412 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



jrtY 5, 18 37. 



(From thefj-nesee Farmer.) 

 THE W I U E WORM. 



Of all the insects tliiit prpy on tlie lal)ors of the 

 linsli.-iriilnKin, there are few that make more seri- 

 ous inroails on hi^ |)ros|irrity, or eontrilmte more 

 •'ftectiially to lessen his profits, than the one whose 

 name Is placed at the hearl of this article. The 

 Wire Worm is the larvfe of a species of the (jenns 

 Eluttr, of Linnfens; a class of insects known hy 

 the familiar name of snapping bngs, so called 

 from the power ihey poss.ss of throwing them- 

 selves into the air when placed on their l):i( ks, 

 and thns regainini^ their feet, which on a smooth 

 surface they wonhl otherwise be unahle to do. 



Tlie hugs occur on flowers, on various plants, 

 and on the grasses; and deposit their eggs near 

 the roots of plants where they find their way ri'rid- 

 ily into the ground, and there remain in the larvae 

 state for a longer or shorter time according to the 

 species, jireying on the roots of such plants as 

 constitute their food. It is in tiiis state that they 

 do the mischief which renders thefn such a pest 

 to the farmer. The Etiiler api)ears j)artial to 

 grass lands, and hence such are the most infested 

 l)y the larvEe. It is on tiewly turned |>asture or 

 meadow land, that crops of corn or grain, are the 

 most liable to suffer. 



According to Wilson, t^JS na^rR; of wire worm, 

 bestowed 6n the larvie of smcral species of Ela- 

 ters, is more specifically applicable to thfrt'oC the 

 Catapkagu.i linentus of Siepheiis. It hahifs have 

 been carefully examined by Mr Bierkander of 

 Sweden, who calls it the root worm. '• J he body 

 is very narrow, of a yellow <-olor, hard, suiooih 

 and shining, and composed of twelve segments, 

 on Uie last o'Favhicli .a,r,K two in<!ented dark color- 

 ed s,iecks. The head is brown, the extremity of 

 the ijaws iblack. It is saiil to remain five years in 

 the lars-fe state, from which it issues as an Elater, 

 the E. segelis of Bierkander, synonymous with 

 the F,. Linealus of Linnesus, .ind the insect above 

 named of Stephens." The anterior segments have 

 six feet, and with the aid of these ar)d its scaly 

 head, it burrows in the ground with great rajiid- 



Great damage is often occasioned by tlie wire 

 Tvorm, to the turnip croj>s in England, farmers 

 being sometimes conjpelJe.d to sow their land as 

 many as two or thiee limes, I'bo first plants beiuir 

 entirely devoured. " In the yea r 1813, according 

 t„ Mr ,Sf>ence, this larvie destroy 'ed Ihp greate'^- 

 ^^rOf«^rlir;nof the annu,ils gown in "tlie br.ianic gar- 

 de *" "' """' 'n si'ch cases,. Sir Jo.<!.^J)h Hanks 

 jei-oi.^-"'"''"''^'! t'i'Jt pieces of p.'iftUms stuck on 

 shariienc '' sticfts,. should be placed 'ui the ground 

 the seei.**. ^»"d ejiamined and j^eiired of the 

 wire worms that T?auld adlier.e to-wid feed Ul)on 

 them from lime to tim«." The lapva; of th.'; E. 

 slriaUis attacks the roots '>f wheat,, and lit'ce th ose 

 of '1)6 Other g^'ecies- where they abound, are in 

 souje seasons productive of iuime.ns'j dangi-r to' 

 the farmer. 



In this country, the aniy one know'n to prochice 

 serious injury, is the larvre of the E. lineatu--, and 

 the damage has hitherto been |)rincilKilly contiiu'd 

 to corn, a crop scarcely known in Englaml, and 

 of course never taken into account when sprak- 

 jn" of the insect. As the culture of the roots ex- 

 tend its depredations in that way may attract at- 



jieai 



land, the turf of which Inoieiied by tlie roots be- 

 ii.g entirely cut off', might be rolled up like a car- 

 pet, in pieces of any required size, and the num- 

 bers of the worm collected in such places, vt'as 

 such as to defy calculation. Coin it attacks as' 

 soon as it is put into the ground, or begins to 

 swell and spiout, and rarely leaves n plant till it 

 dies, when it shifts to a new and fresh one. A 

 friend of ours last year turned over a piece of 

 meadow land, roll?d it smooth, ami planted it 

 v itii corn. U was soon assailed by the worm, 

 and In a few days plats of .«;everal rods sijuare 

 were entirely destroyed ; while the whole piece 

 was more or less injured. In somi^ of the hills of 

 corn, as many as twenty or twentyfive worms 

 could l)e found at once, preying on the roots, pi,-n- 

 etrating thesl.dk below the surfacre of the ground, 

 and thus in both ways rapiilly eAhausting the vi- 

 tal juices.- .As the ground was very rich, and the 

 small (]iiantity that grew the la.st year would have 

 had no'eft'ect in exhausting the soil, after receiv- 

 ing n thorough j)loiigliing, the land lias been again 

 planted, but present appearances indicate no better 

 success than before. Thfi liills are alreatly fiid 

 of worms, ami in many instances, examination 

 shows that each root or shoot as fust as they ap- 

 pear, are totally demolished. 



The wire worm is the most dilficult to destroy, 

 of any insect the farmer is called to rncoiinler. — 

 Deep in :he earth among the roots on which lie 

 preys, carefully avoiding all approach to th<! sur- 

 face, or (;xpo.-uieto the light, posses.<insr the pow- 

 er of moving with the iiecci?sary rapidity in the 

 loosened soil, he is rarely noticed, or his presence 

 detei'tcd, except by the ravages be commits. The 

 cut worm, with which the wire worm is by some 

 confounded, is sometimes \ery destructive, but 

 his operations are carried on above ground, and 

 he is easily detected and despatched. Clumsy in 

 his movements, and penetrating the earth with 

 difticulty, tlie cut Avorni is very unlike the smooth 

 wire worm, which wlien brought to the surface 

 again liuries liimse f almost instantly. The cut 

 vvoriii u^idert;oes his transfuruiation,it is believed 

 within the year ; the wire worm i ontinues in his 

 destructive state for four or five years. Various 

 applications have lieen reco:i intended to destroy 

 or drive away this \oracious ilepredatnr ; In.t lit- 

 tle reliance can be placed on any wo have seen 

 tried, that would not destroy thi' plants also. For 

 ourselves, we should place the most ilependence 

 on ploughing late in the fall, the land intended to 

 be cultivated the ensuing year. .After the wire 

 worm has committed his summer's eating, as the 

 cold weather conies on, be becomes torpid abd 

 remains in this state till spring. If while in this 

 state, he is thrown out of the ground, where be 

 is exposed to the severe fro»ts and vicissitudes of 

 the season, lie must perish ; and this exjiosure is 

 more surely effected by jiloughin^=^ late in the liill 

 than in any other way. 



tenlion but now it is hardly known, excejit 

 connexion with grass or corn, and here it is fre- 

 quently terribly destructive. In dry seasons we 

 Imve seen large portions of pastures or meadow 



(From ihe .Maine Farmer. i 

 ■WINTER AV H E A T . 



Mr Holmks: — In the Maine Farmer, of the 

 :?Oth May, there is a valuable communication from 

 Mr J.uiies Ronaldson, on the culture of Wiuier 

 wheat. 



It js a subject of the first lui[;ortancc to the far- 

 mers of this State ; and every individual farmer 

 who is anxious to raise bread for our own con- 

 sumjitioii, oui'ht to feel it a duty to make limited, 

 or extensive experiments, according to his ability, 



for the purpose of testing the value of Mr Rod. 

 aldson's suggestions, and whether they will suit 

 our soil and climate. It is also the duty of those 

 who liave alreaiiy made experiinent.s, in any way 

 connected w^ilh the mmle jiroposed by Mr Ron- 

 aldson, to disclose the same. 



Mr C. Fairbaidis' communication on the sub- 

 ject is useful and encouraging ; and under this 

 impression, 1 shall slate what course I have pur- 

 sued, and my reasons for the same ; and then of- 

 fer a Ihw remarks on the proposed plan. 



From my early acquaintance with English lius- 

 bandry, I gave the preference to winter wheat 

 and imported, in the year 1788. a few bushels 

 from Liverpool, of the If'fiile- Lancashire Winter 

 If'heal, which succcedei! very Well, and frotii this 

 wheat fiftyfour barrels of good flour was manu- 

 factured at a flour mill in Hallowell, in 1794, and 

 shijiped for sale to Bostim. Twelve years after 

 the Importation, a bushel of this wheat was sown 

 in the town of Corinth, county of Penobscot, by 

 Henry Snow, on an acre and a quarter of burnt 

 land, and produced forty bushels of prime wheat. 

 I brought four quarts of it home, and from its 

 produce^ continued for a few years to sow it on 

 ploughed land. I think about ten years after, I 

 jirocured from Connecticut, a superior qualitv of 

 winter wheat, called the Taylor wh at, which was 

 first raised In Virginia, by a gentleman of t!iat 

 name. This kind 1 have continued to cultivate 

 and from this, or my imported \\ heat, I obiaTned 

 from one bushel, ground at the mill at Gardiner 

 52 1--2 lbs. of good flour, Iniduding the toll. The 

 average yield has been thirteen to fourteen bush- 

 els to the acre, which I considered equal to seven- 

 teen or eighteen bushels of spring wlicat, with the 

 advantage of preparing the land, and sowino- the 

 winter wheat at the season of greatest leisure. 



Being satisfied that even in ploughed land 

 where the soil and make of the land was favora- 

 ble, winter wheat was preferable, I tried the fol- 

 lowing experiments : 



1. 1 sowed in drills in my garden. In i\)e sprino-, 

 some winter wheat, and during the season until 

 Si'pleniber, frequently cut it down. A smaller 

 proportion was winterrkillcd, than in the open 

 field. 



2. In the second experiment, the wheat was 

 sown after a crop of oats. With the oats 1 .sow, 

 ed twelve pounds of clover seed. U'hcn the oats 

 were nearly ripe enough to rraji, the grass-hoji- 

 pers made such havock by cutting off the grain 

 that the ground was strewed with seed. The oats 

 were Immediately reaped, the clover and stubldo 

 ploughed In, and about the middle of .August, the 

 winter wheat was soweil. In a short ll;Tie the ver- 

 dure was remarkable, and on e.xamination 1 found 

 that the oatswiiicli had been In and on the ground 

 had sprung up and covered It. Aware tin t the 

 winter would kill the oats sown at this time the 

 effect on the wheat was carefully watched and 

 the oats proved a protection to the wheat in win- 

 ter, and with a dressing cf a bushel of jdasier of 

 Paris strewed on an acre In the spring, served as a 

 top-dressing. The wheat grew vigorously, and 

 there was an increase of |)roduce from It. bince 

 that lime 1 have always sowed a bushel and a half 

 of oats to the acre, with ths; wheat, and spread a 

 cask and a half of iime on the stime quantity of 

 land. 



3. A third experiment was in clearing up six 

 acres of a bush pasture. No grass seed liad been 

 sown, and what grass was on the land was from 



