86 DISTEMPERS OF CORN. Parti. 



the young plants, fo that they branch but Uttle, and produce weak 

 ears. Pigeons have not bills ilrong enough to root out the grain 

 when covered with earth, nor do they feed upon the young corn : 

 they only pick up the grains that are not covered, and which mu/i 

 infallibly become the prey of other animals, or be dried up by the 

 fun. Partridges do no more harm than^ pigeons, for they do not 

 fcratch. They only eat the green corn, which can be of little 

 confequence, unlefs they are in great numbers indeed, and in a 

 place where but little corn is fown. Sparrows make great havock 

 at harveft time, by the vaft quantity of corn which they eat, efpe- 

 cially near hedges or villages. Bearded wheat, and rye, are lefs 

 their prey than any other grain. This is worth knowing : for it 

 is better to have a full crop, even of rye, than to have half a crop 

 of wheat eat by them, after being railed with great care. Small 

 .fnails deftroy a great deal of wheat in fome foils. 



But the lofles occafioned by fuch creatures, are not what we 

 propofe to treat of here : we mention them only by the bye, and 

 now proceed to the infedls. 



There is a fmall kind of worm, which gets into the roots, chiefly 

 of oats, and, working upwards, deftroys all the infide of the plant, 

 which perifhes foon after. I fufpedl it to have been an infedt of 

 this kind that deftroyed fo much wheat in the neighbourhood of 

 Geneva, and which M. de Chateau-vieux defcribes thus. " Our 

 *' wheat, in the month of May 1755, fuftain'd a lofs, which even 

 ** that cultivated according to the new hufbandry did not efcape. 

 *' We found in it many little white worms, which afterwards be- 

 *' came of a chefnut colour. They poll themfelves between the 

 " blades, and eat the ftems. They are ufually found between the 

 ** firll joint and the roots. Every ftalk which they attacked, 

 *' grew no more, but became yellow, and withered. The fame 

 *' misfortune happened to us in the year 1732. Thefe infed:s 

 " appeared about the middle of May, and made fuch havock that 

 •* the crop was almoft dellroyed." 



We too often find, in our kitchen-gardens, a fort of vermin 

 called 'vine-fretters. They fix upon the roots of leguminous plants, 

 which gradually turn yellow, and die. M. Tillet fays he has ob- 

 ferved the fame infetfl in the roots of wheat. Meflrs. de Reaumur 

 and Tillet have likewife obferved fmall caterpillars which are hatch- 

 ed in the ears of wheat. M. Duhamel tells us, that he long ago 

 ■obferved, and made drawings of finall infet^s, fome of a bright 



red. 



