No. 8. 



The Cut-Worm. 



253 



magncsian lime, are to be convinced that the 

 very article we so highly prize, as a fertilizer, 

 is aclually a sterilizer, I may certainly say, 

 in advance, we must first, like Zeno, the 

 famous Stoic Philosopher, deny the laws of 

 motion, and submit tamely to any innovation 

 which may follow. 



In the last number of the Cabinet I disco- 

 ver the premonitory symptoms of a redeeming 

 change, the sound article of S. Lewis occu- 

 pies the front page conspicuously, a place it 

 well merits, and as it is merely a prelude, 

 may his pen not be idle in arresting a preju- 

 dice so pregnant with mischief to the farmer's 

 interest. As no one can plead infallibility, I 

 would just refer to the subject of applying 

 putrescent or stable-manure; it will be re- 

 membered that to plough under recent stable- 

 manure, with a view to retain the volatile 

 gases, was the favourite idea of the justly es- 

 teemed and lamented Judge Buel, who rank- 

 ed among the most distinguished agricultur- 

 ists in this country and Europe. Well, mark 

 it now, the time is at hand when that very 

 idea must vanish along with other visionary 

 things, and be dispelled by the light of truth. 

 An anomaly indeed to imagine that the vola- 

 tile gases can be confined among the roots 

 of plants, to be taken up by their spongioles 

 as nourishment: while the denser gases, 

 carbonic acid for instance (which stable-ma- 

 nure generates), a principal constituent and 

 stimulant, in the growth of plants, is of such 

 gravity that it can be poured out upon the 

 earth, and descends into the soil almost with 

 the same facility that water does. Hence 

 the approach of the period when ploughing 

 under the furrow stable-manure, in any state, 

 will be recurred to among the things which 

 have been. W. Penn Kinzer, 



Springlawn Farm, Pequea, Feb. 20, 1842. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 The Cut- Worm. 



Mr. Editor, — The remedy for this scourge 

 which your correspondent, Mr. Johnson, at 

 p. 231 of the last number, flatters himself 

 that he has discovered, although he is not 

 prepared to offer any reason for the plan 

 which he has so successfully adopted, is, I 

 think, very easily accounted for, without sup- 

 posing that the eggs of the fly are carried 

 into the barn with the hay, or that they are 

 destroyed by the scorching rays of the sun on 

 the removal of the crop, but merely by adopt- 

 ing his third supposition, namely, that the fly 

 or bug or beetle or whatever else is the pa- 

 rent of the cut-worm "seeks other fields bet- 

 ter adapted to its purpose." Did your cor- 

 respondent never witness and admire the in- 

 telligence and cuteness of the tumble-bug, 



while collecting from the droppings of cattle 

 materials for the purpose of encasing an egs, 

 which is destined one day to become another 

 bug exactly like itself, to practise the very 

 same contrivance for the perpetuation of his 

 race in which itself was then engaged ? In 

 somewhat the same way, I conceive, are the 

 eggs of the cut-worm preserved and provided 

 for, and from hence they emerge when their 

 operations are required, by the universal and 

 unalterable law of nature "in that case made 

 and provided." But where could these ani- 

 mals be furnished with materials fit for their 

 purpose, except in those fields that have been 

 grazed by cattle, and where their droppings 

 have been left? In fields that have been 

 twice mown, none, of course, is to be found, 

 and therefore " the fly seeks those fields bet- 

 ter adapted to their purpose." 



But I cannot consent to believe that fall- 

 ploughing, when properly performed, is not 

 very effectual in the cure of this " scourge," 

 yet I admit that in the way this operation i3 

 generally performed, it will oftentimes be 

 found but of little avail; want of success, 

 arising from the circumstance of the land 

 being turned too shallow, or too deep, or not 

 turned at all, as we often witness — one-half 

 the earth remaining unmoved after the pas- 

 sage of the plough. In the hands of a care- 

 ful cultivator, I should be willing to commit 

 the question of a " remedy" by a thorough 

 autumnal ploughing, having had opportunity 

 to witness the result of such a course the past 

 season, on a field belonging to Homer Each- 

 us, Edgmont, Del. Co., where one-half the 

 piece having been ploughed before the frosts 

 of winter and the other in the spring, the 

 whole being planted with corn. The differ- 

 ence in regard to the ravages of the cut- worm 

 was very striking, and showed most conclu- 

 sively the benefit to be derived from fall- 

 ploughing — but it is only common justice to 

 remark, that the work was carefully and ef- 

 fectually performed by one " who had an in- 

 terest in the soil," which often makes all the 

 difference in the world. Will your corres- 

 pondent inform us what are the results of his 

 experiments the present season, and oblige, 

 amongst the rest, an anonymous correspond- 

 ent, who cannot yet bring his mind to appear 

 before the public in propria persona. 



C. W. 



Feb. 28, 1842. 



" What a consummation would it be to 

 witness the establishment of national agricul- 

 tural establishments by national funds de- 

 voted to the blessed labours of the field, in- 

 stead of being wantonly squandered in the 

 perpetration of acts of violence, and the de- 

 struction of human life and happiness." 



