The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1871-08-17
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.


recent address at Cornell University, j.
j. Thomas had this to say of insect enc
mics to fruits:
First, as to universal remedies, the
most important being TO secure health
full growth by good culture. Healthy
plants are best able to Withstand the eff
fects Of disease and depredations of in
sects. Growth must not be too feeble
on the one hand nor too succulent on the
other; the happy mean OF a good, strong
growth, but well ripened and metured,
must be aimed at. No general rule of
culture can be given; it must depend
upon the soil and climate. On the poorer
soils of New England and New York, it
might be necessary TO cultivate constant
ly and to manure abundantly, while on
the richer soils Of the West, il might be
necessary to keep orchards in grass, SO
as to repress too vigorous growth.
The tent caterpillar is one of our most
common insects. By far the best remedy
is to go in the orchards in the autumn or
winter, and destroy the nests, which are
readily found encircling the branches !;
if the eggs should hatch in the spring,
the insects may be destroyed by swab-
bing with thick lime wash. Perfect i'm
munity from injury, so far as the tent
caterpillar is concerned, is only ques-
ton of labor and attention, no skill be-
ing required.
The canker worm makes comparatively
slow progress, but is, nevertheless, for
midable enemy. 1t is now common in
New England and New York, and is
progressing towards the West. As the
female cannot fly, the remedy consists of
preventing her from climbing up the
trunks,of the trees. The simplest remedy
is belt of cotton around the trunk,
smeared with tar. This must be renewed
as often as the tar becomes dry. Per-
haps the best remedy is to put a square
box around the base Of the'tr trunk, and
nearly fill it with cinders, or ashes and
earth. A hange is put around the top
of the box, which is filed with oil. The
insects, in their efforts to climb the tree,
fall into the oil and are destroyed.
The codling moth must be set down
as the worst enemy of the apple. 1t at
tacks the fruit itself This insect was
introduced from England i'll the first
part of the present century, and has
spread with great rapidity throughout
sippi 1t is only too well known. One of
the best remedies is to keep swine in the
orchard, which eat the infested apples
as they drop, and thus destroy great
numbers of the larvp. Sheep, which are
about as fond as boys of green apples,
perform an equally useful work. These
remedies have proven successful in nu-
merous cases. If sheep are used, it may
be necessary to protect the bark, as they
sometimes sirdle young trees. Another
remedyi is to surround the trunk with a
hay rope Many larv;e seek this when
about to change to chrysalis, and may
be destroyed.
The borer is sometimes very destruct-
i've, and great care and attention are
demanded. Prevention must first be at
tended to. By smearing the trunks with
soft soap, the beetles are prevented to a
great extent from laying their eggs but
the young borers must bo destroyed. A
little care in observing will show where
the young larvae has entered the trunk,
and slight cut with knife will soon
dispatch him. If we'll advanced, O wire
must be thrust into the burrow of the
borer. Many fine orchards have been
destroyed by this insect; little care
and labor would have prevented such a
result.
Aphides sometimes infest leaves to
such an extent as to injure the orchard.
Swinging with strong soap suds is the
proper remedy. For field mice, clean
culture is an effectual remedy. Grass
and weeds must be kept away from the
bases of the trunks; and as an addition
al safeguard, mounds of soil may be piled
up around the trunk in the autumn to
be removed in the spring.
REMEDY FOR SCALDs AND BURNS
A correspondent writes to inform us that
the readiest and most useful remedy for
scalds and burns is an embrocation of
lime water and linseed oil. These sim
pie agents combined form thick, cream
like substance, which effectually excludes
the air from the injured parts and eases
the inflammation almost instantly. He
mentions case where child fell back
ward into tub of boiling water, and
was nearly fayed from her neck to below
her hips. Her agonies were indescriba-
BILE; but her clothing being gently re-
moved, and the lime and oil preparation
thickly spread over the injured surface,
she was sound asleep in five minutes.
Subsequently the parts were carefully
washed with warm milk and water three
times day, the oil dressing renewed,
and the little patient rapidly recovered.
Though all the scalded skin came of,
she did not have scar. This remedy
leaves no hard coat to dry on the sores,
but softens the parts, and aids nature to
repair the injury in the readiest and
most expeditions manner. The mixture
may be procured in the drug stores, but
if not thus accessible, slal1e lump Of
quicklime in water, and as soon as the
water is clear mix it with the oil and
shake well. If the case is urgent, use
boiling water over the lime, and it will
become clear in five minutes. The pre-
paration may be kept bottled in the
house, and it will be as good when six
/ ,,oOD+hc old ae x1rhaD Hrct YnoIa