280 [Senate 



portion of the worms that are brought into our bams may be exter- 

 minated. It would seem as though Divine Providence had expressly- 

 designed to place a part of every generation of these insects directly 

 in the hands of man, that he might destroy them or not, at his option. 

 And Uncle Toby is so extremely benevolentj that he has uniformly 

 carried them to the door, and said ^^ Go away, little flies, go away ^ 

 the*worid is wide enough for you and me both." Now it is scarcely 

 necessary for me to say, that the screenings of the fanning-mill 

 should invariably be closely examined, and if the minute yellow 

 wheat worms are numerous in them, the person should consider it 

 a sacred duty which he owes to himself and his neighbors, to con- 

 sign these screenings at once to the flames. If there are but occa- 

 sional worms among them, let them be emptied into a hog-trough ; 

 but never empty them upon the ground, or among the straw of the 

 barn-yard, unless they appear to be entirely free from these vermin. 

 And now, if that portion of the worms which remain in the fields 

 can also be destroyed, it becomes certain that we are at once and 

 forever relieved from all farther solicitude with regard to future in- 

 juries which this insect can inflict upon us. But can this be done 1 

 It has been proposed to burn the stubble of wheat-fields after the 

 harvest ; and if this measure be resorted to at a very dry time in the 

 autumn, probably some of the worms would be destroyed by it. 

 But, so far as I have observed, they uniformly lie here in situations 

 where they are surrounded with some degree of moisture, under 

 damp and mouldy clusters of straw and stubble, or slightly within 

 the surface of the ground. It would, therefore, only be those strag- 

 gling individuals that were not in their usual haunts, that the tran- 

 sient heat caused by such a burning would reach. Would a turning 

 over of the field with the plow bury them to such a depth, that they 

 would fail of finding their way to the surface again ? This is an im- 

 portant inquiry. It is very probable that the larva can work its way 

 to the surface, from a greater depth than what the pupa can. Direct 

 experiment only can determine accurately at what depth the insect, 

 in both these stages, must be buried in order to destroy it. No in- 

 formation of any value can, therefore, be given upon this point, 

 until such experiments are made. 



