222 AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. [ J ™ E > 
[COPYRIGHT SECURED,! 
PHARAOH’S HORSES .—From A Painting BY Herring .—Drawn ana Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
Chariots, and horses, and horsemen, made a 
great impression on those who viewed the de¬ 
struction of Pharaoh’s host, as described by Mo¬ 
ses, and sung by Miriam. The inspiration of the 
scene led to the composition of one of the 
grandest poems ever written or sung. This 
song should be read with the description which 
precedes it, and a feeling of sympathy with the 
great leader and lawgiver of Israel, if not with the 
discontented mob of which he was the liberator. 
So read, it is certainly calculated to stir the 
wildest enthusiasm, and might well 1111 an animal 
painter with visions of horses such as nothing 
else could. These three heads, from one of 
Herring’s famous pictures, are admirable as de¬ 
picting fright and consternation in the horse. 
A frightened horse, of which man has lost 
control, and which is wildly exerting liis great 
power without other aim than to escape some 
real or fancied peril, and without regard to 
dangers which may lie before him, is a grand as 
well as terrible sight. Such a horse, if he sur¬ 
vives the frantic race which he runs, after, per¬ 
haps,kicking and shaking himself free from every 
trammel, is never the same horse again. His ex¬ 
perience and views of life have changed, and 
sights and sounds have new meanings. The 
bridle nlust be strong, the harness secure; he 
must always be controlled, and never trusted im¬ 
plicitly. Used thus, his days of usefulness may 
be long—but he will never again be reliable. 
The Striped Bug. 
The great enemy to squash, cucumber, and all 
other vines of the same family, at least in their 
younger days, is the striped bug. The little 
tormenter is so well known that it need not be 
described. It attacks the young vines as soon 
as the seedling plants break through the ground, 
and they have truly a “ struggle for existence,” 
which does not always end in the “survival of 
the fittest.” If the vines can be protected until 
they have made five or six leaves, they generally 
are able to endure the attacks of these insects, 
though not always. The importance of this 
enemy is shown by the variety of means that 
have been proposed for his destruction. Cover¬ 
ing the vines during their early growth is the 
only sure preventive we know of, but this is 
applicable only on a small scale. A square, bot¬ 
tomless box, made of foot boards and covered 
with muslin or millinet, with its lower edges 
well pressed into the ground, will keep off the 
bugs. The neat hand-glass advertised in March 
last would doubtless be still better, as it gives 
more light. Mr. Gregory, the well-known 
squash raiser, after trying many things, relies 
upon plaster, or oyster-shell lime, which he con¬ 
siders of equal value. He objects to air-slaked 
stone lime, as it is apt to be too caustic, and in¬ 
jures the plants. The plaster or lime is applied 
by shaking it from a small, fine sieve, while 
the leaves are wet from rain or dew. The first 
application is made as soon as the plants show 
themselves, and renewed as often as washed off. 
Mr. G. E. Hulse of Ulster Co., K Y., makes 
a sort of “scare-crow,” which he says he finds 
effectual. We think we have seen the same in 
use many years ago. He says: “ Take a stick 
about three feet in length, fasten a string to one 
end of it and tie a bunch of paper to the other 
end of the string; place the stick in the ground, 
at an angle of about 45°, so that the paper 
will hang directly over the hill of cucumber 
plants, and the wind will keep the paper swing¬ 
ing, thus effectually frightening away the bugs. 
I use elder for sticks as they are easily trimmed.” 
C. S. Dewitt, Geneva, N. Y., writes: “ I tried 
last year for the striped bug powdered White 
Hellebore, which I had bought for currant 
bushes, and with the very best results. My 
nearest neighbor had two hundred sashes of 
melons, and lost about 33 per cent by this pest.” 
