The Lancaster Farmer. 



Prof. S. S. UATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER, PA., NOVEMBER, 1878. 



Vol. Z. No. 11. 



AM APPEAL. 



It is with feelings of iiuqualilled regret, 

 mingled with much anxiety of mind, that the 

 publisher of The F.\miKR is compelled to 

 •again call the attention of its patrons to their 

 unpaid subscriptions and other pecuniary 

 obligations. We are largely indebted for 

 necessary material and labor, and we have no 

 other resource from which to obtain the 

 means to meet the demands against us save 

 from our subscribers and advertisers. The 

 amount due us from each is but small indeed, 

 and will fall lightly upon them, wliilst in the 

 aggregate it is large to us, and our failure to 

 realize it must overwhelm us in financial dis- 

 aster. For nearly two years we have been 

 thrusting our hands into our pockets and 

 deahng out all that came into them, in the 

 payment of bills involved in our publication, 

 and now we find them entirely exhausted and 

 large balances against us still unpaid and 

 due. We have been a very slave during the 

 last twenty months in the service of The 

 Farjiek, and if we obtained every penny 

 due us we would hardly realize the wages of 

 a common street scavenger above our una- 

 voidable expenses. 



When we assumed the responsibilities of 

 publicaiion we did so hopefully and with a 

 determination to do our best ; and we also 

 supposed we should at least be able to in- 

 demnify the editor (who has toiled so long 

 without remuneration,) for the i)aper, ink, 

 stamps, envelopes, and "midnight oil" ex- 

 hausted in his labors, but we have not done 

 anything of the kind for the want of means. 



Dear patrons, think of these things, and 

 remember the absolute necessities of the 



PlTliLISHEK. 



G-ALLEY-WORMS vs. WIRE-WORMS. 



The Miiricipods — or at least that jiortion of 

 them which are included in tlie division 

 MiUepefJen — are sometimes erroneously called 

 "Wire-worms." It is not judicious to have 

 two very different animals by the same com- 

 mon name. It only creates confusion, and 

 more absolutely necessitates the use of scien- 

 tific names, a thing that is repulsive to many 

 peo])le in reading essays and descriptions in 

 "popular science." Wirr-wnrvis a.re generally 

 understood to be the htrvrr, form of certain 

 species of " Cliek-l)eetles," (Elatei;id.b,) 

 also called " Skiji-iaoks " and " Ilamraer- 

 bugs," and by the Germans "Schuel-kaferen." 

 They are loner, cylindrical, t.ipering moderate- 

 ly at each end ; from whitisli to various sliades 

 of brown in color, the cuticle hard and pol- 

 ished, easily slipping through the fingers, or 

 Into the earth or debris wherever thoy may be 

 foimd. They have short, sharp and stout 

 jaws, and only six feet, two on each of the three 

 anterior rinss of the body, these rings never 

 exceeding thirteen in number. This form, 

 however, is not characteristic of the whole 

 family, for many of them have (lattened 

 bodies, and have an extra foot, or one or two 

 spines, at the bind end of the body. The 

 larger nmnber of them — ))erhaps four-fifths of 

 them — are wood-l)orers, hut thev mostly con- 

 fine their depredations to dead or decaying 

 wood. The same species mav be found in 

 different kinds of decayed wood, immediately 

 under the bark. They often attack young 

 corn, wheat, rye and other cereal vegetation 



in the siiring and early sununer ; also turnijjs, 

 mangcl-wurtzel, potatoes and cabbages, as 

 well as garden (lowers. Mr. Curtis, a distin- 

 guislied English entomologist, de.scribes 7i) 

 species of beetles inhabiting England, which 

 are the parents of "wire-wornis. " Their eggs 

 are very minute, and it is not certainly known 

 whether tliey deposit these eggs in the earth 

 or in tlie base of the young plants they infest. 

 Wlien the young Wire-worm lir.st issues from 

 the egg it is almost invisible to the naked eye, 

 but some attain linally to an Incli or more in 

 lengtli ; and what is still more discouraging, 

 they live from three to live years in the larvie 

 or feeding state, so that those which have not 

 been destroyed this year are likely to make 

 their appearance jigain next year, feeding in 

 the meantime on other vegetation or old 

 wood, and hibernating during the winter. 

 The "Meal-Worm" is sometimes confounded 

 with, and called the Wire-JVorm; but the 

 former is larger, rounder, smootlier, harder 

 and of a darker color, and dirt'ers in other re- 

 spects, especially in not having the anal fool, 

 forceps or spines. When winters are very 

 mild the Wire-Worms may destroy the wheat 

 during the winter. On light lands they do the 

 most mischief, from March to .June ; but 

 Hronij lomn and clay is most free from them. 

 Although wet seasons may not destroy Wire- 

 Worms, yet it will prevent the beetles from 

 depositing their eggs. Soot and lime are said 

 to kill tlie worms ; and it is recommended to 

 burn the rubbish on summer falkno, as it will 

 kill the eggs and starve the worms. Kefuse 

 lime from gas works is particularly recom- 

 mended as a remedy against these worms. 

 They are also killed by applications of chloride 

 of lime water, nitrate of soda or salt, on light 

 sandy soils. Sliced potatoes, pieces of turnip, 

 cabbage, beet-root, parsnij), carrot or apple 

 stuck into the ground will attract them, and 

 then they may be destroyed by hand-picking, 

 which is after all the best remedy. But robins, 

 thrushes, blackbirds, partridges, ducks, tur- 

 keys and liarnyard fowls will pick them up in 

 plowed fields. Moles, frogs, toads and lizards 

 al.so feed on them ; and lastly, they also be- 

 come infested by a parasitic "Ichneumon 

 Fly." Seeing that they are so omnivorous in 

 their feeding habits, it would not be at all 

 surprising to find them feeding on the tobacco 

 l)lants. They are known to be partial to let- 

 tuce in kitchen gardens. Be it remembered, 

 particularly, that when disturbed they will 

 attempt to escape by crawling into the ground 

 and Secreting themselves. The larvre of 

 Agriates, Ulutcr, Atlwiis and Agri/pnus are 

 the most common Wire- Worms of the wheat, 

 oats, barley and rye, but there are .several 

 species that belong to each of the foregoing 

 genera. So much for the true Wire- Worm. 



The Millepedes, or "Galley- Worms," be- 

 long to a dillerent class of animals, and are not 

 ]iroperly included in the order Insecta. Tliey 

 are never transformed into beetles or any 

 other kind of insects, but remain Galley- 

 Worms to the end of their days. They never 

 attempt to make their escape when they are 

 disturi)ed, but coil themselves up into a spiral 

 or a ring, and lay over on their sides. Al- 

 though their external integument is hard, 

 yet it is more brittle, and not so tough as that 

 of tlie true Wire-Worm ; they have also more 

 rings, but tliey are shorter, and each has four 

 feet attaclied to it on the under side. But none 

 of tlie species have a tliousand feet, as the 

 term mille2icdc imiilies. Our largest species in 

 Lancaster county {Spirabolus marginalus). is 

 about f<uir inches long, of a dark mahogany 

 color, and has sixty rings, including the an- 

 terior and the anal ones — neither of which 

 have feet — and counting four to each of the 

 foot-bearing segments, it has two hundnd and 

 thirty-two feet. This is considerably below a 



a thou.sand. But w(^ have seen large Cali- 

 fornia sjiecies in which tlii^ number of feet is 

 much greater than that of our species. Dr. 

 Wood says hi! saw a specimen of (leophilus 

 hipnuicticeps that had sixty-live jiairs of feet 

 on each side, which would be /»io Inmdred and 

 sisty feet. They vary in the number of feet 

 according to age. They do not start out in 

 life with either the same number of segments 

 or of feet that we find tluMn having in their 

 adult states. When they emerge from the egg 

 they hav(! but nine or ten segments, and the 

 feet and the anteniMC are barely visible, and 

 even on the twenty-sixth day thereafter there 

 are only fifteen or sixteen rings and feet only 

 on about the half of them. They are then 

 entirely helpless, and how they are nourished 

 is a (juestion ^vllicll is still only conjectural ; 

 and it reciuires some months before they arc 

 fully developed, the segments and feet appear- 

 ing, and the number increasing, at intervals 

 of several days or weeks. 



The various species of "Galley- worms" that 

 infest gardens, destroying radishes, lettuce, 

 cabbages, beets, &c., when they are young; 

 and also strawberries and other productions of 

 the earth, are of a dark bluish-black color, 

 from an inch to an inch and a half in length ; 

 and have about fifty segments and about two 

 hundred feet {"more or less") and most of 

 them belong to the old genus .Tulus, or to 

 allied sub-genera: We have often found the 

 larger species feeding on the different kinds 

 of the softer fungoids, especially the " Mush- 

 rooms," (Agaricus,) Vmt we have more fre- 

 quently found them under loose bark, in damp 

 places, and from the great number of pellets 

 found in connection with them we infcred 

 that they must also feed on old and much de- 

 cayed wood. Under no circumstances have 

 we ever known one to attemjit to make its es- 

 cape, defend itself, or inflict a wound. They 

 all, with one accord, when disturbed, coil 

 themselves spirally, turn over on their sides, 

 and remain motionless for a long time, but 

 eventually straighten themselves out and 

 move slowly away. 



Between the millepedes and the centipedes, 

 as we stated in a former iiaper on the subject, 

 there is a connecting family (the Polydes- 

 jriD.E) containing the species which causes 

 the dise.a.se known as the "Black-Root," or 

 " Black-Hot." Tlie species alluded to seems 

 to be allied to Pohjdf.fmus coniplanatiis of 

 England and the continent of Europe — a 

 species said to be more destructive there than 

 any other belonging to the class Mykiapoda, 

 although they have several destructive species 

 belonging to the genus .hdv.'<. The same 

 errors in the common n.ames of these animals 

 that exist in our country also exist in Europe, 

 and the corrections and suggestions of half a 

 century have had very little efT'cct in the dis- 

 tribution of knowledge on the subject. It 

 would be almost as easy to substitute some 

 other name for bread as to wean the (leople 

 from apiilyins the name of " Wire- Worm " to 

 the niyriapods. and the confusion is all the 

 greater since they persist in calling it "tue 

 Wire- Worm." as if there was only one siiecies. 

 If it is found that the species discovered by 

 Jfr. Schaefl'er, of Cocalico, on his tobacco 

 plants, confine themselves exclusively to that 

 plant, then they misrht be approjiriately named 

 the "Tobacco Galley-Worm." The same 

 remedies mentioned in this paper for the de- 

 struction of the true Wire-Worm would be 

 equally efTective in destroying the Galley- 

 AVorm. Mr. Curtis, in his book on ^^ Farm 

 Insects,'''' is eflectually in accord with our 

 recommendation of scalding water, as detailed 

 in our former article, (see Farjiek, vol. X. 

 p. 149), altbourrb he is not so specific. He 

 says that " artificial heat will destroy them," 

 and he also states that "they cannot live 



