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larva of Agriotes mancus Say. This species is found in this State, but 

 whether it has been particularly injurious or not lam unable to say,, 

 at least no account of serious damage to wheat crops by wire-worms- 

 lias reached me. I sent oiit to the various counties through the Sec- 

 retary of the Board of Agriculture a request that specimens be for- 

 warded to me, but, as it was rather late in the season, none were' 

 received. 



Potatoes suffer severety from them in England, and we hear of the 

 same thing in various parts of the United States. They are also quite 

 fond of turnips ; in fact, more so than any other root crop, but in this 

 country this crop does not appear to be often injured by them. 



In attacking corn they not only eat the roots and penetrate the sub- 

 terranean stem of the young plant, but eat into the kernel before it 

 has germinated, thus destroying it. 



Without dwelling longer on the history and habits of these worms 

 we will mention the remedies which have been proposed, adding such 

 suggestions of our own as we think may aid in this matter. 



Remedies. — The entomologists of Europe from the days of Bjerkan- 

 der, Marsham, Duncan and Westwood, who studied their habits, down 

 to the present time appear to have made but little progress toward a 

 solution of the difficult problem presented by these injurious insects, 

 and therefore we are left to-day to grope our way toward the light of 

 certainty as best we can, guided by the dim rays received in the past 

 and the facts gathered during the last few years. 



Not knowing the particular species which depredate on our field 

 crops, except in the case of the wheat wire-worm, we are necessarily 

 confined in our attacks upon them to the larval state. But even did 

 we know the perfect or beetle state of each species it would probably 

 aid us but little in the work of their destruction, as they are not in 

 the habit of congregating or collecting in this state, or portion of their 

 life, in such a way as to afford us the opportunity of destroying them. 

 We are, therefore, confined in our attempts to counteract them to 

 general measures or to their larval condition, consequently nearly all 

 the remedies proposed relate to their worm state. 



Hand-picking is the most direct remedy which can be adopted and 

 possesses the advantage of being effectual so far as it is carried, and 

 in England where civ»ps have a much higher market value than they 

 do here and where labor is cheaper this method is often resorted to ad- 

 vantageously. But for field crops in this country this remedy is- 

 wholly inapplicable, first, because the cost would far more than eat up 

 the profit, in fact, would amount to more than the whole value of the 

 crop ; and second, because of its impracticability. 



Mr. Hogg, of England, many years ago tried with considerable suc- 

 cess laying pieces of lettuce on the ground as a bait for them, picking 

 them off by hand as soon as they gathered on these. Sir Joseph 

 Banks recommended the same mode of capture, only substituting 

 slices of potatoes for lettuce. This mode of capture is still in use to a 

 certain extent, slices of turnips or apples being occasionally substi- 

 tuted for potatoes. In small areas, such as gardens, this remedy is 

 perhaps as effectual as any that can be adopted; but it is entirely in- 

 applicable to field culture in our country. A writer in the "Gardener's 

 Chronicle, " as quoted by Dr. Fitch, says : " I send you an account of 



