VOL. XXXVII. No. 
WHOLE No. 1479. 
NEW YORK CITY, JUNE 1, 1878. 
PRICE SIX CENTS. 
83.50 PER YEAR. 
(ftnlontfl logical, 
THE ACTION OF UNITED FORCES. 
In the Run ax New Yorker for May 11, we 
figured some carrion beetles and Hies at their 
useful work—removing dead bodies from the 
air. 
To-day we present another figure, showing 
these and other insects at work upon a bird. In 
the figure the two beetles on the tail feathers 
and under the wing, are Necrophorus ; the beetle 
on the base of the tail, aud the two similar ones on 
the breast, are Silphas; while the one under the 
head, and the other in the left-hand corner, are 
Necrophilas—near relatives of thB Necrophorus. 
Here we figure also some hornets, which, as 
we mentioned before, do not disdain to 
eat flesh, at any rate when it is fresh, 
though they seem to prefer to catch their 
own prey, namely insects, rather than to 
associate at a common table with their 
lowly, distant relations. The butterflies, 
though lovely to the sight, are not 
so dainty, are filthy indeed; while the 
caterpillars, which are sometimes re¬ 
garded with disgust by sballow-pated sen¬ 
timentalists, are more cloanly and devour 
only the leaves of the trees or lowlier 
plants. 
The labors of all these insects, however, 
except the Necrophorus and the flies, 
would avail but little in removing the de¬ 
caying mass from sight. Linnama said 
that three flies would, through their pro¬ 
geny, devour the carcass of a horse as 
quickly as a lion would devour it, which, 
as lions do not eat stale meat, must be 
true; but we may believe it would be true 
under other circumstances. A carcase, 
which has grown ripe uuder a hot summer 
sun, often seems to be composed alruot-1 
entirely of a mass of living maggots. The 
burying beetles are not so prolific, but by 
their habit* they get the body out of 
sight as quiokly and as effectually as do the 
dies. Attracted to the corpse by the aensi- 
of smell, they surround it and pnsh theii 
heads under it. They scratch away tht- 
dirt with their legs, so that a wail is raised 
around the carcass at the same time that a 
grave is dug, aud the body sinks into th< 
hollow by its own weight. From time tc 
time one or another of the beetles comes 
to the surface and observes the progress of 
the work. Ir any part is less buried than 
the rest it is examined attentively by the 
beetle, who stands before it with head and 
antenna stretched in thought, aud theu r< - 
turns to work. Moon we see tbat;the strength 
of all the beetles has been concentrated 
upon this part, and in an almost incredibly 
short time the oorpse has disappeared 
beneath the ground; then the mound 
over it is leveled, aud, Anally, no trace of 
the burial remains. In very favorable 
ground the corpse is buried thirty centime¬ 
tres deep. Sometimes, when the ground 
upon which the carcass lies is not easy to 
dig in, the beetles push the oaroass along 
to a place suitable for burial. 
Gleditsch often and long watched these 
beetles at work, and says, that in fifty days 
four of them buried two moles, four frogs, ^ 
three small birds, two locusts, the entrails ^ 
of a fish, and two pieces of neat's liver. 
This tksh is buried as a receptacle for the 
eggs of the beetles, the beetles themselves 
feeding upon the larger and unburied ^ 
carcasses. 
[It wsb not our intention to have given 
this week the accompanying entomologi¬ 
cal out, which, owing to a disappoint¬ 
ment in proonring a first-page sketch, 
illustrative of the opening of the Paris Ex¬ 
hibition, (which we shall present next 
week), we wero obliged to use.—E ds.J 
[Entered according- to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by tho Rural Publishing Company, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
I I GETTING RID OF THE CUT-WORM. I into the field or garden with a birchen dish, and deserving than 
The following method of getting rid of the 
Cut-worm is just about as sensible aB many 
methods of destroying insects which are pub¬ 
lished in these enlightened days. It is taken 
from Joaayln’s account of his voyage to New En¬ 
gland, printed in London in 1674 “There is also 
(in New England) a dark dunnish worm or bug 
of the bigness of an oaten-straw and an inch 
long, that in the spring lye (sic) at the root of 
corn and garden plants all day and in the night 
creeps out and devours them. These in some 
yearB destroy abundance of Indian com and 
garden plants and tbey have but one way to be 
rid of them, which the English have learned of 
the Indians. And because it is somewhat 
Btrange, I shall tell you how it is. They go out 
into the field or garden with a birchen dish, and 
spud ling the earth about the roots, for they lye 
not deep, they gather their dish full which may 
contain a quart or three pints, then they Carrie 
the dish to the soa-Bide when it is ebbing 
water and set it a-swimming, the water carrieth 
the dish into the sea-side and within a day or two 
you go in your field, you may look your eyes out 
sooner than find any of them. ” 
^rhrifttltttral, 
AZALE \ AMffiNA. 
Among the various plants that have grown 
into public estimation of late years, few are more 
ACTION 
UNITED FORCES. 
deserving than this little shrub. Faring like 
many new and old plants, we find it for yeais 
consigned to the greenhouse and the companion¬ 
ship of the larger, if not more showy, Chinet e 
Azaleas, where its oharms seem quite dwarf and 
dulled by contrast. Even after aooident taught 
many that it possessed a considerable degree of 
hardiuess, it was classed with suoh kinds as 
A. Obtusa and Sinesis alba, which, in ordinary 
exposures, have been found by no means hardy 
Very many new and choice plants experience a 
like fate. If any extraordinary beauty or deli¬ 
cacy of color ana form appears, immediately the 
prize is too precious to expose to the rude blasts 
of winter even for the sake of experiment and 
the enlightenment of mankind. Let some one 
else, they say, benefit the world by the sacrifice 
of so beautiful a plant, we will preserve its 
attractions in the greenhouse. Fortu¬ 
nately, however, some one is generally sure 
to risk the sacrifice by carelessness, and to 
the surprise of every one the plant proves 
hardy. Again the accident occurs with the 
same result. A few daring spirits now 
slowly and tentatively leave out in winter 
more and more of these plants, until in 
tim« their absolute hardiness is established. 
It would be a surprising figure could we 
learn the period of time required to de¬ 
monstrate the hardiness of many of our 
now commonest dowering shrubs. Few 
have been doubted in this respect longer 
and more persistently In the face of facts 
than Azalea ammna. In reality it is nearly, 
if not quite, as hardy as Ghent Azaleas 
and Rhododendrons; and a perfectly 
charming little object it is in early spring. 
Freed from the dulling effect, in the house, 
of masses of larger aud highly colored 
Chinese Azaleas, the somewhat purplish 
shades of its petals disappear almost entire¬ 
ly in the open air and amid the quieter 
tonaB of green foliage, only enough re¬ 
maining to intensify its deep and glowing 
red or rose color. The general tints of 
early spring ate fresh and striking, but 
none are more so than the rich masses of 
flowers which completely envelop the 
dwarf, bushy form of Azalea amoena. 
Along a border, or among other shrubbery 
the effect at a little distance is almost daz¬ 
zling. The flow era come, as usual with suoh 
plants, before the young growth, which 
shoots directly upward, and gradually 
fg fills in form below, year after year, uutil 
it assumes in time a solid mass of glossy, 
dark-green foliage made up of little oval 
leaves, often arranged in layer-like masses, 
after the manner of other hardy Azaleas. 
It is, however, much more compact than 
any thing of the Azalea genus, aud quite 
evergreen, except that it takes on a 
bronze-brown hue in winter. The roots 
are very fibrous and numerous, which en¬ 
ables it to endure transplanting with great 
ease and safety. 
Its proper location on the lawn is in 
some border or near the house on the 
$ outskirts of groups of Azaleas, Rhodo¬ 
dendrons, eto. As with all similar plants, 
t the selection of a sheltered side of the 
house, east or south, favors the length 
and retention of its bloom in spring, and 
its absolute safety in winter. For similar 
reasons, some remote and quiet nook of 
the lawn affords a fitting situation where 
its beauty can appear suddenly and un¬ 
expectedly to the observer. The prun¬ 
ing knife need scarcely ever be used on 
its regular, compact growth, or the soil 
specially prepared, if already properly en¬ 
riched. All summer, its glossy foliage 
is attractive, so we cannot complain—as 
we do sometimes rather unjustly, of the 
Hardy or Ghent Azaleas —that its won¬ 
derful flowers constitute its chief, if not 
its only, charm. These words of praise 
for this little plant seem very weak, as we 
look on its glowing colors. S. Parsons. 
