AN ENEMY OF THE HICKORIES. 
We find the following article on ouo of our 
Hickory posts in tlie Daily Sun of May 23, and 
as it contains some points not generally known, 
we publish it for the benefit of our numerous 
readers who may have groves of Hickories, or 
contemplate planting them: 
The total or partial destruction of almost any 
ouo genus of our native forest trees, would be a 
national calamity; but, as is well known, there 
are some genera of far greater value than others, 
then - worth varying in proportion to the number 
of species they contain, the timber of which is 
used in the arts and manufactures. The hicko¬ 
ries (t 'arya) arc highly valued on account of 
them elastic, durable wood, which is extensively 
employed for the hoops of barrels and in the 
constr uction of hundreds of farm and other im¬ 
plements. So highly prized are some of the spe¬ 
cies for the purposes named, that many exten¬ 
sive plantations of seedling trees have been rnado 
in anticipation of future demands. Under the 
circumstances, it becomes quite important to the 
welfare of Forestry in the United States, that a 
careful inquiry should bo made into the condi¬ 
tions which control not only the successful cul¬ 
tivation of hickoiies in the future, but also their 
continued existence in our primeval forests. 
The piOBervatiou or destruction of the enor¬ 
mous annual crops of hickory-nuts gathered 
from our two most valuable species beariug edi¬ 
ble fruit, namely, the Shell bark (Gary a alba) 
and the Pecan nut (Cary a olivaefonnis). may 
also be taken into consideration in this connec¬ 
tion, inasmuch as these nuts are to the inhabi¬ 
tants of extensive regions of country, a source of 
considable income, aud are universally apprecia¬ 
ted as a healthful aud inexpensive delicacy. 
Without desiring to play the role of an alarm¬ 
ist in regal'd to any of our thousands of species 
of noxious insects, still there is one of these 
which threatens onr hickories, and calls for espe¬ 
cial attention at this time. To the scientific en¬ 
tomologist it Is not a new insect, having boon 
described by Thob. Say. in a paper road before 
the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia 
in 1824 ; but its history was unknown until witlnn 
the past few years, when a greater knowledge of 
it was acquired, perhaps on account of its in¬ 
creasing abundance and very marked destructive 
powers. Mr. Kay found it iu what was then 
called Missouri, a rather undefined region ot 
country, extending from the Mississippi westward 
to the Rocky Mountains, and he very correctly 
referred the insect to the family Scolytida in the 
order Colenjitr-ra, describing it under the name 
of Scot.ylus 4 -ttjiinosus, the specific name being 
derived from four conio aente spines projecting 
from two posterior joint s of the abdomen. 
It is quite a minute beetle, a little over one- 
fifth of an inch long ; color black; elytra brown; 
antenuai pale rufous; (borax punctured, black- 
brown ; elytra reddish-brown, truncated with 
impunctured strim and an obsolete series of punct¬ 
ures on the interstitial lilies: tip denticulated . 
venter obliquely truncated, the posterior portion 
of the body appearing to have been cut off from 
the tip of the elytra obliquely forward. 
This destructive little beetle was confined to 
what was formerly known as the Territory of 
Missouri, but is becoming abundant throughout 
both the Eastern and Western States, aud within 
a few miles of New York City has caused the 
death of a largo number of hickory trees. 
Its method of operating is as followsThe 
sexes appear late in summer, and after copula¬ 
tion the males Boon disappear. The female pro¬ 
ceeds to boro a bole through the bark of the 
tree, and on reaching the wood, excavates a chan¬ 
nel lengthwise of the grain of the wood and about 
one inch in length. The burrow is only about 
ono-sixtecuth of an inch in diameter, aud out 
one-half in the sapw r ood and the o flier in the 
inner hark. The female beetle, thus ensconced 
and hidden from view, soon commences to ovi¬ 
posit by placing from twenty to forty eggs nu 
each side of tho chauuel, or from forty to eighty 
eggs in all, and perhaps iu some instances even 
a greater number. 
In a few days the eggs hatch, tho mother re¬ 
maining for weeks thereafter, for what purpose 
it would bo difficult to conjecture, for the young 
grubs, immediately after leaving the egg, com¬ 
mence to cut channels iti the bark and wood, but 
at right angles from the one made by the parent 
insect aud across the grain of the wood. Now, 
it is evident that if they kept straight on in their 
course, crowding must follow as they increased 
in size, and to avoid this, those on the extreme 
ends soon diverge to the right and left, often at 
an acute angle, while the next two, three, or 
more, diverge leas, and so on to the center, tho 
few iu the middle keeping very nearly in the 
same direction iu which they commenced, diverg¬ 
ing but a tritie from a straight line. In those 
movements we have a very marked example of 
instinct in a very low order of insects, or of what 
Borne may choose to term hereditary experience. 
These larva' continue to feed upon the albur- 
uoub matter until checked by cold weather. 
Then they remain dormant until spring, when a 
new departure is made from the regular mode of 
progression the season previous, and instead of 
keeping between the wood and hark, they scatter 
in all directions, boring into the latter and each 
seeking a place fur egress into the outer world 
after having passed through its various meta¬ 
morphoses. 
If they remained close to the wood and beneath 
v e I H 0 i/ \° I I /ifv, 
Surrey and adjacent counties, North Carolina, in 
1792,1809,1826 and 1843. In Dearborn county, 
Indiana, in 1843 and in I860, and in Kalamazoo, 
Michigan, during tho Bame years.” 
It will be seen from the above that tho present 
is to be an extensive Cicada year. I shall feel 
under obligations to any of your subsoribers in 
the localities there indicated, if they will report 
to me the occurrence or non-occurrence of the 
insect, together with any reliable data as to its 
past appearance, the limits of t.lie Brood, Jtc. 
Ever siuce 1808 [ have been amending aud ren¬ 
CHAPMAN’S RAILWAY PITCHING APPARATUS. 
the tho thick old baric of a large hickory tree, tho 
imago or perfect insect, would probably find it 
very difficult to make its escape: therefore the 
larv;e prepares for this egrosH by cutting its way 
to near the surface, where it rests and passes 
through itH pupa state—near to freedom, hilt 
with the door firmly closed agaiust intruders. 
Should one of these Janie, by accident, cut 
through the outer bark and thereby let iu the 
light, the bill of a woodpecker or some other in¬ 
sect-eating bird, might he inserted, very much 
to the grub's discomfort. 
As this insect commences its work upon the 
tree among the uppermost branches, or on the 
stem far from the ground, gradually extending 
downward, from year to year, it becomes quite 
apparent that the Forester will find it difficult to 
apply any artificial preventives. The woodpecker 
aud other insect-eating birds which frequent 
forests, are its only known natural enemies, and 
those are likely to keep at n good distance from 
small plantations or isolate 1 specimens of the 
hickory, which the Sooh/lichn appear to frequent 
most. The larvie, by cutting channels across the 
alburnous cells between the inner bark aud the 
wood, prevent the downward llOWOf ooonmulated 
sap, and the effect upon the tree from this cause 
is one of the liest proofs that could be offered 
that the theory of the circulation of sap in trees, 
as given by our physiologists, is the true one, 
and cannot be disproved, although this has fre¬ 
quently been attempted. 
-- — 
PERIODICAL CICADA OR “SEVENTEEN 
YEAR LOCDST. 
Ed. Bubal New Yobkek: — The following 
passage is taken from the chronological history 
of this curious insect, given in my first report. 
“ Brood XII.— Sepkiiulccim —1860, 1877,—In 
the year 1877. and at intervals of 17 years there¬ 
after, they will, in all probability, appear in the 
vicinity of Sehuylervillo and Fort Miller, in New 
York. From thenoo along both sides of the 
Hudson to its mouth, where they extend, at 
least, to New Haven, in Connecticut, and west 
across the north part of New Jersey and into 
Pennsylvania. Also iu Dearborn county, Indiana; 
Kalamazoo, Michigan; in Pennsylvania, North 
Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. 
“ This brood iB recorded by Prof, l’ottor as 
having occurred at North Haven, Couu., in 1724, 
1741, 1758, 1792, 1809, and 1826. It was also 
recorded by the same writer as having occurred 
in 1826 in Middlesex county, N. J., aud by Dr. 
Fitch as having occurred iu 1843 throughout the 
whole country mentioned above. In 1860, again, 
it was spoken of in the old series of the Prairie 
Farmer (VoL 22, p. 119) as having occurred that 
year iu New Jersey, and Dr. Smith records it 
throughout the whole State, in 1775, 1792, 1809, 
1826 ane 1843. Mr. JaR. Angus, of West Farms, 
Westchester county, N. Y., has himself witnessed 
its recurrence in the years 1843 aud 1860. 
“ Iu Pennsylvania, Mr. Hath von found a few 
individuals in I860, aud Dr. Smith says it extends 
from the SuRtpiehatma to the Delaware river, 
bounded by Peter's mountain on the south. In 
Virginia it occurred from the south part of Lou- 
dou county to the Boauokc river, and from the 
Blue Ridge to the Potomac in 1826, 1843 and 
I860. Iu Maryland from Ann Arundel county to 
the north part of St. Mary’s, and from the Poto¬ 
mac to Chesopeake Bay, iu 1809, 1826, 1843 and 
18G0. In Rockingham, Stokes, Guilford, Rowan, 
dering more accurate the chronology which I 
then published, and by 1885, with the assistance 
of correspondents interested in tho matter. I 
hope to present a complete record of both the 13- 
aud 17-yoar broods, which shall be a reliable 
guide to thn appearance of the insect iu any 
locality, during any year in the future. 
Journals in the States enumerated will confer 
ft favor by giving this circulation. 
St. Louis, Mo., May 14,1877. C. V. Riley. 
Industrial Implements, 
CHAPMAN’S RAILWAY PITCHING AP¬ 
PARATUS. 
We present to our readers this week an illus¬ 
tration of the Railway Pitching Apparatus, 
already known in many sections as one of the 
most effective, economical and in every way satis¬ 
factory implements offered to farmers. For 
years it has been quietly but steadily, earning a 
name for itself as a perfect apparatus for raising 
bay, unthreshed grains, corn-stalks, straw, 
beans, etc., in barns over the great Loam into 
sheds etc. and upon stacks. It is readily oper¬ 
ated from the inside drive-way. or through the 
ends of barns from the wagon on the outside. 
This Apparatus is made up of four distinct ma¬ 
chines combined in use, viz: The Raymond 
Grappling Fork, the Powell Elevating Gar, At¬ 
taching Grapples and Post Pulley. 
The fork has two sets of arms of three each, 
terminating in long tapering tines; these are en¬ 
tirely of spring steel, opening from the top. 
The tines, when spread, stand four feet and six 
to eight inches apart, and enter the material 
twenty-one inches; it doses hy its own weight, 
and holds its load in the same manner ; it can bo 
worked successfully whether the material be 
damp or dry. long or short. That it may be 
operated easily, has beeu attested by being 
worked successfully by lads of twelve year's. 
That it is capable of rapid work has beeu shown 
by taking off a load at the rate of a fork full of 
400 pounds iu twenty-four seconds, or half a ton 
per minute. 
The car is very positive in action, is strong, 
compact, convenient, and adapted to a great 
variety of uses. It is run on two rails of wood, 
hung close iu peak of barn, aud has been con¬ 
structed with special reference to durability and 
perfection of working. It may also be used to 
convey other forks. The track is uniform, and 
the hoisting place may bo changed at pleasure 
by the simple removal of a pin. This facilitates 
the successful filling of floors or drive-ways, and 
refilling the top of the barn through its entire 
length after the material has had time to settle. 
The use of car and rails affords an opportunity 
for tilling barns and sheds from the outside, in 
an easy and most economical manner. Filling 
buildings from the outside iu the ordinary way is 
a tedious operation, attended with much hard 
labor. By this method it may be as easily and 
nearly as quickly done as from tho inside. The 
track is extended four and one-half feet, covered 
and neatly finished. 
The car and track method gives the farmer the 
most convenient command of his room, filling 
his buildings in sections. He may at pleasure 
first fill those portions near at hand or furthest 
off. He may assort the oualitioa of his hay, I 
putting the good in one section and the poorer 
in another, and ho may empty in the same way 
and by the same means. 
The post pulley is a simple device for diminish¬ 
ing the travel of the horse. It consists of a post 
pulley with easting-off plate attached to the top 
of a post, located half the distance from the 
starting point which the horse must travel in 
convoying the fork full to the extreme place of 
discharge. The horse goes to and around it, 
and returns, the pulleys retaining the rope 
while the horse is coming back to the starting 
point. 
The attaching grapple is another exceedingly 
simple device of the fewest possible parts, de¬ 
signed to facilitate the location and changing 
from place to place of the draft-rope pulleys. 
With it pulleys can be put up without climbing, 
and quickly shifted when desired. It may be 
used in hanging any horse fork, or iu suspending 
pulleys for any purpose of hoisting. 
This apparatus, worked by one horse, has 
stacked 16 acres of oats in 6 hours, 16 acres of 
barley in 5 hours, 15 loads of barley iu 4 hours, 
and in like manner, the fork with car, has thrown 
a ton of hay over great beam of barn in two 
minutes. It saves to the farmer one or two 
hands through haying and harvesting, and like¬ 
wise makes easy the hardest part of harvest. 
Tlie manufacturer, Gabon kb B. Weeks of 
Syracuse, N. Y., will send to applicants pamphlets 
describing and illustrating the Railway Pitching 
Apparatus in detail aud containing very valuable 
suggestions respecting the construction of barns. 
THE EUREKA MOWER. 
Wilbeb’s Eureka Mower is now mado by the 
Towauda E. M. Co., Towanda, I’a. They don’t 
seem to indulge in circulars to a ruinous extent 
judging by the single sheet now before us, but 
tho figures contained thereon are pregnant with 
interest to the farmer. We have here the 
record of the testa made in the field last summer 
at Schenck’s Station, Pa., under the direction of 
t he Centennial Judges, and wo will again men¬ 
tion, what was fnlly set forth at tho time by our 
special correspondent, that tho “ Eureka ” with 
a six foot cut, (tho widest of any mower made) 
averaged a draft of but 28 GO pounds per foot. 
This is a fact worth thinking about. This 
Mower is a center draft, and to quote tho official 
language of tho award, wo find that it was 
deemed worthy of special distinction, 
First —For the introduction of an entirely new 
principle by that of direct draft. 
Second —The horses are attached to the center 
of tho machine, the cut grass is not trodden at all. 
Third —Owing to the presence of double 
clear era within the cover, comprised of light 
irou rods, the grass is left raised up and so lipbt 
that curing follows without the aid of tedders, A c. 
Fourth —For tho great advantage of being 
able to work the land in any direction, and thus 
attack difficult crops in the bust way. 
Fifth —For the oxcelleut arrangement by which 
flexibility of the knife is secured. 
Sixth —For the lightness of draft. 
Seventh —For its great capacity for rapid work. 
Those points constitute what may be termed a 
record, and if tho company were politicians we 
should expect to boar of their “pointing with 
pride,” instead of permitting the machines 
themselves to do all the talking. 
-- 
HORSE HAY FORK —PATENT INFRINGE¬ 
MENTS. 
In the case of A. J. Nellis vs. The Ashland 
Fork Manufacturing Company, in the United 
.states Circuit Court for the Northern District 
nf Ohio, a decree has been entered in favor of 
the patents, aud an injunction issued againBt 
the defendants enjoining thc-m from making and 
selling the Harris Double llarpoon Horse Hay 
Fork. We notice from the Court records that 
there are over one hundred suits now pending, 
for tho infringement of these patents, against 
parties in the State of Ohio. Evidently the own¬ 
ers of the patents are determined to protect their 
rights. 
MY EXPERIENCE IN FLORICULTURE. 
As we have all been kindly invited to contri¬ 
bute for each others’ beuofit our small share of 
experimental knowledge to the Bubal’s columns, 
I propose to tell of some things I loarnod, and 
some that 1 didn’t learn, dmiug the past season. 
1 can’t call myself a beginner as I have had Borne 
twenty-five years experience iu the cultivation of 
flowers; still I fell into some blunders that I 
hope never to commit again. 
I made no attempts at “ Landscape Garden¬ 
ing,” had no ovals, ribbons, or circles, but laid 
all my beds out in straight lines, four feet w'ide, 
by about twenty feet long. I planted each 
variety and color by itself, aud put out a Dahlia 
