114 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



corn fodder from being injured by heating. No 

 fodder sutlers more or sooner from wet or rain than 

 corn Ibdder. Every possible pains sliould, there- 

 lore, be taken to avoid ihia ; and it is a good way 

 to hang as much of our corn Ibdder, as we have 

 room for, on the beams and on poles extending 

 over the barn floors, and in sheds where it will be 

 out of the reach of the cattle. 



As to the kind of corn to be sown, the southern 

 gourd-seed or the western corn, will undoubtedly 

 give the largest weight; but much of it will be 

 in the butt, no part of which will the cattle eat. 

 Our common northern small flint corn will yield a 

 large amount to the acre, as it will bear thick sow- 

 ing; and the main stalk is not so large but 

 that a good deaf of it will be eaten, especially if 

 cut up. 



HABITS OF THE CUROULIO, AND MEANS FOR 

 ITS DESTRUCTION. 



From the Magazine of Horticulture. 



The curculio is one of the greatest enemies of 

 the plum ; indeed, in many sections of the coun- 

 try, the whole crop is frequently swept ofl' by its 

 attacks. When its habits are well known, how- 

 ever, a little care will enable us to rid our gardens 

 of this insect, so destructive to stone fruit. 



The curculio is a winged insect, which emerges 

 from the ground about the time when the trees are 

 in blossom, and punctures the fruit almost as soon 

 as it is formed, depositing its eggs m the tender 

 skin of the swollen germ. When the fruit has 

 reached one third of its size, if we observe it close- 

 ly, we shall discover the scar of this puncture 

 made by the insect, in the shape of a semi-circle 

 or small crescent, about a tenth of an inch in 

 breadtli. The egg has now taken the larva form, 

 and the latter is working its way gradually to the 

 stone or kernel of the Iruit ; as soon as it reaches 

 this point, the huit falls from the tree, and the 

 worm now leaves it in a i'ew days, and finds its 

 way into the loose soil beneath the tree. Here it 

 remains until the ensuing season, when it emerges 

 in a winged form, and having deposited its eggs to 

 provide tor the perpetuity of its species, perishes. 

 As it is found that the curculio, though a winged 

 insect, is not a very migratory one, the means 

 taken to destroy it in one garden are not without 

 etTicacy, though the neighboring orchards may 

 not receive the same care. As the fruit, when 

 it falls from the tree, contains the larva, it is evi- 

 dent that if we destroy it before the insect has 

 time to find its way into the soil, we shall destroy, 

 with it, the curculio. In small gardens, it is 

 sufficient to gather all the fallen fruit every morn- 

 ing, during the period of its fall from the tree, and 

 throw it in the hog-pens, when the whole will be 

 speedily consumed. In larger orchards, where it 

 is practicable, the hogs may (the trees being pro- 

 tected) be turned in for the short time in the 

 season while the fruit is dropping, and they will 

 most effectually destroy the whole race ol insects 

 of the current season. Indeed, in large plum 

 orchards, this practice is found a very effectual 

 remedy for the attacks of the curculio. 



In small gardens that have come under our 

 notice, formerly much troubled with the attacks of 

 this insect, where the practice of gathering the 

 fruit w destroying it daily for a short period has 



been pursued, the insect has failed to make its 

 appearance alter a couple of years, and the trees 

 have borne abundant crops of fine fruit. In addi- 

 tion to this, we would recommend the application 

 of clay about the roots of plum trees, in very light 

 sandy soil. 



It is sometimes the case that the plum will be 

 many years in coming into bearing, where the 

 richness of the soil induces loo great a luxuriance 

 of growth. When this is the case, the ground 

 should be pariially removed from the roots, which 

 should be pruned or reduced in number one fifth 

 or one fourih, and the soil replaced. This should 

 be done in the autumn, and will rarely fail in 

 bringing about a prolusion of blossom buds and a 

 good crop of Iruit. A. J. Downing. 



Neivburgh, N. V., Feb. 1842. 



ROTATION OF CROPS. 



To the Editor of the l-'ariners' Register. 



Shirley, March 8th, 1842. 

 The interesting and well-written communica- 

 tion on the " rotation of crops," under ihe signa- 

 ture of N., in the February number of the Farm- 

 ers' Register for 1842, reminds me (as I see he 

 quotes my five-field rotation) that I ought io 

 candor to acknowledge the change I have made 

 in it, and the reasons lor it; and while I do' 

 60, 1 must pay the tribute so justly due to the au- 

 thor ot " Rivannn," in the February number of 

 the Farmers' Register, 1840, for his belter judg- 

 ment in recommending his five-shift rotation in 

 preference to the one I at first adopted. 



In 1840 I changed my four-field system to a 

 five-field one, viz. : wheat, corn, wheat, clover, 

 clover pastured off; but I found, the very first 

 year, alter grazing the second year's clover field 

 heavily, to remedy insects, in consequence of the 

 dry fall, it was almost impracticable to (allow it up 

 for wheat. And as we generally have dry seasons 

 at that lime, it makes an insuperable objection to 

 the system, for the labor of lallowing up a hard 

 trampled field, in a dry season (the land breaking 

 up in large clods, which clods have to be reduced 

 by the rollers, harrows, hoes, &c.) is immense, on 

 our stiff James river lands, and makes it insupera- 

 bly objectionable. The crop of wheat succeed- 

 ing, though, was very fine, the straw immense, 

 and, where it did not lodge, very fine grain. I 

 therefore last year changed the rotation to the one 

 recommended eo highly by Rivanna as the 

 "beau ideal" of a system, viz.: corn, wheat, 

 clover, wheat, clover, and have no doubt I shall 

 find it a good one from the recommendation of 

 such able authority. But I think if my lands had 

 been as light and rolling as the author of N. de- 

 scribes his to be, I should have preferred the other 

 five-field rotation, viz. : two years in clover before 

 fallowing for wheat ; as I consider it very import- 

 ant, from my late experience, that land should lie 

 out longer in grass than one year. It is the 

 great delect, I think, in our systems on James 

 river, that the land does not lie out long enough in 

 grass to resuscitate. With light land, such as 

 N. describes his to be, the lallowing lor wheat 

 would never be very laborious ; for light land never 

 becomes very hard, however dry the season may 

 be, and may be tallowed with ease, and I think 

 with success, afler two years ia clover, the first, 



