314 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 5. 



They do great injury to the crops of grain, by un- 

 derminding and feeding upon the roots of the 

 plants. They are hardy in their egg state, and, 

 when grubs, are invulnerable to the weather; but 

 when passing from the aurelia state, rain and cold 

 weather will destroy them. This maggot is so de- 

 structive, that if every season were equally favor- 

 able to its production, it would soon render' 4 the 

 world a desert. 



Various remedies have been recommended for 

 destroying them, in particular, sowing salt with 

 the seed — strewing barley chaff on the surface, so 

 as to entangle and destroy them — spreading quick- 

 lime, or saltpetre over the field, before the plants 

 get up — employing ducks to devour them — rolling 

 the earth, more especially during the night, when 

 the grubs are generally on the surface — and tread- 

 ing the surface with sheep or pigs, and sometimes 

 even with horses. 



3. The JVire-worm. — This is a noxious animal, 

 abounding both in old grass-lands, and in clover 

 leys. It is very difficult to destroy them, as they 

 are peculiarly tenacious of life. For five years, 

 the wire-worm remains inhabiting the earth, till it 

 changes its nature, and becomes a winged fly, 

 (the Elator segetis of Linnaeus.*) Some recom- 

 mend, as the surest and most effectual means 

 to get rid of them in old grass lands, to pare 

 and burn the surface. Others suggest the sow- 

 ing of spring instead of winter wheat, on the 

 idea that the culture, at that season of the year, 

 would destroy them. A plan has recently been 

 suggested by Mr. Radelifl'e, an intelligent clergy- 

 man in Ireland, of paring the surface of old leys- 

 accumulating it in great heaps in the fields, and 

 planting the field, and even the heaps with potatoes. 

 By this means, a valuable crop is raised — the de- 

 struction of the wire-worm is insured — and an im- 

 mense quantity of valuable earth, full of rich sub- 

 stances, is obtained. Another effectual mode of 

 destroying the wire-worm is to plough the clover 

 stubble in July, as soon as the crop of hay is takeii 

 off, or the land has been cut for soiling, and then 

 to sow it with cole seed, on one furrow, to be eaten 

 down by sheep. The treading of the sheep will 

 effectually destroy the worm, and the wheat may 

 be sown with safety in November. But the sim- 

 plest mode of destroying wire- worms is to delay 

 ploughing till December; for if the land is then 

 ploughed, they would be exposed, in a torpid 

 state, to the frost, and the inclemency of the sea- 

 son. 



That the reader may be induced, to pay more 

 attention to this branch of the inquiry, it may be 

 proper to state, that according to the most accurate 

 calculation that has hitherto been made on the sub- 

 ject, no less a quantity than 60,000 acres of wheat 

 in England alone, are annually, either greatly af- 

 fected, or completely destroyed, by this noxious 

 animal. t 



4. The Wheat Fly. — But of all the injuries to 

 which wheat is liable, perhaps there is none more 

 to be dreaded, or which is likely to be more se- 

 verely felt, than that which is occasioned by a 

 species of the fly, whose depredations have been 



*See Trans, of the Linnaan Society, vol. ix. p. 160. 



f See Trans, of the Linnaean Society, vol. ix. p. 

 158. J ' 



felt in other countries, as France, and America, as 

 well as Great Britain.* 



1. France. — The depredations of insects in the 

 district called the Angoumois in France, are well 

 known. They began their ravages in one pecu- 

 liar canton. They successively spread through 

 the whole of that district, and afterwards penetra- 

 ted into the neighboring provinces, particularly 

 those which had any settled intercourse in corn 

 with the Angoumois. Grains that have appeared 

 quite perfect, have each contained one caterpillar. 

 This is soon transformed into a butterfly, which 

 becomes the stock of an innumerable line of cat- 

 erpillars. It is thus that so deplorable a calamity 

 spreads so quickly. But it requires a combination 

 of several causes, (which fortunately does not hap- 

 pen very frequently,) to favor the increase of these 

 little animals, otherwise they would soon overrun 

 any kingdom, and destroy the food of its inhabi- 

 tants. t 



2. America. — The celebrated Hessian fly in 

 America, js another insect of the destructive ef- 

 fects of insects. It got the name of The Hessian 

 Fly, because it was supposed to have been brought 

 over in the straw-beds and baggage of the Hessian 

 troops employed in the American war, who were 

 first landed, an. 1776, in Staten Island and the 

 west, end of Long Island. It was there where the 

 insect first made its appearance, and thence it 

 spread into the southern district of New York, part 

 of Connecticut, and Jersey. In the countries 

 which it ravaged, the destructive powers of this 

 insect are represented as in the highest degree 

 alarming. In some districts, it is said to have so 

 entirely cut oil' the produce, "that able farmers had 

 not got at harvest a sufficient quantity of wheat 

 for domestic uses, and, indeed, that they some- 

 times failed to reap the amount of the seed they 

 had sown. "J During the period that the Hessian 

 fly was so celebrated for the mischief it occasioned, 

 the government of this country, prevented the in- 

 troduction of wheat from America. Such pre- 

 cautions are not useless. The Egyptian bean has 

 an insect in it of considerable magnitude, which 

 completely devours the kernel of the bean be- 

 fore it becomes visible. This species of bean 

 has been raised in some parts of England, 

 and the same insect is produced. Some means 

 should be adopted, to prevent the dissemination of 

 so pernicious a production, otherwise the public 

 will sustain a very considerable injury, which, by 

 wise precautions, may be prevented. Any risk of 

 this mischief spreading might have been prevent- 

 ed, had a public institution existed, to warn the 

 farmer of his danger from its dissemination. 



In the years 1787 and 1788, the greater part of 

 the southern provinces of America, were infested 



* A valuable paper on the wire-worm will be found 

 in the Stockholm Transactions for the year 1777. 



t M. de Harnel du Monceau has written a work, 

 entitled, "Histoire d'un Insecte qui devore les grains 

 de l'Angournois, avec les moyens que l'on pent em- 

 ployer pour le detruire." Paris, 1762, 514 pages in 

 12 mo. This work details the advantages of all the 

 methods hitherto proposed, for preventing the ravages 

 of weevils, moths, and every other species oi vermin 

 that attack corn. 



\ See Malcolm's Survey of Surry, vol. ii. p. 25S, 

 on the authority of Dr. Mitchell of America. . 



