hardware, furniture and millinery, together 
with two blacksmith shops and other indus¬ 
trial interests; but a harness-maker, shoemak¬ 
er-, and representatives of other trades are 
needed. There is also a good opening for a 
bank, but the greatest necessity is a hotel, and 
a man who knows how to keep it. Lots are 
offered at reasonable prices, and such as will 
insure a profit on the investment. A good 
school building, church edifice, and several 
residences will be built next Spring, and the 
handsome depot to be erected will be a great 
addition. The country around is pretty well 
settled by Americans and Scandinavians, who 
are thriving and happy. No bonanza farms 
in the vicinity, but, each owns his quarter or 
half section. 
There are several other embryo towns on 
this extension of the St. P. M. & M., which 
we had not the time to visit, and canuotspeak 
of their outlook, except that, being located in 
a section rich in natural resources, the growth 
mul development incidental to immigration 
which is large and steadily increasing, will 
doubtless insure their future development. 
Turning Eastward from Brcokenridge, on 
the m da lias of the St. P. M. &| M., we 
halted at 
Campbell, a nicely situated town of 100 
population: the streets were full of farmers 
and teams, and business was lively. There are 
two hotels, three general stores, one each of 
hardware, dings, and agricultural implements, 
a lumber yard, a round elevator of 80,000 bush¬ 
els’ capacity (run by steam) and a warehouse 
for 25,01)0 bushels, the two handling this sea¬ 
son about 75,000 bushels of wheat. 
A $2,000 school-house will be built the com¬ 
ing Spring, and other important improve¬ 
ments are contemplated. There is a good op¬ 
portunity hero for a furniture store, tailor, 
shoemaker and barber. 
The farmers in the vicinity are of the best 
class of Americans, many of them coming 
from about Ottawa, in La Salle County 
Illinois, men of means, who are opening large 
farms, and are giviug Campbell their patron¬ 
age; but it is not to their credit that they are 
importing oats for feed and seed into a country 
where they can grow 75 bushels to the acre. 
Diversify your crops, gentlemen. 
Nor Cross (Gorton Station) about 20 mileB 
further East on the line is not a yearling yet, 
but has the business and promise of many 
Older towns, begotten of its rich surroundings 
and the energy of it proprietor’s. A feature 
is the high and handsome site, affording good, 
dr)' cellars, and excellent, well water. Stores, 
elevators, and lumber yards are all busy. A 
hardware stock is needed mid a desirable 
store-room just completed could be rented for 
the business. A hotel, harness maker, cabinet 
maker, and other workers in industries are 
also required. The rapid development of the 
surrounding country tributary to Nor Cross, 
will force other tow ns near-by to look sharply 
to their business laurels. 
Morris, is the next place we visited. It is 
the conn y seat of Stevens County, and has a 
population of 1,150, showing an increase of 
nearly 400 in 18 months. It is beautifully 
located with attractive environs, lakes, groves 
undulations, farms, meadows and railways 
forming a picturesque landscape. Here are 
many substantial business buildings, home¬ 
like residences; churches; schools; an able 
press; civic societies; a public hall; several in¬ 
cipient. manufacturing interests; water powers 
only partially developed; a superior quality of 
building material; three elevatoi’s with a total 
capacity of 10,000 bushels; a post office (of 
the third class) with an annual business of 
over $8,000 in stamps and postal cards, and 
over $10,000 in money orders; a market for 
350,000 bushels of wheat within a year; a live 
driving-park association, and county agricul¬ 
tural society; a wide-awake board of trade; 
an annual commercial business of over $1.000,- 
000. The place is on the main hue of the St. P. 
M. & M., at the point where the Brown Val¬ 
ley branch diverges to the West. The many 
other points of interest neediug discussion 
render it necessary to devote an exclusive let¬ 
ter to Morris and Stevens Counties, which we 
will endeavor to write within a couple of 
weeks. Th<- population is largely composed of 
Eastern people, and the intelligence and re¬ 
finement ol their earlier homes are hearing fruit 
in the social and intellectual entertainments 
now organized under the auspices of the board 
of trade, aud others in a general way; while 
the natural resources of the county for a 
multiform interest in husbandry assure a 
rapid and lasting prosperity. 
Benson is the county seat of Swift 
County adjoining Stevens on the southeast. It 
commands an attractive site, is nicely laid out 
with wide streets well graveled. It has a 
thorough system of sewerage east and west 
on either side of the railroad, emptying into 
the Chippewa River, w hich, with the health¬ 
ful climate, affords almost entire immunity 
from sickness—only throe adult deaths since 
1870. There are a good graded school, three 
churches, and a live, seven-column folio paper,, 
under the charge of Edward Thomas. 
Here are two large elevators, and a wheat 
market for about 400,000 bushels per annum. 
The handsome hotel, the “ Aldrich Brothers’ 
House,” is a three-story brick structure of 42 
rooms, well furnished aud well kept; an orna¬ 
ment and benefit to the town. 
Land in tins comity is worth from $3 to 
$7.50 per acre. It is well adapted to tame 
grasses and stock-raising, as well as to the 
usual variety of crops, and the farmers should 
avail themselves more fully of these advan¬ 
tages. The United States Land Office here 
finds its principal attention to be required in 
“proving up” claims and a few entries of 
contested tracts. The banking business of 
Benson is estimated at $700,000 (?), and the 
commercial trade at the same figure. 
WlUiMAB, the county seat of Kandiyohi 
County, has a good school, a live newspaper, 
a few good business buildings, elevators, a 
mill, and a rich county surrounding it. The 
population of town and county is almost en¬ 
tirely Scaud in avian, and the leading business 
man (so-called) in the town (and an American 
at that) told us they did not want Eastern 
people to settle in the county, and signifi¬ 
cantly added, “We could not get them if we 
did.” Hence, as we are writing for Eastern 
readers, we will desist from further com¬ 
ment. 
Litchfield, 77 miles from St, Paul, with a 
population of about 1,500, is the county seat 
of Meeker County, which, by-the way, is one 
of the choicest in Central Minnesota. Prettily 
located, with every accessory for thrift in 
both town and county, it, of course, depends 
largely on the spirit and enterprise of its 
citizens to solve the problem of future dis¬ 
tinction, and these are by no means deficient. 
The happy combination of the American and 
better class of the foreign elements keeps all 
enterprising and progressive. Churches, 
schools, civic organizations, banks, a board of 
trade, newspapers, manufactories, elevators, 
lumber yards, good stores and stocks, and 
hotels (notably the new Howard House), all 
attest the commercial importance of the 
place. Three weeks hence we shall give our 
readers the details of thus town and county in 
a special letter. There are several large, 
prosperous towns east of Litchfield, on the 
line, of sufficient importance to merit a visit 
and extended notice, and we regretted our 
inability to stop, but time precluded. 
Nearing Minneapolis we come to Lake 
Minnetonka, becoming world-renowned, and 
upon the attractions of which volumes have 
been published from more able pencils than 
ours. It has an entire length of 17 miles, 208 
miles of shore line, and embod ies about 82 square 
miles, with 10 islands, varying in size from 
one to 600 acres. Large hotels, several spa¬ 
cious boarding houses, numerous cottages, 
large steamers, sail and row boats, are among 
the conveniences which this wondrous resort 
adds to its marvelous beauty. Those in quest 
of health, rest, recreation or sporting are 
everywhere turning to Minnetonka, as show n 
by its 20,000 visitors in 1881. 
A word in conclusion: Nearly the entire 
country under notice is specially adapted to 
stock-raising and dairying, yet the attention 
to both these is far below the possibilities 
offered. Rich, nutritious grasses, pure water, 
an abundance, of timber for Summer shade 
and Winter shelter, a pure, invigorating at¬ 
mosphere, a rich soil for producing feed of 
any variety desired, all exist in profusion; 
and why do not the farmers emulate tbe ex¬ 
ample of those ia other localities, Iowa, for 
instance, and acquire for themselves a. repu¬ 
tation abroad for their creamery butter and 
cheese ? 
PEACH TREE BARK BORER. 
Important Note from Professor C. V. Riley. 
Mr. A. J. Caywood has been kind enough 
to send me specimens of the beetle which is 
doing such injury to his peach trees, and which 
he referred to in his communication of No¬ 
vember 13 as a now insect, The beetle proves 
to bean old acquaintance (Bhloiotribus limin- 
aris, Harris), long known to injuriously affect 
peach trees. It is referred to by Harris under 
the old generic term Tomicus, on page 88 of 
his WfllWWown work ou Insects Injurious 
to Vegetation and has been supposed 
to be the cause of yellows (see Mias 
Morris in Downing’s Horticulturist, vol. IV., 
page 502). That the injury of the insect 
w ould produce an unhealthy, yellow appear¬ 
ance of the tree, or that it will most abound 
in trees affected with yellows is natural, but 
that it is the first cause of yellows there is no 
reason to believe, but, on the contrary, every 
reason to doubt. In regard to the doubt ex¬ 
isting in Mr. Caywood’s mind as to the mode 
of propagation of the species I would remark 
that as with other species of this family 
(ScolyticLue) the eggs are laid under the bark 
the beetle first boring into the bark for this 
purpose. 
It is very difficult to prevent, the injury of 
this class of bark-borers. From experiments 
made with a view of preventing injury from 
other boring beetlos, I feel satisfied that, a good 
coating of a mixture of lime, sulphur and Par¬ 
is-green will protect a healthy tree that is not 
yet attacked as long as the coating lasts; and, 
judging from a specimen which Mr. Caywood 
has sent., a coating of black varnish will des¬ 
troy all the borers, though whether or not it 
will injure the tree can only be decided bv ac¬ 
tual test in the orchard. 
Washington, D. C. 
--» «-♦- 
THE PEACH TREE BARK BORER. 
The peach tree bark beetle, “ gum bug,” 
noticed by your correspondent, Mr. Caywood, 
in two very interesting articles in the Rural, 
is quite abundant in this vicinity, causing the 
“ yellows” and veiy soon killing the tree— 
generally in two years, I think—precisely as 
observed by Miss Morris, in 184-, as recorded 
by Harris in “ Insects Injurious to Vegeta¬ 
tion.” I tliink this must have been first seen 
and described by Dr. Harris before 1840, as he 
says it was recorded in his catalogue. It must 
have been Injuring peach trees as early as 
1843,at least, for he says in 1854, in a paper to 
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, that 
it had been eleven years since tbe peach trees 
had been noticed to be affected by ’•yellows.” 
He also says, “ I cannot find any Tomicus 
liminaris at work in the bark,” still I think 
they must have been present there. Gener¬ 
ally, no extra scrutiny is required to detect 
the burrows in the bark, but the examination 
should always be made at the ground, near 
the roots, to be certain in regard to their pres¬ 
ence in an orchard. When w r e see a tree at 
this time of the year with its fruit (or some of 
it) still on its branches iu a “ mummified” 
form, we may be quite sure the bark borer is 
at work in its trunk. This beetle is a much 
more serious pest than any of the other inju¬ 
rious insects, attacking and burrowing in 
the trunk and branches of the peach tree. 
This beetle—Phloiotribus limiuaris—(Har¬ 
ris) is very closely allied to the clover root 
borer, Hylesinus trifolii (Mull.) with which it 
would be confounded by any casual observer, 
as it is colored and shaped exactly like it; 
though a very little smaller. It actually dif¬ 
fers only slightly in its structure as seen under 
a microscope, as noted by Le Conte in a foot¬ 
note of Harris's work If Mr. Caywood is 
right, it resembles the clover-root Imrer, too, 
iu its habits, viz., attacking, healthy, vigor¬ 
ous and growing plants. 
Now a great many of the members of this 
family attack plants and trees which are 
sickly, or in incipient decay. Hylesinus opacu- 
hio—(LeC.) Is found in soft maple trees, which 
are partly dead. These beetles are always 
found iu boundary sections, between the de¬ 
caying aud living tissues of the tree. H. acu- 
leatns bores in the bark of all asli trees fellod 
the previous Winter. The female and her 
mate burrow into the bark in May, the form¬ 
er laying the eggs as they channel along. 
Thus the larva channels at. right angles, form¬ 
ing that delicate curving we see on ash rails, 
after the bark peels off. 
Wayne Co., N. Y. W. L. Devereaux. 
-♦♦♦- 
Gas Tar a Protection from Tree Borers. 
In the Rural of Nov. 10th Mr. A. J. Cay¬ 
wood asks how to protect his peach trees from 
the new insect boring in the bark. In reply I 
would inform him that eight years ugo I made 
an experiment in coating some wild trees from 
the roots to branches with gas or coal tar. and 
finding after ono year the trees uninjured and 
in full vigor, T made the sumo application to 
my peach trees, by removing the earth from 
around the trunk for a few inches and coating 
the exposed part below the ground to a foot 
above ground with gas tur, after which 1 re¬ 
placed the earth, and to this day no borer has 
ever touched one of these trees, and they have 
made a tine growth and produced plenty of 
fruit each year since, while the peach trees of 
all my neighbors are half dead, and the other 
half is dying, showing a thick band of exuding 
gum at the surface of ground, where girdled 
by the borer. 1 would advise Mr. Caywood 
to try tbe gas tar, extending the coating up 
into the main branches. It will surely clean 
out the insects, and instead of injm mg the 
bark it preserves it from mosses and vegetable 
as well as animal parasites. Apply oti tbe 
bark directly w Ith a paint brush. If the tar is 
too thick warm it a little, and whatever the 
entomologists may name the pests, they will 
uevor trouble your trees again. A. Rost. 
Suffolk County, N. Y. 
many trees are seen upon which the scales are 
attacked by the Chalcidne to such an extent 
that t he branches present the same appearance 
seen in the majority of infested trees during 
the last week of October and first of Novem¬ 
ber. That is, tbo scales, particularly on the 
leaves and twigs of new growth, are nearly all 
one-third of full size, and have, iu the case of 
long scale, the bright color of young scales of 
a late brood. This is due to the arrested 
growth from attacks of parasites, which have 
not yet issued from the scales. The above re¬ 
fers to Long Scale more particularly, as iuthe 
case of Chaff Scale the Chalcid parasites do 
not invariably confine their attacks to imma¬ 
ture scales, but appear to infest even those 
which are adult and full of eggs; in these cases 
they feed either upon the eggs, or the coccid 
itself, or on both.” 
Uclcrifirtrij 
NOT PUERPERAL FEVER IN THE 
COW. 
The case mentioned by a correspondent in 
the Rural of Nov. 5, page 748, is not one of 
puerperal fever at all. It might have devel¬ 
oped into this disease or into some other kind 
of fever; but in the case mentioned it was 
simply a chill brought ou by exposure to cold 
rain. It was a case requiring an active stim¬ 
ulant, and the cayenne pepper produced pre¬ 
cisely the action required. The other case 
mentioned is quite as reasonable, and salt¬ 
peter, a cooling refrigerant and febrifuge, is 
quite often beneficial in a case of true fever. 
These cases show’ how important it is for 
persons owniug valuable cows to make a 
study of their ailments, and also how easy it 
is for a person who really knows nothing of 
medicine and the nature of popular rough- 
and-ready remedies to make serious mistakes; 
also how sometimes a person may hit a 
“hull’s eye” without aiming at it. Had the 
cayenne been given to a cow suffering from 
true puerperal fever, with the circulation ex¬ 
cited to its highest p .iut, the stimulant would 
probably have killed the cow in a short time. 
Puerperal fever occurs nine times out of 
ten from internal causes, and not from expos¬ 
ure, although in some cases exposure 
to cold or excess of heut, or nervous ex¬ 
citement Is the proximate cause of it. In the 
case mentioned the old dairyman was right; a 
pint of whisky or gin might have had the 
same effect. The only error made was in 
mistaking a chill for a fever, which may 
result from a chill, but is a very different 
thing from the chill itself. H. S. 
for Women. 
CONDUCTED BY MISS RAY CLARK. 
WAITING FOR MOTHER! 
J1AUY D. BRINE. 
Chalcid Parasites on Orange Scale-Insects. 
Professor C. V. Riley sends us the following 
extract from the diary of Mr. H. G. Hubbard, 
as indicative of the condition of the orange 
scales ut this season in Florida, Mr. Hubbard 
being stationed there to make observations on 
orange-tree insects:—“ Nov. 25th. Visited sev¬ 
eral orange groves to inspect the condition of 
scale und rust louse. The CocckUc continue to 
breed, and young are seen crawling about as 
well as males. There is, however, no marked 
sudden increase, as at the time of the October 
brood. The present appears to be a period of 
greatest increase of the Chalcid parasites, and 
“ The old man sits Iu Ills easy chair, 
Slumbering the moments away, 
Dreaming u dream that Is all Ills own, 
Ou this gladsome, peaceful day. 
His children have gather’d from far and near, 
His children’s Children beside. 
And merry voices are echoing through 
The " Homestead”a hail so wide. 
But far away In the years long flown 
Grandfather lives again; 
And his heart forgets that, it ever knew 
A shadow of grief und puiu. 
For he sees his wife as he saw her then— 
A matron comely mid fair, 
With her children gathered around his board 
And never a vacant chair. 
O ! happy this dream of the Auld Lang Syne 
Of the years long slipped away ! 
Aud the old man's lips have gather’d a smile 
And his heart grows young and guy; 
But a kiss falls gently upou his brow, 
From his daughter's Ups so true: 
“ Dinner Is ready ; and, Father, dear, 
We are only iraUing for you." 
The old man wakes at ills daughter’s call, 
And he looks at the table near, 
1 Ther’s one of us missing,’ my child, he says 
• We will wait till Mother L here.’ 
There are tears 111 the eyes of Ids children, then, 
As they gaze on an empty chair; 
For many a lonely year has passed, 
Since " Mother" sat with them there. 
But the old man pleads Still wistfully : 
We must wait for Mother, you know !” 
And they let him rest In his old arm chair 
Till the sun at last sinks low, 
Then leaving a smile Tor the children here, 
He turns from the Earth away. 
And has gone to Mother, beyond the skies, 
With the close of the Qtiot day. 
-- 
CONCERNING CHRISTMAS GIFTS. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
The wise gift-maker at Christmas time pre¬ 
pares all her gifts as curly as October, and so 
avoids the hurry that attends the making and 
purchase of them on the eve of the Christmas 
holiday. But from a multitude of reasons 
very few of us may be counted among the 
