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NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



OCT. 14, 183S 



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BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, OCT. 14. 1835. 



A Xeiv Jlltthod of Propagatiitg the Chinese SIul- 

 bti-ry. 



Capt. Chandler, SiiperitUcndent of tlie Farm School 

 on Thompson's Island, has a mode of propagating tlie 

 thrub above named, which we think ingenious, and de- 

 serving of imitation. He takes plants from the nursery, 

 with as much of the root as is practicable, and makes a 

 ligature just below each bud or shoot, by twisting a very 

 fine wire round the stock. He then sf.s the root end in 

 a trench or furrow, and cjiuses the plant to incline so as 

 to form an angle with the horizon of about 45". The 

 ligatures impede the descent of the sap from the leaves 

 to the original roots, and new roots are protruded just 

 above each ligature ; so ihat the next season, besides the 

 original roots, there will be as many rooted cuttings as 

 there are buds or ligatures. 



Proper Soil for Mnlberry Plantations. 



Mulberry trees not only thrive best in a light loamy 

 soil, but require a porous sub-soil, which will permit their 

 roots to descend without impediment. In a late visit 

 which we made with a friend to the F;irni School, Capt. 

 Chandler showed ns some mulberry trees which appear- 

 ed rusly and mildewed, growing on an apparently rich 

 loamy soil, but a clay sub-soil He also pointed out an- 

 other parcel of mulberry trees, growing on a soil similar 

 to that first mentioned in its upper stratum, but a sandy 

 Bub-soil, which were flouiishing, the shoots vigorous, and 

 the leaves a bright green, witlmut spot or the least ap- 

 pearance of disease. 



Wheat Insect, or Grain Fly. 

 We have repeatedly publislied notices of an insect, 

 which, within a few years, has made its first appearance 

 in our fields of wheat, and proved very destructive to 

 that prime product of culture. The subject has been re- 

 called to our attention by an able article in the New York 

 Farmer of the present month, headed " Most Important 

 Agricultural Intelligence, by Henry Colman." Mr Col- 

 man's observations are as follows ; — 



" The grain fly, or insect, which, for a fevt years past, 

 has been so destructive to wheat in many parts of the 

 country, has this year extended his ravages, and excited, 

 wherever he has made his appearance, very serious 

 alarm. An eminent farmer in the atnte of New York, 

 wrote to me a year since, that he must give up the cul- 

 tivation of wheat, as his crops were so mucli injured that 

 lie hardly obtained a return equal to the seed sown. I 

 knew another instance in the same state, where, though 

 the straw was large and the appearance promising, yet 

 from thirty bushels town not more than seven were ob- 

 tained. I have known other ca.ses in which the whole 

 field has been mowed and sold for litter ; and in a recent 

 excursion up the valley of the Connecticut, I have heard 

 complaints every where and seen hundreds of acres so 

 destroyed that the grain they would yield would hardly 

 pay for the reaping. Besides this, the same insect has 

 destroyed many fields ftf rye in the same manner as the 

 w hea', and has been found this year in the oats ; the pro- 

 gress of the insect has been about forty miles a year ; 

 and a distinguished gentleman in Vermont, a practical 

 and extensive farmer, remarked that he feared they would 

 on this account be obliged to relinquish the cultivation 

 of small giains. 



" The habits of the insect have not yet been accurate- 

 ly observed. I myself have not seen the fly, but have 

 seen the worms in the kernel after the grain has been 

 destroyed. He is represented as being a small reddish 



fly, which is seen hovering over the wheat fields in im- 

 mense numbers, while just in flower, and has been ob- 

 served to alight on the kernel. I purposely avoid the 

 use of all scientific terms, wishing to be understood 

 by common farmers. From this egg the worm is gener- 

 ated, which entirely consumes the grain while in the 

 milk, leaving nothing but the husk, in which are found 

 several yellow worms, about an eighth of an inch in 

 length. As the work of destruction is now completed, 

 any further observation of his habits are o( no importance, 

 unless we can some way reach so as to destroy the germ 

 of the future insect. No preparation of the seed or ground, 

 however, has as yet been found effectual to this end. 



" The continuance of the fly upon the grain is thought 

 not to exceed three or four days, and they are seen in 

 greatest numbers just at night. Some farmers have 

 found late sowing a partial security, as the season for the 

 flies has passed away before the wheat was in condition 

 for their attack. Spring wheat, sown as late as the 20th 

 and 2Sth of May has in a great measure escaped, while 

 some sown as late as the 7th and 8th of June has been 

 untouched, though in cases of such very late sowing, the 

 farmer will be fi>rtunate, if, in attempting to escape the 

 fly, he does not get nipt by the frost. 



" I have now, however, the extraordinary happiness of 

 announcing to the agricultural public, what there is rea. 

 son to believe will prove, an effectual, as it is a reasona- 

 ble and feasible preventative. Should it prove effectual 

 the remedy will be worth millions of dollars to the coun- 

 try. It was communicated to me on a late tour of agri- 

 cultural inquiry and observation by Dr Eliphalet Lyman, 

 of Lancaster, N. H., an intelligent and practical farmer, 

 whose crop of wheat usually averages from twenty-five 

 to thirty bushels per acre. It consists in the application 

 of line slacked lime to the wheat, just at the time of its 

 heading out and flowering, at the rate of about a peck to 

 the acre. It is sown broad cast upon the wheat while 

 the dew is on, and the field is rendered white with it. 

 The best mode of applying it is with the hand, and for 

 the person who sows it to walk backwards, so that he 

 may not cover himself with the lime. It must be sown 

 while the wheat is wet or the dew is on, and the philoso- 

 phy of its application is very simple. The maggot of the 

 fly is deposited between the grain and the stalk. It is, 

 of course, an animal subs'.ance. The lime or alkali mix- 

 ing with the dew, is carried down upon it, and neutral- 

 izis or destroys it. Dr Lyman has now tried this pre- 

 ventative three successive years, and has invariably, as 

 he assured me, saved his crops, while those of his neigh- 

 bors have been destroyed. 



" I visited at the same time the field of a Mr Bellows, 

 in the same town, wh" had been advised by Dr Lyman 

 to make this application. The field consisted of several 

 acres. He did it, and it has proved successful, and what 

 is strongly confirmatory of the value of this remedy is the 

 fact that a field of rye belonging to Mr Bellows, adjoin- 

 ing his wheat, and I think within the same inclosure, 

 which was not limed, has been nearly destroyed by the 

 fly. 



" These tire certainly very important experiments, and 

 I make no delay in presenting them to the public. Dr 

 Lyman has promised me a more particular account of the 

 experiment and result, and likewise Mr Bellows, which 

 as soon as received I shall be happy to communicate. I 

 have received an indirect and indefinite communication, 

 that the same experiment has been successfully made in 

 Gilmanton, N. H. but I have not yet been able to obtain 

 either the name or the details." 



In the N. E. Farmer for Aug. C, 18.30, vol. ix. p. 21, is 

 an article from the Vermont Chronicle, staling that a 

 field of Spring Wheat, belonging to the Him. J. H, Hub- 



bard of Windsor, was infested by this insect, and propo- 

 sing some queries relative to its nature, origin, remedies 

 against, &c. In the same volume, p. 42, are notices of 

 the ravages of the same insect in Haverhill, N. H. and 

 Montpelier, Vl. In vol. xi, p. 341, is an article from the 

 Vermont Chronicle, stating in substance that early sow- 

 ing of spring wheat, and late sowing of winter wheat, 

 were effectual in preserving against this insect. " We 

 have, then, only to ascertain the time as exactly as we 

 can, in which the injury is done, and have our winter 

 wheat loo forward, and spring wheal not forward enough, 

 for the operations of the insect, and the damage is avoid- 

 ed. At present, sow your winter wheat as early as you 

 can, and sow your spring wheat as late as you can, and 

 give It time to ripen." 



In the New England Farmer, vol. xiii, page 76, is an 

 article on the " Wheat insect," republished in the Al- 

 bany Cultivator, in which the following passage occurs: 

 " It has been generally believed that the maggots have 

 proceeded from a fly, which deposits its eggs, while the 

 wheat is in blossom or soon after. It has also been re- 

 iTiarked that the fly ^is seen but a few days, and that if 

 during its presence the wheat ear has either not hurst in 

 the .dieath, or is far advanced towards maturity, no evil 

 is experienced from the insect. In some instances late 

 sown grain has escaped most, and in other cases it has 

 suffered most. No general lules upon that point can be 

 laid down, nor has any preventative of the evil been 

 published among us. The most plausible recommenda- 

 tion that we have heard mentioned, is to strew fresh 

 slaked lime over the field soon after the grain is out of 

 blossom. This is recommended to be done early in the 

 morning while the dew is upon the grain. At this time 

 maggots are small and tender, and the causticity of the 

 lime brought in contact with them by the dew, it is 

 thought will destroy tliem. If the field is laid in ridges 

 or narrow lanes, the lime may be thrown from the mid- 

 dle or water furrows, without prejudice to the grain. 

 Though this is mere theory, we think it worth a trial, 

 and beg to be apprized of the result of any trial that 

 may be made upon this suggestion, be it favorable or 

 otherwise. 



According to the same article there is a description 

 supposed to be that of this destructive insect, in the 

 Penny Magazine, by F. Bauer. In this the insects are 

 called grain worms, (vibrio tritici). " The disease is 

 known in England under the different names of ear 

 cockle, brown, purple, and burnt corn," &c. The appli- 

 cation of lime, however, as a remedy is not mentioned 

 by Bauer, and the first intimation of its utility which we 

 recollect to have seen is contained in the passage above 

 quoted from the Albany Cultivator. 



Apology. 



Our Horticultural friends, we hope, will excuse us for 

 not publishing in due season, notices of those floral and 

 other exhibitions, which in the hurry of avocations as 

 numerous as those of Caleb Quotem, and perplexing as 

 the riddle of Sphinx, we do not always give that early 

 insertion and due display which it is our ambition to 

 afford. We particularly regret our not having been able 

 to give the contents of a packet received from iVlr Win- 

 ship, together with a letter, dated 28lh Sept. This, by 

 mistake, or omission of somebody, did not come into our 

 possession till the 9lh inst. It shall appear in our next. 



ofiliei 



Another Apology. 



We received, sometime since, two splendid specimens 

 of Silk, reeled and manufactured by Mr Rotch, and sent 

 to us by Mr Rodman, N. Bedford, These were purloined 

 or at least taken from our office by some person of more 

 taste than honesty. We should much rather have lost 



