AMer 



ICAN HERD-BOOTi' 



DEVOTED TO 

 AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, AND RURAL AND DOMESTIC AFFAIRS. 



Perfect Agriculture is the true foundation of all trade and industry.— Libbio. 



Vol. XI.— No. 4.] 



11th mo. (November) 16th, 1846. 



[Whole No. 142. 



PaBLISHED MONTHLY, 



BY JOSIAH TATUM, 



EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR, 



No. 50 North Fourth Street, 



PHILADELPHIA. 



Price one dollar per }'ear. — For conditions see last page 



Insect in the Corn. 



Our readers will recollect a reference in the last 

 number of the Cabinet, page 101, to a worm or moth, 

 found in the grains of corn, by C. VV. Haywood, of 

 Germantown. The presence of this insect, as indi- 

 cated in the ear left at the office, was viewed by the 

 editor with considerable alarm. On the 14th nit. he 

 addressed a letttr to Dr. Harris, so well known for his 

 researches in natural history. The importance of the 

 matter to which it refers, will e.xcuse the publication 

 of the following extracts from it, in cotuuction with 

 the leply so kindly and so promptly returned. The 

 letter refers to the " fly weevil, that destroys wheat in 

 Virginia and some of the Southern and Western 

 States." Is this weevil confined to Southern parts of 

 our Union, or is it identical with that which is but too 

 commonly found in this vicinity ? We have frequently 

 known granaries of rye very much injured by a wee- 

 vil in New Jersey. It was our practice, when its ap- 

 pearance was feared, to sprinkle a little very fijiely 

 powdered air slaked lime through the bin. among the 

 grain. We have also heard it said, that the presence 

 of sheep in a barn where grain is kept, is particularly 

 offensive to tbe grain w.^evil. 



Cab.— Vol. XL— No. 4. 



The appeal made at the close of Dr. Harris's letter, 

 will, we trust, be freely responded to. Great inconve- 

 nience results from the depredations of the worm in 

 the locust tree. The value of this limber is perhaps 

 not exceeded by that of any giovvn among us, yet it 

 seems hardly worth while to attempt to cultivate the 

 tree, as it is so soon, and so certainly, and so seriously 

 injured by the worm. A remedy would be of great 

 general benefit.— Ed. 



The following is an extract from the edi- 

 tor's letter to Dr. Harris: "I received a day 

 or two ago, from a friend at Germantown, 

 in this vicinity, an ear of corn of last year's 

 growth, most of the grains of which were 

 perforated in a very singular manner, by an 

 insect which has drawn its nourishment 

 from the softer part, and of course, greatly 

 diminished its value. C. W. Haywood, who 

 gave it to me, stated that his attention was 

 first directed to the matter some five or six 

 weeks ago, by observing that his garret, 

 where some five and twenty or thirty bush- 

 els of corn lay in the ear, was swarming 

 with a dun coloured moth, which he soon 

 ascertained had escaped from the grains. I 

 enclose a few grains, from some of which I 

 think it will be found tiie moth has not yet 

 made his escape. Yesterday, while holding 

 a grain in my hand, one came leisurely out, 

 and I put a pin through it, intending to for- 

 ward it herewith, but this morning it is 

 mouldered to pieces. It would be gratifying 

 to me to receive any information relative to 

 this insect. My friend said he had not 



(105) 



