NEW EJVGL.AND FAKMElft, 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUBLISHED BY GEORGE C. BARRETT, NO. 52, NORTH MARKET STREET, (Agricultural Warehouse.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 6, 1836. 



NO. 52. 



^<S3i2<§^a??Wm4£i.It! 



THE AVHEAT WORM. 



Jksse Bur.L. — llavinjr seen a call in one of 

 the numbers of tliy useliil i)aper, the Cultivator, 

 for information in relation to the weavel, or wheat 

 insect, I send thee the result of my observations 

 and discoveries, >vhii;h if not fully satisfactory to 

 thy readers, I ho| c it will induce some of them to 

 pursue my investigation, and if the farmers gener- 

 ally arrive at the same conclusion as myself, I 

 think the time not far distant, when they will 

 totally destroy the race of this destructive little 

 foe. 



In the first i)lai-e, I have found that the insect 

 that attacks the wheat is a siTinll sunfF-brown fly, 

 which deposits its eggs in the hull of the wheat, 

 when it is in the blow, the hull at the time being 

 open. The eggs produce from three to fifteen lit- 

 tle maggots to each deposite, and by the time the 

 kernel gets to its milky state, they are sufficiently 

 matured to convert it to their food. And as the 

 wheat becomes hard, they are so advanced in the 

 stage of their existence, as to prepare for their 

 next and more eli'vatL'd state of life, in the form of 

 the fly. To effect this they form to themselves a 

 covering or incrustation, which 1 shall compare 

 to that of the cocoon of the silk worm, in which 

 they arc protected for a next year's developement. 

 And in this dormant state they still remain in the 

 hull of the wheat, to be brought forth by the re- 

 animating heat of spring, in the most perfect form 

 of this insect life, the sjnall snufF-hrovvn fly; but 

 like all other insects can be brought to active life 

 by a proper heat. I have carefully watched the 

 wheat from the time of heating to maturity, and 

 have discovered the fly in numerous instances, 

 pushed into the hull of the wheat, while in the 

 blow, and on examining, could discover the small 

 egg, or deposit, which produces the little maggot, 

 which we term the weavel. It is but a short time 

 they remain in the active maggot form, but the 

 precise time 1 cannot say, but probably about as 

 long as the wheat remains in the milky state. A 

 few years past, at the time of harvesting my wheat, 

 the season of harvesting was very rainy, and I put 

 my wheat into the barn very damp, which caused 

 it to heat in the mow. Jn the course of the fall I 

 had occasion to go to the upper part of the barn 

 and I found the inside of the roof literally cover- 

 ed with the same little fly, which had been pre- 

 maturely hatched by the heat of the mow. I 

 threshed the wheat by a machine, and on cleaning, 

 got several quarts of the cocoons of this weavel, 

 probably half which were hollow, and the whole 

 plain to be seen where the fly escaped. The oth- 

 ers were sound, and contained the insect in the 

 same state of life as when it encased itself to be 

 incubated by the heat of the next season. And 

 this perfectly accounted for the innumerable 

 swarm of flies which were in the roof of the 

 barn. 



In the spring following, or near the first of June, 



I was in my barn yard, where 1 had thrown out 

 the straw of my wheat, and I found the heaps 

 covered with the same kind of fly as was in the 

 roof of the barn the fall before. And I have no 

 doubt these flies were produced from the cocoon 

 of the weavel, and like other flies, live on putrify- 

 ing and decaying substances ; the manure of the 

 yard aliordiiig them ample subsistence, as they at 

 first cannot fly — neither could those in the roof 

 of the barn. 



Now 1 conclude that these flies are all hatched 

 out about the same time, and at the usual season 

 that wheat is in the blow, is the exact time when 

 these flies by the law of their nature, deposit their 

 eggs for the continuance of their species. And 

 this accounts for the fact, that very late sown 

 wheat, and some pieces of very early wheat, escape 

 the time of their deposit. In proof of the forego- 

 ing, I will mention a corroborating circumstance, 

 which happened to a friend of mine, the same sea- 

 son 1 have been mentioning. — He went east to 

 sell the right of a threshing machine. When in 

 Orange county, in Vermont, wishing to show the 

 powers of his machine, requested the privilege of 

 threshing. A man, whose nanje I have now for- 

 gotten, told him that he had a quantity of wheat 

 which was very much de.stroyed by the weavel 

 and mow heat, which he might thresh in welcome. 

 Soon after he commenced threshing, he found 

 himself and machine covered with an immens 

 quantity of small flies, which could not fly, which 

 no douI)t were the production of the weavel, and 

 hatched in the fall by the heat of the mow. The 

 next parcel which he threshed, in the same neigh- 

 borhood, and put up in good condition, produced 

 no flies. 1 am particular in mentioning this fact, 

 to show that the weavel is contained in the dor- 

 mant statc^ in the wheat, straw and chafl^, and 

 hatched iu the spring following, from manure, 

 liarn litter, and heaps of. strs'.v ; aivi is pvnbnhly 

 in the vigor of its life at the time wheat is in the 

 blow, and atthat tiine deposite its eggs to be hatch- 

 ed the next season ; and that wheat in the soft 

 state, is the ojily article proper for nourishing their 

 young while in the maggot fortu, and affording 

 them safe keeping through the winter. 



Now should these become established facts, it is 

 plain to be seen that the united exertions of the 

 farmers can, in two or three years, totally destroy 

 their race. 



The manner of destroying which I propose, is 

 to thresh the wheat in the fields, which may easily 

 be done by threshing machines, and burn all the 

 straw and chaff in the fields, and burn over his 

 stubble ground. Let this be practised by every 

 person who raises wheat, and in two years, I am 

 bold to say, we shall not be troubled with the 

 weavel. The wheat should be floured in the win- 

 ter, and such as is kept for seed should he sub- 

 jected to some process to destroy what few insects 

 might be lodged among it. But the farmers may 

 rest assured, that the great evil of the insect is not 

 in the seed wheat, but in the straw and chafl^. 



From thy friend. HENRY GREKN. ' 



GYPSUM OR PX.ASTER OF PARIS. 



When i)ure it does not effervesce with acids; 

 it is insipid in taste and free from smell ; hut there 

 are other sorts which vary in purity, and hence 

 the analysis of many chemists differ in their ac- 

 counts of iis properties. There is, however, a 

 simple mode of trying its quality, which consists 

 in ))utting a quamity of it, pulverised into a dry 

 pot over the fire ; and when heated it gives out a 

 sulphureous smell. If the ebullition, or bubbling 

 which then takes place is considerable, the plaster 

 is good ; but if not, it is considered indifferent: 

 and if it remains motionless, like sand, it is thought 

 to be worth hardly any thing. Another test of its 

 goodness is obtained by putting the powder alone 

 into an iron pot over the fire, an<l when it bubbles, 

 like boiling water, it will admit of a straw being 

 thrust to the bottom without resistance. It is 

 stated by Mr Smith of Tunstall, that having a field 

 of red clover which had been manured with gyp- 

 sum, and had produced a fine crop, he carefully 

 re|ieated the trial on two square perches — one 

 with powdered gypsum, the other without any : 

 the result of which experiment on the crops, when 

 mown for hay and afterwards cut for seed, was as 

 follows : — 



Hay crop. Seed. Straw. 



(Jypsum 60 cwt. 3 qrs. 21 lbs. 22 cwt, qrs. 12 lbs. 

 No inanure 20 cwt. qrs. 20 !bs. 5 cwt. qrs. lbs. 



He says cattle show a marked predilection for 

 clover which has been gypsumed, that, after once 

 having if, they have been observed to walk delib- 

 erately to it the wliole length of a field without 

 tastiug a part that was grown without it, though a 

 tolerably good crop; and in his opinion it not on- 

 ly increases the vigorand the verdure of the plant, 

 but also perceptibly increases the richness of its 

 juices. 



The soils to which it is most congenial, are the 

 :'-g!.t, d:y, .'-p.-.j'.y, ir.i rr"avelly, to heavy hy.\\v.!>, 

 strong clays, and to wet land it seems to yield no 

 benefjl uidess the former hajipens to have beeu 

 well limed.. 



The crops to which it is most appropriate, are 

 the artificial grasses, though it has been also known 

 materially to imjirove the sward of moss bound 

 pasture. In never appears to produce better ef- 

 fects than when it has been laid on red clover, 

 already so far grown as that the leaves nearly cov- 

 er the soil ; for there seems no doubt, that it acts 

 with the greatest force when it adheres to them, 

 and the longer it remains upon them the better. 

 It should therefore beapplied as atop dressing. In 

 order to spread it, with the intention of covering 

 the leaves, a calm day should be chosen ; and it 

 should be spread in by hand, or rather through a 

 sieve, either early in the morning in which the 

 dew has fallen heavily, or late at night, or after a 

 gentle shower, that thus the moisture may occa- 

 sion it to stick to them. 



With respect to the permanency of gypsum as 

 a manure for artificial grasses, it has been stat- 

 ed in those cases in which its beneficial effects 

 have been proved, that sainfoin dressed with it 



