chlorides interfere with the intumescence of 
the organic potash salts at the moment of their 
decomposition; or, since the alkaline chlorides 
melt easily, they may simply cover the particles 
©f carbon with a coating of varnish, as it were, 
which prevents their burning by shielding 
them from the air. It is not the carbonate of 
potash itself, but the decomposition of the or¬ 
ganic potash salts, that helps the burning. 
The carbouate of potash found in a6hes is a 
mere product of the combustion. It did not 
exist, as such, in the tobacco leaf. 
It is noteworthy that neither lime nor mag¬ 
nesia acts like potash in this particular, and 
that with the exception ot soda, which is some¬ 
times found iu limited quantities in tobacco, 
potash alone is competent to do this kind of 
work. It lias been proved by experiments that 
tobacco which burns badly, maj r be made to 
bum tolerably well by incorporating with it 
either malate, citrate, oxalate, or tartrate of 
potash in such quantity that soluble carbonate 
of potash may he formed in the ashes; and, 
on the oi/her hand, it has been found that 
tobacco whieh bums well may be made incom¬ 
bustible by introducing the chlorides or sul¬ 
phates of calcium, magnesium, or ammonium 
in such amounts that there shall no longer be 
an excess of potash in the ashes. In these 
experiments the tobacco leaves were dipped 
for a moment in solutions of the salts in ques¬ 
tion ; the leaves were then shaken to remove 
the excess of liquor and left at rest in 
a closed vessel for 24 hours before they were 
huug in the air to dry. It should he said that 
these experiments were made for a scientific 
purpose merely. The intention was to test the 
truth of the idea above stated. It is said, how¬ 
ever, that saltpeter, or a mixture of saltpeter 
and borax, or oxalic acid is sometimes added 
by the mauufacturers of tobacco to correct its 
incombustibility; and that the combustion 
brought about iu this way is not wholly satis¬ 
factory. It is said to be too thoroughgoing, 
to overpower or impair the proper flavor of 
the leaf. 
Still other experiments have shown that it 
is easy to grow bad-burning tobacco on soils 
poor iu potash, and good-burning tobacco on 
the same soil by manuring with sulphate of 
potash or nitrate of potash or even with car¬ 
bonate of potash, though the carbonate, as 
well as wood ashes wbieii contain it, is gener¬ 
ally speaking not so good a fertilizer for to¬ 
bacco as the sulphate and nitrate are. It -was 
found, at the same lime, that though chloride 
of potassium is less obnoxious than chloride of 
magnesium or chloride of calcium, from the 
fact that it supplies polash to theplaut, it nev¬ 
ertheless docs harm, as was said before, by sup¬ 
plying chlorine, and is consequently not a fit 
manure for the tobacco crop. 
Qtittomolflfliral, 
WHAT I KNOW ABOUT WEEVILS. 
In this part of the country, the weevils first 
came to the farmers’ notice in the years 1873 
and '74, iu this manner. After thrashing the 
wheat, when it had stood a little while in the 
granary, it was found to become heated and 
to have a queer odor. On looking close, we 
saw some small, white moths ruuning and fly¬ 
ing over it, and in many places wheat grains 
were held together by a line web, forming 
balls, and inclosed iu each of these balls was a 
small, white grub which seemed to get its liv¬ 
ing by eating the grains forming the balls, as 
these grains were more or less broken. Then, 
after cleaning wheat for sowing, we found, be¬ 
hind the fau-mill, many small insects about 
the size of common dog-lice. The color of 
some was black and of some brown or reddish, 
and they were very lively. 
Now, I always thought these creatures were 
one and the same insect, only iu different 
stages of its development; but in looking in 
Chamber's Encyclopedia, 1 find what is called 
the “Corn Moth (Tinea grftneUa)" the de¬ 
scription of which answers closely to this 
moth. 
The Encyclopedia says: — “ This moth is 
of a cream-white color; the superior wings 
marbled with gray, brown, or black, and 
when at rest sloping like the roof of a house, 
the fringe turned up behind like a tail. The 
larva, or Corn Moth—whieh for its voracious¬ 
ness, is known as the wolf—eats into the grain, 
and attaches grains together by a web. An¬ 
other very troublesome moth also called Corn 
Moth is Butalis cerealella, which is not yet 
known in Britain, but is found iu some parts of 
Europe and America.” 
On looking further, I find the “ Corn Weevil 
(Butalis granaria)” described as “ a coleopter¬ 
ous insect of the family Curculionidie, which, 
although a small creature, not quite two lines 
long, is often extremely destructive to grain 
stored in granaries.” This would auswer to 
those insects we found behind ihe fanning-mill; 
so that, if I am not mistaken, -we have two 
instead of one insect spoiling our wheat, name¬ 
ly the Corn Moth and the Corn Weevil. 
Now, let me give yon some of my experience 
of the damage these pests can do. Last sum¬ 
mer I thrashed nearly all my wheat from the 
field three weck3 after harvest, the rest I in¬ 
tended lo stack and thrash at the same time as 
my oats which w’ere not yet cut when 1 thrash¬ 
ed the first time. Of Ibis wheat, I put 150 
bushels in the granary till October, and when 
I Bold it, there were no weevils in it, and hard¬ 
ly a few moths; in fact, I can well say I found 
no damage done to it; while, when I thrashed 
hoed crop, in order to clean it as much as pos¬ 
sible from weeds. After this crop is taken off, 
the ground should be plowed and the soil 
thrown into ridges so that the action of the 
weather in the winter, by its alternate freez¬ 
ings and thawings, may pulverize it and make 
it friable in the spring. While It is being 
plowed all boulders should be removed and all 
small stones carefully picked off, for it is im¬ 
CURVE TOO SHARP.— FIG. 133. 
the stacked wheat—which was iu the middle of 
September—about one fourth was mere brau 
and another fourth of the grains had weevil 
grubs in them. 
Several of my neighbors who stacked their 
wheat complained that it had been much dam¬ 
aged in the stacks, and that they could not, 
keep it, as it would heat in their granary. 
Thus it would seem that the sooner wheat is 
thrashed, the beiter. So fa’- I have not found 
a better remedy and I don’t think anybody 
has ; if in this opinion I am mistaken, will the 
fortunate discoverer please let us know a 
better way to avoid the ravages of this pest. 
Lake Co., III. Charles Rilliet. 
-♦ ♦- 
THE WHITE PINE WEEVIL-fPissodes 
strobi. Pack.) 
We learn from our correspondent in South 
Carolina that the White Pine weevil is be¬ 
coming more and more destructive to conifer¬ 
ous plants iu that part of the country. They 
no longer confine their depredations to the 
leading stem, but tbe lateral branches are at¬ 
tacked and tbe trees 60011 destroyed. On a 
6iugle stem of the Deodar Cedar, six inches iu 
length, he fuuud ten beetles. This tree is 
highly prized for ornament in South Carolina 
and Georgia ; but unless the weevil is in some 
way destroyed, its employment will have to be 
abandoned. 
Tbisbee.le has occasioned much injury to 
Piues from Maiue to Georgia, though it also 
affects the Hemlock and Norway Spruce. The 
beetle is oblong, oval, slender, and of a brown¬ 
ish rust color; on the thorax are two white 
dots and on the wing covers a whitish trans¬ 
verse band behind the middle; its average 
length is abont three-tenths of an inch. The 
principal injury is done to the leading shoot or 
6hoots of the tree. The beetle lays her eggs 
in the bark, dropping them at intervals 
throughout the entire length of the shoot. 
From each of these eggs batches a white grub 
which eats its way iuward and obliquely down¬ 
ward until it reaches the pith, in which it 
works a short distance farther, unless it should 
happen to meeL another grub ; in which case 
it feeds upon ihe walls of the mine already 
made until it attains its full growth. The eggs 
are laid early in the season and the shoot be¬ 
gins to wither during the summer. Tbe grubs 
remain iu their burrows throughout the entire 
season, changing to pupte and coming forth 
as perfect insects early the ensuing spring. 
The obvious remedy is to trim the trees well 
in late summer, and break off and burn the 
infested shoots with their contents. 
THE FORMATION AND MANAGEMENT OF 
LAWNS. 
JAMES HOGG. 
The numerous letters addressed to the edi¬ 
tors of horticultural papers, seeking informa¬ 
tion on this subject, indicate that but few 
persons, unless they are professional garden¬ 
possible to have a smoothly mown lawn if 
stones crop out ou the surface to interfere 
with the operations ot the scythe or lawn 
mower. If the land has a retentive sub-soil 
or there are depressions in the surface, which 
will hold water or are in any way wet or sog¬ 
gy, it should be well draiued and the depres¬ 
sions filled up ; for if not thus treated, nothing 
will grow in them but coarse, marsh grasses, 
or weeds Incident to such habitats, and these 
will be a constant source of trouble and vex¬ 
ation. In tbe following spring, as soon as the 
soil is nicely dry aud friable, the ground 
should be plowed with a sub-soil plow as well 
as wilh a surface plow. In this climate, 
with our tropical heat In summer, it is ab¬ 
solutely necessary to have the ground broken 
up to a considerable depth, in order that the 
roots may penetrate deeply into the cool, moist 
earth below the surface and so draw moisture 
from below, for without moisture it is impos¬ 
sible to give a bright, refreshing green to the 
lawn. If the sub-soil is of a gravelly texture 
and has a natural drainage, sub-soil plowing 
aud artificial drainage may be omitted. Care 
must be taken not to briug the sub-soil to the 
surface, as it never produces as good grass as 
the surface soil. 
After the land is plowed all hollows should 
bo filled up by removing into them the soil 
from any hummocks that may exist, A road 
scoop aud leveler are the best instruments for 
this purpose. If no hummocks exist, soil 
must be carted iu to fill up the hollows, the 
object being to get the surface as even as 
possible. This being done, the whole should 
be well harrowed to reduce the soil to as flue a 
state as possible; then Bown with grass seed, 
brush-harrowed in, and then tolled. If the land 
has been well manured for the previous crop, 
there is no necessity for manuring it for the 
grass seed; but if some fertilizer is thought to 
be necessary, use bone dust, superphosphate,or 
some other similar artificial manures, avoid¬ 
ing stable or barnyard manures, as they are 
always full of the seeds of weeds. A rauk 
growth of lawn grass is by no means desir¬ 
able; a healthy, robust, leafy growth is what 
is needed, and this is best attained by top-dres¬ 
sings as they may appear to be needed. Under 
no circumstances should stable manure, or any 
other likely to contain the seeds of weeds, 
ever be applied to a lawn. It will cost more 
than it is worth to extirpate the weeds. It is 
neither necessary nor in good taste to bring 
the lawn to a perfectly dead level; any undu¬ 
lations or swells of the ground should be pre¬ 
served, provided they are not ahrupt. If they 
are, they should be toned down by judicious 
leveling and made to run into the general level 
by easy, flowing gradients. If any rocks in 
places crop out upon tbe surface, they maybe 
allowed to remain, as by covering them with 
trailing viues or masking them with shubhery 
they may be made an agreeable feature of the 
work. The lawn should never be brought up 
in close contact with the house or otherwise 
the latter will look, as Sir Thomas Dick 
Lauder expressed It “ like a tea box ou a green 
carpet.” The house should always be separated 
from the lawn by a terrace, a balustrade or 
some Biinilar architectural feature, or if this 
cannot be done or afforded on the ground of 
FAULTY CURVE.—FIG.134. 
growing, leafy species should be used for this 
purpose. All coarse-stemmed grasses or those 
growing in tufts should be avoided, hence such 
grasses as timothy grass, orchard grass and 
red clover should never be sown as they are 
worse than useless Experience has shown that 
in this country, for general purposes none are 
better that, and few arc equal to, the following 
species: Agrostis vulgaris (called red top in 
Pennsylvania, but which is uotthe red top of 
New York or New England, that being the well 
known timothy grass); Agrostis canina or 
Rhode Island bent, whieh by many is consid¬ 
ered to be a dwarf variety of the first; Poa 
pratensis or Kentucky blue grass; Anthoxan- 
thum odoratum or sweet-scented vernal grass; 
and Trifolium repens or white clover. Under 
the shade of trees the Poa nemoralis or wood 
meadow grass will be found to do belter than 
any other species. 
A good mixture of the above grasses may be 
made in the following proportions : 
s quarts of Rhode Island bent 
15 •' “ rod top 
6 '* “ Kentucky blue (Trass 
2 “ “ sweet vernal 
1 " " white clover 
32 quarts, or one bushel. 
The quantity to be sown to an acre should 
not be less than three bushels, aud four bush¬ 
els will fully repay the extra cost. 
The great object in sowing a lawn is to get 
a thick, heavy sward as soou as possible, and 
this can only be done by heavy seeding. Un¬ 
der no circumstuuces sow oats or any other 
grain with the grass seed. It is often done 
under the mistaken notion that the grass in 
its young state requires shade or protection 
of some kind, hut this is a great fallacy, for 
the strong growing oats or grain will abstract 
far more moisture from the grouud for its 
own growth, thau its shade would have pre¬ 
served for the grass. If the latter can have 
plenty of moisture the sun will have no de¬ 
leterious effects upon It. In the lalitnde of 
New York, the seed may he sown during 
April or May and will produce a good turf 
by tbe ensuing autumn. Of course suitable 
allowance oi time mast be made for difference 
of latitude. The early autumn mouths, or as 
soon as cool nights with dews come in, is also 
a good season in which to seed down a lawn. 
The After Management 
consists in keeping it closely mown, going 
over it every ten or fifteen days with the 
mower according as the growth may be af¬ 
fected by the weather. It is well to leave the 
mown grass upon the lawn and let it dry up 
there. It shades the roots of tbe grass and 
p'events evaporation from the soil. As it 
soon disappears from sight it is not offensive, 
aud when fiually decayed gives considerable 
nutriment to the soil. Top-dressing with 
some readily soluble artificial manure should 
be given every autumn before the winter frosts 
set in, so that the autumnal talus may carry 
it down into the soil. Nevei ton-dress with 
stable or barnyard manure, it looks very 
disagreeable and is only a vehicle for sowing 
weeds. Early iu the spring go over the lawn 
with a small weeding spud aud cut out all the 
weeds that show thcuieelve . In spite of all 
that can be done, they will make their appear¬ 
ance, seeds of them from other quarters, being 
bloivn about in the air, find a ready lodgement 
in the grass and a very suitable situation for 
promoting their vegetation. If from any 
cause the turf should become thin in places, 
go over them in the spring with a sott brush 
harrow aud put in some fresh seeds, finishing 
with the roller. It is a good practice, even if 
it is not necessary to put iu flesh seed, to go 
over the lawn with a brush harrow and roller 
every spring, as it breaks down any worm 
easts and gives tho lawn a smooth surface, 
and has also a tendency Lo keep down any 
moss that may come iu. If it is thought nec¬ 
essary to destroy the worms, it can be done 
by dissolving six or eight pounds of stone 
lime in a hogshead of water, allowing it to 
stand for a day or two aud watering the lawn 
with a watering pot, using the clear lime water. 
It is, however, a disputed poiut whether the 
worms do any real injury or not, many claim¬ 
ing that tho perforations they make are an 
actual benefit to the grass by affording a ready 
means for aeratiug the Boil about the roots. 
As to the moss, which iu humid and pent-up 
situations is apt to be troublesome, the readiest 
way to destroy it, is by top-dressiugs of fertil¬ 
izers, for plants of this class do not like man¬ 
ures. ■ Nuver allow the grass to get more 
than four inches high before cutting it. Al¬ 
lowing it to grow like a hay field and then 
cutting it for the sake of the hay it will yield, 
as many people do, is a sure method of de¬ 
stroying it. as the process of seed-bearing de¬ 
stroys the vitality of the grass and the after 
math or growth iB always more or less feeble, 
and the velvety appearance, eo desirable, is 
effectually destroyed. 
ers, fully understand it. In reply to many 
such letters addressed to the Rural New- 
Yorker, I submit the following rules aud in¬ 
structions : 
Preparation of the Ground. 
In the first place, the ground should be pre¬ 
pared by a crop of potatoes, corn or other 
cost, wide flower borders should surround the 
house and these should be separated from the 
lawn by wide gravel walks. 
As the purposes of a lawn are entirely differ¬ 
ent to those of a hay or pasture field, 
The Selection of Grasses 
must be entirely different, and only dwarf¬ 
Konds and Trees. 
The arrangement of roads anti walks that 
may have to bo laid out, crossiug, or passing 
through lawns of large extent; aud the group¬ 
ing of trees and shrubs upon the lawn, are very 
difficult subjects to handle, either iu theory or 
iu practice, as they are purely matters of taste 
