophy jvliich do not 
ripen fully, but are green about the stem. 
I have some of the Cluster and Gen. Grant, 
planted close by, which ripen well. The 
soil is a light loam and all the plants were , 
manured in the hill. Would seed saved from 
such Trophy tomatoes be likely to produce 
fruit likewise affected?—0., Danbury , Ct. 
If others of our readers have had a similar 
experience with the Trophy, will they please 
communicate the facts? We should not 
save seed from imperfect fruit of any variety, 
although the failure to fully ripen might not 
affect the next year’s crops. 
How to Gather, Keep autl Cook .Squashes. 
Mrs. B. R. Hall, Parish of Iberville, La., 
asks at what stage of growtli should squash¬ 
es be gathered to put up for winter use; liow 
should the same be cooked ? Late varieties, 
like the Hubbard and Boston Marrow are 
kept through winter at the North iu cool cel¬ 
lars, but this method would scarcely answer 
at the South. The next best plan is to gather 
squashes when ripe, peel and cut into thin 
slices and dry them, after which put away 
in linen bags and iu a cool and dry place as 
convenient. When the squash is wanted for 
cooking the pieces are put to soak in water 
until they again swell out to near their 
original size, then cook in the same water in 
which they were soaked in order to preserve 
the flavor. Another method is to cook the 
squash before drying and spread upon tin, 
or snmolh pieces of hoard, or they maybe 
partially cooked and then cut into pieces and 
dried. In whatever manner they are dried 
musquito netting or some kind of thin 
covering is necessary to keep off flies and 
other insects during the process. Some of 
the summer squashes, like the Scallops and 
Yellow crook-necks, are only edible when 
partially grown and the shell is thin and 
soft; but these are seldom if ever used for 
preserving. 
Ilntomologinrl. 
TEE TICKLER BEETLE 
1 send you a queer sort of a bug, the like 
of which we have never seen before. Please 
inform me what it is and its mission. My 
attenion was called a few nights ago by one 
of the cliiIdem calling me to come aud see 
a bug they had found ; 1 went and examined 
it and found it to be different from any I had 
ever Been before, but concluded to let it live 
as 1 ltnCW of no harm it had ever done. 
About three days after,while passing through 
my room I discovered what seemed to bean 
anger bole through a new straw matting that 
had been laid down only the day before; I 
stopped to examine it and found it contained 
some sort of a creature, after removing it, to 
my surprise 1 found the very bug we bad 
befriended a few nights before, lie having 
made his way up through a double flooring 
and mailing; 1 assure you I removed him 
with some indignation to safe quarters. 1 
th<‘n went out under the building and found 
where he had entered, making a hole about 
three-eighths of an inch ; close by found tlie 
smaller owe, as if in company. Since then 
have found three others, and our curiosity 
has become excited. Have shown them to 
a number of people, but no one seems to. 
know anything about them. So, Mr. Edi¬ 
tor, 1 send them to you for information, I 
trust you can explain.— Mbs. C. A. Faunce, 
Kingston, Mass. 
This is one of the largest of the capri¬ 
corn beetles, and its scientific name is Mono- 
hum mus titillutor; it is also called the tickler 
beetle on account of its habit of touching 
occasionally, whatever it. is walking upon 
with its long autenwe. The largest of the 
two specimens sent, was a female, the smaller 
a male, and if you noticed them particularly 
you will remember that the antennae of the 
male were much longer in proportion to his 
body than the female. 
This species is of a brownish color, varie¬ 
gated and mottled with gray. The length 
of this beetle varies from one inch to an inch 
aud a half. Wc have never before heard of 
the Monohanwuls titillutor doing any dam¬ 
age, although its larva is a wood borer, hut 
the perfect beetle has powerful jaws and 
might gnaw through matting as you state, 
but hardly think it would go through boards. 
- *-*-4 - 
ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES. 
Another Potato Beetle. 
I enclose a bug which, iu this section of 
the country, i9 more destructive to die pota¬ 
to crop than the dreaded “ Colorado potato 
bug.” This bug not only strips the potato 
vines, but eats the leaves, from the beets, and 
appears in myriads oil the common garden 
weed known as “ red root,” which it strips 
of its leaves. I have also seen a few on some 
running beans, but dou’t think they will in¬ 
jure the latter to any great extent. Will 
you please inform me through the Rural if 
the same pest exists iu the States? We 
supposed that we were putting on to our 
vines “ Paris Green," but after they were de¬ 
stroyed the merchant discovered that he 
bad sold us chrome green, which, of course, 
did not affect the bugs.— Dakota. 
The beetles were so badly broken that we 
cannot give the specific name, but they are 
doubtless one of the many Lyttas, or Blister 
Beetles. We should be pleased to receive 
specimens in good order. Please put them 
m a small vial of alcohol and pack iu a tin or 
wooden tube, or bore a bole in a piece of 
pine stick and enclose the vial well corked 
in this. A goose quill is not strong enough 
to protect insects from being crushed when 
sent by mail. 
SliintiiiK Ants. 
Enclosed please find specimen of an in¬ 
sect 1 frequently find, the effect of whose 
sling is more severe ibnn that of a hornet. 
What is its name?— H. D. Stewart, Landis- 
burg, Penn. 
The name of this curious insect is MutiUa 
ferrugata, of Fabricus. The specimen re¬ 
ceived is a female and wingless, and resem¬ 
bles the worker ant in form and motion 
when running. The males are of a darker 
color aud having wings ffy about quite 
rapidly. 
The MutiUa occidenlalis is a much larger 
species and we have often taken it near this 
city. Two females of this species have been 
brought in to-day (August 7lh.) They are 
nearly an inch in length of a beautiful scar¬ 
let color, and armed with a powerful sting 
nearly as long as the body. Any one who 
attempts to catch this insect with unpro¬ 
tected hands, is pretty sure to drop the first 
specimen taken and be very careful about 
handling another. The female Mutillas so 
nearly resemble ants that they are often call¬ 
ed “ stinging ants,” and with propriety for 
they are nearly related to the Formica-ice or 
ant family. 
Lyttn Marginata. 
I send you by to-day’s mail a small box 
containing six bugs that I got out of my late 
potato patch. The vines of my Early Rose 
was first attacked, the last of June, which 
they soon made way with and theu went to 
the Goodrich. I have also found them on 
tomatoes, beets and beans. Please inform 
me through the Rural New-Yorker if it 
is the Colorado beetle or not.— Jas. Macgili, 
Pulaski Co., Va. 
The name of llic beetle is given above. It 
is also called the Margined Blister Beetle, 
and quite a different insect from the Colorado 
beetle. Sec Rural Sept, 2 for other species 
of the same genus. 
Male Cricket. 
The inclosed insect, was found itubeded 
in a potato, into which it had gnawed. It. 
being something different from any thing I 
have seen of the bug class. I scud it to you 
for inspection. —Waldo T. Davis, Mount. 
Victory, Ohio. 
Its name is Orylloialpa borealis or norXUomi 
male cricket. Grylla. is the scientific nanifii 
ol the order to which crickets belong ,.toJJgmi 
that of the ground mole and borealis xiorV A - 
crn. The mole cricket lives under gro*uncl 
its strong front legs aud feet mabliiig it 
to form burrows in the soil, where it bs sup¬ 
posed to feed upon the roots of plants. 
lie Satunrfet 
NOTES FOR NATURALISTS. 
California Hint*, 
The Scientific Press says:—“ In California 
there are eighteen or twenty native species 
of birds, more or less noted as songst ers, and 
some of ihe species have many local varie¬ 
ties. Tlie erroneous notion that the Slate 
was meager in bird Lie, and especially sing¬ 
ing birds, arose from the fact that the early 
routes of travel lay chiefly over nearly tree¬ 
less plains, where few birds remain iu the 
long, dry season.” 
W>11 Hnake-FoiMoii Kill Snakes ? 
Du. Fayrer, iu India, lias been experi¬ 
menting to correct the popular error that a 
snake cannot kill a snake. He took a young 
and very lively cobra, fourteen inches long, 
and which was bitten in the muscular part 
of the body by tt krait forty-eight inches long. 
The krait liatl not bitten for some days be¬ 
fore. From a detailed report by Dr Fayrer, 
it appears that, the cobra was bitten at 12.50 
P.]M. At 1 P.M. it was very sluggish, at 1,3 
PAL so sluggish that it moved with difficul¬ 
ty, and could he easily handled, and made 
no effort at resistance, At 1.20 it was appa¬ 
rently dying, and its movements were scarce¬ 
ly perceptible, and at 1.22 it died, Ihirty-tyvo 
minutes after the attack. Dr. Fayrer lias 
found tlmt the water-snakes of India are 
deadly poisonous. In the Bay of Bengal they 
swarm, and it is noted as ominous that lately 
it was proposed to erect a sea-bathing estab¬ 
lishment for Calcutta at Bar war, under tfio 
assurance that there were no sharks. It is 
remarked that sharks need noL be noticed 
when a bather may have deadly water snakes 
swimming after him.— Pharm. Jour., Loml., 
I Naturalist. 
Use and Uselessness of Woodpeckers. 
Ethan Spencer, Boonville, Ind., writes 
the Farmer’s Club of this city as follows: 
There are six different birds called wood¬ 
peckers found from New York to Missouri. 
First, A very small bird, with a blue back 
and brown breast, may be known by Iris 
almost perpetual motion, while he goes up 
and down your apple tree talking loudly to* 
himself, and looking into every Crack find 
crevice, or picking worms out of a deemed, 
stick of wood. Second. A speckled bird, ai 
size larger, and which is but a dwarf of the- 
third, both having the sruue habits and colon; 
and both may be known by their sharp cry ; 
and fourth, the large woodcock, about die 
size of a woodduck, and a bill like a spike, 
and a red bead, 
These four are comparatively harmless, 
and should not be harmed ; Imt then comes 
the fifth, a dirty-speckled bird, and known 
by bis whining cry, something like a cat¬ 
bird, and by bis hiding behind the body of 
the tree to shun your presence, aud when¬ 
ever the sap will run he picks out the hark 
down to the wood in blocks until be often 
completely girdles and kills the tree. 1 hey 
often attack our evergreen, shade and orna¬ 
mental trees, as well as apple trees, and all 
for the sap and fife of the tree; and six thy 
white and black-winged and red-headed 
woodpeckers. 
I notice there is a plea made for them that 
they destroy the potato ling, Imt I know they 
both, bird and bug, often occupy the same 
field here, and I have never known the him 
to harm the bug, but if you have any fin* - 
apples ripening they will come by the score, 
and spoil the best, if they are not killed, atm 
they are also great lovers of berries, *uh» 
then when corn is good roas ting-ear they 
will pick holes through the hu9k, letting the 
water in to rot the ear, and this for the corn 
and not for any insect, and in winter they 
will come to the crib for the corn. These 
two last named I consider an unmitigated 
nuisance. 
