EXPERIENCE OF A PRACTICAL FARMER. 9 



stance. It is true there are many causes of discouragement to 

 the farmer, some of which are as yet, in the present stage of ag- 

 ricultural knowledge, entirely beyond control, while others, by 

 careful watchfulness, may be easily guarded against. 



The canker-worm, has already been spoken of, the borer and 

 caterpillar are the worst enemies of the orchard. The borer 

 can easily be found by his chips, and probed to death with a 

 wire, or limber twig peeled and pointed. The caterpillar's nests 

 are readily seen when the trees first put out their leaves ; the 

 nests at that time are small, and a whole colony can be destroyed 

 by a single pinch with the thumb and finger, provided you call 

 upon them at proper hours. Until eight o'clock in the morn- 

 ing, and from twelve to two in the afternoon they are all at 

 home ; other parts of every pleasant day they are out foraging, 

 and no man has any excuse for allowing his trees to be eaten by 

 them. The small black fly is very destructive to young cabbage 

 and cucumber plants, frequently destroying the whole crop in a 

 single day. Air-slacked lime or ashes sifted on, are perfect reme- 

 dies. The striped squash bug and a maggot are very destructive 

 to the squash crop : air-slacked lime or ground plaster is easily 

 applied, inexpensive, and an entire protection against the bug. 

 By planting five seeds in a hill, there will usually be plants 

 enough for the maggot, and two or three plants, besides, to 

 grow, which are sufficient. To insure the seeds coming up 

 readily, they should be stuck in the prepared hill, one inch deep, 

 with the pointed end down ; this will save them two days of se- 

 vere labor in turning over to come up ; a labor which in some 

 cases is so difficult as to prevent their coming up at all. 



Then we have the onion maggot, an enemy more difficult to 

 deal with, very destructive to the crop in most parts of the coun- 

 try ; whole fields are frequently swept away by this pest, and the 

 farmer's hopes with them. By closely watching their habits, it 

 will be found that the onion maggots are the offspring of a small 

 brown fly, that, when startled, will fly about six feet and alight. 

 This fly deposits, either upon the young onion or upon a small 

 lump of earth, from six to twenty eggs, which, within a few days 

 hatch ; the very small maggots then appear and immediately go 

 down the young plant to the bottom where the roots branch off 

 from its centre. Here the worm makes an easy entrance to the 

 very heart of the onion, followed by others of different ages, until 



