1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



429 



email ilark spots; umlcr wings orange; conceals it- 

 sell" l\\nn the sua during the day ; lays its eggs 

 near the root oT grasses. These worms are oi" a 

 bluish color, and they travel only in the night; they 

 cut olF young cabbages, beans and corn; the lat- 

 ter injured but not destroyed by iliem. 



To shun its depredations in gardens, be careful 

 to plant at a distance from any grass plot or lawn. 

 I have lost an entire crop ot" late-planted beans 

 by them, by i)lanling near a grass plot. Frequent 

 superlicial lioing, in the midiile of the day, by ex- 

 posing to the sun, proves fatal to many oi' them. 



Turnip fly, is another familiar enemy. I have 

 witnessed many a crop of cabbages and caulillower 

 plants, also melons and cucumbers, destroyed by 

 these minute insects. To obviate this, on the (irst 

 mentioned small seeds being sown, 1 have wetted 

 the ground to the depth of a;i inch or more with 

 boiling hot water, thus destroying the flies and 

 their eggs, and at the same time expediting the 

 germination of the seed. For melons and cucum- 

 bers I sow and rake radish or turnip seed, on and 

 around each hill; the flies are attracted by these, 

 their more favorite food, from the melons, &c. 

 Against the siriped bug, another destroyer of me- 

 lons, a brood of young chickens is a sufficient pro- 

 tection for a whole garden. 



I do not persume to think the above the only or 

 best means of abating the evils we suffer from in- 

 sects; my object is rather to elicit from others the 

 result of their observation and experience; the sub- 

 ject, in my view, is important. Has any one, 

 more fortunate than myself, discovered the insect, 

 for insect it most probably is, that produces the de- 

 forming warts and threatened destruction of our 

 plum trees? 



A knowledge of the agent might lead to the 

 means of counteracting the influence. May we 

 not hope that some means may be discovered lor 

 palliating the impending evils from the wheat in- 

 sect, by fire or smoke of some offensive kind, as of 

 horns or hoofs of animals, made in the evening, at a 

 particular stage ofthe opening ear. Many remedies 

 and some of much practical utility have been sug- 

 gested against the Hessian fly. We ought not to 

 submit to nor look lightly on these pests. — Ants, 

 insignificant as they appear in our view, have 

 been suflered to multiply to such an extent on the 

 island of Granada, that a premium of £2,000 

 sterling has been offered from the public treasury, 

 for the best plan of their destruction. Poison and 

 fires are employed. 



Let us exert our energies against the whole 

 race of these destructive insects; let us devote a 

 few hours each year to this warfare, and although 

 we may not gather laurels, we shall assuredly 

 reap a rich bounty. Senex. 



Kinderlwok, March, 1836. 



BULLETINO AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR SPAYIKG. 



[At page 285 of this volume we republished an ar- 

 ticle in recommendation of "bulleting" as a substitute 

 for spaying. The following extracts, from another 

 and more recent source, serve, the one to contradict, 

 and the other to leave questionable, the utility of the 

 substitute before proposed. But in addition to this 

 ground of value of the letter of Mr. Smith, it deserves 



republication, with marked commendation, as exhibit- 

 ing the rare merit in a writer of coming forward, vo- 

 luntarily and readily, to confess that he liad been in er- 

 ror in a previous communication, and that under that 

 error, he had been aiding to deceive, when he meant to 

 mstruct his brother farmers. JMany, in due time, 

 have discovered that they had previously published er- 

 roneous opinions; but few have enough moral courage 

 and sense of duty to make tlip proper atonement. — 

 Ed. Far. Reg.] 



from tlie ['ranklin Fnriiior. 



Midway, Woodford Co., Ky., yJiig. 15, 1838. 



JDear Sir — The object of writing communica- 

 tions for the public shoukl be to difl'use useful in- 

 formation, and they should, therefore, only convey 

 facts. Errors which are likely to have an evil 

 tendency, should be corrected. False theories 

 and hall-tried experiments, though frequently pro- 

 mulged from the purest motives, oflen do great in- 

 jury; and yet to hold the secret possession of facts, 

 hoarded up for the purpose of selfish emolument, 

 without regard for the good of others, is mean and 

 selfish in the extreme. Taking the position, that 

 It is the duty of every one, to do as little barm 

 and as much good as possible, I hasten to correct, 

 and thereby counteract the evil effect that might 

 be produced in consequence of a recommendation 

 which I made, of bulleting sows instead of spay- 

 ing them, under the signature of "Woodford 

 Farmer." Although Mr. Davis was successful, 

 in his first operations, others have been unsuc- 

 cessful, and I have undoubted authority to state 

 ihathuWeXiiig 10 ill 710 1 answer as a substitute for 

 spaying, which, injustice to myselfj as the author 

 of that recommendatioii, and for the public good, 

 I hereby make known the facts as communicated 

 to me. 



Bird Smith. 



Remark. — We have knoivn bulleting to succeed 

 well. It would be an inquiry well worthy of at- 

 tention, to ascertain the circumstances under which 

 bulleting, as a substitute for spaying, botli suc- 

 ceeds and fails. — Ed. Fr. Farmer. 



From the Franklin Farmer, 

 RENEWING OLD HANDSAWS. 



I am in possession of an improvement which, if 

 you think worth communicating to the mechanics 

 and farmers, is at your service. In the year 1813, 

 in Harrison county, Ky., I had a very fine hand- 

 saw, which some of my apprentices rendered un- 

 fit for use. She had what is termed by mecha- 

 nics, a spring or broken back, or joint in her, and 

 was thrown by. I tried several experiments to re- 

 move the spring and at last fell on the following 

 plan: — I took a blacksmith's hand-hammer with 

 a smooth face and laid the saw on a smooth anvil, 

 and hammered it lengthwise where the spring or 

 joint seemed to be. I hammered it in the centre 

 of the width, which removed the joint, and she 

 was straight and stiff as ever, and was no more 

 liable to have a spring or joint than any new saw, 

 and performed as well as usual. If the hammer 

 and anvil are smooth, no one will ever observe 

 that it has been done. 1 have straightened a 



