564 



F A R INI E R S ' REGISTER, 



[No. 9 



had proved the " cut worni" to originate from the 

 " cicada," an hemiptera ; the other as certainly 

 from the " niotli," a lepidoptera: and the learned 

 and indefatiiTable agriculturist, Judge Peters, ol 

 Pa., believeil and published them to be tlie pro- 

 duct ofthe "scarabiBus volven?," a "eoleoptera ;" 

 and I feel a moral certainty, derived from what I 

 hold to be -^ infalUbl?. experiment,'''' that neither 

 the '■^cicada'''' nor the ^^iiioih,^^ nor the " scarabcBiis 

 volvens,''^ is the parent of this Gorgon insect. 



In consequence ol' Judge Peters' paper, in 

 which he represents the " scaraba3us volvens"' 

 (the common tumble buff) to be the parent ofthe 

 " cut worm,'' and v/hich he had, no doubt, taken 

 at second h md — I was induced, (in 1S19) short-ly 

 after his publication, tuid without ar;y reasoning 

 on the matter, as to what it might be, or. what it 

 should be, to make experimental demonstration of 

 what its origin really ivas — -Vid : American 

 Farmer, vol. 1, p. 124 — title " EiilomoiOiry." 



I ofi'er below an extract from tiie paragraph 

 containing this experiment; simi;ly remarking 

 that I have, "since," repeated it with similar re- 

 sults ; and 1 am quite confident that all who will 

 take the trouble to test it vyiil bear witness to its 

 verity. 



" To come at the fact, I carried into the corn- 

 field a large transparent bottle, Vv'hich I half-fiiled 

 with earth — upon this earth I deposited a dozen 

 of the worms, and gave them corn plants to feed 

 upon. In a i'ew weeks they disappeared. I 

 searched the earth and ibund them " chrysalids" 

 enveloped in balls ol' earth. A considerable time 

 after I again examined them, and found several of 

 them matured into the imago, or parent bug, and 

 extricated from their envelopes ; others in the state 

 of a soft " pupa," with limbs more or less distinctly 

 formed, in various sliiges of progression, and exhib- 

 iting unequivocal proofs of their orisin, and of the 

 impossibility of mistake or deception. These de- 

 structive animals belong to the order "eoleoptera" 

 of Linn., having crustaceous elytra, or wing cases, 

 which shut together and Ibrm a longitudinal su- 

 ture down the back. They are about one quar- 

 ter of an inch long, generally, and of a shining 

 jet black color, very quick and active in their 

 movements ; in fict, the same identical bugs that 

 are seen in vast numbers under wheat stacks, and 

 in wheat yards. The brief history of this insect 

 is, that its larva having fed upon the young corn, 

 or other delicate plants, descends into the earth 

 about the depth of four inches, where it assumes 

 its state of " c/in/sa/Zs," in which it continues till 

 about the first ot' July, and no doubt, a sliorter or 

 longer period, as the weather may be more or less 

 favorable — when it becomes transformed into (he 

 imago or parent, which in autumn deposites its 

 eggs in the field, to undergo a similar series of 

 transitions, whigh is eO'cctcd by the heat of the 

 ensuing season. 



" The obvious preventive is fall or winter 

 ploughing at such a depth as will turn up, and 

 expose to the frost, the eggs, whereby they must 

 perish." 



The above preventive was not oflercd as original, 

 it had before been practiced, perhaps by nuiny, 

 and its cllects bad fallen short oftheir hopes; first, 

 by the imperioct method of too shallinv a farrow, 

 and too wide a f^licc, whereby the eggs were not 

 sufficiently exposed. Secondly, because the eggs 

 of all insects are, unloriunutely, so tenacious ofthe 



principle of vitality, as to resist a degree of cold 

 incredible to those who have not witnessed the 

 fact : yet having long practised the proposed pre- 

 ventive, I can say in the fullest truth, that when 

 the work was well executed, and a very mild 

 winter {.\'\(\ not ensue, I have received a full equiv- 

 alent for the labor. 



Finally, I must apologize for subjoining my 

 name contrary to the general custom, "1 per- 

 ceive," of your correspondents. May I presume 

 to ask what motive can occasion this custom 1 

 Certainly an ammymoiis statement of fads, or 

 even of opinions, carries with it less confidence 

 than one which ofii;rs the responsibility of a name ; 

 and with dinfinished confidence, the purpose is di- 

 minished in efl'ect. The name freely tendered, 

 "of a witness to facts," is a considerable assurance 

 of, at least, a belief oi their truth ; he may be de- 

 ceived, but it is justly said 'humanum est errare -^ 

 and ordinary liberality will not impute to him a 

 wanton misrepresentation of his impression of 

 facts. Modesty is commendable ; but in this cus- 

 tom, there is rather something of the ^^ mauvalse 

 hontc.''^ As well may a public speaker, or a wit- 

 ness in court, conceal his identity behind a cur- 

 tain. The cause, and the effect would seem to be 

 the same. Excuse these remarks and believe me, 

 Yours respectfully, 



JOSEPH E. MUSE. 



Cambridge, Md., Nov. 20, 1836. 



For the Farmers' Register- 



THE DIFFERENT ADVANTAGES OF LARGE 

 AND SMALI, FARMS CO^SIDERED ; AND THE 

 INJURIES CAUSED TO AGRICULTURE, AND 

 TO A NATION, BY FREQLENT AND INJUDI- 

 CIOUS CHANGES IN THE OUTLINES AND 

 LIflllTS OF FARMS. 



The statesman who plans and achieves an im- 

 portant change in any of the political institutions 

 of his country, is rarely able to foresee the effects 

 and extent of its future operation. However hurt- 

 ful may have been an old abuse, its removal has 

 probably introduced other unexpected evils, which 

 though of less magnitude, serve at least to detract 

 from the benefits of the change. This truism is 

 not a reason for opposing all proposed reforma- 

 tions — but it directs us to enter on even the most 

 plausible, with the utmost caution and circum- 

 spection — and to doubt the existence of alleged 

 universal and unmixed good efiects of any past 

 changes, until long experience shall have confirm- 

 ed the truth of such opinions. The institutions 

 which have long directed the accumulation and 

 distribution of property, are the most endangered 

 by the tampering of political reformers. It is iu 

 the regulation of property that errors are almost 

 impossible to correct, even when their disastrous 

 consequences have become apparent and certain. 



The manner in which land has been distributed 

 among the inhabitants of any country, and the de- 

 gree of permanency with which land-marks are 

 preserved, and existing possessions are held, pro- 

 duce all-important effects on the interests of agri- 

 culture, and on the prosperity of an iigricultural 

 nation. Yet this action has been scarcely noticed 

 by those who have either caused, or suliereil, the 

 most efiectual attacks on the interests ot agricul- 

 ture. Whenever the distribution of landed pro- 



