exasperated  person. — He  ininched  himself  out  of 
breath  and  into  a  perspiration-  Then,  ratlmr  aa 
an  act  of  sweet  revenge  than  one  wliioh  was  ne¬ 
cessary  to  doubly  insure  the  borer’s  destruction, 
bo  mixed  carbolic  acid,  sulphur,  tobacco  and 
water,  fonuing  a  dose  as  strong  as  he  dared  to 
use,  and,  witli  a  syringe,  squii  ted  the  cavity  full 
I  to  overflowing. 
Whatever  he  niuy  have  read  respecting  the 
ways  of  tlie  borer  was  somewhat  vagne  in  his 
mind,  80  that  in  the  evening  of  that  day,  bo 
seated  himself,  with  a  pomological  work  in  hand, 
to  add  to  his  entomologiral  lore  in  general,  as  it 
relates  to  pomology,  and  to  refresh  his  memory 
as  to  xnparda  bivUtcUa  in  particular.  Thus  ho 
read  in  an  extract  from  Dr.  Pitch  :  “  The  beetle 
comes  abroad  in  June,  and  drops  its  eggs  imdor 
the  loose  scales  of  tlie  bai'k,  low  down,  near  the 
sm"faoo  of  the  earth.  The  w<irm  w'hich  hatches 
therefrom,  cats  inwajd  through  the  l>ark  till  it 
comes  to  the  wood.  It  continues  to  feed  and  cn- 
lai'ge  its  cell  imder  tlie  Lurk  for  about  twelve 
months.  Its  Jaws  have  now  acqnircd  sufheient 
streiigth  for  it  to  attack  the  solid  heart  wood  of 
the  tree,  and  it  accordingly  bores  a  cylindrical 
hole  from  the  upper  part  of  its  cell,  upward  in 
the  solid  wood  to  a  length  of  three  or  four  inches 
or  more.  .  .  .  Those  operations  being  com¬ 
pleted,  it  throws  off  its  lan  a  skin  and  becomes  a 
pupa,  usually  at  the  close  of  the  second  summer, 
or  about  lificen  months  after  it  hatched  from  the 
egg.  In  this  state  ithos  through  the  winter,  ajid 
changes  to  its  perfect  form  the  following  spring, 
but  often  ooutinues  to  lie  dormant  several  weeks 
after  its  final  ohstigc,  until  the  season  becomes 
sufficiently  warm  for  it  to  come  abroa<t.  Awak¬ 
ening  then  into  hfo  and  activity,  it  eravvls  up¬ 
wards,  loosening  and  pulling  down  the  chips  and 
dust  that  close  the  upper  end  of  its  burrow,  till 
it  reaches  the  bark.  Through  this  it  cuts  with 
its  Jaws  a  remarkably  stnooUi  round  hole, 
of  the  exact  size  requisite  to  enable  it  to  crawl 
out  of  the  tree.” 
“  The  hole,  then,”  reasoned  the  Major, 
“through  which  1  punched  for  fifteen  minutes 
and  then  squirted  full  of  the  carbolic  nrixture, 
was  that  through  which  my  borer  had  escaped ! 
Well,  a  little  learning,  I  conclude,  would  not  have 
proved,  in  this  instance  at  least,  a  very  danger¬ 
ous  thing.  The  eggs,  too,  may  have  been  de¬ 
posited  before  tlie  tree  was  removed  from  the 
nm-seiy— so  that  though  my  wash  could  not  have 
prevented  the  hatching  of  the  eggs,  nor  tbo 
worm  from  penetrating  the  bark  in  tins  instance, 
it  yet,  perhaps,  has  prevented  the  deposition  of 
eggs  upon  the  other-  trees.”  The  Slajor’s  faith 
in  the  vktue  of  his  wash  is  fully  restored,  ai^be 
now  calls  the  attention  of  his  friends  to  thuMrolc 
as  a  warning  to  examine  all  fruit  trees  as  soon  as 
they  are  received  from  the  nursery.  i 
yield  of  that  cereal.  Irish  potatoes  are  ripe  and 
timn  out  wcU,  and  in  fact  vegetables  of  all  kinds 
are  yielding  abundantly. 
We  have  not  been  irritated  with  any  destruc¬ 
tive  storm,  as  has  been  the  case  in  may  parts  of 
the  West,  but  have  been  liighly  favored  in  that 
respect.  In  fact  I  have  not  known  since  my  ros- 
idouoc  here  any  very  great  destruction  of  prop¬ 
erty  by  wind  or  storm  In  this  section.  Our  farm¬ 
ers  are  looking  cheerful  and  I  can  notice  a  mark¬ 
ed  improvement  on  Uieir  faces  as  compared  with 
the  “  hopper  year  ”  when  many  of  them  were 
losing  their  all  by  that  destructive  insect.  They 
have  learned  an  important  lesson  which  they  are 
not  slow  to  improve— that  is,  to  diversify  their 
crops  and  to  put  them  in  early  thus  giving  them 
a  chance  to  mature  long  before  the  ^oath  or  in¬ 
sects  ajqicar. 
Our  people  are  making  extensive  preparations 
for  puttitig  in  a  large  quantity  of  winter  wheat 
this  season,  which  they  have  learned  by  experi¬ 
ence  can  ho  raised  with  success  throughout  the 
whole  of  Southwesteni  Kansas.  Oin-  winters 
are  mild  and  well  adapted  to  growth  of  winter 
wheat,  as  it  never  winter-kills  or  heaves  out, 
we  having  no  frosts  in  the  groimd,  as  is  the 
case  fiu-ther  north.  It  matures  early,  and  is 
harvested  long  before  the  iiossibility  of  injury 
from  insects. 
We  have  many  extensive  wheat  raisers  in  the 
Arkansas  Valley,  hut  none  of  whom  have  suc¬ 
ceeded  hotter  than  our  friend,  Hon.  JosEpn 
liosH,  who  came  from  I’ittshurgh,  Pa.,  and  pur¬ 
chased  a  section  of  land  from  the  A.  T.  A  8.  T. 
It.  R.  Co,  tor  87.75  per  a<?re  on  eleven  years’  time 
and  seven  iier  cent,  interest.  In  1874,  had  60 
acres  broken  and  sown  to  wheat,  with  the  follow¬ 
ing  results  • 
Breaking .  $;i(X)  per  acre 
Blirrlnu... . i.aO  *■ 
HarrowlDK . 25 
8eeJ,  76  bush .  1.23 
BrilllriK .  25 
Uarvosiliig  iiud  stnckiug.2.(i0 
Threslilns  Uiisli.....  03  “  bush 
the  purpose  of  killing  the  potato  beetles,  can  in 
a  great  measure  keep  this  pest  in  check  by  the 
free  use  of  lime.  If  a  little  carbolic  acid  is  add¬ 
ed  it  will  be  still  more  efficient  in  destroying  the 
larvro. 
KENTUCKY  BLUE  GRASS, 
There  are  doubtless  many  farmers  who  think 
what  is  termed  Kentucky  Hlue  grass  thrives  only 
in  the  8tate  from  whence  it  receives  one  of  its 
common  names.  But  the  facts  are,  that  it  thrives 
in  all  of  the  Northern  and  Middle  States,  and  we 
have  no  doubt  as  the  following  would  seem  to 
show,  that  ere  long  some  of  our  Western 
prairies  may  be  transformed  into  gi-and  Blue 
grass  pasture. 
The  best  fanners  in  the  Blue  grass  region  of 
Kentucky,  generally  regard  an  acre  of  this  grass, 
equal  in  value  to  an  acre  of  corn. 
When  wo  take  into  consideration  the  cost  or 
value  of  the  labor  In  raising  an  acre  of  corn,  the 
value  of  the  Blue  grass  will  be  more  fully  appre¬ 
ciated. 
The  intelligent  farmer  will  make  his  Blue  grass 
pastiu'o  sustain  a  larger  number  of  stock  the  year 
roxmd  in  better  order  than  the  same  number  of 
acres  of  com. 
There  ia  no  crop  wluch  requires  more  intel¬ 
ligent  management  for  profit  than  tliis  grass. 
As  it  remains  greon  and  nutritious  dui  ing  the 
winter,  there  is  no  necessity  for  cutting  and 
curing,  and  it  is  almost  valueless  for  hay.  To  iu- 
Buro  a  good  sward,  it  should  never  be  mown,  aud 
as  it  heads  several  times  during  the  year,  one 
acre  wcU  set  and  allowed  to  seed  will  be  sulficeut 
to  set  a  largo  pasture  in  a'siuglo  season  by  allow¬ 
ing  stock  to  graze  upon  it  when  the  seed  Is  ripe, 
and  have  access  to  shade  woodland  aud  water 
adjoining. 
The  writer  of  this  lived  in  the  Blue  grass 
region  of  Kentucky  from  1837  to  1819,  aud  duriug 
that  time,  carefully  observed  the  management 
of  those  piustures  which  gave  to  Kentucky  a 
world-renowuod  reputatiou. 
The  success  of  the  Alexanders,  Van  Motors, 
Vileya,  Williams,  aud  other  renowed  stock  raisers 
of  Kentucky,  depended  largely  upon  this  im¬ 
portant  griwa. 
One  of  the  Van  Motors  of  Bourbon  County 
purchased  a  farm  at  a  8100  per  iicre. 
not  pruning  the  vino  at  all.  Tijoy  oppose  extJCS- 
sive  pruning.  They  oppose  “cutting  vinos  all 
to  pieces.”  Bnt  this  is  vague,  since  a  vine  in  a 
soil  capable  of  supplying  all  St  noods,  will  make 
a  ten-fold  greater  growth  than  one  planted  ixi  a 
soil  tliat  ia  nearly  destitute  of  vino  food.  Tbat 
vines  can  bo  injured — indeed  killed — by  oxcossive 
pruning,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  since  the  x-ilost 
weeds  may  he  exterminated  by  iiorsistently  de¬ 
priving  them  of  every  leaf  or  uud  as  soon  as  it 
appeai-8.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  the  de¬ 
gree  of  pruning  in  the  instance  of  the  vine 
should  be  dotormiued  by  the  richijcss  of  the  soil, 
tbo  cultivation  it  receives  aud  the  vigor  of  the 
variety.  I’or  the  rest,  it  is  evident  that  if  pmn- 
ing  be  carried  to  an  extent  to  iuterrero  with  the 
reciprooalJy-fuJl  action  of  root,  shoii  and  leaf, 
the  vine  mmrt  he  weakened  soonw  or  later  and 
its  life  be  shortened  accordingly.  What  we  have 
said  of  the  grape  apphes  as  well  to  the  orchard. 
Our  orchard  ia  an  artificial  one.  We  induce 
premature  fruit ;  wo  induce  a  far  greater  quan¬ 
tity  of  fruit  in  a  far  less  space ;  we  induce  by 
artificial  means  a  quicker,  more  luxuriant  growth. 
And  to  coniine  the  results  of  all  these  artifici¬ 
alities  within  the  meager  sjiaco  devoted  to  them 
—pruning  is  oui-  first,  our  chief  re.sort. 
Pruning  may'  be  defined  as  one  of  those  methods 
by  which  man  is  enabled  to  adapt  the  fniits  of 
the  earth  to  a  limited  space  and  to  his  short  life¬ 
time.  Ho  cannot  afford  to  wait  half  his  hfe  for 
an  apple  to  boar  so  ho  embraces  art  and  turns  a 
cold  shoulder  upon  nature  who,  ixirfeot  as  are 
her  ways  in  all  oUior  aspects,  is  yet  disdainfully 
regardless  of  the  value  of  man’s  time ! 
If  we  could  know  just  exactly  the  food  and  the 
quantity  of  it  a  given  tree  requires,  and  the 
situation  and  climate  boat  adapt.ed  to  it— doubt¬ 
less,  if  we  observed  tlieso  condition.?,  wo  should 
raise  a  tree  that  w'ould  live  and  thrive  to  witness 
several  mturns  of  our  great  Centetmial.  ^But  in 
this  we  derive tio  instrnotions  from  nature.  She 
scatters  her  seeds  indiscriminately  as  if  all  land 
were  alike  fertile— and  an  apple  seedling  is  as 
likely  to  appear  between  two  rocks  as  in  the 
middle  of  a  fertile  wood  or  field. 
Take  us  bade  years  and  years,  oh !  Nature — 
place  us  in  the  midst  of  viigin  soils  and  bestow 
upon  every  man  a  thousand  acres,  a  hundi-ed 
laborers,  a  perfect  climate  and  a  life-time  of  not 
loss  than  two  hundred  years— and  then  wo 
promise  our  non-pninists  to  follow  nature  to  the 
letter  as  nearly  as  our  intelligence  can  interpret 
her. 
fi60Bi) 
7.V.O0 
12,&U 
93.  <5 
12.60 
KW.OO 
63.50 
bu»h 
acre 
Cost  ol  land,  50  acres,  at  17.75  per  acre. 
1,250  bush,  of  wheat  at  tblS  per  bush . (l.ssrloo 
Net  profit., . .....fi3«3.75 
Judge  Boss  has  just  harvested  a  field  of  CfiO 
acres,  and  will  seed  1,000  acres  to  wheat  this  fall. 
The  Judge  is  only  one  of  the  many  of  moniod 
men  who  are  improving  the  country  and  making 
Iho  prairie  to  blossom  like  a  rose,  aud  gottmg 
good  returns  for  the  money  invested. 
Arkansa.?  Valley,  Kansas.  B.  M.  House. 
CHEMICAL  AFFINITIES-SUPERPHOS 
phate. 
There 
was  not  qatto  one-fourth  of  the  farm  in  Blue 
grass.  The  balance  had  been  cultivated  iu  hemp 
and  corn.  The  wood  land  as  is  usual  there,  was 
well  set  in  Blue  grass,  and  afforded  the  winter 
food  for  the  stock  usually  kept  on  the  fann. 
Tan  Meter  raised  no  gj-ain  upon  this  farm,  and 
by  allowing  his  Durham  cattle  to  graze  upon  the 
seeded  Blue  grass  aud  roam  at  will  over  the  ad¬ 
joining  fields,  the  whole  ixlaco  was  in  an  mcredi- 
ble  short  time  well  set  in  grass  by  confining 
the  cattle  to  one  pasture  at  a  time,  leaving  the 
otliers  to  seed  and  form  a  mass  of  succulent, 
juicy,  rich  food,  a  foot  deep,  literally  a  mass,  a 
mat  for  fall  and  winter  use,  a  larger  munber  of 
cattle  were  kept  fat  the  year  round,  than  was 
formerly  kept  by  the  old  process  of  raising  corn 
on  a  part. 
Moving  to  Western  Missouri  iu  1849,  I  found 
many  of  these  Blue  grass  farmers  and  their  sons 
in  Ray,  Clay,  Lafayette  and  Jackson  counties, 
Clinton  County,  north  of  Clay,  was  a  prauie 
sparsely  settled,  and  little  if  any  Blue  grass  iu 
the  county. 
The  farmers  of  Clay  aud  Ray,  where  Blue  grass 
abounded,  mad6,frequent  visits  to  Clinton  Co. 
and  iu  a  short  time  Blue  grass  was  seen  growing 
in  patches  on  the  roadside,  aud  years  after 
spreading  over  thousands  of  acres  of  unimprov¬ 
ed  prairie  land,  that  was  supposed  to  be  unsuit¬ 
ed  to  the  growth  of  this  most  valuable  of  all 
grasses. 
Ten  years  after  I  visited  Topeka  and  other 
portions  of  Kansas,  where  repeated  efforts  were 
being  made  to  start  Blue  gr  ass  aud  all  seemed 
discoiu’aged  and  disapixoiutod. 
Now,  Jimel876,  this  grass  is  found  in  nearly 
aU  the  lawns  about  the  residence  and  unf  ortimate- 
ly  before  it  is  sufficiently  set  to  form  a  heavy 
and  rich  swai'd,  is  being  mown  and  the  seed 
carried  off  in  indifferent  hay. 
From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  readily  seen,  that 
I  regard  as  the  most  successful  and  about  the 
only  sucoosaful  way  to  seed  Blue  grass  pastures, 
is  to  start  a  patch  with  care,  then  by  grazing 
stock  upon  it  and  allowing  them  to  roam  over 
the  pasture,  scatter  the  seed  and  thicken  up  the 
sward. 
Blue  grass  is  especially  valuable  for  winter 
grazing,  and  where  the  prairie  is  fenced  uj),  it  is 
important  to  have  two  Bine  grass  pastores ;  keep¬ 
ing  one  exclusively  for  winter  use,  alternating 
each  year.  By  iuduetrionsly  and  persistently 
pursuing  this  plan,  a  few  years,  Kansas  will  be¬ 
come  celebrated  as  the  groat  Blue  grass  region 
of  the  Wesf.  D.  V. 
APPLES  IN  WISCONSIN 
ooiubinationKj  Hre  niero  naruus  for  what  wo  do 
not  comprt'hend.  Phosphoric  acid  and  lime  will 
combine  iu  two  luoportions  only.  Two  atoms  of 
each  form  phobqjhato  of  lime,  'riu-ee  atoms  of 
phosphoric  acud  and  one  hmo  from  super- 
phosphato.  Nobody  can  tell  why  they  may  not 
as  well  combine  in  other  proportions.  To  change 
phosphate  of  limo,  which  is  said  not  to  bo  read¬ 
ily  soluble,  into  superphosphate,  wo  make  use  of 
the  chemical  affinities  of  the  substances.  We 
have  seen  tliat  in  phosphate  of  lime,  tiro  phos¬ 
phoric  acid  and  lime  are  chemically  combined  in 
the  proixjrtiou  of  two  and  two.  They  form  a 
sort  of  equal  union  or  marriage— one  bone  if  not 
one  flesh.  Now  to  break  up  this  xinion  and  en¬ 
tice  aivay  from  the  pnosphoric  a^id  the  lime, 
winch  may  ho  regarded  as  the  weakei"  vessel,  we 
bring  into  her  neighborhood  an  object  of  sti'ong- 
cr  affection  or  alliuity.  Sillphnric  acid  and  limo 
are  found  to  have  a  stronger  affinity  for  each 
oUier  tiian  phosphoric  acid  aiid  lime,  and  by  add¬ 
ing  snlphnrlc  add,  we  entice  away  a  portion  of 
the  limo,  forming  the  now  combinations,  sul- 
I  phate  of  Ihno  and  superphoshato.  Why  these 
aifinitio.s  exist,  and  why  these  new  combinations 
are  formed,  it  is  as  diftioult  to  explain,  as  why 
one  young  gentleman  and  lady  have  a  stronger 
affection  for  each  other  than  for  all  the  world 
beside. 
What  new  combinations  take  place  in  tlio  soil 
after  our  fertilizers  are  applied,  we  can  only 
guess,  and  iiiany  substances  produce  effects  eu- 
tu'ely  beyond  onr  comprehension.  Two  huudre<l 
pounds  of  gypsum  appUed  to  an  aero,  have  on 
some  soils  produced  an  almost  magical  efftsct  j 
yet  I  suppose  chemistry  has  thus  fai‘  failed 
to  solve  the  mystery.  It  is  thought  that  the 
elements  that  compose  gypsum  do  not  enter  in¬ 
to  the  composition  of  the  plants,  but  its  effect  is 
duo  to  its  chemical  action  uiion  other  uuti-itive 
elements,  probably  potash  and  magnesia,  render¬ 
ing  them  available  to  the  growing  crop.  Liebig 
says  that  he  found  by  experiment  that  a  solu¬ 
tion  of  gypsum  in  contact  wth  arable  soils  under¬ 
went  cieoumposition,  and  formed  combinations 
quite  contittiy  to  the  ordinary  affinities  as  ob¬ 
served  in  the  laboratory. 
EniTOHS  Roiue  : — In  traveling  through  sev¬ 
eral  counties  of  Bonthoastern  Wisconsin  during 
the  month  of  June,  I  was  surprised  at  the  gen¬ 
eral  failure  of  the  Apple  troos.  Out  of  several 
hundred  orchai’ds  that  I  passed,  only  one  secnied 
thrifty.  'This  was  located  on  the  northern  in¬ 
cline  of  u  gravelly  bluff  and  appeal  ed  to  be  in 
good  condition;  hut  oven  this  one  lacked  the 
look  of  vigor  and  strength  one  beholds  iu  our 
Eastern  trees. 
In  most  cases,  from  one-third  to  two-thirds  of 
the  troos  wore  entirely  dead.  It  is  probably  safe 
to  predict  tliat  for  apple-growing  Wisconsin  is  a 
failure. 
Anotlior  uotioeahlo  featmro  was  the  fact  that 
in  nearly  every  instance  the  trees  were  in  grass 
and  the  trinnuing  had  been  entirely  neglected. 
Whethei-  the  failure  of  the  trees  was  the  result 
of  improper  care,  or  whether  this  neglect  was 
caused  by  the  owners’  getting  dlscom-agod,  was, 
of  eom-«c,  impossible  for  me  to  decide.  At  all 
events,  I  would  just  like  either  to  trim  and  cul¬ 
tivate  these  trees,  or  else  cut  them  down  and 
rid  the  coxmtry  of  their  unsightly  appearance. 
They  appeared  in  sad  contrast  to  the  fin®  fields 
of  corn  and  wheat  that  could  be  seen  on  every 
liand.  Nelson  Ritter. 
Syracuse,  K.  Y. 
A  LITTLE  LEARNING  ”  NOT  ALWAYS  “  A 
DANGEROUS  THING.” 
u^&iiou  or  iruit  treos  tlu’co  yearn  iigo^  aud,  being 
then  aa  he  is  now  an  advocate  of  doing  well 
whatever  he  undertakes,  planted  them  in  largo 
holes  filled  in  with  eartli— cut  Uicm  back,  as 
books  instruct,  so  that  the  tops  should  be  iwo- 
portiouate  to  the  roots  and,  kuowing  well  the 
havoc  off  the  borer  In  Ins  sectiou,  waslied  them 
then  and  aftei-wards  periodically  with  material 
that,  after  much  reading,  ho  concluded  would 
)>rove  most  offensive  or  poisouous  to  this  de¬ 
structive  insect.  About  a  month  ago,  while 
going  over  them  as  usual,  he  discovered  a  rouud 
hole  in  one  of  his  .apple  trees,  as  round  as  a  bul¬ 
let  and  of  the  size  of  a  pea,  about  tlnec  inches 
above  the  ground.  It  was  the  first  he  had  ever 
seen. 
As  fiom  season  to  season  his  fruit  trees  were 
unmolested,  he  had  grown  to  feel  confidence  in 
the  virtue  of  his  wash  and,  indeed  “  master  of 
the  situation,”  so  for  as  it  was  likely  to  be  con¬ 
tested  by  the  apple  borer.  Now  he  reoafied  with 
what  pride  he  had  pointed  out  to  neighbors  and 
friends  the  clean,  unscathed  bark  of  his  trees, 
aud.  ooudemning  his  ivash  and  lamenting  the 
hours  of  labor  in  its  application  as 
CROPS  IN  ARKANSAS  VALLEY, 
The  people  of  tins  part  of  Kansas  have  lieen 
very  highly  blessed  this  season  by  abundant  and 
timely  rains,  aud  crops  of  all  desci'iptions  liavo 
been  a  success  as  far  as  they  have  matm  od,  Our 
wheat  crop  has  been  secm-cd  iu  excellent  condi¬ 
tion  and  will  average  about  with  last  year’s  crop. 
Oats,  barley,  rye  and  all  the  small  grains  are 
out  of  all  danger  from  drouth  or  insects. 
Rye  has  long  been  harvested  of  which  we  can 
show  some  tall  spocimeus  measuring  in  many 
instances  from  six  to  seven  feet,  corn  is  looldng 
splendid  many  pieces  being  tasseled  and  silked 
out  and  standing  higher  than  a  man’s  head. 
utterly  worth¬ 
less,  it  was  with  loehugs  of  shame,  resentment 
and  auger  that  he  hastened  fora  wire  witli  which 
to  piTuch  that  borer  to  death.  “  There  is  but  one 
remedy  ”  he  remembered  to  have  read ;  '*  punch 
them  to  death  with  a  strong,  flexible  wire.” 
The  Major  was  astoimded  at  the  dimensions  of 
the  c.T,vity.  It  extended  downwards  six  inches _ 
upwards  one  inch,  with  a  varying  diameter.  He 
punched  away  with  the  vehemence  of  an  injm'ed, 
Liwe  for  Potato  Beetles. 
■Farmers  w'ho  ob- 
Tho  prospect  never  looked  better  for  a  largo  I  ject  to  using  Paris  greon  on  their  potatoes  for 
