AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



VOL. XVU.3 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH M.\RKET STREET, (Agricultural Warehouse.) 

 BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 12, 1838. 



CNO. 10 



AGRICULTURAL. 



■ ESSAYS ON THE GRAIN WORM. 



NO. III. 



WiNTHROP, Jan. 1, 1837. 



Messrs Trvsfees of the Kennebec Co. As;ricuUivral 

 Society : — Gentlemen: The recent appearance of 

 tBe Grain Worm, among us, and the short time al- 

 lotted for persons to hand in the observations which 

 they may liave made for the consideration of the 

 Trustees, do not permit the exhibition of so many 

 well established facts upon the subject as it is de- 

 sirable should be upon one of such great importance 

 to the community. 



The Grain Worm is the product of a slim or 

 slender and delicately formed liy. This fly lodges 

 its egg in the husk, or rather between the valves of 

 the wheat when in blossom. This egg hatches 

 into a small yellowish worm or maggot This 

 worm attaches itself to the growing kernel, and 

 sucks from it all the milk or.pulp, and prevents its 

 oTowth. A shrivelled and worthless grain is the 

 consequence. 



After it has arrived to matarity, its forms a cry- 

 salis in the place where it has lived, from which it 

 ir dislodged, either by the ordinary process of 

 ;hrashing, or by the ripening and shelling out of 

 .he grain. It is not certain that it invariably re- 

 mains in the husks of the wheat to form the crysa- 

 .is. On the ninth of August last, there was a 

 warm rain, and it was observed that immense num- 

 oers of these worms were crawling out of the 

 (vheat, and apparently seeking shelter somewhere 

 else. But it has not been certainly ascertained 

 whether they actually went down into tlie ground 

 to put themselves into the preparatory condition for 

 a change into the fly. 



Yet it is certain that immense quantities of them 

 were in the wheat during the last harvest, and cov- 

 ered the thrashing floors, being blown out with the 

 chaff. 



It has not yet been ascertained what length of 

 time the insect remains in the crysalis state. There 

 is little doubt, however, that it continues in the 

 dormant state during the winter, and even through 

 the spring, until near the time when the wheat is 

 in blossom. It is at this time that tlie fly is first 

 seen. It is soon after this that the worm is seen, 

 and the crysalis has been observed in the chaff late 

 in the fall, and it is contrary to all the laws of na- 

 ture as applying to most insects which undergo these 

 three transformations, to come into the fly state du- 

 rinc or at the beginning of our winters. 



The insect in question, has received the name of 

 weevil. This is incorrect, and leads many to 

 wrono' opinions in regard to its nature. The wee- 

 vil is an insect which infests some countries, and 

 is exceedingly mischievous among grain after it is 

 put into the bin, by eating into the dry grain, and 

 devouring the farinaceous parts. But the Grain 

 Worm does all its mischief while the grain is in 



the inilk state, and as its get tlirough this stage, or 

 grub state, by the time the grain is ripe, and be- 

 comes dormant previous to changing to the perfect 

 state, it can do no damage to the grain after it be- 

 comes hard. 



That there is a particular time when the fly does 

 and must deposit the egg that produces the worm, 

 is certain. This is corroborated by observation, 

 and the fact that late sown grain was not injured 

 by them, while the early sown was. After the 

 warm rain above mentioned, on the 9th of August, 

 when so many of them left the heads, no new heads 

 were injured, or no new depredations were com- 

 mitted by them. 



Many have supposed this insect to be identical 

 with the small worm that is found in the heads of 

 clover, and is seen spinning down from lofts or 

 mows where clover has been stowed away. The 

 cold seasons having retarded the blossoming of the 

 clover, the worms have taken tlie wheat as a sub- 

 stitute. However, this may be, we are certain that 

 the grain worm, or clover worm, if clover worm it 

 be, is not alone in its multiplication. 



The cut worm has become more numerous of 

 late, as also the white headed worm and grasshop- 

 pers. The cause of this must be sought for in the 

 state of the weather or seasons. Ever since the 

 winter of 1830 and '31, the ground has been long 

 covered with snow. Even our January thaws have 

 not much reduced the covering of snow upon tlie 

 ground, so that tlie ground has remained in one 

 state, or has not often thawed and frozen during 

 the winter, and the worms or grubs not disturbed. 

 When there shall come a winter in which the 

 ground shall be often thawed and frozen, so that 

 the germ, or whatever produces the fly, shall be 

 disturbed, it will very probably diminish their num- 

 bers very much. Warm weather, it is well known, 

 is most congenial to insects ; yet they do not in- 

 crease in exact ratio to the warmth of climate. — 

 Why not ? Because the winters being more open 

 or freezing and tliawing, more frequently kills 

 them. 



The present increase of the grain worm must be 

 a multiplication of them, for I hold that there has 

 been no new creation since the first six days, and 

 if so the causes above mentioned must have brought 

 it about. Having multiplied they must spread in a 

 corresponding ratio to previous numbers in such 

 situations as are congenial to them. 



We fifst heard of them several years ago in Ver- 

 mont State, and they have travelled North and East, 

 ever since. Thus it seems, their first increase was 

 where the ground was covered early in the fall and 

 late in the spring, and exactly where, according to 

 my theory, they ought to have begun. As far as 

 I can learn, they are not much known on the sea 

 board, where the snow does not lay on long or but 

 a short time in the winter. 



In regard to remedying the evils of this insect, 

 it must be pretty mucli or wholly, on the preven- 

 tive plan. I think that lime or ashes, put upon the 

 soil in suiEcient quantities to make it disagreeable 



to the worm, must be a good mode of preventing its 

 increase. 



Prom the fact that late sown grain has wholly 

 escaped, it must be evident, that sowing late so as 

 to bring the time of blossoming beyond the time of 

 the fly's hatching, will prevent the mischief. 



Sowing also, on high or elevated, and airy situ- 

 ations, where the breezes will agitate the grain, will 

 also prevent their operations in a great degree. 

 Respectfully Yours, ELIJAH WOOD. 



Green Corn Podding. — This is one of the few 

 " delicacies of the season," which are peculiar to 

 our townsfolk. It has been a favorite dish, from 

 time immemorial — a knowledge of its composition 

 and manufacture having been originally derived 

 from the tawny natives among whom our ancestors 

 squatted down two hundred years ago. Visitors to 

 this place during the corn season, are often re- 

 galed, of course, with this sort of fare — the mem- 

 ory of the flavor of which abideth with them long 

 after their departure hence. For this reason, much 

 anxious researches among city housewives, for a 

 correct prescription in the premises, has been 

 known to have occurred. "My dear lady Adams, 

 can you inform me how those Nantucket barbari- 

 ans contrive to concoct their corn-puddings ?" — 

 " Pray, Mrs Clay, or Miss Van Buren, tell me the 

 modus operandi of the corn-pudding miracle ! I 

 am longing for another taste of that most savory 

 compound, so deliciously fabricated by those unso- 

 phisticated females out there in that Island of Wot- 

 chukoUit." And there is no end also to tlie epistles 

 on this subject which are annually poured in upon 

 us during dog-days, evidently from the very fairest 

 of correspondents — all imposing upon us the sweetly 

 grateful obligation of sending them, respectively, a 

 code of directions. 



That we might be enabled to fulfil our whole 

 duty towards every applicant at the same moment, 

 we have procured from a sympathising friend the 

 annexed recipe, which may be relied on as the real 

 Simon-pure — the primitive, orthodox, corn-pudding 

 cannon — q. e. d. : 



Rules for inakyng, cookyng, and eatyng Corn 

 Puddyng. — Gather ye corne in ye niilke, when 

 neither too younge nor too ripe. Shell, cut, or 

 scrape ye corn from ye cob, and pound it fine in a 

 big mortar, with a heavy pessle. To ye corne of 

 foure dozen ears, add one pint of milke, and half a 

 pounde of sugar — the whole to be mixt together, 

 and baked about two houres, till ye crust shall 

 showe a darke browne complexyon. It is to be 

 eaten with fresh butter laide thereon — to which 

 some adde a sprinklyng of pepper. The addition 

 of eggs doth not helpe ye puddynge. Boyled 

 corne puddyngs are softer, but not so goode. — 

 JVantucket Inquirer. 



The different species of trefoil always contract 

 their leaves at the approach of a storm : hence 

 these plants have been termed the Husbandman's 

 Barometer. 



