442 
THE RURAL 
WEW-YORKER. 
JULY 43 
%\t <$ wrist, 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Rhi loceros Beetle. 
H. G. Smith, Marshall Go., Miss., fiends for 
name and description of a beetle which is to him 
an entire stranger, and is willing to accept 
whatever price the specimen maybe worth. 
Ans.— Tho insect sent is a male specimen of 
Dynastos tityus, the gigantic Rhinoceros Beetle 
of North America. The female of this beetle 
has not horns like those borne by the male. ItB 
size and form make it rocognizable with ease 
and certainty, but the colors are various, some 
specimens being dark-brown all over, and others 
light-green with dark blotches. Sometimes a 
part of the body is of one color and the rest of 
anotber. The beetle is found not rarely in 
the Smtbern United States, reaching at least 
as far north as Pennsylvania and Missouri. It 
is said to breed in the old stumps of several 
kinds of trees. Mr. Mask tells us he has found 
it under heaps of the manure of the Can-ion 
Crow (Cathartea atratus) in tho Sea Islands of 
South Carolina. 
The specimen was damaged by having one 
wing-cover broken, and if sound, it might 
bring five cents. 
Churning Cream. 
F. P. Leonard , Noble Co., Minn., is anxious 
to learn how he can get his churning done 
quickly and uniformly; of late it has taken an 
hour, and sometimes two, to bring butter. Ac¬ 
cordingly he asks .- (1) What should be the 
temperature of the cream to insure speedy, yet 
hard butter ? (2) Is it uniform temperature 
that causes buttor to come in uniform lengths of 
time ? (3) What makes the cream swell as it 
does sometimes ? (4) What chnrn is the best to 
produce good butter in a reasonable time ? He is 
uow using a common upright dasher. (5) How 
quickly would such a good churn make butter ? 
(6) Does it require less labor than the old-style 
upright dasher ? (7) Its price and manufac¬ 
turers ? (8} Is there any chemical substance 
which, if put iuto tho cream, will hasten the 
coming of tho butter without injuring it ? (9) 
If cows go unsalted, does it prolong the churn¬ 
ing of the cream from their milk ? 
ANSWERS, BY DE. HOSKINS. 
(1) This depends somewhat on the season, and 
on the quantity of cream operated upon at 
one time. Sixty-two degrees may be called 
the standard or average teruperatme, and 
in large dairies and creameries it need not be 
much varied for season. But where a few 
quarts only of cream are churned at onco, the 
temperature should he from live to eight de¬ 
grees higher in winter, and ’ower in summer. 
(2) Yet, other things being all right. 
(3) Churning too warm, generally—always, 
unless something is the matter with the milk. 
(4) The barrel for large dairies, a box-churn 
for small oneB. Jersey cream raised in small 
pans, is apt to be too thick for any but the dash- 
churn. Really, the kind of chum is immaterial, 
except as regards convenience, provided it thor¬ 
oughly and equally agitates all the cream. The 
Blanchard is a good churn. 
(5) Any good chnrn will bring the butter in 
from 15 to 30 minutes if the oream is right. I 
would recommend inexperienced persons begin¬ 
ning to make batter, to scald their milk before 
setting. The temperature should be raised to 
135 degrees. Be careful about burning. Cream 
from scalded milk does not usually require over 
ten or fifteen minutes’ churning. 
(6) Yes. 
(7) See advertising columns, passim, 
(8) No. 
(9) Yes,—at least that is the general belief, 
though I know of no conclusive experiments on 
this point. 
Raising Onions 
M. H. I)e Buy ter, Madison Go., N. Y., asks : 
(1) Whether onion seed should be sown in the 
fall, and what is tho best month to do it in ? (2) 
Which is best: the small black seed or onion 
sets ? (3) If a crop is started in the fall, how is 
it to be protected through the winter. (4) Is fall 
sowing better than spring ? 
Ans. —To produce “ sets ’’ which are the small 
bulbs, sow seeds thickly on poor but finely pre¬ 
pared ground in spring, tho object of poor soil 
being to raise ‘‘sets" as small aB possible and 
prevent their running to seed. These “sets” 
are gathered in summer, dried and placed 
in a loft of the barn or other suitable place. In 
spring the best, richest soil is prepared and the 
“ sets " which are now to produce onions of the 
largest size, are planted in drills. If proper care 
be given to weeding, etc,, the earliest of the 
crop will be fit for marketearly in June and may 
all be gathered by the middle of July. 
To raise onions from the " black seed,” sow 
as early in spring as the ground can be pre¬ 
pared. The crop will be ready to harvest late 
in summer. (2) it will appear, therefore, that 
whether the “ black seeds” or “sets” succeed 
best will depend upon the purposes for which 
the orop is wanted. (3) On Long Island, N. Y., 
no protection is given. But a covering of some 
kind may be needeu in your climate. (4) We 
should prefer spring for sowing the seed. This 
produces the great onion crop. But if earliuoas 
is a first consideration, sow in September—cov¬ 
er the bed after the first hard frost, and uncover 
in early spring as soon as the frost is out. In 
this way onions are secured a month or so earlier 
than by spring planting of seed. 
Layering Grape Vines. 
J. A. S., GaUalin, Mo., asks what is the 
proper time and method for propagating GrapeB 
by layering. 
Ans. —1. Spring or Fall. Summer shoots may 
be laid now-—but vines from them are not so 
strong as others. For single vines, make a little 
trench, six inches deep, and bend the cane into 
it, securing it by a stone or forked Btick. Then 
cover with earth. The soil should be rich. 
Miscellaneous. 
M. Knight, living in some one of the nine Hulls 
in the country, asks for the length, breadth, and 
probable cost of the “Cheap and Convenient 
House,” a plan of whioh was given in the Rubai. 
for March 16tb. 
Ans. —As shown on the plan, the length and 
breadth vary somewhat, as the house is neither 
an exact parallelogram nor square ; the greatest 
length, however, is about 61 feet; greatest 
breadth, about 38 feet; probable cost, in the 
neighborhood of $2 500. The cost will, of course, 
depend in part upon the price of labor and ma¬ 
terials in the place where the house is to be 
built; and as these varv somewhat in each of 
the nine Hulls in which Mr. Knight may live, so 
far as his note indicates, we can give him no pre¬ 
cise information on this point. 
E. B. Reynolds, Olmsted Falls, Ohio, says: I 
would like to know something about artificial 
egg-hatebing. Please let me know where I can 
find machines used for this purpose, and oblige 
a reader. 
Ans. —Several firms make incubators, each, of 
course, having some special claim to excellence. 
We suppose you propose to go into the business, 
if at all, in a small way, and therefore suggest 
that you send for circulars to Prof- Corbet of 
Warren street,. N. Y., and Day Bros. & Co , 
Baltimore, Md., who make good incubators. So 
far as wo have been able to learn, artificial in¬ 
cubation has not proved entirely satisfactory in 
its results; the most pronounced failure re¬ 
corded is that of a Mr. Baker, near New York, 
who has expended upwards of thirty thousand 
dollars in the unsuccessful attempt to supply 
our markets with spring chickens whose only 
mother was an artificial creature. Perhaps the 
science is not yet in good working order, In 
any event, it were well to make haste slowly. 
C. P.. Youngstown, Ohio, says Bbe bought a 
plant of Eulalia Japoniea zebrina, but that there 
is as yet no variegation of any kind. 8be asks 
if the florist ought not to refund the money or 
supply the variety purchased. 
Ans — Assuredly. We would say, however, 
that the leaves of this “ Zebra-striped ” Eulalia 
do not at first show their transverse stripes. 
They appear after a while, however, as if the 
variegated parts were a soil of discoloration. 
R. M. Maustey, Dewitt, Mo., wants to know 
where lie can get a good stump puller. 
Ans.— We refer him to the Chamberlain Mfg. 
Co., Olean, N. Y., who make a very efficient im¬ 
plement. 
Communications received for the week ending 
Saturday, July, Sth. 
R. C. ,J.—E. W. 8.—A. L. J.—A. E. S.—T. II. II.— 
H. B.—B. W.—L. A. K.-J. B. A -N. R.—T. II. H„ 
No. 2.—F. H. D.—S. H.—D. E. S.—L. K., thanks— 
T. M. S.—H. W. B.—V. D. C. — “May Maple”— 
S. P.—W. J. B -E. P.—H. J.—L. A. R., N. 2-C. B. 
—J. C. —E. S.—C—R. L.—J. C., NO. 2. 
€ntotnolo_ninil, 
THE HESSIAN FLY. 
(CECIDOMYIA DESTRUCTOR.) 
Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan State Agri¬ 
cultural College, delivered a lecture upon the 
Hessian Fly at two Farmers’ Institutes, held re¬ 
spectively at Paw-Paw and at Climax, Michigan. 
THE FLY MAGNIFIED. 
This lecture he has printed in a 14 page pamph¬ 
let, 24x15 cm., and offers to send, prepaid by 
mail, for ten omits, the cost of publishing and 
mailing. Prof. Cook is well known to us for his 
successful endeavors to advance and diffuse the 
knowledge of agricultural entomology in his own 
State, and incidentally in other States. 
Ho outlines briefly a portion of the history of this 
insect since its appearance in the United States 
at the time of the Revolutionary War, and men¬ 
tions some of the books in which fuller accounts of 
it are given ; describes it in all its forms ; gives 
an account of its habits; what varieties of wheat 
it attacks most and least, and how it may be 
combatted. The following account is drawn 
mostly from Prof. Cook’b pamphlet. 
It is a true fly or gnat, having hut two wings. 
The wings are a little longer than the abdomen, 
are bordered by a fringe of delicate gray-black 
hairs, and, when at rest, lie flat on the back. 
They are strengthened by three riba running 
lengthwise ; the two anterior ribs unbranclied, 
the third rib sending a branch to the inner edge 
of the wing. The poisers, which grow where 
hind wings might be looked for, are short and 
hairy, having a yellow stem and a black head. 
The leg* are long and hairy, with no spines on 
them. The head boars a half-moon-shaped eye 
on each side, but has no eyes on its forehead. 
The antenna are nearly as long as the body, and 
are divided into from fourteen to seventeen 
bead-like “whip” joints, each one of these 
giving rise to hairs which seem to stand 
out in a oirele round it. The whole length 
of the My, from the front of the head to the 
tip of the abdomen, is three millimeters, and 
the spread of the wings is six millimeters. Tho 
fly is black when its body 1 h nearly empty, except 
that the base of the wings, tho lines of union of 
the joints, the spaces around the breathing- 
holes on the sides of the abdomen, the under 
surface of tho budy and especially the legs, are 
more or less marked with very light-yellow. 
When the female is full of eggs, her abdomen is 
bright-red, as that is the color of the eggs, 
wLieh show through the walls of the body. A 
variable hue of the same color may be Been in 
the abdomen of the male for a brief period before 
copulation. The entire body in both sexes is 
covered with fehort, black hairs. 
At the end of the seventh, that is, of the last 
joint of the abdomen of the female, is a yellow, 
two jointed egg-layer, wli.eh can be opened or 
shut like a spy-glass. Instead of this tho male 
has curved forceps or cla&pera on the end of his 
abdomen. 
The egg is about a half of a' millimeter long, 
and a tenth of a millimeter in diameter, cylin¬ 
drical, translucent, and of » red color. 
The maggot grows to bo four mm’s long. When 
first matched it is reddish; then it becomes pale 
and cloudod with whitish spots, and the food 
in it shows through the skin as a green line ruu-^ 
ning lengthwise ; thou its skin turns brown and 
hardens, and becomes of a bright, chestnut 
color. Meanwhile the insect shrinks within and 
away from its skin, which thereafter serves only 
as a case inducing the pupa loosely. This case 
is commonly likened to a flux-need, from its 
shape and color, and the insect, when inclosed 
in it, is said to be in the flax-seed state. 
The insects in flax¬ 
seed state as they 
appear under the 
leaf-sheath of the 
wheat plant. 
the larva or 
MAGGOT. 
THE PUPA. 
The pupa enclosed in the case resembles a 
maggot until shortly before the fly is to appear, 
its internal changes making no outward show 
for a long time. When the form of the fly ap¬ 
pears, it is inclosed in a thin skin, which is shed 
after the fly has left its case. 
HABITS. 
The first brood of flies appears between April 
10 and the early part of May, and the second 
brood in July and August, and sometimes a 
third brood in October. In two to four weeks 
thereafter, the eggs are laid. The eggs of the 
spring broood are laid upon spring wheat or 
barley, rye or grass, if this is sufficiently ad¬ 
vanced, but otherwise they are laid upon similar 
plants of tho previous year’s seeding. In the 
former case, they aru committed to the lowest 
leaves, but in the latter case, to the leaves above 
the first or seeoud joint, rarely-to those above 
the third joint. The eggs of the summer and 
fall broods are committed to the lowest leaves. 
They aro laid usually on the upper surface of 
the leaf, sometimes on the under surface, stud 
occasionally on the stalk. Very rarely are more 
than three eggs committed to one leaf; more 
frequently only two, and generally only one. 
Tho maggots appeur in from four to ten days 
after the eggs aro lin'd, iiceurdiug to the weatLer, 
and work down the leaf within the sheath to the 
base. Li about five weeks, the maggot is full- 
grown, and soon after, it is in the flax-seed con¬ 
dition. By lhia time the young plant has turned 
yellow and become bent, or the older plant has 
become crippled at the swollen joint where the 
maggot lies. 
REMEDIES. 
Th6 flies will lay their eggs upon the first 
suitable plants which they find after they are 
ready to lay. They injnre the Diehl wheat the 
most severely, then, in successively less ratio, 
White Amber, Egyptian White Chaff. Lancaster, 
Lincoln, Gold Medal, Treadwell, Fultz, Clawson 
and other varieties of red wheat. All varieties 
whioh are very vigorous, and which stool large¬ 
ly in autumn, are desirable to plant in autumn ; 
for, if sown late, they will still make a sufficient 
growth ; and, if attacked, they will bo more ab’.e 
than other varieties to withstand the damage; 
aud, if they shoot oat suckers liberally, these 
sprouts, being uninjured by the insects, may save 
the crop. If some wheat is sown early and other 
is sown late, all the eggs will he laid upon the 
early wheat; but if none is sown early, the flies 
will wait. Consequently it is well te sow a narrow 
strip of wheat about each field in August or early 
in September, and to put off, as long as the sea¬ 
son permits, sowing the wheat that is to be 
raised. MoBt of the eggs will then be laid upon 
tins early wheat, which should bo plowed under 
deeply as soon as the later wheat is planted. 
This outer strip may then be sowed again. If 
the wheat has survived the winter safely, but 
seems JilteJy to bo destroyed by the insects in 
spring, it should either be rolled and pastured 
out to sheep, or it. should be mowed about three 
weeks after the flrat appearance of tho flies. A 
second mowing three weeks later will bo bene¬ 
ficial. Burning the stubble after the wheat is 
harvested, is a sure means of destroying the in¬ 
sects iu large numbers, but, at the snirio time, 
the beneficial insects, which are estimated to 
destroy nine-tenths of all tho injurious ones, 
will be destroyed. So they will, bowover. to a 
liko extent, if the infested wheat is plowed in or 
grazed off. While late planting is a remedy for 
the Hessian fly—Cecidomyia destructor—early 
planting is a remedy for the Wheat-midge—Ceci¬ 
domyia Tritici. 
THE HESSIAN FLY—VARIOUS STAGES. 
Jnhstnal Jmjilrarnts, 
AUTOMATIC COW-MILKER. 
The Automatic Cow-Milker is a Bterliug-silver 
tube with highly-polished surface, aud in all 
respects a nice piece of work. The tubes are 
sold in sets of four attached to each oth< r by 
strips of leather, and seem to be as convenient 
a contrivance for lessoning the labors of the 
d iry as haB been introduced. W. F. Ely, Madi¬ 
son, N J.. is tho inventor and proprietor. The 
following letter from Col. Weld, to whom wo 
sent a set for trial, gives his opinion on the sub¬ 
ject: 
“ I have tried the Automatic Cow-Milker sent 
me to be tested. If worked well on one cow re¬ 
peatedly. I have no hesitation in saying that the 
milker is a valuable article in any dairy establish¬ 
ment, especially for cows with sore or wounded 
teats, aud for milkiug very short-teated cows, 
and l think it would be particularly convenient 
for gentlemen having one or more cows, and 
liable to bo left, now and then, without a person 
to milk them when changing servants. 
“M. C. Weld.” 
-- 
THE AMERICAN FRUIT DRIER. 
Oun market reports quote fruit that has been 
dried by improved processes at a much higher 
figure than that offered for the ordinary kind. 
It would appear, then, that fruit so dried must 
be more accept able to thb buyer,and if Ibis is so, 
farmers cannot afford to deprive themselves of 
the increased profit derived from employing the 
best processes. The American Drier is a new 
apparatus which has secured the silver medal 
aud approval of tho Maryland Institute, for the 
best fruit evaporator. It is constructed on 
scientific priociples, is simple in application, 
portable aud cheap, aud it is claimed that it not 
only does thorough work but produces fruit that 
equa's that evaporated by tho costly large ap¬ 
paratus. Those Laving fruit should investigate 
these claims, ns it would be greatly to their ad¬ 
vantage to produce tine evaporated fruit with¬ 
out being compelled to go to the large expense 
necessary in most instances. Catalogues, etc., 
on application to tho American Drier Co., Oham- 
bersbtirg, Pa. 
