tm 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



cured. It must thus remain until the weather is 

 damp enough to make it soft and pliable. Then 

 it may be cut down b}' one and passed to another, 

 who packs it in a double row, tip to tip, as seen 

 in the following cut : 



"When thus packed, it should be well covered 

 with straw or cornstalks to prevent drying. Strip 

 it soon after it is taken down, and be careful it 

 does not heat while piled as above. Make two 

 qualities by putting the lower and other poor 

 leaves in bands by themselves." Some make 

 three grades, the best leaves usually being those 

 on the middle of the stalk. 



In harvesting, some growers begin when a ma- 

 jority of the plants are ripe, and cut clean as they 

 go; others begin earlier, and cut as it ripens. 

 Both ways have their advantages and their disad- 

 vantages. As in this respect, so in others, good 

 growers differ in regard to points of culture and 

 cui'ing, every man whose mind is engaged in his 

 business profiting from his own annual observa- 

 tion and experience. 



In stripping, a sufficient number of leaves is 

 tied together to form a "ba?id," and the leaves are 

 bent over, forming a head, around which a wrap- 

 per is wound and tied. These are laid in piles, 

 the bent ends outward, which, after a few days, 

 will be ready to pack. In Maryland, Virginia, 

 and Kentucky, tobacco is packed in hogsheads, in 

 Massachusetts and Connecticut, in boxes, and 

 thus sent to market. 



We are indebted to Mr. Wm. L. Bradley, of 

 No. 24 Broad Street, for the use of the accompa- 

 nying cuts, and for many of the suggestions we 

 have given, Mr. Bradley has originated a Tobac- 

 co Fertilizer, to promote the early and rapid 

 growth of the plants, which has received the high- 

 est recommendations from some of the Connecti- 

 cut Valley farmers. We shall give, in another ar- 

 ticle, some plans of drying houses. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CANKEB WOBMS. 



Mr. Brown : — An article in Harper's Maga- 

 zine for February, in treating of the "Geometer, 

 or Measuring Worm," makes a very strange mis- 

 take as to the time when the eggs of the creature 

 are deposited upon the trees. 



The writer, at the outset, calls the geometer 

 "the insect which has, of late years, become so great 

 an annoyance by its destruction of shade and fruit 

 trees." He adds, "it is a melancholy sight to see 

 a tree upon which they have done their work. 

 One would think that a fire had passed over it 

 and robbed it of its life and glory." 



This language clearly indicates the can'ke'^ 

 worm, which is such a pest among us. But this 

 insect is 7iot "produced from an egg which is de- 

 posited mainly in July," as the writer asserts. 

 The eggs of the canker worm are deposited at any 

 time, between the last of October 

 and the first of May in the follow- 

 ing year, when the state of the 

 ground is such that the female, 

 which matures beneath the sur- 

 face, can escape, and ascend the 

 body of the tree. 



One or two varieties of the 

 measuring worm, do, I think, 

 spring from eggs deposited in Ju- 

 ly. But these are not the canker 

 worm, nor closely allied to it ; nor 

 do these ever "create destruction 

 among the fruit trees." The mistake of the writ- 

 er arises from confounding the two members of 

 the same family, one of which does all the mis- 

 chief, while the other is harmless. 



By the way, now that it occurs to me, last night 

 and the night before, (March 9th and 10th,) I 

 found the trunks of my apple trees swarming 

 with the canker worm millers, (the males,) but 

 not a solitary female could I discovei*. Does not 

 this seem to indicate what some claim to be the 

 fact, that the males are not perfected under the 

 ground, while the females we know are ? On ex- 

 amination I found frost still in the ground, at a 

 depth of four or five inches, though there was but 

 a thin crust left. Were the millers waiting for 

 the appearance of their wingless companions ? 

 It really seems so. 



I shall send you before long the result of some 

 experiments upon the creature during the past 

 fall and winter. W. Guild. 



Newton, March 11, 1864. 



Remarks. — We shall be glad to hear from our 

 correspondent ft-equently. 



J^or the New England Farmer. 

 AATILD PARSNIPS. 



I have purchased a farm on which there are 

 some wild parsnips. Being about to leave the 

 business of selling goods for that of tilling the 

 soil, and being a constant reader of your inter- 

 esting paper, I thought you might give me some 

 information how to get rid of the miserable stuff. 



S. W. Pollard. 



Addison, Vt, March 1, 1864. 



Remarks. — The wild parsnip is also known 

 under the name of "cowbane," and is a danger- 

 ous plant to have about. It is reported to be an 

 I active poison, particularly to horned cattle, when 

 eaten by them ; and therefore, every farmer ought 

 to be interested in knowing the plant and causing 

 it to be eradicated from his fields. 



If it is not very plenty, it should be pulled out 

 just as fast as it appears, and is large enough to 

 get a fair hold of it. If it is abundant, we know 

 of no way of extermmating it except by plowing 

 and cultivating the ground. 



Where parsnip seed is raised, it ought not to 

 be allowed to scatter over the ground and be 



