164 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



NOVEMBER a«, 1ST 8 



THE GRAIN WORM. 



We n-ive il up. Desirous a.s wo have bei^n to 

 believe, or riither to liopo, that the grain worm 

 ceased to injure the berry of the wheat as soon as 

 it became Irird, and that consequently, the idea of 

 its eatinu after the grain was harvested was erro- 

 neous, facts have convinced us that the worm does 

 not cease to feed on the kernel until its transform- 

 ation or its death. Some of these facts and our 

 experiments we shall mention here. V\ e have be- 

 fore alluded to confining some worms with wheat 

 in a glass vial. They were so confined a month, 

 when the wheat was examined and some of the 

 kernels had been plainly eaten, but most of the 

 worms were dead. The vial with its contents was 

 again put away for fifteen days, and then examined. 

 The worms were dead, but tliat tliny feed to tlie 

 last is evident from the kernels now lying before 

 us, some of them nearly half devoured, while oth- 

 ers have been but just commenced upon. Every 

 kernel was selected singly and perfectly sound, for 

 the experiment. The fact therefore is undeniable, 

 that the worm does feed on the ripened berry. NVe 

 have also since harvest selected ears of wheat in 

 the field, containing the worm, and which bore evi- 

 dent traces of having the kernels fed upon since 

 maturing ; and ears taken from the mow, contain- 

 ing worms, have not unfrequently kernels exhibiting 

 the same appearance. Some of these worms we 

 enclosed in a vial of flour. Afler being in it a 

 month, the contents were examined, and every one 

 was found dead ; a conclusive proof that they are 

 different from the weevil or the common flour worm, 

 with which some have conf mnded them. 



We have this summer been making some obser- 

 vations on the fly that produces the worm, and its 

 method of operating ; but fortunately for us, our 

 opportunities for noticing the fly were not as favor- 

 able as last year, as they were much fewer in num- 

 ber on the wheat. After nmch attention to the 

 matter, we are inclined to the opinion that there 

 are at least two varieties of the fly that infest wheat, 

 both belonging to the genus Ceeidomi]i(i of Leter- 

 eille, the lipulaof Linnseus. This is not improba- 

 ble, when it is recollected there are a great number 

 of known species of this insect; upwards of thirty 

 having been found in England alone. One of these 

 species, a reddish or changeable green fly, we have 

 detected depositing its young on wheat, and on 

 some kinds of ripe berries, as' the common black- 

 berry. It is furnished with an ovipositor that folds 

 under its belly ; and is used I'or penetrating beneath 

 the chaft' of the wheat. The o'.her would seem 

 from description to be the Cecidomyin palustris of 

 Wilson, its %vhite halteres, and Jlesh-red abdqmeu 

 with a retractile ovipositor, corresponding exactly 

 with his delineation. This we think is the com- 

 mon insect, the parent of the worm most commonly 

 found in wheat, barley or oats, (we have seen the 

 fly in all) and which is so destructive at the pre- 

 sent time. The appearance of the worms them- 

 selves would indicate a parentage not in all cases 

 the same, and we have observed that part of them 

 attach themselves to any object with which they 

 come in contact, and if disturbed secure themselves 

 from falling by a thread, like the worms found in 

 clover heads sometimes, which indeed this kind of 

 the worms very much resemble. 



Some difference of opinion exists among obser- 

 vers, whether the product of the fly is oviparous or 

 viviparous ; whether an e^g is deposited which 

 produces the worm, or whether the worm, already 



vivified in the body of the parent, is placed on the 

 kernel. As examples of young produced in both | 

 these ways, we may refer to the Genus Musci of' 

 Liim. of which, one species, the Musca vomitoria, 

 or green fly, deposlfs an egg, from which the mag- 

 got is produced, while the .Wiisca carnnn'a deposites 

 its living larva?, (the young having been hatched 

 in the body of the mother) on any place deemed 

 suitable for their residence. In the first case the 

 egg, after thS escape of the larvae, always remains; 

 in the latter case none is ever seen. In repeated 

 examinations with an excellent microscope, we 

 have never been able to detect the least appearance 

 of a covering from which the larvse had escaped ; 

 and though cars of wheat have been examined on 

 which the fly was caught in the act of depositing 

 its egg or young, the product was always living, 

 and though exceedingly minute, able to move and 

 crawl. The legitimate inference, therefore, would 

 seein to be, that tlie worm is viviparous, or deposit- 

 ed in the living state by the parent. The fact is 

 of some importance in determining the best means 

 of effecling their destruction, as lime water or the 

 fumes of brimstone, while they would produce no 

 effect on an ejg, would be fatal to the young larvEe ; 

 and it was regretted that the question could be de- 

 termined no more satisfactorily. 



Some observers of the habits of the wheat or 

 grain worm, have contended that the young larvse 

 did not penetrate the kernel of the grain, but pro- 

 duced the injury by pressure of the grain, and an 

 abstraction of the juices necessary to bring it to 

 perfection. The latter is the case, but the abstrac- 

 tion is clearly made by the perforation of the ker- 

 nels. In e.xamining infected ears of wheat, after 

 carefully removing the coverings of the berry, a 

 small ^vllitish spot may be seen on the grain. Sub- 

 mitting this to the microscope, it will be seen that 

 the whitish mass is the small particles of exi^viaa 

 thrown out around the insect, in the centre of which 

 a small opening may be discovered most generally 

 occupied by the head of the larvse, which is thus 

 occupieii in feeding on the milk of the berry, and 

 deriving his subsistarice at the expense of the grain. 

 Those who have examined green peas, i^ien the 

 pod and pea was occupied by the larvae of the pea 

 bug, can have a good idea of the appearance of a 

 wheat kernel in the earliest stages of the attack of 

 the wheat worm. That the worm does from the 

 first penetrate the berry, and feed on its vital juices 

 cannot admit of a doubt 



The propriety of threshing wheat as soon as 

 harvested, when infested by the worm, is obvious ; 

 since, as after the berry becomes hard, the worm is 

 at large in the chaff, and threshing and cleaning 

 frees the wheat or other grain from their presence 

 and their rapacity. Personal observation and in- 

 ijuiry in almost every county of the Western Dis- 

 trict of this state since the past harvest, has shown 

 us that the worm has spread over the whole of it 

 with the exception of a small part of the southern 

 tier of counties. There we were assured the worm 

 had not vet been seen, and the same exemption is 

 enjoyed in the northern counties of Pennsylvania ; 

 while the groat wheat growing counties of that 

 state, to the south, have this year been greatly in- 

 fested. That the grain worm is destined to over- 

 run the country seems clear; how seriously, or for 

 how long a time its presence is to be felt, time 

 alone can determine. — Genesee Farmer. 



Thinking. — Those who don't think correctly 

 will not be likely to act well. 



SOILING CATTLE. 



The above is the term applied to tlie system of 

 feeding animals witli green feed during tlie sum- 

 mer ; the animals being kept in stable, and the 

 food cut and fed to them there, instead of allowino 

 them to gather it for themselves, in tlie field. V( i 

 Thaer, the great Prussian agriculturist, in relatiiiir 

 the exjierience of Baron Bulow on this subject, 

 lays down the following as incontrovertible facts : 



" 1. A spot of ground, which when pastured, 

 would yield only suflicient food for one head, will 

 abundantly maintain four when left in the stable. 

 2. Soiling aftbrds at least double the quantity of 

 manure from the same number of cattle ; for the 

 best summer manure is produced in the stable, and 

 carried to the fields at the most proper periods of 

 its fermentation ; whereas when dropped on the 

 pasture or meadow, and exposed to the action ol 

 the air and sun, its power is nmch wasted. 3 

 Cows tliat are accustomed to soiling, will yielc 

 much more milk, when kept in this manner, ant 

 fattening cattle will increase much faster in weight 

 4. They are less subject to accidents and diseases 

 —they are protected from the flies that torment them 

 in the fields during the warm weather, and they dc 

 not suffer from the heat of summer." 



Experiments in this country have been made 

 which in the main establish the above positions ol 

 Von Thaer. The only serious objection that we 

 have heard, is the labor required during the sunimei 

 season, when work is in great request in the field 

 and difficult to be procured at any price. Men can 

 however, be hired for this laoor if necessary, as 

 well as for any other; and the policy of doing so 

 rests on the mere question of profit and loss. If 

 as Sinclair states, 33 head of cattle were soiled or 

 17 1-2 acres from the 20th of May to the first o 

 October, when the same cattle would have requiree 

 at least 50 acres in pasture, it is clear that the uss 

 of the 33 acres saved by soiling, at the lowest rates 

 would have paid for far more extra labor than wouk 

 have been required independent of the superio 

 advantages of the system. One man would havf 

 taken care of the 33 head of cattle witliout diffi- 

 culty ; and the extra crops that might be grown oi ' 

 the 33 acres saved by the proce.ss, must be inferioi 

 indeed, not to compensate the labor of half a dozer 

 men for five months. The experience of the Hon 

 Josiah Quincy fully establishes these facts and in-j 

 ferences in regard to the benefit of soiling. 



During the past years, as appears from a papei 

 in the N. E. Farmer, Mr Holt, a gentleman of East 

 Haddam in Connecticut, sensible of the advantages 

 of the soiling system, but experiencing some diffi-I 

 cnlty in finding a proper succession of food, espe- 

 cially the latter part of the season, followed the 

 example of a farmer near Now London in sowing 

 corn broad cast to be cut when wanted. The fol- 

 lowing he has given as the result of his experi-| 

 ment. 



On the 1.5th of June, 183(i, about 1(1 square rode 

 of ground, which had been well manured, and well 

 ploughed, were sown broad cast with horse tooth 

 (gourd seed or southern corn) at the rate of four 

 bushels of seed to the acre. The seed was then 

 lightly ploughed in with a small horse plough, af- ' 

 ter which the ground was rolled and harrowed. 

 On the 10th of August following he began to cut 

 upon the green crop of corn stalks, on the above 

 described ground. The stalks which grew from 

 the 16 rods of ground, afforded forage for a horse 

 from the 19th of August to the 8th of October, 



