AGRICULTURAL TEXT-BOOK. 81 



full history known. It is a catapillnr or apan-worra, from three to five- 

 eighths of an inch long, of various shades of brown or yellow in color. 

 It feeds not only on the kernel in the milky state, but also devours the 

 germinating end of the ripened grain, without burying itself within the 

 hull; and it is found in great numbers in the chaff when the grain is 

 thrashed. They continue to eat the grain after harvest. Hot water 

 should be poured on those met with in thrashing, and none should be 

 allowed to escape. 



(D,) Insects which injure grain in the granary : 



1. The Grain Weevil, (Calandra or Curculio granarius.) This be 

 longs to the same family of insects as the Curculio which destroys 

 plums. In its perfect state it is a slender beetle of a pitchy red color, 

 about an eighth of an inch long. The female deposites her eggs upon 

 the wheat after it is housed, and the young grubs hatched therefrom 

 immediately burrow into the wheat, each individual occupying alone a 

 single grain, the substance of which it devours so as to leave nothing 

 but the hull, and the loss of weight is the only external evidence of the 

 mischief that has been done. The adults also eat the grain. In Eu 

 rope, it has proved peculiarly destructive to stored grain. Roasting or 

 kiln-drying the wheat, effectually destroys the grub. 2. The Grain- 

 moth (Tinea granclla.) 3. The Angoumois moth (Anacampsis cereal- 

 did,} are small moths, resembling the well known carpet-month of 

 houses, the grubs of which prey on stored grain. They have spread 

 very generally over the United States. The last species was probably in 

 troduced into Virginia from France 



There are probably many other insects than the above injurious to 

 Wheat at various stages of its growth ; but unfortunately practical 

 farmers pay little attention to entomology, and are apt to confound not 

 only one known species with another, but also those which are de 

 scribed with those which are not. An intelligent farmer would confer 

 a great benefit on the community were he to study carefully the habits 

 of all insects injurious to vegetation in his own locality, and make the 

 results known. Insects injurious to the farmer appear to be increasing 

 in all parts of this country, and it is very essential that their habits 

 should be accurately studied so that remedies may be devised. It is 

 only by our becoming thoroughly acquainted with the character find 

 peculiarities of our enemies, that we can hope to overcome tliem. Mero 

 guesses, and random experiments, rarely if ever, prove of any benefit. 

 The loss annually sustained by the country in consequence of the de- 

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