3-24 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



THE ARMY OF WORMS. 



In the summer of 1770 this whohi section of 

 country was visited by an extraordinary caLimity, 

 .such an one as this country never exiierienecd ))e- 

 fore or since, beyond what I shall hero specify. 

 It was an army of Avorms, which extended from 

 Lancaster, N.H., to Xorthfield, Mass. They began 

 to appear the latter part of July, 1770, and con- 

 tinued their ravages until Septeniljer. The in- 

 habitants denominated them the "Northern Ar- 

 my," as they seemed to advance from the north 

 or northwest, and to pass east and south, althougli 

 I did not learn that they ever passed the hit^h 



This visitation, which destroyed the principal 

 grains for that year, was felt severely by all the 

 settlements; for it not only cutoff their bread- 

 stuffs, but deprived them of the means of making 

 their pork to a great degree, and reduced the quan- 

 tity of fodder for their cattle. The settlements at 

 Haverliill and Newbury did not feel this calamity 

 quite so much as those infant settlements in the 

 towns nortl\and south of them. They had been 

 longer in their settlements, had some old stock of 

 provisions .on hand, and had the means to procure 

 supplies from Charlestown, or by the way of 

 Charlestown. Jonathan Tyler, of Piermont, re- 



land between the Connecticut and Merrimack riv-|liit«l tome that that settlements in that town 

 crs. They were altogether innumerable for mul- i^'cre left without means of subsistence from their 

 titnde. Dr. Burton, of Thetford, Yt., told me he jo^^n farms. His ftither drew hay on a hand-sled 

 had seen whole pastures so covered that he could] "?*->» t'^^ ice from the great Ox-bow in Newbury 

 not put his finger doAvn upon a single spot with- ' to support his cow the following winter. And had 

 out placing it upon a worm. lie said he had jit not been for two sources opened for their sup- 

 seen more than ten bushels in a heap. They were;l"'i"t, they must have deserted 



unlike anything the present generation had ever 

 seen. There was a stripe upon their backs like 

 black velvet ; on either side a yellow stripe from 

 end to end ; and the rest of the Ijody was brown. 

 They were sometimes seen not larger than a pin : 

 but in their maturity they were as long as a man's 

 linger, and,i»oportion ably large in circumference. 

 They appeared to be in great haste, except when 

 they halted to procure food. They filled the hous- 

 es of the inhabitants and entered their kueading- 

 troughs, as did the frogs of Egypt. They would 

 go up the sides of the house, and cover it in such 

 a compact column that notliing of the boards or 

 shingles could be seen! They did not take hold 

 of the pumpkin vine, peas, potatoes or flax; but 

 wheat and corn disappeared before as by magic. 

 They would climb up the stalks of wheat, cut off 

 the stalks just before the head, and almost as soon 

 as the head had fallen to the ground it was de- 

 voured. To prevent this the men would "draw 

 the rope,'' as they termed it; that, is two men 

 would take a rope, and pulling from each other 

 until it was nearly straightened, they would then 

 pass through their wheat fields, brush off the 

 worms from the stalks, and by perpetual action 

 they retarded the destruction of their wheat ; but 

 it was doomed finally to extinction. 



There were fields of corn on the meadows in 

 Ilaverliill and Newbury standing so thick, large 

 and tall, that in some instances it was difficult to 

 see a man standing more than one rod in the field 

 from the outermost row But in ten days from 

 the first appearing of the "Northern Army," 

 notliing remained of this corn but the bare stalks ! 

 Every expedient was resorted to by the inhabi- 

 tants to protect their fields of corn, but all in 

 vain. Tliey dug trenches around their fields a 

 foot and a half deep, hoping this might prove a 

 defence ; but the ditches were soon filled, and the 

 millions that were in their rear went over on the 

 backs of their fellows in the trench, and took pos- 

 session of the interdicted food. 



About the first of September, the worm sudden- 

 ly disappeared ; and where they terminated their 

 earthly career is unknown, for not the carcass of 

 a worm was seen. In just eleven years afterward, 

 in 1781, the same kind of worm made its appear- 

 ance again, and the fears of the people were much 



the town. One 

 was tlie extraordinary crop of pumpkins in Hav- 

 erhill and Newbury. The corn being cut off' and 

 the pumpkins remaining untouched by the North- 

 ern Army, they grew astonishingly and seemed 

 to cover the whole' ground where the corn had 

 stood, and the yield was great. The people of 

 Haverhill and Newbury gave the settlers of Pier- 

 mont -the privilege of carrying away gratis as 

 many pumpkins as they would. They went up, 

 made a kind of I'aft, and transported them by wa- 

 ter to Piermont. The raft was simplyan inclosed 

 space made by four timbers within which the 

 pumpkins floated on the water. It was towed by 

 men in a skiff. 



Another source of support was open to them in 

 the immense number of pigeons which Providence 

 sent them immediately on the disappearance of 

 the Norihern Army. Nothing could equal their 

 number, unless it was the worms that had preced- 

 ed them. The Tylers of Piermont, Daniel, David 

 and Jonathan, commenced taking pigeons on the 

 meadow west of Haverhill Corner, and in the 

 space of ten days they had taken more than four 

 hundred dozen ! They carried them to Piermont, 

 and made "a bee" for picking pigeons ; and tvro 

 or three times a week the people of Haverhill were 

 invited down to Mr. Tyler's to pick pigeons. — 

 Tlioso who wont had the bodies of all they picked, 

 the Tylers having the feathers ; and they made, 

 says Jonathan Tyler, "four decent beds of those 

 feathers." The bodies of these pigeons, when 

 dressed, dried and preserved for the winter, were 

 very palatal^lc and nutritious, and proved a good 

 substitute for other meats. — Power's History of 

 Coos. 



A HORSE'S FOOT. 



The foot of a horse is one of the most ingenious 

 and singular pieces of mechanism in the animal 

 structure, and scarcely yielding to any in regular- 

 ity, and in complexity of parts, and simplicity of 

 iirn. The hoof contains series of vertical and 



tluii 



m lamina^ of horn, so numerous as to amount 

 to about 500, and forming a complete lining to it. 

 Into this arc fitted as many laminae belonging to 

 the coffin bone ; which sets are elastic and adhe- 

 rent. The edge of a quire of paper, inserted 

 leaf by leaf into another, will convey a suflacient 

 excited; but they were comparatively few in num-lidea of this arrangement. Thus the weight of 

 ber, and no one of the kind has ever been seen the animal is supported by as many elastic springs 

 since. las there arclaminte in all the feet, amounting to 



