1868.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
213 
The Noxions Insects ol* Illinois.— 
First Annual Report by Benj. D. Walsh, M. A., Acting 
State Entomologist. We should think that the title 
should have been Active State Entomologist. We be¬ 
lieve that the appointment is not settled yet definitely, 
and Mr. W. very modestly signs himself Acting State 
Entomologist—and ho is right, for he has acted very 
much like one, and presented a report of over 100 pages, 
which we have only glanced at. We can see that it is 
very characteristic, by which we mean that things are put 
in a plain and forcible way, and that the author says what 
he thinks is right, no matter how weighty may be the 
names in opposition to him. This we like, and are pre¬ 
pared to get much useful information from his report 
when we get time to peruse it. In the mean time we 
congratulate Mr. Walsh and our Illinois friends upon hav¬ 
ing established a relation that we doubt not will be mu¬ 
tually beneficial. When people are fairly instructed as 
to the habits of insects, they will then know the tactics 
of the enemy and be able to fight it. When the peo¬ 
ple know these things, the peddlers of tree medicines 
will meet with small sales. We regret that Ohio failed 
to appoint a State Entomologist. The amount of his 
salary for several years would have been saved to the 
people in one year if he had done nothing but take a 
cluster of the eggs of the tent-caterpillar and gone from 
town to town and lectured on that one insect alone. 
T!»e Siiaita ISaHtbnirgh Grape.— 
This variety was exhibited at the meeting of the Porno- 
logical Society at Rochester in 1S64. We have not heard 
much of it since, save that the vine was tender. We had 
a vine of it in an experimental collection of the newer 
varieties, pruned it last fall, and left it unprotected like 
the rest. This spring we found it alive to the last bud, 
and more forward than any other variety save tho 
Black Hawk. As far as this goes it would show this 
variety hardy in the vicinity of Hew York. 
The Ives Grape Again.— A gentleman 
writes us from Indian Hill, Ohio, that our notice of the 
Ives Grape in April “ has created a good deal of surprise, 
not to say indignation here, at the head-quarters of that 
matchless wiue grape.” Our statement, to which ex¬ 
ception is taken, is this: “ When we discuss quality, we 
must put the Ives very low.” But our friend omits what 
follows: “ If it is a question of adaptability to, and profit 
in particular localities, then it takes a high rank.” Mow 
we don’t know how we could put the Ives on any fairer 
grounds. Ofir correspondent will not contend that as a 
grape it is equal to the Delaware, Diana, or Catawba. 
But it is a grape that he can grow, and we say by all 
means grow it. We have been blamed so much in other 
quarters for saying a good word for the Ives, that it seems 
a little odd to have one of its friends “ down on us.” 
Now we say very distinctly, that while we cannot rank 
the Ives high for “ quality,”—by which we mean, in com¬ 
parison with the grapes already named—we do think it a 
valuable addition to our list of grapes, and repeat what 
-ve said in April: Grow the best grapes you can ; if the 
Ives is the best grape you can grow, let it be the Ives. 
Siimlr}' (Queries.—J. Bruclc, Miami Co., 
Ill. “ Will the crab-apple answer for raising dwarf apple 
trees ?” We do not know what you mean by “ crab-apple,” 
as that term is applied to both wild and cultivated trees. 
The Paradise stock makes the most dwarf trees. “Has 
the Wild Locust ever been used for hedging with suc¬ 
cess ?” If by “ Wild Locust,” you mean the Honey Locust, 
or Three-thorned Acacia, a tree with inconspicuous flow¬ 
ers and showy fruit—not the locust so valued for timber, 
and with long bunches of white, pea-like flowers—yes. It 
is one of our most valuable hedge-plants. “ Are Peach 
trees grafted on Wild Plum secure against borers No. 
E'cucH Planting and Peach Pros¬ 
pects in Maryland.— A friend of ours, who has 
gone into peach culture in Maryland, sends us the follow¬ 
ing account of what he is doing, and what appear to him 
the prospects of the crop in that region. He is on the 
Md. and Del. R. R., not far from Ridgely Station : “I have 
had many men and several teams, preparing about twenty 
acres — fencing, ploughing, digging, etc.,—for planting 
between 7,000 and 8,000 peach trees. I have this number 
here now, of very fine trees, of I think mainly the best 
sorts, to wit: Hale’s Early, (large proportion); Troth’s 
Early Red ; Early York ; Large Early York, (Honest John); 
Haines’ Early, (said by some to be same as the preced¬ 
ing) ; Crawford's Early Melocoton ; George the Fourth ; 
Grosse MignonnC; Crawford’s Late Melocoton; Stump 
the World ; Old Mixon Froe ; Ward's Late Free ; Smock’s 
Late Free; Morris’ White. I have not yet seen any person, 
to be relied on, to give me a fulllistof best market sorts. 
After passing Clayton and Smyrna, in Delaware, towns 
not answering well to the dignity of the famous names 
they bear, I begau to see peach and other fruit trees 
blooming finely, and giving present promise of doing all 
that trees can towards an ample supply of the market. 
Notwithstanding the abundant bloom all along the road 
I traveled, in Delaware and Maryland, I have heard a few 
express doubts of a good crop. But I have examined for 
myself, and cannot doubt there will be as many peaches 
on almost every tree of adequate age as it can well hold. 
I think there arc promising germs of peaches in five out 
of six of the blossoms ; and these will be found more 
than the trees can well mature. I admired many of 
the peach orchards I saw — some very large—by the 
wayside or near, and obviously under good care and 
culture. Some appeared quite otherwise, yet even 
they are this year struggling to exhibit a fair amount of 
fruit. I observed one large orchard of small peach trees, 
averaging, I should think, but about five or six feet high, 
with compact, symmetrical heads, all blooming beautiful¬ 
ly. It was doubtless in good hands, and if I may speak 
of a peach tree’s purpose, every tree designed to reward 
well the care bestowed upon it.” 
liaising Sec«lIiM"- Strawberries.— 
Those who wish to go into the difficult matter of crossing 
and hybridizing are referred to the special works upon 
the subject. On this point we may remark that we have 
little confidence in many of the alleged crosses, as tho 
operation is attended by difficulties and requires the ut¬ 
most care. The fact is, our best varieties have in them 
such a variety of blood, so to speak, that we are not sur¬ 
prised at any thing they may do from seed, even when 
self-fertilized. In raising seedlings, select the finest ber¬ 
ries from the most productive plants, crush them with 
dry sand enough to separate all the seeds, and sow the 
sand and seeds in a well-prepared bed, in a shady place, 
or in boxes of earth where they can bo properly shaded 
and watered. It is better to sow the seeds as soon as 
ripe, but if desired to keep them until the next spring, 
the berries may be crushed, the seeds washed out, dried, 
and kept like other seeds. The seeds should be sown in 
a light, rich soil; they will come up in a month or six 
weeks after sowing,'and make good-sized plants beforo 
winter. Those in boxes should be transplanted to the 
open ground when large enough to handle, and proper 
attention to watering and shading given all through their 
early growth. The first winter, the seedling plants should 
be protected by a covering of leaves or litter. Fruit is 
borne the second year sometimes, but generally the third. 
Blackberries, raspberries, and other small fruits, may be 
sown in the same manner as strawberries. 
Iffewiloclc for Hedges. — “M.” You 
have answered your own question, and place a just esti¬ 
mate upon the hemlock. The trouble is that young trees 
from the forest are not sure to live. They should have a 
year’s probation in a nursery row, which should be nat¬ 
urally or artificially shaded. The young hemlock trees 
that live through the first year with this treatment can 
be used for a hedge or screen with confidence. 
CSrsi/tos Again. —Geo. W. Dodge, Bureau 
Co., Ill., thinks that Mrs. Chapellsmith, whose observa¬ 
tions we gave in April last, is wrong in her charges 
against the Tumble-bug. He says : “ The Tumble-bug 
deposits but one egg in each ball, and the young only 
emerges as a perfect beetle , the manure serving as food for 
the grub until it chauges into the pupa form. There is 
no doubt whatever about this, as we have opened them 
in all stages of development. If Margaret Chappellsmith 
will open some of the balls a few weeks after they are 
buried, I think she will find some less than ‘ seventy ’ 
grubs, and I hope she will no longer blame the poor 
Tumble-bug for hiding his ball in her strawberry bed, 
rather than leave it in the manure heap, or bury it in the 
hard path.” This is a matter of observation which can 
be readily decided. We find in our European exchanges 
many articles concerning the larva of their Cockchafer, 
which seems to be the equivalent of our white grub, tho 
larva of our May-beetle. All applications to the soil in 
the way of special manures are found to bee worthless as 
far as the destruction of the grub goes, and it is found to 
pay, even in field crops, where these pests abound, to 
employ children to follow the plow and hand-pick them. 
Toad Shelters.—“ B. H.,” Milton, Pa. The 
gardener has no better friend than the toad. He loves in¬ 
sects, and will devour a multitude of them. He wants 
no better shelter than a board raised an inch or two from 
the ground, by putting small stones or blocks underneath. 
Here he can have his coveted retreat, and digest bugs, 
when he has caught enough to stock his larder, 
A Soittiaerw Stein.— With an increasing 
Southern subscription, we get many Southern letters. 
Wo cannot print all of them, yet we trust our friends will 
not feel that we are unmindful of their favors. Now, here 
is a note from Memphis, Tenn., which, oven in June, is 
enough to make those of us who live farther north, envi¬ 
ous of the enjoyments of the writer. “Kent” writes 
as follows: “This latitude is about the northern limit 
of the Magnolia grandijlora , a beautiful evergreen, with 
its large, glossy leaf, and its magnificent, yet delicate 
white, fragrant blossom, — almost too fragrant—and quito 
too frail for a touch, as that causes it to change its color 
very soon to reddish brown; so that it is difficult of 
transportation. The mildness and brevity of winter en¬ 
courage the cultivation of flowers; the earlier ones, as 
the Crocus and tho Hyacinth, being looked for to opon in 
Feb., while the roses continue on nearly or quite through 
Dec. iu the open air. Of course, the interval can be filled 
with a variety of beauty, and of luscious fruits. We are 
having green peas from our open gardens ; had radishes 
20th March ; strawberries and new potatoes in market, 
from New Orleans. Last year ‘ wo ’ had strawberries the 
8th of May ; dewberries 10th of June. Some of our most 
successful transplanting of shrubbery was done in Jan. ; 
but these early ‘ fits ’ have their drawbacks, as they start 
out vegetation too early—as in the case of the strawberry— 
the first blooms having been blighted, both this year and 
last, by the cold weather. Last year fruit was mostly a 
failure from this cause. Fruit prospects at present 
are good. On the whole, this region holds out its full 
share of encouragement, both from soil and climate.” 
E®S»i»ts.—In many parts of the 
country people are very properly looking about for now 
fields of industry, and among many letters we have a 
number asking about the production of drugs, such as 
Opium, Rhubarb, etc. With every desire that our coun¬ 
try shall produce, as far as possible, the articles that it 
consumes, we cannot hold out any strong inducement in 
the way of raising drugs, and for this reason : The value 
of drugs is governed much by climate and soil. The 
same Rhubarb which in Asia will produce a valuablo root 
will here produce a worthless one. The common Hemp, 
which no one here suspects of any medicinal effects— 
though it sometimes suddenly terminates life—iu India 
produces a gum which is one of the powerful articles of 
the materia mediea. Foxglove ( Digitalis ) in cultivation 
is about worthless, while in its native localities it is 
a most potent drug. Now, to all those who have written 
us upon these matters we must say that the thing is too 
uncertain to allow of any investment. It presents an ex¬ 
cellent field for experiment, but no drug raising that we 
can at present think of promises as a speculation. We 
are sometimes asked about our native drugs, such as 
Bloodroot, Mandrake, etc. These are consumed in large 
quantities, and in the apothecaries’ stores have a high 
price, but any one who has lived in the West, where 
these things are gathered, knows that the store-keepers 
get them “in trade” at a ridiculously small price. 
CroolceH Lake CSomc.— The great vine¬ 
yard region of the State of New York was upon Crooked 
Lake. We used to get our best grapes from Crookod 
Lake. Valuable experience and words of wisdom used 
to come from the borders of that beautiful but crooked 
sheet of water. But Crooked Lake is no more. It has 
not dried up, nor has the bottom fallen out, but it has 
had its name changed to the aboriginal Kenka.—May its 
vines bear as abundantly, may its fruits be as luscious, 
may its people be as hospitable and as happy, and—they 
can’t help it with all their Indian-ooity—may the lako 
be as crooked as ever, even if it is called by a new name, 
which everybody will be sure to confound with Cayuga. 
Propagating from Green Wood.— 
A. Wilder, De Kalb Co., Ill. We can only understand 
your question as referring to the propagation of grapes, 
raspberries, etc., from green wood, i. e., the young growth 
of this spring. We cannot advise you to try it unless 
you have a suitable propagating house; it will be of 
no use, as a general thing, to attempt it in the open air. 
H;i fonnutiou Wanted.—' Will any of out- 
friends who have well-tested recipes for dyeing—espe¬ 
cially for carpet warps—please give them. Rod and green 
are the colors most asked for, and we would like plain 
directions, with the quantity of materials required for a 
given weight of stuff. Will “A Subscriber,” at Brooke- 
ton, tell us how she colors her materials for rag carpot ? 
Mowing Macliines-Thc decision 
of Parts. — John A. Fellows asks : “Will you please 
inform me and many others who desire to know the 
truth, through the columns of the Agriculturist , which 
Mowing and Reaping Machines did take the premiums 
at the Paris Exhibition of 1S67. Several claim this honor, 
and we desire to know the truth from disinterested par¬ 
ties.”— Answer : Through the politeness of Mr. J. C. Der¬ 
by, U. S. Agent, we have received the “ Official Catalogue 
of the Products of the United States of America, exhibit¬ 
ed at Paris iu 1867,” etc., printed in English, French, and 
