156 



FARMERS' REGISTER— REMEDY FOR WEEVIL. 



stand in no need of hilling up to give them strength 

 and firmnotis in their position. They are evident- 

 ly designed to stay the stalk and hold it in an erect 

 posture, not unlike the shrouds of a ship to sustain 

 the mast. To render these braces sufficiently hard 

 ajid strong to answer the design of nature, they 

 must have the influence of the sun and air; but 

 when buried by several inclies of superincumbent 

 earth, they become soft, weak, and brittle, and 

 nature to remedy this evil sends out another set 

 above the former. These occasion an unnecessa- 

 ry waste of the nourishment of the plant, and at 

 that advanced season of the year never become 

 sufficiently indurated to perlbrm their office to the 

 best advantage. 



If those farmers who may take the trouble of 

 readinffthis article, should doubt the correctness of 



corn by weevil, and the total absence of them now, 

 in cojisequence of the application of a very simple 

 remedy. The land which I plant in corn is low, 

 and requires almost as much draining, as the river 

 lands, but is productive, and yields abundant crops. 

 Whether it is owing to the location of the land, or 

 other (to me) unknown causes, I am unable to say, 

 but the i'nct is, that the corn is often taken from the 

 field Avith a great many weevil in it. No injury 

 seemed to result from their residence in it, while in 

 the field, or during the cold weather, but as soon 

 as the summer's sun had shed his genial warmth 

 upon us, these intruders gave notice of their exist- 

 ence, by commencing the work of destruction. 

 Upon several occasions my provisions were mate- 

 rially injured, and much complained of by the con- 

 sumers — I tried a variety of remedies, without ef- 



this reasoning, they are respectfully invited to test feet. Late planting, and early planting, were both 



it by experiment upon a fiiw rows or hills. For 

 many years past the writer has practised ujionthe 

 principles here recommended, and has uniformly 

 been successful in his crop. 



It may also be remarked that great injury is done 

 both by the plough and the hoe at the time of hil- 

 ling, by breaking and wounding the long fibrous 

 roots so necessary to the grov.'th and strength of 

 the stalk. After the weeding or first hoeing, 

 neither the plough or the hoe should be allowed to 

 penetrate any deeper than is necessary to destroy 

 the weeds and grass. 



In cultivating the potato, the same reasoning so 

 far as it respects the accumulation of earth, will 

 apply — the bulb is formed simultaneously with the 

 blossom bud. If, after that period there be much 

 hilling up, the first formed bulbs grow but little; 

 being out of the reach of that warmth and air 

 which are required for a perfect growth, and ano- 

 ther set above them is produced. Hence it is that 

 by this mode of culture so great a proportion of 

 the crop consists of small bulbs. Every cultivator 

 must have observed that the largest potatoes in 

 the hill are invaribly found near the surface of the 

 ground. corkplantek. 



A GOOD CROP OF TOBACCO FROM NOTTOWAY. 



From the Kichmoiid Whig. 



A crop of G hhds tobacco, made by Mr. John 

 Webster of Nottoway county, wassoldatShockoe 

 Warehouse, on Tuesday last, [June 3dJ at the 

 following prices: 



hhd at 



hlid at 



hhd at 



hhd at 



hhd at 



hhd at 



Short tobacco 



813 50 

 12 50 

 11 

 10 25 



9 25 



6 



Average— $; 10 41. 



THE WII>D OR CANDI>EBERRY MYRTLE, A RE- 

 MEDY AGAINST THE DEPREDATIONS OCCA- 

 SIONED BY^ THE WEEVIL. 



From the Southern Agriculturist. 

 Dear Sir, — Information on all and any subject, 

 connected with agricultural pursuits will, I "pre- 

 sume, find admittance into your periodical, and al- 

 though the notice may be of apparently small mat- 

 ters, yet to some one of your readers, it may be 

 new, and let me add, valuable. I am induced to 

 make these remarks from the inconvenience I suf- 

 fered for many years, from the destruction of my 



suggested and tried; the land was all broken up 

 deep in the winter, with a ])lough; the seed Avas 

 coated with tar and soot, and finally was brought 

 from one of the sea-islands at a distance and j)lant- 

 ed. The crops, I think, were improved by each of 

 the remedies in quantity, but the enemy still retain- 

 ed his position, unmoved, and apparently immova- 

 ble. I was one day mentioning the circumstance 

 to a friend, who told me that he had understood, 

 that the wild myrtle, (Myrica cerifera) was a 

 sovereign remedy for this seemingly incurable dis- 

 ease. At this time the destruction had commenced, 

 and the insects were to be seen in every direction; 

 a quantity of myrtle was procured, and spread 

 over the top of the corn, and directions given to 

 follow it up, if any effect was visible. My remo- 

 val to town for the summer, prevented my attend- 

 ing to the business any farther, and I learned upon 

 inquiry in the fall, that "it seemed to check the 

 weevil in some degree." This was not satisfacto- 

 ry, and as the corn in the field was apparently more 

 tiian usually infested, I determined to give the ex- 

 periment a fair trial. The corn-house was emptied, 

 and swept, and washed with boiling water; the 

 floor was then covered with myrtle; a Ir^yer of corn 

 about a foot deep was then brought in, and then a 

 layer of mjTtle, and this management continued 

 throughout the whole harvest, observing to cover 

 the top of the corn with a bed of these little bushes. 

 During the winter I several times examined the 

 corn, near the door, and saw no weevil, yet I was 

 fearful, that in the body of the house, the mischief 

 might still be going on. Late in the sj^ring we 

 began to use the corn freely, and still found no 

 weevil; the crop was eventually consumed, and 

 was to the last, entirely free from insects of all and 

 every kind. 



This was to me satisfactory, and the rule has 

 been uniformly observed of strewing the house 

 with myrtle, and no weevil have since been seen. 

 My corn-house is divided info two bins, and an 

 entry; and this year I had planted a small field 

 alone, and desired that it might be kept separate. 

 Into this entry it was thrown, and no myrtle was 

 put with it, but the two bins were as usual well 

 supplied. Upon my examining the corn-house, I 

 found the corn in the entry filled with weevil, while 

 that in the bins was perfectly lreQ.from all insects. 

 Tiie corn was immediatel}^ removed, and though 

 filled with insects, was divided between the two 

 bins, and myrtle plentifully strewed over the top of 

 each. I ani now eating the corn, and the weevil 

 are no where to be found. 



