Not. 
ones, these hairs radiating from elevated dots or warts 
which are black on the back and orange yellow on the 
sides, the skin being usually pale yellow with nume¬ 
rous black freckles, which on the back are often dense, 
forming a black stripe, and with a bright yellow stripe 
along each side, the head and feet being black. 
The caterpillars of different nests complete their 
growth at different periods, from about the middle of 
August till the latter part of September. They then 
leave the trees on which they have fed and wander 
about until they find suitably sheltered situations in 
which to place their cocoons. These are thin and al¬ 
most transparent, being forjned of a few silken threads 
w tb the hairs of the catterpillaris body interwoven 
therewith. In these cocoon3 the insect lies in its pupa 
or chrysalis state during the winter and spring, and 
then changes to the milk-white miller or moth first 
described above. 
In addition to this month, which is wholly white, we 
have two other species of ermine moths in the state of 
New-York. The caterpillars of these are unknown to 
me, though they are no doubt very similar to the com¬ 
mon species, and form nests of the same kind upon the 
trees. One of these I described in the Transactions of 
the State Agricultural Society for 1856, page 383, un¬ 
der the name of the Dotted ermine moth ( Hyph-antria 
punctata.) It is very similar to the common species, 
but is rather larger, sometimes measuring two inches 
across the spread wings, which show a black dot in 
the center of the forward pair, and in the males a row 
of small blackish spots extending from the middle of 
the inner margin to the tips. The other species is the 
Spotted ermine moth (Hyphantria cunea) first describ¬ 
ed by Drury, from specimens captured in the vicinity 
of New-York city, where it is very common, and ap¬ 
pears to supplant or occupy the place of the common 
species. In this the fore wings of the males are orna¬ 
mented with numerous small blaek spots. Otherwise 
it is quite similar to the two other species. 
Though many of these caterpillars hatch in July, 
it is not until August that their nests become of such 
size as to be noticed, and those of later broods do not 
make their appearance until the following month. Or¬ 
chards should, therefore, be examined, for the Fall 
Web-worm, at two or three different times in August 
and September, that these enemies may be discovered 
and destroyed whilst they are yet small and before any 
considerable amount of the foliage has been consumed 
by them. And whenever a nest is found, the limb on 
which it is placed should be cut off and consigned to 
the flames. Asa Fitch. Salem, N. Tb, Oct. 4, 1858. 
Suckering Corn. 
Carefully conducted experiments bring me to the 
same conclusion arrived at by one of your late contri¬ 
butors, writing on the subject of “ Suckering Corn,” 
namely, that it is not advisable to leave the “Suck¬ 
ers on.” My last experiment was on rich new land. 
On that portion suckered, I had a fair crop of corn for 
the season. That with the suckers left on gave me a 
good crop of fodder and a few nubbins on the tops of 
the suckers, but very little corn on the original stock. 
M. B. B. Front Royal, Va . 
—-«- 0-0 ---— 
We have received Yol 1, No. 1, of the Ken¬ 
tucky Farmer, a monthly, each number about the size 
of ours, published at Frankfort, Ky , by A. G. Hodges. 
Caustic Lime as Manure. 
Will you please inform me what advantage fresh 
lime has over slacked lime, to apply as a fertilizer 
to soils. T. D. j. 
There is a great diversity of opinion, of practice, 
and of results in the use of lime as manure. This di¬ 
versity doubtless arises from the many different ways 
in which it may operate. 1. If caustic, it may be im¬ 
mediately dissolved by water, and at once diffused in¬ 
timately through the soil. If mild or air-slacked, it 
cannot be thus dissolved, but will be slowly diffused, 
in the course of years, by the action of the carbonic 
acid brought down from the atmosphere in rain. The 
question at once arises, which is best—this immediate 
diffusion, or the gradual solution 7 The English prac¬ 
tice is to combine both,—by applying fresh, water- 
slacked lime in such quantities that but a part can be 
immediately dissolved, the rest becoming a carbonate 
for slow solution. This, observe, is the practice, but it 
is not probably founded on the reasons here given, but 
on experience merely. 
If the (Quantity of water in the soil at ordinary de¬ 
grees of moistness, down as far as tilled, i3 equal to 
three inches,—then, as water will dissolve but a seven 
hundredth part of lime, only about eight bushels per 
acre can ever be dissolved at one time by the water of 
the soil. This quantity, therefore, may be set down as 
the extreme limit that can ever be profitably applied 
per acre of fresh lime, so far as its immediate benefit 
is concerned. All the rest soon becomes mild, and re¬ 
mains undissolved for years, or until the carbonic acid 
of the moisture slowly disposes of it. If therefore, 
200 bushels of fresh lime are spread on an acre, 192 
bushels at least pass to the state of a carbonate before 
it operates as manure. 
This difference in the mode of becoming dissolved, 
may account for the fact that the application of fresh 
lime in some eases results in a decided benefit to the 
crop, even where analysis has shown an ample portion 
of carbonate already existing—the latter being very 
slowly insoluble, the former more rapidly so. When 
air-slacked or carbonate of lime is mixed through the 
soil, the mixture is merely mechanical, and must re¬ 
main so for years ; but where a proper quantity of 
caustic lime is applied, it immediately becomes inti¬ 
mately diffused by solution. Hence, there may be in¬ 
stances, even on what are termed lime-stone soils, 
where a yearly application of a few bushels of caustic 
material may produce decidedly beneficial results. 
It must be observed, however, that even in lime¬ 
stone regions, there may be no carbonate of lime in the 
soil—indeed this is frequently if not generally the 
case, the lime having been slowly dissolved in the 
lapse of ages by the carbonic acid brought down by 
rains, and gradually carried down through the soil and 
conveyed away by the subsoil streams. For this rea¬ 
son, both caustic and mild lime may prove very useful 
and tend to restore such soils—-it being always remem¬ 
bered that heavy doses, without a corresponding ap¬ 
plication of yard manure, may injure rather than 
benefit. 
Another consideration should not be forgotten. If 
pulverized mild lime, well intermixed with the soil, 
requires so many years for its dissolution by rains, 
what should be said of the practice, not unfrequently 
