62 ESSEX SOCIETY. 



It will be seen by the letter referred to, that, owing to the 

 heat, or some other cause, the onion louse has this year made 

 its appearance. This is greatly to be regretted. No conceiv- 

 able drought or heat is so much to be dreaded, as an army of 

 insects. The destruction of the tribes that occasionally assail 

 our crops, is a subject of sufficient importance to call forth the 

 united energies of the Agricultural Societies throughout the 

 world. Let premiums of sufficient value be offered to natural- 

 ists, at home and abroad, to induce them to turn their attention 

 to this subject. It is no place here for more than a hint. But 

 the N. E. Farmer, of 27th October, informs us, that on a farm 

 in Michigan, near Fort Huron, during the past summer, the 

 army-worm so called, has " marched through field after field, 

 in solid phalanx, devouring every thing in their way. Where 

 a crop of 5000 bushels of oats was expected, there will not be 

 a single bushel. One tenant was driven from his house, and 

 the owner, on the opposite side of Black River, was able to 

 keep possession of his dwelling only by attacking them on the 

 bridge and sweeping them into the river." And the destruc- 

 tion of whole fields of turnips by the louse, in the county of 

 Essex, is a sufficient admonition to prepare for such an insect 

 invasion as certainly seems to threaten a famine to some of our 

 indispensable crops. 



One crop only has been entered with the committee for pre- 

 mium. This is by Francis Dodge, of Danvers. The crop is 

 one of carrots, at the rate of 28f tons per acre, and the com- 

 mittee think that he is entitled to the society's premium of six 

 dollars. 



DAYID CHOATE, Chairman. 



Francis Dodge's Statement. 



I offer for premium a crop of carrots, raised on 192 rods of 

 land ; the product being 1046 baskets, a basket weighing 66 

 pounds, making 34| tons, or, at the rate of 28| tons per acre. 

 The land was a dark loam, resting on a subsoil of clayey 

 gravel, and would be called, by most persons, rocky land. A 

 crop of carrots was taken from the land last year — the exact 



