Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-10-01
AGRICULTURAL.
MATTER PREPARED SPECIALLY FOR
THE RECORD UNION"
Insect Exhibit at the State Fair-More
Pasture Eeeded-Indian Summer
watering Orange Tress

culture andhorticulture, made by Chief Hor
ticultural Officer NJ. Cooke, wss one Of the |
most interesting and valuable exhibitions at |
the State Fair. No other exhibition came so
well up to the standard of what an exhibition |
at an industrial fair should be- 1t was not a |
mere show for tie momentary amusement of |
those who saw it. It was not a mere adyer- |
tisement of goods and wares to sell. It was |
not placed on exhibition with the hope of
obtaining money premium as matter of
personal profit. There was nothing in it to
excite the speculative tendencies of our ma
lures. There was no gambling or pool selling
connected with it, and no one calling aloud
In praise of its peculiar properties or merits.
There was no competition of any kind con-
nected with it. And yet, lacking all these
attractive and exciting features, it was the
most attractive and interesting feature of
the fair. No other exhibition brought home
to the observer such useful and lasting
lessons. To all classes-old and young, male
and female, rich and poor, learned and un
learned, farmer and mechanic, to everybody |
it was the center of attraction and a me-
dunn Of instruction. The codliDg moth in
all its conditions and changes, from the egg |
as deposited in the blossom end of the apple |
to the perfect insect again depositing the egg |
for second generation, was shown, not only |
in its natural sizs as seen by the naked eye, |
but az seen through magnifying glasses of |
different powers of enlargement. The OBJ |
server could see the little worm as it was |
penetrating the skin of the fruit; could see it |
two three, four and more days old, up to the |
time the Larvae had attained full size and age; |
could see il then as it energies from the fruit |
and seeks place Of coucealment in the |
ground or in the crevices of the bark of the |
tree, in which to spin its web and form its |
cocoon could see it in the different stages of |
the chrysalis state, and trace it through its |
entire natural history and learn all about it
how, when and where to look for it, how and |
when to destroy it, and ALL in fact, that |
is known concerning it. Thousands of |
fruit growers who came to the fair almost |
entirely ignorant of everything connected |
with this little insect, who did not know it |
even when they saw it in any of its stages,
went away with its whole natural history in
their minds, and fully able to battle with and |
drive it from their orchards, and thus save
themselves good income each year. We |
may say the same Of the red spider, and the |
various kinds Of scale insects which infest our
fruit trees. These were all on exhibition un-
der glasses that magnifed to show their
whole forms, and limbs of trees fruit and
leaves, were exhibited with the insects on
them doing the work of destruction. Thus
those who examined this exhibition learned
more of these destructive insects in few mo-
ments than they ever knew before, and more
than they could learn from books and from
scientific lectures in as many months, and
learned it better. All who saw this exhibit
ton can now take the manual which Mr..
Cooke has prepared, and which is to be dis.
tributed free of cost, and read it understand
ingly, will be able to follow its suggestions
and instructions. To the horticultural inter-
ests of this State, in our opinion the exhibition,
In its bearing upon those interests, was worth
more than the entire sum appropriated by the
State to the Society for the year.
Cultivate Less Land and Pasture More.
The question of how to keep up the fer
tility Of the soil will soon be the live and i'm
portant question among farmers of this State.
1t is already a question which engages the
thought and study of our most intelligent
agriculturists perhaps more than any other
connected with their calling. They see that |
their lands are each year being drained of |
their virgin fertility, and no systematic plan |
has been fixed upon or adopted to replace the
elements of that fertility. The old plan of
England, Germany and the United States-a
change of crops or rotation of crops-can-
not be generally adopted here, on account of
the popularity of the climate. Except to a
limited extent on low, rich and moist BOTTOM
lands, variety of crops and rotation of crops
is impossible. In the embarrassing sections
vegetables, corn, potatoes. ETC., cannot be
IL r r
On the other hand in the sections where
corn, potatoes, and that class of crops do The
best, wheat is not successful. because the
straw grows too large and falls down, and
rust or smut attacks and destroys the grain
before it is ripe. The common mode of
manuring the lands practised in Europe and
the Atlantic States, by blowing in coarse
barnyard manure and straw, will not
do here, because when the weather is
warm enough to produce fermentation we
have no moisture, and when we have moist
ure, the weather is too cool to produce
fermentation, so that coarse, barn.yard ma
nure or straw, plowed under as they pillow it
under ia Europe and countries OF similar eli
mates, will not rot here, but, remaining un-
changed, becomes an injury rather than a
benefit to the SOIL Wholly rotted manures
can only be applied here in small quantities,
for if applied in too large quantities they
burn up the soil-that is, they seem to con-
sumo the moisture and leave the roots of
plants with nothing to live upon. Artificial
manures or guano have not been tried to any
extent in this State, that we are aware of.
Experiments with such manures should be
instituted in different parts of the State and
the results carefully noted for series OF
years. The time is coming when we will
have to do something, and that systematic lily
o,,I f1,y For ba cent
farmers should gradually change their plans
of farming. They should begin by degrees
to get more into stock. They should begin to
prepare their farms for keeping more stock
and for cuitiyating less. Land pastured
every other year or two years in succession,
and titled every other year or two
years in succession, will not only
prove more profitable to the owner at pres
ent, but will hold its own, or even grow bet
ter Those who have adopted this plan,
universally bear testimony to the truth OF
this statement. Cattle and sheep, by con-
Stunning the produce of the soil, convert this
produce into manure, and if running upon
and grazing it they at the same distribute it
evenly and SO gradually that it does the most
good. If with stock we could at the same
time introduce water in the summer, the plan
of keeping up the fertility of the soil would
be almost complete. With facilities for irri-
cation in the warm weather we could utilize
all the elements of fertility. We could with
such facilities cover our land with straw and
pillow it under, and then during warm weather,
by letting the water on, we could rot it and
cause it to assimilate with the soil, as in
countries where they have plenty of rains
during the summer season. But without
these advantages the only alternative avail
able is to pasture and cultivate alternately.
Indian Summer.
Our spell of Indian Summer has not yet
commenced, but it is now the time of year
fer it, if we are going to experience it this
year. In the Atlantic States this weather