452 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



was mostly South West, but very light ; but in 

 the afternoon it was variable, blowing moderately 

 from every point of the compass ; generally, from 

 the nearest thunder cloud. On the 17th, at 1 P. 

 M., the thermometer stood at 64"^, which is 35 de- 

 grees cooler than for four days previous. 



The quantity of rain which has thus far fallen 



notice the same appearance of dying in some pieces 

 in the neighborhood. Our winter wheat was very 

 nice with the exception of being winter killed con- 

 siderably. 



Corn looks well so f\ir. Potatoes also are doing 

 well. Most of the swallows left early in this 

 month, but some are not gone yet, owing to their 



Remarks. — The article, a few weeks since, on 

 the Palmer worm, signed "Isaac Stevens," and 

 dated "Mansfield," should have been signed, 

 "Isaac Stearns." We are sorry thus to rob our 

 obliging correspondent of his well-merited honors. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 WHAT KILLS THE WHEAT. 



Mr. Brown : — I claim no place in the catalogue 

 of correspondents of that most welcome weekly 

 visitor, the New England Farmer, but will simply 

 relate a fact, that, from my short opportunity, I 

 have not been able to satisfy myself fully as to the 

 cause. 



Before our spring wheat was quite full in the 

 milk, it began to die on one corner of the piece ; 

 and, as I was passing it, 1 concluded the cause 

 was white worms eating the roots, as they not un- 

 frequently do the herd grass. Some six days 

 after our visiting it, I found it had died in far 

 enough and along the edge to make several square 

 rods, and another piece cornering near the first 

 was sharing the same fate ; for, for a distance of 

 say ten rods along the edge, it was completely 

 dead, extending in some two rods. Onexaminino-, 

 I could find no worms as I expected ; but soon dis- 

 covered small _ bugs on the ground and on the 

 wheat straw in great abundance ; their largest 

 size was that of a pinched kernel of wheat, or about 

 half that of a full kernel. The small ones were 

 black, but as they grow larger their wings turn a 

 sort of drab color. 



I am not al:)le to point out their work, except 

 that in the morning they were seen in abundance 

 on the straw and heads of the grain, closely packed 

 round a joint in the straw, or where the leaf 

 spreads off from the straw, and on the head. AVhen 

 the straw first died, it was as white as ever I saw 

 any unbleached straw until it turned dark by dew 

 and rain— the grain shriveling much more than if 

 it had been cut in the same unripe state. I let it 

 stand till some half acre was spoilt, and then cut 

 it. Every one here that I have talked with, ap- 

 pears an entire stranger both to the dying of the 

 wheat_ and to the bugs I have described. In 

 watching their movements the other day, I found 

 them dead in bunches on the ground, so that I 

 might easily have filled a table spoon in a place. I 



brood, I suppose. 



Sandwich, 8 Mo. 17, 1853. 



D. Fry. 



this month, amounts to G 1-2 inches nearly, on a young ones not having come to maturity — second 

 level; so that the land is plentifully wet, and ' ' ~ " 



grass land looks remarkably green and luxuriant ; 

 but the extreme heat after plenty of rain has caused 

 the blight to fall upon potato vines, so that a rot- 

 ten crop is anticipated. I find that my black po- 

 tato vines show not the least sign of blight, but 

 are perfectly green and in growing order. Corn 

 looks remarkably well. The stalks have grown 

 larger and higher than usual, and there is a pros- 

 pect of a good crop. 



Yours, &c., Isaac Stearns. 



Mansfield, Aug. 20th, 1853. 



WHAT CHEMISTRY MAY DO FOR 

 AGRICULTURE. 



We have spoken in high terms of Professor 



Johnston's forthcoming work on the " Elements 

 of Agricultural Chemistry,'' and have laid before 

 the reader some extracts from it. We now give 

 the leading chapter, and believe that the general 

 reader will find it so plain, interesting and instruct- 

 ive, as to desire to read the whole work. 



" The object of the practical farmer is to raise 

 from a given extent of land the largest quantity 

 of the most valuable produce at the least cost, in 

 the shortest period of time, and with the least 

 permanent injury to the soil. Chemistry, Geology, 

 and Chemical Physiology throw light on every step 

 he takes, or ought to take, in order to effect this 

 main object. 



SECTION I. — WHAT CHEMISTY, GEOLOGY, AND CHEMICAL 

 PHYSIOLOGY MAY HOPE TO DO FOR AGRICULTURE. 



But there are certain definite objects which, in 

 their connection with agrigulture, these sciences 

 hope to attain. Thus, without distinguishing the 

 special province of each , they propose generally : — 



1. To collect, to investigate, and, if possible, to 

 explain all known fiicts in practical husbandry. — 

 This is the first duty — a laborious, difficult, but 

 important one. Many things which are received 

 as facts in agriculture, prove to be more or less 

 untrue when investigated and tested by experi- 

 ment. Many ascertained facts appear inexplicable 

 to the uninstructed — many even opposite and con- 

 tradictory, which known principles clear up and 

 reconcile — yet there are many more which only 

 prolonged research can enable us to explain I 



2. From observations and experiments made in 

 the field or in the laboratory, to deduce principles 

 which may be more or less applicable in all circum- 

 stances. Such principles will explain useful prac- 

 tices, and confirm their propriety. They will also 

 account for contradictory results, and will point 

 out the circumstances under which this or that 

 practice may most prudently and economically be 

 adopted. 



Armed with the knowledge of such principles, 

 the instructed farmer will go into his fields as the 

 physician goes to the bedside of his patient, — pre- 

 pared to understand symptoms and appearances 

 he has never before seen, and to adapt his practice 

 to circumstances which have never before fallen 

 under his observation. 



To deduce principles from collections of facts is 

 attended with much difficulty in all departments 

 of knowledge. In agriculture, it is at present an 

 unusually difficult task. Observations and experi- 

 ments in the field have hitherto been generally 

 made with too little care, or recorded with too 

 little accuracy, to justify the scientific man in con- 



