farmers' miscellany. 121 



• nay be turned to an important end by the farmer whose lands lie 

 idjacent to them. Every rain and every shower washes the road 

 and carries off to parts unknown, the droppings of animals inter- 

 mixed with the fine earthy materials. Most of these substances 

 now go to waste ; even some farmers are so abominably slovenly 

 and wasteful as to milk and yard their cows in the road before 

 their doors and then let the soluble parts run off down the gutter. 

 But even though the waste of roads contained no soluble matter, 

 still the water itself will irrigate the field, and increase the quantity 

 of hay in meadows at least one-fourth their ordinary yield. Let 

 every farmer then who can save the road wastes open shallow 

 drains over his meadows in such a way that the current shall run 

 slow and evenly, and gradually spread itself over the field. It 

 will also reduce his road tax and give him a better way for travel. 



GRUBS AND WIRE WORMS. 



Some soils appear to be infested with worms in an unusual de- 

 gree. What is the cause and what is the remedy for this condi- 

 tion 1 The first inquiry we should make is, what is the nature of 

 the soil in which these pestiferous insects abound 1 According to 

 our observations the soil is unusually lean and poor. They do 

 not infest it until it is worn out, or has become exhausted by cul- 

 ture. There may be exceptions, but so frequently have we wit- 

 nessed the fact that we have been disposed to set it down as esta- 

 blished, that a lean soil is at least more subject to the grub, -wive 

 worm, &c., than a soil which is in good heart and condition. W^e 

 are supported in this position by the fact that not only whole fields 

 are greatly infected when worn out and poor, but particular patches 

 of a field become infested, when by any cause they have been sub- 

 jected to unusual exhaustion. This last year we observed a field 

 planted with corn, one part of which was remarkably fine ; but 

 another portion was entirely destroyed by the wire worm. Now 

 this portion was poor and lean, was exhausted by the roots of a 

 large oak. This, to be sure, is not so clear a case, and stand- 

 ing by itself, we should not place much reliance upon it. But in 

 addition to this, we know of farms which being run down, as it is 

 termed, have become so entirely infested that it is difficult to culli- 



VOL. I. NO. 1. Q 



