SIO 



FARMERS' REGISTER— WHEAT INSECTS— SCOTCH FARMING. 



THE WIIKAT INSECT. 



From the Verinoiit Clironicle. 



The wheat crop in (his vicinity, and if report 

 speaks truly, t^-cncrally throuj:;li tlie vvliole country, 

 never gave greater promise of abundance, than it 

 has done this season, up to the time this insect com- 

 menced its' ravages. So far as examination and 

 inquiry have extended, (and we have taken consi- 

 derable pains to learn the extent of the injury done 

 by them to the crop,) very few tields have entirely 

 escaped the attacks of these insects. — Some fields 

 are supposed to be nearly destroyed; while others 

 are affected in a much slighter degree. So far as 

 we can ascertain, tlie latest sowed wlieat is much 

 less infested by them, than tliat wliich.was earlier 

 sowed. 



In some fields tliese insects are numerous almost 

 beyond the reach of the imagination. — From five 

 to seven are found in the husk of a single grain and 

 in almost every husk in the ear. This insect is 

 not, as has been described by some, a maggot in 

 the kernel of the grain, and confined to if; but, 

 moves about at pleasure, within the husk of the 

 kernel ; and after a shower of rain, tliey have been 

 seen in such countless numbers on the beards of 

 the wheat, as to give the whole field the color of 

 the insect. 



The insect is of a sulphur color, and one-tenth 

 of an inch in length ; ^id through a magnifying 

 glass its skin appears hard and polished, Tike thai 

 of the wire worm. It is beyond a doubt, a very 

 different insect from the one denominated the 

 weevil. 



It is probably the same species of insect, which 

 is described l)y Mr. Gorrie in the Quarterlv Jour- 

 nal of Agriculture. He says " in May or June, as 

 soon as the temperature rises to 57 or 58 deg., for 

 a week or ten days, the flies begin to appear. If 

 this happens in May, the flies deposit their eggs 

 before the ears of the wheat appear, and are then 

 comparatively harmless; but if the ear wliich they 

 make their nidus, has burst the sheath before this 

 period, they fix themselves on the glume, and de- 

 posit clusters of eggs on the stigma. In nine days 

 after the eggs are deposited, the caterpillars appear 

 fully formed, of a sulphur color, and devour the 

 embryo grain. After the ear is fully developed 

 and about an inch above the sheath, the fly never 

 attempts to deposit its eggs upon it. In three 

 weeks, from the time the eggs are deposited, the 

 maggots disapi)ear from the grain, and burrow in 

 the ground. The damage done by these insects in 

 three years, in the Braes and Carse of Gowrie, was 

 estimated at 400,000 dollars. No remedy has 

 been found for the evil." If the fly, which Gorrie 

 describes, be the same species of insect with those 

 which are now ravaging our fields of wheat, as it 

 certainly appears to be," from its similarity of ha- 

 bits, there is great reason to hope, that late sowing 

 will prove a remedy. 



One important fact which goes to sustain this 

 belief is, that several fields of late sowed wheat on 

 examination appeared to be very little damaged. 

 Another, equally important, is, that the latest sow- 

 ed field of wheat which we examined, and which 

 appeared almost, if not altogether untouched, by 

 this insect, had a sprinkling of rye among it; and 

 this rye, though not the natural or chosen nidus of 

 the insect, was swarming with them. This is to 

 be accounted for, from the fact, that when wheat 



and rye are sown together, at the same time, the 

 ears of the rye Inirst the sheath, from ten days, to 

 a fortnight sooner than the wheat. There were 

 probably none of the maggots on the wheat of this 

 iield, except what were produced from the eggs 

 originally deposited on the ears of* rye, and which 

 might have escaped thence to the ears of wheat on 

 their aj)j)earing above the sheath. The most mi- 

 nute observation, Isowever, of the habits of these 

 insects, can alone settle these questions. There 

 can be little doul)t, Ijut that a proper knowledge of 

 their habits, instincts, and time of depositing their 

 eggs might enable the fiirmer greatly to lessen, if 

 not entirely to prevent their ravages. 



At our suggestion, a number of farmers in 

 Orange County saved their Spring wheat from the 

 worms last year, by late sowing. Winter wheat 

 cannot escape, except by being too early for the 

 v/orm, and therefore all possible pains should be 

 used to bring \i forward. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY LAND. 



Late sales indicate a just estimate of the value 

 of cur lands. The Keys' Ferry tract, on the She- 

 nandoah, lately sold lor ^64 per acre, at auction ; 

 a beautiful farm of 200 acres, Avith good improve- 

 ments, a mile and a half south ^of Charlestown, 

 was lately disposed of, at private sale, for ^60 per 

 acre; a tract of 225 acres, within a halfmileof the 

 Shenandoah, but with scarcely any improvements, 

 brought, at auction, ^^45 per acre; and another, of 

 nearly 200 acres, two miles north-west of town, 

 Avith ordinary buildings, was knocked off on Mon- 

 day last, at i5i43 70, cash. These sales prove, ei- 

 ther that there is an intrinsic value in our soil, 

 which our farmers, know well how to appreciate, 

 or that the great public works in our vicinity have 

 something to do with the matter. Our readers 

 will perceive lliat there is still some land in mar- 

 ket. A man, with a Jefferson farm, clear of debt, 

 and with a clear conscience, need ask or desire no 

 better "home" this side of Jordan's bright fields. 



\_Free Press. 



SCOTCH FARMING. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 



The out-lay in Scotch Farming, or expense of 

 improvement, may be judged of from the follow- 

 ing taken from the Farm Reports, published by 

 the society for the diffusion of useful knowledge, 

 and which is given as the actual expense incurred 

 upon a farm in Rosshire : 



Tiventy-one acre field. 



" Blasting large stones^ £ 75 00 00 



" Trenching 6^ acres £12 10 per acre 81 5 00 



" Lime, 3024 bushels, (144 bushels > o-j -.q qq 



yier acre,) at 6^d 3 



" Drains, ' 3 00 00 



" Inclosing with stone dyke, 52 7 00 



" Average per acre, £13 19s. 6d., £293 10 00" 

 The labor in carting lime, fallowing, &c. 

 would add £ 5 per acre to the above expense. — 

 This was the most expensive improvement. The 

 least expensive was £6 19s. 2d per acre, without 

 estimating team. The pound is ^4 44. 



B, 



