Sf2B 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Agbicdltdbal Wahehocse.) 



VOL.. XVII. 1 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 22, 1838. 



AGRICULTURAL 



From the Maine Farmer. 



ESSAYS ON THE GRAIN WORM. 



NO. H. 



DixFiELD, Dec. 13, 1837. 



Messrs Trustees of the Kennebec Co. Jlgricultural 

 Society : — The following is subraittrd to yoiT con- 

 sideration, more from a hope of benefiting the 

 community, than from any other consideration. 



If tlie history of the insects called Grain Worms, 

 is ever sbtained, it will be gathered in detached 

 frafnient-s, as it is probable no one individual has 

 at this time any very extensive knowledge of them. 

 I have taken a great interest in relation to them 

 from the time I first became acquainted with them ; 

 and have inquired into their history, as to the place 

 where tliey were first discovered,— the length of 

 time they have been known, — whether they have 

 been known prior to their present visit, and how 

 extensive a portion of the country they have spread 

 over : but the information obtained, is quite vague 

 and indefinite. 



I have, however, a few facts that I might com- 

 municate I have been informed by a gentleman 

 who states that " he has resided in the north-west- 

 erly part of New York eight years, that the fly 

 committed some depredations about the Lakes, six 

 years last season ; and he has since heard of it in 

 the westerly part of New York, in Venront, r^^l 

 along tlie St. Lawrence river, and that they still 

 continue to do more or less injury upon the farms 

 where they were first discovered in those places." 



In 1832, they were in towns along the Connec- 

 ticut river. In 18.33, they were in Gilead, Bethel, 

 and towns adjacent to the White Mountains. In 

 1834, they were very destructive in Bethel and 

 Rumford, and made their appearance in Dixfield, 

 Canton and Livermore, and also in tow-ns along the 

 Saco and Sandy rivers ; and have since continued 

 to progress in an easterly direction at about twenty 

 or tliirty miles a year. 



From what I have learned, I suppose the fly to 

 be a native of our own country, and has existed 

 about the great Lakes, by depositing their eggs in 

 some kind of wild grain that may have grown there ; 

 and agriculture has extended in that direction, until 

 it reached them, and they have found in the heads 

 of wheat, good receptacles for the deposit of tlieir 

 eggs ; and from the facilities thus afforded for the 

 propagation of their species, have spread till they 

 have assumed their present formidable aspect ; or 

 they may be of foreign origin, and have been 

 brought into the Canadas in foreign grain. I be- 

 lieve that this Worm is a native of cold climates. 

 1 am informed by an individual who has spent two 

 seasons in the Upper Province, that they are very 

 destructive to the crops ; so much so, tliat the Cath- 

 olic inhabitants besought their Priests to interpose 

 their petitions in their behalf. 



As relates to the history, the origin and spread 

 of the Wheat fly, the few facts above, are all that 

 I have learned. 



The first appearance of the fly in the spring, 

 though it may have wintered in the form of a grub, 

 is about tlie time the w heat heads are malung their 

 appearance above the leaves. And here I will 

 state, that there were apparently three kinds of 

 flies upon my grain the last season — which were 

 doubtless the male and female in different states of 

 maturity. The female is larger than the black fly, 

 very well known to those who visit our forests the 

 latter part of June; its belly and exterior parts are 

 of a yellowish color ; its wings nearly the length 

 of a musketoe's, and nearly of the color. The male 

 is somewhat smaller than the female, (which is the 

 case with all the species of flies,) and of a darker 

 color, — feeds upon the grain, and especially upon 

 rye, if there are any scattering heads among the 

 wheat, or near by ; and even on fields at a distance 

 from the wheat field. I have never seen their eggs 

 deposited in the ears of rye ; but they prefer to 

 feed upon the clevel while growing — a hundred 

 upon the same head. It requires about the same 

 degree of heat, and length of time, to hatch them 

 from their eggs or grubs, and bring them to a prop- 

 er state to deposit their eggs, that it requires to 

 vegetate wheat, and grow it to the blossom. The 

 flies commence laying their eggs a short time be- 

 fore the blossoms appear, and the last season were 

 actively engaged in depositing them from ten to 

 twelve days. The egg, when first deposited, is so 

 small as scarcely to be discovered without the aid 

 of a magnifying glass, — is a little elliptical, and 

 nearly of an orange color. It soon increases in 

 length, and shows some signs of life, — and when 

 disturbed, its motions are oscillatory. It is then a 

 smooth grub, about three-sixteenths of an inch in 

 length. I have seen them upon the top of full 

 grown kernels ; but they are generally by the side 

 of them, and sometimes several with the .same ker- 

 nel. They either suck the nourishment from the 

 kernel, or are poison to it. I have never discovered 

 the least incision in the kernels. The kernel 

 curves where they lay against it, and does not 

 fill. If the grain stands till fully ripe, and tlie 

 heads turn down, many of them drop out. After 

 the grain is fully ripe, their ravages are over for 

 that season ; and after the grain is liarvested, no 

 further injury is sustained — e.xcept that the grain 

 that is partially filled, shrinks more than that which 

 is fully grown. 



I took about a table spoonful of the grubs, and 

 mixed thera with soil from the wheat field, and 

 have kept them there about two months. One 

 half of them have been exposed to the weather the 

 whole time ; and upon examination they do not ap- 

 pear to have underdone any visible change. Anoth- 

 er part of them was moistened and placed upon 

 the roof of a building, spread thin in a pan, througli 

 one of our early cold nights, and frozen. I then 

 mixed some wheat with the soil, and have kept 

 them in the best situation to vegetate the grain. 

 The grain came forward, and has grown finely ; 

 the grubs are also doing well. Some of them are 

 1-4 of an inch in length. Their external covering 

 seems partially transparent. There is a dark spec 



near one end ; and, if I am not deceived, there is 



some appearance of wings inside the covering 



These results are very different from my expecta- 

 tions. Two years ago, I harvested my grain very 

 damp, and it was heated in the mow. I thrashed 

 two bushels, and winnowed it in the wind ; and af- 

 ter it had lain in the pile an hour, the top of the 

 pile was alive with worms or caterpillars, about 3-8 

 of an inch in length, with a row of bristles stick- 

 ing up along their backs and from their sides, 

 which [ su])posed were the weevils. I now give 

 it a,i my opinion that their metamorphose is from 

 the grub to a fly. One thing is certain, that they 

 retain the grub form through the winter, and for 

 two months in the spring. 



I do not know that the fly deposits any eggs af-' 

 ter dark ; but from my observation, their most ac- 

 tive time is between sun set and dark, and in 

 cloudy weather. 



To de.stroy this insect, or prevent its ravages, is 

 truly of almost vital importance. 



The application of lime, if applied at a suitable 

 time, is doubtless of great utility ; notwithstanding- 

 its general failure the last season. Some have 

 supposed, that, as the grub is of animal substance, 

 the alkali destroys it ; but this is a mistake. The 

 lime does not reach the grub, nor does the mixture 

 after it becomes alkaline. 



If the heads of wheat are white with lime, it 

 does not prevent the fly from depositing its eggs, 

 or deftr'->v the eggs after they are deposited ; and. 

 indeiitl it is impossible to destroy them .after they 

 are deposited, without destroying the grain. 



The beneficial results from lime are in conse- 

 quence of the particles of lime falling upon the- 

 wings of the flies and corroding their thin and ex- 

 tremely delicate texture, thereby rendering tliem. 

 useless, and the flies fall to the ground and perish. 



These being the facts, it is evident that three 

 things are necessary to the beneficial results of 

 sowing lime. 



1st. That the flies are present on the grain. 2d. 

 That the lime be sowed before the flies deposit 

 their eggs. 3d. That the air be filled with a fine 

 mist tliat shall moisten the wings of the flies, so 



that the particles of liine may adhere to them 



When lime is applied under these circumstances , 

 it may be considered a sure remedy. (But thi j 

 combination of circumstances seldom occurs.)— . 

 Hence the different effects of its application, an d 

 also the diversity of opinion. I would not, howei ,•- 

 er, discourage it use. Ashes applied under simil: ir 

 circumstances, will be beneficial in proportion to 

 their alkaline properties. 



Early sown grain is most liable to be injured by 

 the grain worm, unless it be very forward. T 'he 

 last season, grain sowed the last week or ten di lys 

 of May, was not injured by them. All sown j ire- 

 vious to that, in the vicinity of their ravages, was 

 more or less damaged. 



It is certain that their ravages have been gj'eat- 

 est upon plains and intervale lands ; but I pre-'mme 

 this difference results more from the forwardness 

 of the grain than from any other cause. I believe 



