348 



To prevent the ravages of the Cut-worm. 



Vol n 



That fatal disease, the "yellows" cut them 

 all off a few years since, and invariably takes 

 them now, at one or two years old. 

 Respectfully, &c., 



Mahlon T. Kirkbride. 



MorrUville, Rucks County, 6th nto. 6tli, 1S33. 

 ToprAvent the ra-rages of tUe Cnt"Worm 



Many things have been prescribed to pre- 

 vent the grub or cut-worm from destroying 

 Indian corn in its infancy; most, if not all ot 

 them, 1 believe to be ineiTectual or inert, and 

 some of them pernicious to the growth of corn. 

 AHd as the season when the grub commits its 

 ravages is near at hand, an effectual means to 

 prevent its mischief I believe might be of vast 

 miportance to the agricultural part of our 

 community. 



Believing myself to be in possession of a 

 knowledge of means that will completely pre- 

 vent the cut-worm from destroying young 

 corn, 1 shall endeavor to communicate the 

 same to you, and shall consider myself fully 

 compensated, without any reward from church 

 or state, if they siiall prove serviceable to the 

 farming interest. 



The remedy consists simply in feeding the 

 grub. Many farmers are in the habit of 

 badly ploughing their corn ground for this 

 purpose ; for bad ploughing leaves much grass 

 for the grub to live on. But the practice of 

 bad ploughing vastly mcreasestlie labor, and 

 consequeutly the expense of raising Indian 

 corn. The better practice is to plough well 

 at first, and afterwards to apply the remedy. 



The grub is not a dainty feeder, and will 

 eat almosl any green herbage. The best I 

 have found to be the following: young elder 

 sprouts and their leaves, milk weed, clover, 

 mullein, and almost any green vegetable that 

 happens to be at hand. My time and mode 

 of applying them, is to apply them two or 

 three days before the young corn makes its 

 appearance through the ground, in compact 

 handfuls in every fifth rew, between every 

 fifth and sixth hill, pressing the handfuls, 

 wlien dropped to the ground, with a tread 

 of the foot. The grubs, if numerous, will 

 i'oon collect under these handfuls, in dozens, 

 scores, and hundreds, and there remain for 

 shelter and food as long as they find good ac- 

 commodations, which will last for tendaysor 

 more. In the mean time it will be an easy 

 matter to destroy them with' a sharp instru- 

 ment, going from handful to handful, along 

 the rows in which they are deposited. I have 

 in this way killed more than two hundred 

 Mndcr a handful, and thus saved my com. — 

 Handfuls of fresh herbage must be re-applied 

 if necessary. 



The remedy may appear to many at first 

 iK)t ice almost as bad as the evil; but I believe 

 that a smart man will gather and apply the 

 T^inedy to more than five acres in a day, and 



to destroy the grubs when collected is an 

 easy matter. At all events, I believe, afler 

 a fair trial, that the remedy is the cheapest 

 and most effectual that can be applied ; and 

 depend upon it, the remedy is no quack pre- 

 scription, for it has its foundation in the ani- 

 mal appetite and disposition, that animal na- 

 ture can be more readily coa.xed than driven. 

 — (yultivator. 



I7Iaiig!e^Viirt.£cl antt Rmta Ba^a 



The period has now arrived at which i 

 promised to give you my opinion of Mangle 

 VV^urtzel as a food for cows, and my plan of 

 cultivating and securing them. I consider 

 them to be very valuable. My cows fed upon 

 them last winter, kept in fine health and 

 flesh, gave a large quantity of very rich milk 

 which made superior butter. They saved me 

 much hay, and my cattle were remarkably 

 tbnd of them throughout the winter. Farm- 

 ers should by all means have them or Ruta 

 Baga, and indeed both, for their cattle. 



MANGLE WURTZEL. 



In cultivating them, I select apiece of land 

 in good tilth, draw furrows two feet and a 

 half or three ft^et apart, which I fill with good 

 manure. I then throw a furrow from each 

 side upon the manure, rake the top smooth, 

 make a drill, drop the seed about ten inches 

 apart, and cover with the rake. This should 

 be done the latter part of May. I till them 

 with the hoe-harrow and hand-hoe, and if need 

 be with the plough, and keep them free from 

 weeds. The bottom leaves are good food for 

 cows and hogs, and the root is benefited by 

 their removal. The crop is a very heavy 

 one, though I did not ascertain the amount 

 per acre. The crop should be taken in be- 

 fore there is a severe frost. The leaves 

 should be rung off, not cut, as that makes 

 them bleed and rot. They should then be 

 placed in a dry warm cellar, with the front 

 carefully piled. Thus put away, they will be 

 good for feeding until late in the spring. I 

 have not fed sugar beets, but have been told 

 by those who did so last winter, that cattle 

 do not generally like them ; beside they cause 

 them to scour. In Mangle VVurtzel there is 

 no mistake. 



RUTA B A Q A. 



My plan of cultivating ruta baga, is the 

 same as above. I plant them all in June. — 

 'Yhey are not injured by slight frosts. I cut 

 off the tops and secure them in heaps well 

 covered with straw and then with earth about 

 r^i.x inches thick, which I obtain by digging 

 a ditch round the heap. They should not be 

 put below the surface of the ground, as thej 

 are thereby rendered liable to be wet and fro- 

 zen., particularly on clay subsoils, — Qermari" 

 tovm Telegraph. 



