annual fair in Gloucester, he told us that by 
stirring the tar then in the troughs many of 
them would effectually bar the passage of 
the grub. These statements seem to show 
that the trees will require but little labor or 
expense for several years after the trough is 
put down. We have also made inquiry of 
other parties who have used these troughs, 
and the testimony Is unanimous as to their 
effectiveness when properly used. 
“ The troughs used by Mr. Leach differ 
one inch deep shouJd be made, and the seed 
cove h rL Larly S r i,ne eowed > thinly, and then 
covered pressing the soil down firmly over 
the seed. This may be done the last week in 
March, and by the time the weather is set¬ 
tled and the ground warm enough in the 
open ground to plant cucumbers, the plants 
m the frame will be two or three inches 
high, with the first red leaf well developed, 
these young plants may then be lifted, with¬ 
out disturbing the roots, and transplanted 
mto the open ground, without checking 
their growth in the least. By following this 
simple plan there is no danger to be appre¬ 
hended from the striped bug, for the plants 
are already far enough advanced to be proof 
against such attacks. In the space of a single 
sash, 3 by 0, enough plants can be started in 
ns u a> to plant 75 hill*—twice the number 
usually planted for family use at any one 
OUR COMMON INSECTS 
TO RAISE EARLY CUCUMBERS 
A POPULAR Account of the Insects of our 
Tree:}, Forests, Gardens and Houses. Illus¬ 
trated with 4 steel plates and ;2t58 wood cuts. 
By A.8. Packard, Jr., Salem (Mass.) Natural¬ 
ist Agency. 
A few years since, when the author of the 
above named work announced that he was 
preparing a work to which he had given the 
very expressive title of “A Guide to the 
Study of Insects,” we began to hope that 
the novice in Entomology was at lust to have 
n book that would be of real practical ser 
vice. But when the work came to hand we 
found the author had made a most lamenta¬ 
ble failure ; that is. if he intended the text 
to harmonize or fully sustain the title. In¬ 
stead of a book to help yotmg beginners, it 
was really a hand-book for those well versed 
in the science; in other words it was a mere 
compilation of the opinions and discoveries 
of various scientific entomologists, with a 
few of the editor's thrown in. The author 
appears to have been so afraid that the world 
would doubt his scientific attainments that 
he lost sight of the title of his book and 
wandered off over the entire world, and up 
into the realms of speculative theories, 
which of course necessitated the spreading 
out of entomological knowledge so thin that 
very little practical substance could b« lilt 
upon at any one point. ^ 
Now what shall he said of the work before 
us, with such a charming title, “ Our Com¬ 
mon Insects ?” We are at a loss for a better 
description of it than to say that it is a part 
of the same old hash—warmed over and 
served tip at half price. The price of the 
first work, to which we have referred, is ; 
this one, $2.50. We are informed in the title 
that there are three- original outs in the 
work. Yes, all of three out of 308! The 
Introduction and Chapter XIII. are also said 
to have been written expressly for this work. 
We have no wish to depreciate the value of 
this work, for it is really a good one of its 
kind, although far short of what the author 
is capable of doing, if he would come down 
from his scientific Pegasus ; but we do most, 
earnestly enter our protest against this far 
too common practice of subdividing and cut¬ 
ting up one large work into several and send¬ 
ing out each part under tnkluij titles, and as 
new and original, 
It may be said, as a modifying plea, that 
the author disclaims originality in the pref¬ 
ace; but- of this the purchaser is not informed 
until lie obtains idle work. If a person has al¬ 
ready obtained Packard’s Guide to the Study 
of Insects he has little use for the later work, 
“ Our Common Insects.” 
P. T. Quinn writes the N. Y. Tribnne as 
follows :—Cucumbers for early use may be 
forced in hot-beds. For this purpose the 
beds nead not be started until the middle of 
March, for when the young vines are above 
IN ONION IS STRENGTH, 
take people into 
notice the absence 
rked. In onion is 
without it lacks 
■appings is 
vegetables, and 
represents the essence 
can almost be said to have a 
- coat after coat, and the 
; and, when the last one 
onion 
you can weep 
I know that there 
prejudice against the 
(t is rather a cowardice 
of onions. It is very mi 
strength ; and a garden 
flavor. The onion in its satin wr 
among the most beautiful of 
it is tlie only one that 
of things. It i 
soul. You takeoff 
onion is still there 
is removed, who dare say that the 
it R elf is destroyed, though 
over its departed spirit t 
is supposed to be a 
onion, but I think ther 
in regard to it. 
I doubt not that all men and wo 
the onion ; but few confess their I 
faction for it is concealed. Good 
glanders are as shy of owning it as 
of talking about religion. Some pc 
days on which they eat onion—w 
might call “retreats,” or their “ Tilt 
The act is in the nature of a religi 
mony, an Eleusinian mystery ; not 
of it must get abroad. On that day- 
no compauy ; they deny the kiss of 
to the (1 curest friend ; they rotir 
themselves and hold communion t 
of the most pungent and penetratu 
testations or tlie moral s^ P t„hi, 
New Mexico Siieep Camps at Nioitt. 
from those of Mr, Sawyer only iu Jinv ug a 
triangular channel, which Mr. Sawyer ad¬ 
mits to be an improvement. Mr. Leach 
thinks his troughs cau be furnished ready for 
the trees at twenty-five cents each, as or¬ 
chard* average. Of course tlie expense will 
largely depend on the quality of the lumber 
used. 
" The application of tar or printers’ ink to 
the trunk of the tree, with or without tarred 
paper, is probably the most common method 
of preventing the ascent of the grub. It is 
generally believed that ink is better than tar, 
because it requires less frequent, application ; 
still there is a wide difference in the esti¬ 
mates of its value by those who have used it. 
“ These methods of preventing the ravages 
of the canker worm are all that have been 
brought to the notice of the committee. 
Any of them properly used will doubtless 
prevent serious loss in the crop of apples, but 
the farmer desires to use that method which 
best combines economy and effeetivoaesa. 
None of t hem will prove satisfactory without 
the utmost care in their application, for the 
grub is a most persistent and determined 
creature and only succumbs to impossibili¬ 
ties. But it is also true, that the more tlior- I 
oughly t he t r ees are protected the less the , 
attention afterwards required. 
The first year t hat tar, ink or any sub- | 
stanoe which kills the grub |is used, there is 
constant danger that they- will appear in suoh 
numbers as to “ bridge over,” an dthus ena- 
DESTRUCTION OF CANKER WORMS 
The Essex, Mass., Agricultural Society of¬ 
fered a premium of £100 for “a new, cheap 
aud effectual remedy against t he ravages ol' 
the Canker Worm.” From the Report of 
the Committee we take the following ex¬ 
tracts : 
“The protector used by Mr. Sawyer is 
simply a trough or gutter laid upon the 
ground around the tree and filled with eoaJ 
tar from the gas works. The troughs used 
by Mr. Sawyer are made of two-by-three 
joists sawn from two-iuch plnuk. A channel 
an inch or more deep and an inch and a-half 
wide is grooved out and the stock is then 
sawu off in a mitre-box at suitable lengths 
for different sized trees, and the pieces nailed 
together, one side slightly, so that it can be 
easily removed when placed around the tree, 
A square box or trough is thu* made which 
is laid level on the ground around tlie tree. 
The space between trough and tree trunk is 
filled with dirt, the trough itself filled with 
coal tar from the gas works, and the work is 
done. 
“ On plowed land it is easy to level up the 
earth around the tree, but on gr ass-ground it 
may- be necessary to carry sand or dirt on 
which to place the trough. The troughs first 
used by Mr. Sawyer had a cover of boards to 
prevent the rain and leaves getting into the 
tar. But he finds the plain troughs just as 
effective at less than half the expense, al¬ 
though of course they require a little more 
care. He states that he made his troughs 
himself, and that they cost him from twelve 
to seventeen cents peigtrec.. Of course the.v 
can be made from, the cheapest, coarsest 
plank, and after they are laid down the tar 
will help to preserve them many years. The 
cost of coal-tar is said to be small. 
“ Air. Sawyer states that lieifouud it neces¬ 
sary to stir the tar but two or three times in j 
the spring or fall, and that few troughs re- < 
quired refilling. _ At the time of holding the i 
THE POTATO ONION. 
^ R - R- Keep of Maine, says, in Vermont 
Far mer The most striking peculiar ity of 
the potato onion is that it wants to be plant¬ 
ed or set out rn tlie fall instead of in tire 
spring. All who have used it have learned 
the difficulty of keeping it through the win- 
from hard freezing ; then remove to the dry- 
est part of the cellar, and in spite of all we 
can do they will grow or rot before we can 
set them out in the spr ing, and if planted 
after new roots have started the process dis¬ 
turbs their growth and diminishes their size. 
Now, the French people here who have 
cultivated and raised these onions more 
than any others have long been in the habit 
of preparing their lands and setting them 
out in the fall. In this way they make sure 
of their seed, which might otherwise be lost 
by rot, for we never find an onion of this 
sort hurt by winter freezing in the ground, 
but find them well started to grow when 
the snow goes off. How this would be 
where they do not have much snow aud 
much frozen ground, I cannot stiv, but this 
is always the ease here. If they can have 
highly manured laud, and the benefit ol 
their first star t in growth, they will grow to 
a good size. Another thing not generally 
understood is that the smaller the seed the 
better the growth. We break the clusters 
apart, pick out the largest to cook, and plant 
the smallest, and the French even cut them 
in two. Tli is may seem an anomaly iu scien¬ 
tific culture, but it is the case in this one 
thing,—the “wee bits” make the largest 
onions. 
Fig. :i.—UOUNfiNG .sheep j.\ New Mexico.—(S ee page &39.) 
ble some to cross on the dead bodies of their 
comrades. But after an orchard has been 
well protected, there is little danger- that the 
grubs will next year- go up in sufficient num¬ 
bers to do this.” 
moisten tlie soil, but notijenough to saturate 
the bed. These few general directions, if 
followed, will put one on the right path to 
raise cucumbers under glass. Those who en¬ 
joy cucumbers and cannot afford the time 
or expense in forcing them, can, by a little 
trouble, have cucumbers fit fur table use at 
least a mouth earlier in the garden than 
when grown in the ordinary way. For this 
purpose a single sash and frame, with or 
without bottom heat, in which to sow the 
seed, will be all-sufficient. Shallow drills 
Number of JLepidoptera in the World. 
Peter Maas sen has recently read a paper- 
in which he computes the number of Lepi- 
doptera at 29,740 ; but Scientific Opinion es¬ 
timates io at 221,240 species. 
