1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



177 



Figure 4. 

 Common Flat Body Moth. 



Figs. 2 and 3, the moth at rest, and of the nat- 

 ural size. 



Fig. 4, caterpillar of the moth. 



Figs, o and 6, the pupa of natural length. 



Fig. 7, the pupa rolled up in a leaf of the plant. 



In cultivating a field crop of the parsnip, the 

 rows should be far enough apart to use a horse- 

 hoe or cultivator, say two and a half feet, which 

 will secure a crop for about one-half the cost re- 

 quired to work them by hand. The plants in the 

 rows ought not to be nearer than six or eight 

 inches of each other. The ground should be fre- 

 quently stirred, — especially if the season bo a dry 

 one, — and if a subsoil plow were passed through 

 between the rows once or twice during the sum- 

 mer it would considerably aid the crop. By this 

 process we have raised parsnips at the rate of a 

 tJiousand bushels to the acre, nearly every one of 

 which was long, smooth, and almost as white as 

 snow. The only difficulty in securing the crop 

 was in digging ; the man doing that work saying 

 that he "coidd dig post holes about as fast." We 

 hope many of our farmers will commence in a 

 small way to cultivate this valuable crop. If they 

 do, we suggest that twenty-four hours before sow- 

 ing the seed, they wring out a piece of cotton cloth 

 in warm water, and wrap the seed in it, wliich will 

 very much facilitate its germination. i 



Singular Facts in Human Life. — The av- 

 erage length of human life is about 28 years. 

 One-quarter die previous to the age of 7 ; one- 

 half before reaching 17. Only one of every 1000 

 persons reaches 100 years. Only six of every 100 

 reaches the age of 65, and not more than one in 

 500 lives to 80 years of age. Of the whole pop- 

 ulation on the globe, it is estimated that 90,000 

 die every day ; about 3700 every hour and 60 

 every minute, or one every second. These losses 

 are more than counterbalanced by the number of 



births. The married are longer lived than the 

 single. The average duration of life in all civil- 

 izccl countries is greater now than in any anterior 

 period. Macaulay, the distinguished historian, 

 states that in the year 1685 — not an unhealthy 

 year- — the deaths in England were as one to 20, 

 but in 1850, one to 40. IJupni, a well known 

 French writer, states that the average duration of 

 life in France from 1776 to 1843, increased 52 

 days annually. The rate of mortality in 1781 

 was one in 29, but in 1850, one in 40. The rich 

 men live on an average 42 years, but the poor 

 only 30 years. — Free Nation. 



For the New England Fanner. 

 WHEW SHALL "WE PLOW? 



Mr. Editor : — I find tliis question propounded, 

 and partly answered, in your issue of November 

 9, by Mr. George Campbell, of West Westminster, 

 Vt., who seems to favor fall plowing on account of 

 its forwarding the spring work M'hen farmers are 

 hurried, and probably killing many worms and in- 

 sects by exposing them to the frost, &c. He notes, 

 also, that the soil will be pulverized by the action 

 of frost and the atmosphere. Most will readily 

 admit his views as true, and yet not be fully per- 

 suaded that it is good economy to seed this fall 

 plowed land in the s]3ring, without again plowing 

 most thoroughly. Weeds and foul stufi" will be 

 sure to vegetate as soon as the frost is out in the 

 spring, and no process for putting in grain is so 

 efiectual an exterminator as a good plowing. 

 Then, again, lands lying several months after be- 

 ing plowed, become packed by repeated rains, and 

 are almost as hard in the spring as if they had re- 

 mained unplowed in the fall. 



The plow I regard as the farmer's great fertili- 

 zer. It is impossible to use it too often on our 

 fields where the sod has decayed. Speed the plow, 

 should be the motto of every farmer. Nothing 

 like it to counteract the cff'ects of drought. Noth- 

 ing Kke its free use in securing a bountiful har- 

 vest. I say plow ! Plow in the fall — plow in the 

 spring — plow at all times when you can. Can't 

 plow too often. 



As to fall plowing of sod land, very much de- 

 pends upon the character of the soil. A stiff clay 

 would undoubtedly be better for fall plowing, as 

 the winter's frost would greatly subdue it. But a 

 sandy, or vegetable loam, I think, had best be 

 plowed in the spring, as near the time of planting 

 as possible. 



My reasons for this are, that they do not receive 

 but little advantage from winter frosts when 

 plowed, and do not admit of rcplowing in the 

 spring, as by so doing we would be liable to dis- 

 turb the sod and waste much of its value. If not 

 plowed in the spring, much more labor is required 

 to keep the weeds down through the sumracr. 



I will here refer to a piece of meadow, of four 

 acres of vegetable loam, my father commenced 

 plowing in the foil, for the purpose of destroying 

 worms he knew infested it. It so happened that 

 frost set in when he had about half plowed the 

 piece, and the remainder was plowed in the 

 spring ; the part plowed in the fall was, as to 

 quality, esteemed a little the best of the field. The 

 spring plowing was done just before planting ; the 

 ; whole field was thorouglily harrowed, the fall- 



