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NEW ENGLAND FARME-R 



JINE 14, ISrtT. 



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BOSTON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 1837. 



FAKMER'S WORK. 



Destroy Grlbs or Cut Worms. — Tlie cut worm, or 

 grub is an ash colored worm, willi a stripe almost black 

 on its bark. When fully grown, it is about the size of 

 a goose quill, and about an inch and a quarter in Imigth. 

 These worms are Tery apt to cut off young cabbages, 

 cauliflowers, beets, Indian corn, &c. They never, vol- 

 untarily appear above the surface of tlie ground in the 

 day time, but injy be found about an inch below it. In 

 tJie night they make their excur>ions, cut t»ff the stems 

 of youn;^ plants, just at the surface of the ground, and 

 again bury themselves. 



Dr Deane observed, " I once prevented their depre- 

 dations in my garden, by manuring llie soil nilh sea 

 mud, newly taken from the flats. The plants general- 

 ly escapad, tho;igh evcTj one was cu' oft' iu a spot of 

 ground that lies contiguous. From this success, I con- 

 clude that salt is very offensive to them. Lime and 

 ashes in some measure prevent their doing mischief; — 

 but sea-water, salt or brine would be more effectual an- 

 tidotes. The most effectual and not a laborious remedy, 

 even in field culture, is to go round every morning and 

 open the earth at the foot of the plant, and you will nev- 

 er tail to find ihe worm at the mot witliiri four inches. 

 Kill him, and you will save not only the other plants 

 of your field, but probably many thousands in future 

 years." 



There is some danger in making use of salt, brine or 

 sea water, of injuring the plants in attempting to de- 

 stroy insects; and we should, therefore, generally pre- 

 fer decocrions of elder, walnut leaves, or tobacco. Mr 

 Preston of Stockport, Pennsylvania, preserved iiis cab- 

 bage-plants from cut- worms by vvrappirrg a hickory-leaf 

 round the stem, between the roots and the leaves. — [N. 

 E. Farmer, vol. iii. p. 369.] The Hon Mr Frskc, late of 

 Worcester, Mass., in speaking of the cut-worm observ- 

 ed : ** To search out the spoiler and kill him, is the very 

 best course; but as his existence is not known, except 

 by his ravages, I make a fortress for my plants with pa- 

 per, winding it conically above the root, and securing 

 ii by a low embankment of earth."— [N. E. Farmer, vol. 

 iv. p. 3C2.] 



We learn from newspapers and other sources of in 

 formation, that the insect has already commenced its 

 ravages on Indian corn. The Cheshire Rejmblican of 

 the 8th inst. asserts that " Indian corn is being injured 

 by the cut-worm, as we hear it said by many farmers 

 in this vicinity," and adds, "can there be some method 

 devised to destroy this destructive insect?" From an 

 article, which was orrgiuallj' published in the Tnenessec 

 Farmer, we copy the following, which we think may 

 he worth a fair trial at some future season, if too late for 

 this. 



"As soon as the corn is covered with earth, let a hand 

 follow, having a bag hanging at his side, containing ash- 

 es and plaster mixed, one third of the latter, or ashes 

 alone, either leached or unleachcd — the latter would 

 probably be preferable — and let him drop a handful on 

 each hill of corn. We would recommend, where it can 

 be obtained, the partial subsiiiution of linre for ashes, in 

 which case, to preserve the hands of the dropper from 

 injury, it will be necessary for him to use a cup, shell 

 or gourd, with which to take up the lime. — Each ba" 

 should be large enough to contain as much of the sub- 

 stance u-^ed, as the dropper can conveniently cari-y. We 

 request our readers in this vicinity, to give the forego- 

 ing a fair trial, and to furnish us with an accurate ac- 



count of liie result, both as to its etlecls ill preventing 

 the ravages of the cut-worm, and increasing the crop. 

 In our use of ashes and plaster, they were dropped on 

 the seed corn and covered with it. The eflcct on the 

 crop was decidedly and greatly beneficial. For pre- 

 venting the ravages of tlie cut worm, there is good rea- 

 son to believe that it would be best to deposit the ashes 

 on the bill after the coin is covered, and this mode will 

 be found nearly, if not quite, as beneficial in increasing 

 the crop." 



Though the above mentioned, or some other caustic 

 application, such as pure quicklime, unleached ashes, 

 soot, &c., v\'ould, probably, prove most useful if applied 

 to the surface of the ground immediately over the seed, 

 before the plant has appeared, .«ti!l it may be used to 

 advantage, both to guard against the worm, and as ma- 

 nure after the young corn has grown to a size proper 

 for weedrng. Unleached ashes and the other substan- 

 ces mentioned above, used as top dressings in the ear- 

 lier B'aires of the !»r""'th of Indinn corn, will alw.ij.s 

 prove very serviceable whether tiie crop is or not threat- 

 ened or injured by the cut-svorrn. 



produced either by accident or design, have harassed 

 and ru.ned so many sufferers, who have done nothing 

 to injure or offend their woise than diabolical persecu- 

 tors. 



Riot. — A serious riot took place on Sunday afternoon 

 in Broad street and its neighborhood, between a num- 

 ber of Irishmen, and some persons belonging to the Fire 

 Department. The fighting lasted one or two hours, and 

 many persons were seriously injured. It is supposed 

 that no less than 10 or 12,000 were assembled at one 

 time in Broad street and the passages adjacent. For 

 further particulars, we must refer to the ciiy papers. 



(For tlie New England Farmer.) 

 Indicatio.vs of Bots in Horses. — To the Editor of 

 the New England Farmer : Sir, — Will you, or some of 

 your correspondents inform me what will kill lire on 

 a horse. You will much oblige me by so doing. I 

 have tried tobacco, poke, soap, and the like, without 

 success, A Patron. 



By the Editor. — What our correspondent calls lice on 

 a horse, we presume, are br.ts in one of the stages of 

 their existence. They are the product of the Bot fly, 

 (Oestrus Equi) which are commonly called nits or eggs 

 of lice. The parent of this pernicious i nsect generally 

 deprisils its eggs towards the end of June, or between 

 that time and the commencement of cold evenings in 

 September. 



Dr R. Green, of Mansfield, Mass., in an able essay, 

 entitled ".KaturalHisturyoftheRotfly," published in 

 the N. E. Farmer, vol. iv. p. 345, 34G, gives the follow- 

 ing, as '^Prerejitire Meajis" against Cots in Horses. 



" Scrape off the eggs when deposited, every ten days. 

 A much longer interval will answer the purpose, even 

 once in twenty days; but there is a greater certainty of 

 destroying the whole in shorter intervals, as some may 

 be overlooked at one time, and not at another. This 

 practice must be continued through the siason of their 

 appearance, July, August and September, and may be 

 performed with a sharp.knife. The eggs should not be 

 scraped off where the horse can feed, as in that case, 

 the young larvEe may be taken in with the grass. 



Calamitous Events. — Fires, many kindl.'d by incen- 

 diaries have become of late, alarmingly frequent It 

 seems as if the social compact, now-a-days, afforded but 

 little proteclion to those who rely on the laws of the 

 land for personal security and the right of property. — 

 Every night for a considerable time past, has b?en sig- 

 nalized by fires in Boston and towns in its vicinity. — 

 These, there seems abundant evidence to prove, have 

 been the works of incendiaries, who appear determineil 

 lo burn the dwellings and hazard the lives of all our 

 peaceably disposed citizens, whose domicils are not iu- 

 itombustible ; whose houses are not only eastles, hnl oc- 

 cupied by garrisons, able and always on ihe alert to de- 

 fend themselves against savages, more cruel and atro- 

 cious than high-way robbers or hostile Indians. We 

 have not room to record notices of the fires, which. 



Giant Asparagus. — Mr Samuel Pond of Cambrid<re- 

 poit, has presented us with a fine sample of his new 

 sort of Asparagus, well named, as above, on account of 

 its gigf nlic size. Th s proved not only larger, but more 

 lender and batter flavored than any other sort we ever 

 tajfod. P"ni' of the sho&ts were about an inch in ui- 

 ameler, and sweet and lender as marrowfat peas. We 

 understand that Mr Pond has some of the kind, both 

 seeds and roots for sale at his residence in Cambridge- 

 port. 



Preventing Milk from becoming Sour. — We men- 

 tion ihe following fact more for the purpose of calling 

 the atlention of our readers to the subject and inducino' 

 them to try experiments, than with a belief that ihe sin- 

 gle experiment related will be of any great imporlance. 

 Dr Hare, of Philadelphia, in giving an account in Silli- 

 man's Journal, ol his experiments upon ihe essential 

 oils, seems to think that the more acrid ones will resist 

 putrefaction belter than the mild ones. Among other 

 experiments he stales that he found " the essential oil 

 of cloves and cinnamon possessed an antiseptic power 

 quite equal to that of Kreosote, ' 



" On the 2d of July, he added two drops of oil of cin- 

 namon to an ounce measure of fresh milk, it remained 

 liquid on the 11th, and though it finally coagulated, it 

 continued free from bad taste or smell, till September 

 although other portions of the same milk had become 

 putrid." Now it may be possible, two drops lo ihe ounce 

 of milk, may render it a llitle too spicy for common pur- 

 poses ; but this fact may lead to the discovery of some 

 substance that may he added, and while it does not in- 

 jure the taste or qualilies of the milk, preserves it a lonir 

 lime from becoming sour or from putrefying. Such a 

 thing would be a great convenience to many families 

 especially those who are in the habit of purchasing their 



milk, and do not wish it to become sour immediately. 



Me. Farmer. 



On the use or Gypsum. — The greatest improvement 

 however, that 1 have experienced, is the use o( plaster 

 and clover. In the spring of each year, I sow about 7 

 lbs. of clover seed to an acre, on my winter grain. The 

 spring following, 1 sow two or three bushels of ground 

 plaster to an acre of that ground. This has seldom or 

 never failed of yielding not only a good crop of grass 

 for the scythe, but i am fully persuaded ihat it enriches 

 llie ground for Ihe following crop of grain ; soth.-itl now 

 raise grass, and even wheat, from ground which would 

 bear nnihing more than pasture and rye previous to the 

 use of plaster. — Gen. Far. 



UiJ'A yearling hull-calf at Fredonia, weighs eight 

 hundred and fif:y pounds. It would bother an Irish bull 

 lo beat that. 



