104 0N TI1E WIRLWORM. 



tures, &c„ our calculations mud be confined to 1 ,200,000 

 acres instead of 2,400,000 : this will give 60,000 acres as 

 annually destroyed by the insect in queftion ; which re- 

 planted, at one bushel per acre, will require 60,000 bushels 

 of seed, which, at eight shillings per bushel, are worth 

 ,£.24,000. Beside this, although no extra expense is in- 

 curred by the farmer in preparing the land, yet he has to 

 pay for dibbling in the seed, which, at five shillings and 

 threepeuce per acre, will cost £.15,750, or, at the full 

 price, six shillings per acre, £.18,000. If the land re- 

 quires harrowing, there will be a further charge of nine- 

 pence per acre, or £2,250,, not to name other items, 

 which render it difficult precisely to ascertain the logs of 

 the farmer. 



If the above calculation be thought a fair one, and I see 



no reason why it should not, we find the quantity of wheat 



lessened to the market by the depredations of these insects 



is very frequently, if not annually, fixty thousand bushels ; 



which occafions to the farmers an additional expense of at 



lead £.15,750. 



vent'n* °tl Pre " J k°P e ^ ese observations will prove a spur to gentlemen 



injury to be more conversant in entomology and agriculture than my- 



sought after. st \^ to excite them to inquire into this subject, the result of 



which must ultimately be beneficial to the public at large, 



by discovering some means of preventing the iujury done by 



Early plough- these mischievous insects. At present we know of no other 

 Jug not always ' . . , . . , 



convenient, than early ploughing, which is not always convenient to the 



farmer, as he wants to feed his clover land as late as the 

 Lime iiuffec- g ea son will admit of. Unslacked lime has been tried with- 

 out success*; although it is well known, if laid thick upon 

 the land and ploughed in immediately, it will oVftroy >n= 

 sects of every kind, that are in the soil ; but in many 

 places the expense of procuring lime is too great to think 

 pfufing it in sufficient quantities to answer the intended 

 purpose f. 



As 



* Farmer's Magazine, page 450. 

 Grab of the t I am aware of its being suid that part of the injury sustained is 



tipula. done by the grub of the tipula or crane-.iy; but 1 beg leave to observe, 



thai i.he injury done by the grub is iu the spring, and not in October; 



as 



