The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1858-07-08
4lOtf5 1T Cgu0f(.
tUT tl1 pOttlC JOURNAL.
EGEpT -&SsS FszE GEA'TGkNs.

for some reason or other, CT tot no
reason, the southern portion Of Illinois Is
called Egypt, here in the Wet, aud tho
the " Egyptians ARE some Of them very
Wroth 1T Tie nickname, the gooG natured
part Of them answer to it a. freely as tho
it were SO written in the Geography 1t
is certainly the land Of corn, as emphati-
caliy as WAS the land where the patriarchS
went after it, and one would think that
the plague ot frogs and Lies ard the '.Uther
critters some Ut them omitted In the
scripture acclUotl had never bayua~, uageG
f.oia this Egypt. They crawl On you at
night, they usb aud buzz around your
j'ce AID eyes, fly into your mouth ii yon
give them a chance, ana cl,GHe You il
their endeavors to explore the interiorre-
gons. They drop on you from the trees
/ you walk IN the woods, and hop on YOU
# you walk the streets. The vegetable
world is even worse tormcnted than the
animal, for the animals seldom die uudel
.ae inhiction, and the plants do. Insect
murdered fruit trees di>S-urc every orch
ard, and nultitudes Of oak trees are SLOW
y dying OF a sort Of black knot" siMi-
!ar to the cherry tree plague, only tile
oak knots are as Big as potatoes and grow
several years before they Kill the branches
they grow upon. Same try to say that
they are a natural excrer c.nce OF the pine
,ak, but as the same kind OF oak IN other
IocaI,ies never produces them, and as they
arc found on inspection to contain evil
deuccS Of animal life, aud Is they uiti-
mateiy destroy the branches they GROW on.
thar theory is uutcmab.e. Somc say the
locust ,tiugs the tree and deposites its
eggs in the cavity, and produces this ef-
feet. This has the Appearance OF truth as
the knots are the most frequent when 10
Gusts have been most Numerous. la the
sprInS the trees were gurnished with The
mnumerable white webs the catterpl-
lars nests, and now Tue igalless svcalnpre
trees show the ravages Qf these DESTROYING
pests. Other trees will next be devourud
IN the same way. The cut-wUrm some
times ruins whole fields of corn, and the
army-worm eats off the grass and grain
close to the earth, leaving the dead tops
10 attest their rayages. Whole meadows
are sometimes laid waste by them in a
single week, but as there are but very
few Ira~s holds in Egypt these nnisances
are limited in thcir power 10 do mischief.
For the most part, prairie-Iand ends
where = Low'r Egypt begins. and as the
leids are very few OF hem appropriated
to grass, it is matter Of wonder to me
now the cattle cODtrive to live at all, dur
lag the winter. There is little snow falls
here, but the ground freezes. ana there
Is nothing green fOrseverai months. There
are no barnes nor stables except Tor work
ing horses. and not enough OF them for
comfort. The rest shift for themselves in
the woods, or i" timber" as it is always
called, and pick at the beaten
corn-stalAS which stand uncutin the fields.
and are fed occasionally with few ears
and ''shuoks" or huSks; and so the poor
things contr;ye to iige-those OF them that
don't die.
There is no excuse for this want OF
barns here, as among the prairies, for the
timber is supcrabuldant, and quantities
are burned on the ground every year to
get rid Of it. The mode Of clearing is as