154 



Canher-Worjn Moth. — Lands in Virginia. 



Vol. XL 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Canker-worm Moth. 



Friend Tatum, — From an article in the 

 third number of the current volume of your 

 paper, page 93, 1 infer that the canker-worm 

 is unknown in Pennsylvania. We have suf- 

 fered so much from it here, that we are glad 

 to find any of our agricultural friends are 

 exempt from its ravages. During the last 

 two or three years, the number of these in- 

 sects has been very small ; but the race is 

 not extinct. The creatures are now coming 

 out of the ground ; and every morning the 

 females may be seen on trees and fences pa- 

 tiently waiting the approaches of their vola- 

 tile mates, or creeping along in search of a 

 place whereon to deposit their eggs. These 

 females are three-eighths of an inch long, 

 They are plump and oval in shape, have two 

 threadlike horns or antennse, and six slender 

 legs; but they are absolutely wingless. 

 They are of an ashen grey colour above, 

 and light grey or whitish beneath. The 

 males are also ash-coloured, but they have 

 wings. Their fore-wings are darker than 

 the hinder pair, have a white spot on the 

 outer edge near the tip, and a few blackish 

 spots, frequently indistinct, upon them. They 

 expand one inch and a quarter. A more full 

 account of this insect is given in the article 

 Span-worm, in the Farmers' Encyclopedia, 

 and in the original work from which that 

 article was wholly copied. It will be seen 

 by the foregoing brief description, that the 

 "insect one and a half inches long, head 

 beautiful brown, four rudimentary wings, 

 external pair brown, &c.," supposed by your 

 correspondent to be " the female of the can- 

 ker-worm of New England," is entirely dis- 

 tinct therefrom. 



Yours, respectfully, 



T. W. H. 



Massachusetts, Oct. 18th, 1846. 



Lands in Virginia. 



From a letter from S. S. G., of Moorestown, N J., 

 dated the 17th ult., we make the following e.xtract. — 

 Ed. 



" My recent visit to Virginia furnished me 

 with abundant evidence that the advantages 

 of that country have not been overrated. 

 Indeed I believe they are not yet half ap- 

 preciated. The intelligent people there are 

 satisfied that they cannot hope for improve- 

 ment without the aid of industrious freemen, 

 and they hold out every encouragement for 

 Northern farmers to come and settle among 

 them. I accepted the invitation of R. B 

 Boiling, at whose house in Petersburg, 1 

 was very kindly entertained, to make an 



other visit to Sandy Point:* to any one fond 

 of agriculture, and interested in the improve- 

 ment of the soil, a visit to this noble estate 

 would of itself amply repay the journey. 

 In a communication to the Cabinet,! I de- 

 scribed the wheat crop as it appeared in the 

 beginning of the fifth month — he sold 14,000 

 bushels of wheat, after reserving about 1400 

 for seed ; the latter part of the harvest was 

 exceedingly wet, and the loss of grain in 

 consequence very heavy — this fall he is 

 seeding about 900 acres, and on ground 

 which he thinks in better heart: we rode 

 through the corn-field of 525 acres, from 

 which he expects a yield of 50 bushels per 

 acre, and I think he does not overrate it. 

 The wheat seeded this year is in beautiful 

 order, as indeed is everything about the 

 farm. There needs no stronger proof of 

 the susceptibility of this country for improve- 

 ment, than this estate affords — a few years 

 ago it was so poor as scarcely to meet the 

 expense of cultivation ; now it is highly 

 productive, and must return a large reve- 

 nue— 15,000 bushels of wheat and 26,000 

 bushels of corn, besides the fine stock and 

 other crops, produce a handsome sum. This 

 estate is in the S. E. corner of Charles City 

 county, on the north side of James River — 

 the county of Surry is on the south side of 

 the river, having its N. W. corner opposite 

 Sandy Point: this county abounds in inex- 

 haustible beds of the richest calcareous 

 marl, is as little cultivated as any other of 

 the eastern counties, being now chiefly val- 

 ued for its timber. The land is much of it 

 vv to be had for $2 per acre, and is 

 susceptible of high improvement and pro- 

 ductiveness. As soon as Northern far- 

 mers become acquainted with this region, 

 I think it must be filled up and become one 

 of the richest agricultural sections in the 

 Union." 



When a crack is discovered in a stove, 

 through which the fire and smoke penetrate, 

 the aperture may be readily closed in a mo- 

 n)ent, with a composition consisting of wood 

 ashes and common salt, made into a paste 

 with a little water, plastered over the crack. 

 The effect is equally certain whether the 

 stove be cold or hot. — Maine Farmer. 



Let the sun's first rays shine upon your 

 head in the morning, and you will not lack 

 a good hat to defend you from its scorching 

 rays at noon. 



* A notice of this estate may be found on pages 19 

 and 70, Vol. 7, Farmers' Cabinet. 

 t See last Volume, page 339. 



