216 



kinds. Fait and water make a safe and effectual steep for the prevention 

 of Btnut and no other is required. 



At a meeting of the Glasgow Agricultural Chemistry Association, 

 Professf)r Johnston brought forward several chemical preparations, 

 which he recommended as steeps for uhpat; but several practical far- 

 mers who were present, remarked that these mixtures were nnnccessary, 

 as salt and water had been foun<l sufficient. The seed afler being 

 raised from the steep, .should he dried with fresh slaked lime. 



Sprouted grains of wlieat should never bo sown, they a e utterly 

 uvfit for seed. In some cases they may grow, but scarcely ever pro- 

 duce a good head, an<l aro more liable to be smutty than any other 

 kind of seed. Some persons say, "grown grains will make as good 

 seed as any other," if so, let them soio them. They will soon bo of a 

 different opinion. 



Too much ca/e cannot be taken in the preparation of seed wheat 

 It should be perfectly den-waCi by the fanning mill, and also put through 

 the separator, if one can be procured. In the steep it should be stirred 

 well to wash the grain, and all light grains which swim on the surface 

 should bo skimmed off and destroyed. 



Wheat is subject to many diseases which assume their most destruc- 

 tive forms in cold damp soils. The removal of stagnant water by 

 thorough draining tends to increase the health and vigor of the wheat 

 plant, and to banish rust and smut. 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE WnEAT CROP. 



The wire- worm, the cut-worm, the grub, and the larva of nearly 

 every kind of beetle, gnaw the young roots and stems of wheat, and 

 sometimes prey on them to such an extertt that whole fields are laid 

 waste. Should the crop survive the attacks of its subterranean enemies 

 another foe appears in the shape of the Hessian fly, (cecidomyia deatruc- 

 <or Jwhich is, as it name implies, a destructive enemy to the young crop. 

 These insects are produced from eggs deposited by the parent fly on 

 the leaves of the wheat in the latter end of September, or beginn'ng 

 of October. In two weeks, or sometimes in a much shorter period, the 

 worms appear and crawl downwards until they penetrate between the 

 leaves and the stem and reach a joint, here they remain, a little under 

 the surface of the ground, and continue to prey on the sap until their 



