SEC. 28 
822 
absolutely certain that the manures, or other 
fertilizers employed, are amply sufficient to Bup- 
ply the demand of the growing crop ; second, 
some of the rougher portions of the farms are 
being abandoned to nature and her recuperative 
action. 
Still another auxiliary condition is the aban¬ 
donment of dose fall feeding of meadow or 
mowing lauds that are not from their location 
self-supporting. The farmer who supposes that 
he oan feed his mowing lauds closely, thus 
leaving them unprotected during the winter, is 
deceiving himielf in a manner that will sooner 
or later work in Jury to his interests. This has 
been illustrated in the case of a farm which, 
under good managiment, easily filled a large 
barn with bay. It changed ownership, and the 
newootner had no fears of browsing too closely; 
but in a very few years the whole amount of 
hay cut would not fill the mows up to the main 
beam. 
It is a sure evidence of improved farming to 
see an increase of crops, and at the same time 
this is certain evidence that the permanent value 
of the land is not being impaired. Heavy ma¬ 
nuring, thorough tillage, and the exercise of 
good, sound j udgment in all other operations of 
the farm, are euro to bring their reward, and 
that these are being more generally practiced 
than in the past is an encouraging feature of 
American agriculture. Wm. H. Yeomans. 
Tolland Oo., Conn. 
-♦ * » ■ — - 
JOTTINGS AT KIRBY HOMESTEAD. 
OOL. F. D. CURTIS. 
In answer to the inquiry of Mr. Hendrick, 
whioh appeared some weeks ago in the Rusal, 
we will state that the potatoes raised on sod un¬ 
der straw, turned out the best of any crop in the 
neighborhood. The yield was three times aB 
great as it was in the field with ordinary hill 
uuUure on the same amount of ground, The 
potatoes were smooth and clean, and grew in 
bunohes or little piles, which make it easy to 
gather them. All we had to do was to rake off 
the straw which was malted down and pretty well 
rotted, and theu pick np the potatoes. No dig¬ 
ging was neoessary. The grass was all dead and 
the sod rotted, leaving the ground clean. Next 
year we intend to devote this piece of ground to 
Hubbard squashes and plant the quince orch¬ 
ard with potatoes under straw. We will do 
this to subdue the grass and weeds whioh are 
very rank, and at the same time to mulch the 
young quinoe trees, and give them a good start. 
We will cover the nut grove with straw also, for 
the benefit of the trees and the squashes, if we 
have the straw left over. 
We begin to think we cannot keep house with¬ 
out Hubbard or Butman squashes. They are 
the best substitute for potatoes, aud when 
baked aud served up with plenty of butter, one 
cam make a good meal out of them. They oome 
the nearest to sweet potatoes of any vegetable, 
and oombine in themselves the most palatable 
nutrimeni of any single vegetable, excepting the 
sweet Carol.nas. By covering the surface with 
straw, any stubborn patch of ground may be de¬ 
voted to squashes, and a good crop raised with 
little labor. The essential point is to make a 
rich hill for a seed bed. 
We have a near neighbor who has one re¬ 
deeming quality; every morning, the year round, 
he feeds his chickens. Ho sells eggs. 
Farmers are a queer sort of folks. As soon as 
they hear that pork is going down in market, 
into town they rush and try to engage theirs be¬ 
fore it gets down any lower, and so they help to 
make the market duller by over-stocking it, 
whereas if they would stay home, it would not be 
long before butchers would be oomiDg to them 
and bidding up the price. In Schenectady, our 
markeHown, the farmers have “beared" the 
pork market to such an extent that the price has 
gone down, within two weeks, from five dollars 
per hundred to less than four dollars. This suits 
the butchers who help to growl and run the price 
down, while they expect to double their money 
invested. There is no reason why pork should be 
bo low iu price, except the panicy pressure 
made by the farmers themselves. 
The bumble' footed rooster is well,but is minus 
two toes. We feel quite elated evur this surgi¬ 
cal operation and the result, as tbis is the only 
fowl with these ulcers, whioh ever lived. 
We have dropped the old practice of saving 
seed corn with the husks on and then braiding it 
up. The main thing is to select bright and perfect 
ears, and then put them where they will get dry 
andean be kept so. Corn selected out of a crib 
will often grow better than when nnited and 
hung up. We spread our seed corn either by the 
fire or in the sunshine for a few dayB, and then 
put it in abarrel where the mioe and rats cannot 
get at it. Old eeed corn is just as good as new, 
and hence it is a good idea to save plenty when 
the orop is good and have it on hand. Some¬ 
times there may be an unfavorable season and 
aud the extra supply will be valuable. Two yearB 
we have known farmers to be put to a great deal 
of trouble on this account. This year is a 
THE BUBAL NEW-YORKER. 
grand time to lay by a big stock of seed corn, as 
corn is unusually bright ; we have not seen a 
soft ear, Japanese corn, a striped, ornamental 
variety, had a hard time to ripen, but finally by 
the middle of October it become glazed. 
Seventy-eight bills of Chufas produoed a half 
bushel of nuts. Boiling is no improvement, but 
injures the flavor. They taste as nearly like 
chestnuts as anything. They are quite like ar¬ 
tichokes but of better flavor and more tender. 
In a warm climate no doubt they will pay as a 
crop to leave in the ground for the pigs to root 
out and eat, but In our frozen l&tiiude where 
they must he dug up and housed, they are not de¬ 
sirable, unless a few are raised for the ohildren, 
to take the plaoeof chestnuts, for whioh they are 
a tolerable substitute. They have to be wash¬ 
ed—which is not a hard maUtr—before they oan 
be eaten. After drying a little, t hey are sweeter. 
-♦ ♦ »- — 
N0TE8 FROM MAPLEWOOD FAB A. 
HECTOB BERTRAM. 
TREATMENT OF ORCHARDS. 
We have an oroh&rd of some fifty trees that 
are old and rough-barked, bearing small fruit, 
in small quantities. The trees were set years ago 
on the side-hill, and are of large size, making It 
next to impossible to plow among them. We 
shall draw manure and spread it thickly, say a 
half a load to the tree, about the roots, immedi¬ 
ately. Iu the spring the stems shall bo subject¬ 
ed to a thorough soraping and the old, rough, 
dead bark removed entirely. They shall then be 
washed with weak lye. This, together with se¬ 
vere pruning, will, I think, insure a great change 
for the better In their appe&rauoe aud bearing. 
Wc do not like the practice of white-washing 
trees. Eveu if not injurious to the trees, it 
makes them unpleasant to the eye. [Add suffi¬ 
cient quantities of lamp-black aud red mineral 
paint to the lime. In this way the color of the 
bark may be closely imitated.—Eds ] On the 
other band, a washing with lye every spring, I 
oonsider very beneficial for old or young trees. 
The effects are soon apparent: bark lioe aud other 
insects are exterminated; the bark changes 
from brown, to a dark healthy green, and be¬ 
comes perfectly smooth; the growth of ne w 
wood is much greator than in trees whioh had 
not been so treated. There is no wash for trees 
the good effeots of whioh are more marked. I 
have an idea that the lime in white-wash, would 
cause the bark to crack, although ia this I may 
be mistaken. 
I shall torn the sheep into the orchard next 
spring. They will not injure the trees as long 
as there is plenty of grass. Besides, they will 
consume all the wind-falls, the diseased and 
wormy fruit, and the benefits of this will be ap¬ 
parent in succeeding crops. When these apples 
are left lying under the trees, tine, Hmooth fruit, 
free from insects cannot be expected. Noxious 
insects will be propagated in readiness to work 
mischief in the next season's orop, whereas, if 
the eggs are destroyed, the danger from insect 
depredations will be greatly lessened. We do 
not, aa a general thing, draw sufficient manure 
on land set with trees. When one considers the 
immense drain made upon the soil by an orch¬ 
ard of thrifty trees, one is apt to realize his error. 
The land must be fed, and well fed, if one 
would obtain large yields. Fall I think the best 
time to apply mauure to trees. The rains and 
saows assist iu carrying its fertilizing proper¬ 
ties down within nourishing distance of the 
tiny rootlets. Coarse stable manure is probably 
the beet; for if applied thiokly, it forms an ex¬ 
cellent mulob, destroying the grass aud loosening 
the soil. 
SHINDIES. 
A dozen years ago, the buildings at Maple¬ 
wood Farm were roofed with chestnut shingles, 
and although shingles of this kind were highly 
recommended by many, they have proved a poor 
investment. The buildings will require new 
roofing in the spring, if not sooner. The ad¬ 
vantage claimed for them, was their durability. 
So far was this claim from being well founded, 
that hemlock shingles remained undecayed long¬ 
er. Chestnut shingles make an excellent ba¬ 
rometer. Daring dry weather, they warp and 
curl up badly, causing the roof to present an un¬ 
sightly appearance; but on the approach of rain, 
they become flat sgain. This peculiarity loos¬ 
ens the nails and injures the roof. That, on 
this account, they will not retain moisture aa 
long as others, is true ; but they are not durable, 
do not make a nice roof, aud I shall use no more 
of them. Good white pine shingles are, in my 
opinion, the cheapest, everything considered. A 
neighbor was telling me that he had tried the 
experiment of dipping shingles in white-wash, 
before laying them, with the best of results. 
Their lasting qualities were very much improv¬ 
ed, nearly doubled. It is a simple process, yet 
of much benefit, if the result stated cau be ob¬ 
tained. I have, however, seen buildings roofed 
with shoved pine Bhingles, which remained good 
for thirty years. A good coat of paint applied 
every two or three years, would prove a profit¬ 
able investment, yet many people think they 
cannot afford it. 
MAKING OATES IN WINTER. 
We are getting ready a supply of four and six- 
inoh fence boards, against the stormy days of 
winter. I shall use them in makiDg gates for 
all fields not so supplied. Much time is wasted 
during the year by opening and shutting bars, 
“ stake and ridered ” fences, and the like. To 
the farmer, more than others, time is money; 
and plenty of light, durable gates, well hung, 
will save a good deal of time aud add not a little 
to his cash aoconnt. 
(£ntonto lexical, 
THE WOOLY, APPLE-TREE LOUSE. 
(Eriosoma lanigera) 
,Edward Parker, King's Co , Now Scolia, 
asks the name of an inseot pest that infests his 
fruit trees and whether there is any preventive 
or remedy for it. The insects have the appear¬ 
ance of a bunch of cotton and when rubbed 
with the hand look like a mass of blood. He 
has applied pickle, bo&p and various other 
washeB against them to no effect. They are 
especially destructive to his young trees in 
the nursery. Ho says that he has been told 
that they aie called ‘ * Downy Lioe” 
ANSWER BVB. PICKMAN MANN. 
FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE PESTS. 
Mr Parker is rightly informed that the in¬ 
sects which trouble his orchard are called 
“ Downy Lice." They go alBO under other names, 
the fullest of which is placed at the head of 
this article. His description of their appear¬ 
ance leaves nothing to be desired on the score 
of their recognition. Harris, in his treatise on 
IuBects Injurious to Vegetation, says that the 
young lice appear in the spring of the year, 
like little specks of mold on the trees. As the 
season advances, the downy coat of the insect 
becomes more distinct, and the presence of the 
pest, to quote the words of Asa Fitch, ia re¬ 
vealed by Bmall patches of white down, or cot¬ 
ton-like wool, covering a cluster of minute pale 
lice. These patches are usually situated near 
the root, particularly around the base of twigs 
aud suckers growing from tho trank, and where 
any wound in the bark is healiDg. In autumn 
these patches are common also in the axils or 
crotches of the leaf-stalks, towards the ends 
of the twigs Under each small patch of down 
are commonly one large louse and many of her 
young. 
THEIR HISTORY. 
The lice are generally believed to have been 
imported from Europe into North America, but 
authorities differ in regard to the native home 
of the species. The present scientific name was 
first given to them in the year 1801. by Hius- 
manu, who described them In tho firet volume 
of IUiger'B Magazine far Insektenkunde, p. 440, 
in Germany. They seem to have been noticed 
first in France, long previous to the year 1787, 
when they first attracted attention in England, 
but subsequently to 1787, they received in Eng¬ 
land the name of “ American blight," on the 
supposition that they had been imported from 
North America. Riley, in his fourth aud in his 
sixth report on tho insects of Missouri, states 
that such ia the case. Walsh, however, had 
previously gone so far as to doubt whether the 
American speoies is the same as theEaropean, 
aud to imagine that the European species was 
naturally a trunk-inhabiting speoies, while the 
American lived especially upon the roots. In 
European countries the ingects multiply, oo- 
oasionally, to such an extent as to oover the 
whole under sides of the limbs, and also the 
trunk, the tree appearing as though it were 
whitewashed. 
THEIR HARDINESS IN COLD WEATHER. 
Yerrill says that these iuseots have a remark¬ 
able power of enduring the oold of winter and 
severe storms of rain and snow with compara¬ 
tive impunity. AS late as Deo. 11. he found a 
small tree, in New Haven, Conn., covered along 
the under sides of all the branches with healthy 
and active lioe of all sizes, busily engaged in 
suoking its sap, although two snow storms and 
many oold rains aud freezing nights had oc¬ 
curred previously. Doubtless many of these 
insects thus survive the winter, especially when 
they are lodged in crevices where they delight to 
establish themselves. The downy or cottony 
substance that usually oovers them abundantly 
may serve to proteot them, in some degree 
from oold as well as from the summer heat. 
THE YOUNG AND THEIR COVERINO. 
The eggs from whioh the first brood are 
hatched in the spring, are so small that they 
cannot be distinguished without a microscope. 
The young, when first hatched, are covered 
with a very short and fine down, but at a later 
period they become entirely imbedded in this 
secretion, as desoribod above. Tuis down is iu 
fact a kind of wax, and dissolves completely in 
alcohol, as well ae in Borne other liquids. It ad¬ 
heres to the fingers wheu it is touched, rnd is 
very easily removed from tho Insects, out of all 
the ports of the skin of tho hinder part of the 
body of which it scorns to issue. The adult in¬ 
sects emit, from time to time, drops of a sticky 
fluid from the binder extremity of the body. 
MODE OF OENERATION. 
In common with tho other members of the 
plant-louse, or Aphis family of insects, this 
louse has an unusual method of generation. 
The individuals which hatch out of eggs in the 
spring of the year are not of different sexes, or 
wholly of either sex, not being capable of pro¬ 
ducing or laying eggs, but go under the name 
of “neuters" or of “nurses," or under other 
Dames. They are without wings and, when 
fully grown, are 2.5 mm. in length, according 
to Harris, 1.6 mm long according to Fitch, 
egg-shaped, with honey-yellow or dull, red¬ 
dish-brown body, and with blackish or dusky 
head and appendages. The body does not bear 
any honey-tubes, such as characterize so well 
many of the plant-lico. These individuals bear 
living young in groat abundance, aud their pro¬ 
geny become like them in appearance and na¬ 
ture, for several generations throughout the 
summer. 
Late in the fall, however, as cold weather 
approaches and food beoomes scanty, other In¬ 
dividuals are produoed in this same manner 
from tbis samo stock, which do acquire wings, 
aud are of the two sexes, capable of producing 
fertile eggs. 
These sexual individuals have nearly black 
and rather plump bodies, but their distinguish¬ 
ing characteristic is their large wings. The 
fore wings are broad aud have three delicate 
stiffening ribs traversing tbeir central field, the 
third rib forked near the middle, and scarcely 
visible near its base before forking. On the 
front edge of the fore-wings is the usual col¬ 
ored spot, called the stigma, which is about 
three times as long as it is broad, aud is acute 
at eaoh end. The bind wings are about half as 
long as the fore wings aud are quite narrow. 
They have two simple delicate ribs traversing 
them. Prof. A. E. Verrill, of Yale College, New 
Haven, Cbnn., discovered these winged indi¬ 
viduals, which had not previously been known 
to exist, about the middle of Ootober, iu New 
Haven. 
MANNER OF DEPOSITING THE EGGS. 
The femaleB fly from tree to tree, later in the 
year, depositing tbeir eggs in tho crotcheB of 
the branches and in the chinks of the bark, 
at or near the surfaoe of the ground, especially 
if there are suckers springing up from the same 
place. As those females fly through the air, 
bearing with them the masses of down which 
they have secreted, they look like snow-flakeB. 
They are not known to infest uny other kind 
of trees than apple trees, and Fitch says that 
they prefer the trees whose fruit is sweetest. 
The young derive their nourishment from the 
sap of the baik and of the young wood imme¬ 
diately under the bark, inserting their beakB 
into the bark for the purpose. Harris says 
that the numerous punotures of these lioe pro¬ 
duce on the tender shootfi a cellular appearance, 
and that whenever a colony of them is estab¬ 
lished, warts, or excrescences arise on the bark; 
the limbs thus attacked become sickly, the 
leaves turn yellow and drop off; and aa the in¬ 
fection spreads from limb to limb, the whole 
tree beoomeB diseased, aud eventually perishes. 
REMEDIES. 
As with other plant-lioo, a persistent attack 
upon tlieBe results in a victory. The presence of 
inseots is marked so conspicuously that there can 
be no difficulty in finding them. Wherever 
found, they should be destroyed, and as they 
cau spread so easily in the fall of the year or iu 
the winter, from tree to tree, they must bo look¬ 
ed for upon apple trees whioh are not deemed 
worthy of care, but are allowed to stand as 
nurseries for all manner of pests, as wall as up¬ 
on the choice trees. Any oily substances or 
liquor that is destructive to insects, applied di¬ 
rectly to thorn, will Berve the purpose. A mix¬ 
ture of equal weight of fish-oil and melted resin, 
applied with a brush while warm, spirits of tar, 
spiritB of turpentine, oil, urine, soft soap; a 
kilogram of potash in seven litres of water, have 
all been recommended. 
The rough bark of the trees should be remov¬ 
ed, so tbat the insects may find less opportunity 
to conceal themselves. Harris says also that 
the sods and earth around tho bottom of ihe 
trunk of infested trees should be carried away, 
and their place supplied with fresh loam ; at the 
same time any insects which are found under¬ 
ground should he killed, aud all cracks and 
wounds should be filled with grafting cement or 
clay or mortar. Small limbs and extremities of 
branches, if infested, and beyond the reach of 
tho applications, should be cut off and burned. 
He recommends the scrubbing of tho bark, iu 
the spring of tho year, after it has been scraped 
smooth, with a stiff brush wet with the potash 
solution described above. Even scalding-hot 
water, applied with a mop-rag to tho infested 
Hpola, will destroy the lice. Perhaps tho most 
practicable remedy, and a sufficient one, would 
be the application of kerosene, benzine, or tur¬ 
pentine directly upon the insects. 
... --♦ ♦ ♦-— 
A NEW INSECT DESTROYER. 
A friend of our?, au experienced gardener, 
tells ua of a new and eff;olual way of extermi¬ 
nating inBeot pests both iu and out-of-doors. 
Take a barrel aud half fill it with coal tar. Then 
fill the barrel with water. After standing awhile 
the water may be sprinkled upon the leaves and 
stems by means of a whisk-broom or floweriDg 
