368 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Not. 
should have supposed, their more natural food. On 
many occasions, we witnessed them basking in the sun¬ 
shine, on the denuded surfaces of the rocks, to such a 
degree as fairly to obscure them from the eye; and many of 
the larger streams have for some considerable distances 
been entirely covered by their floating carcasses, tainting 
the atmosphere with the odors arising from their decom¬ 
position, they having been drowned in endeavoring to. 
cross from shore to shore. 
We could not learn that the season had been unusual¬ 
ly free from moisture, and where we travelled, experienc¬ 
ed almost daily rains, but the crops of grass were exceed¬ 
ingly light, and of such a nature, as to be almost rejected 
by horses and cattle, the cause of Which, being attribut¬ 
ed most generally to the putrescence of these insects. 
For a more full and circumstantial history of these rava- 
gers, we introduce the following extract from the travels 
of President Dwight, as quoted by Harris: 
“ Bennington (Yt.) and its neighborhood, have for 
some time past been infested by grasshoppers (locusts) of 
a kind, with which I had been before wholly unacquainted. 
At least, their history, as given by respectable persons, 
is in a great measure novel. They appear at different pe¬ 
riods, in different years ; but the time of their continu¬ 
ance seems to be the same. This year (1798) , they came 
four weeks earlier than in 1797, and disappeared four 
■weeks sooner. As I had no opportunity of examining 
them, I cannot describe their form or their size. Their 
favorite food is clover and maize. Of the latter they de¬ 
vour the part which is called the silk; the immediate 
means of fecundating the ear; and thus prevent the ker¬ 
nel from coming to perfection. But their voracity ex¬ 
tends to almost every vegetable; even to the tobacco 
plant and the burdock. Nor are they confined to vege¬ 
tables alone. The garments of laborers, hung up in the 
field while they are at work, these insects destroy in a few 
hours; and with the same voracity they devour the loose 
particles which the saw leaves upon the surface of pine 
boards, and Avhich,-when separated, are termed saw-dust. 
The appearance of a board fence, from which the parti¬ 
cles had been eaten in this manner, and which I saw, was 
novel and singular; and seemed the result, not of the 
operations of the plane, but of attrition. At times, par¬ 
ticularly a little before their disappearance, they collect 
in clouds, rise high in the atmosphere, and take extensive 
flights', of which neither the cause nor the direction has 
hitherto been discovered. I was authentically informed 
that some persons, employed in raising the steeple of 
the church in Williamstown, were, while standing near 
the vane, covered by them, and saw, at the same time, 
vast swarms of them flying far above their heads. It is to 
be observed, however, that they customarily return, and 
perish on the very grounds which they have ravaged.” 
These insects need no description, being easily recog¬ 
nised by their prodigious number. 
The remedies recommended for the destruction of these 
depredators are, to mow the grass early so as to secure a 
crop before much injury has been sustained : the insects 
being then unable to migrate, in consequence of the im¬ 
perfection of their wings, perish on the spot. The fields 
under these circumstances, will suffer much less during 
the ensuing season, and should this process be univer¬ 
sally adopted, the number of insects in a short time will 
greatly decrease. Another method is, for four persons 
to draw a stout piece of cloth over the ground, one being 
attached to each corner, the two in advance holding their 
edge near the surface of the ground, and the others more 
elevated. In this manner great numbers may easily be 
taken, these are to be thrown into boiling water, and fed 
either to the poultry or given to the pigs. By turning 
young turkeys into the fields, great numbers of them.will 
be destroyed, they being exceedingly fond of the food, 
and the condition of the birds in a short time will be 
greatly improved. Jas. Eights. Albany, Oct. 12. 
Manufacture of Manure. 
We copy the following statements from the Annual 
Report of the Hampshire (Mass.) Ag. Society for 1851, 
and commend them to the attention of all who desire to 
increas§®the amount of their manure: 
Samuel Powers’’ Statement .— I have, during the last 
four years, been in the habit of using compost manure 
to a considerable extent, and from the experience that I 
have had in its application , and the results that have at¬ 
tended its use, I now think it far cheaper, and equally 
as durable for a fertilizer, as the best animal manure. In 
1847, I took from my peat swamp, the soil of which is 
composed of vegetable matter, that has been accumu¬ 
lating there for many years, about one hundred and 
twenty-five cart loads of this peat, and mixed with it 
ashes, saltpetre, and plaster, in parts equal to one hun¬ 
dred bushels ashes, one hundred pounds of saltpetre, 
and five hundred pounds of plaster, for the whole lot. 
In the spring of 1848, I carted this mixture upon a field 
adjoining, the soil of which Is a fine deep loam, capable 
of being enriched to any extent, and spread upon two 
acres; fifty large loads of-compost, harrowed it in and 
planted it with corn. Upon two acres adjoining, of pre¬ 
cisely the same quality, forty loads of good yard ma¬ 
nure Avere applied. The result was, the corn on both 
pieces was good, yet that on Avhich the compost Avas used 
Avas more luxuriant from beginning to end, and produc¬ 
ed some seventy-five bushels per acre. After harvesting 
the corn, one acre of the land composted Avas soavu to 
Avheat, and the other to rye; both crops were good, the 
part sown to rye producing about tAventy-five bushels, 
and the wheat twenty bushels. And had not the frost 
killed it out, it would probably have yielded thirty bush¬ 
els. The rye soivn on the two acres manured, produced 
twenty bushels per acre. 
In 1850, I planted the same four acres again, adding 
ten loads of compost, making sixty loads for the tAvo 
acres, and putting the same quantity of manure upon 
the other; it produced a very heavy crop of corn. Af¬ 
ter harvesting it I sorved it again with Avheat and rye, 
and produced as good a crop as before. 
In the spring of 1851. I soAved grass seed and harroAV- 
ed it in among the growing crop, and it uoav presents a 
very promising appearance. My object in experiment¬ 
ing upon these tAvo pieces of land, has been to test the 
qualities of compost, and its utility in preserving the 
qualities of the soil, Avhich has been done to my entire 
satisfaction, both parcels being raised from a Ioav to a 
high state of cultivation, and can, I. think, be mowed for 
several years to come, with good success. 
My anticipations have been more than realised,. both 
in regard to the productiveness of the land, and future 
prospects of the crops, which are all in favor of compost¬ 
ing, one important consideration of Avhich is its cheap, 
ness, the cost not exceeding thirty-three cents per load, 
on the lot, or about, one-third the expense of animal ma¬ 
nure. My practice Is to mix the compost one year, and 
use it the next. I have also applied it on several other 
parcels of land, with equal results. In 1849, I put fif¬ 
teen loads of compost on one-half an acre of land, be¬ 
side the same quantity of land on which Avas spread at 
the rate of tAventy-nine large cart loads of manure to 
the acre. The corn groAvn from the compost Avas the 
best , and produced forty bushels. I also spread twenty 
loads on grass, as a top dressing, and experienced the 
same results. In 1851, I applied to one acre about 40 
loads of compost, Avith nothing but plaster, to as good 
purpose as heretofore, for the growing of corn. Also 80 
loads to another acre of corn, and procured about the 
same as when tAventy loads of manure Avere used, side 
by side. In all cases where this compost has been used, 
not only has it produced good crops, blit it has much 
