1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



303 



their superiors, — that of feedinfif their full 

 grown children for some weeks after they have 

 left the nest ; working hard themselves to sup- 

 port their offspring, as young ladies and gen- 

 tlemen of leisure. 



It has been estimated on reliable data, that 

 a brood of five young robins and their two 

 parents consume on an average 200 larva? 

 daily. Add to this the number taken by other 

 birds, and the unknown cjuantity captured by 

 the nocturnal toads, and we can appreciate 

 some of the agencies that keep these marauders 

 under restraint. Yet there are other agen- 

 cies, not well understood, which occasionally 

 are more efficacious than those enumerated. 

 In 18G2 the amount of cut-worms with us, was 

 at least six times its usual number ; while in 

 1861 and I860 the number was about an aver- 

 age one. Yet during these years there was 

 no corresponding diminution and increase of 

 insectiverous birds or toads. An unusual re- 

 dundancy of tent caterpillars, canker worms, 

 field mice, &c., is occasionally followed by an 

 unusual scarcity, from causes unknown. 



Perhaps it is expected that some methods 

 ■will be suggested by which the ravages of 

 these insects may be prevented. Most cer- 

 tainly ; and the reader shall have the benefit 

 of what little I know in this direction. First, 

 then, take and pay for the New Exgland 

 Farmer, a paper too well known and appreci- 

 ated to need a word of encomium ; The Amer- 

 ican Naturalist, Salem, Mass., at $3 per 

 year, or the Practical Entomologist, published 

 monthly at Philadelphia, at 50 cents a year. 

 Next, encourage and cherish the toads and 

 birds, especially the robins, and not excepting 

 the crows, taking care to tar the seed corn, 

 according to frequent directions given in the 

 Farmer. Then drive away all the boys that 

 shoot and rob the birds, and thin out the cats. 

 Protect some of the cabbage plants with hol- 

 low cylinders or prisms, four or five inches 

 high, made of paper, bark, or thin wood. 

 For these ravagers travel in the night from 

 plant to plant ; not under ground, but on its 

 surface, and will not scale a perpendicular 

 wall, a few inches high. Last and best of all, 

 go into the cultivated fields and help the robins 

 dig the transgressors out from their shallow 

 retreat, generally immediately under a dilapi- 

 dated plant, and destroy them or collect them 

 in a dish and commit them to the love and 

 good will of the poultry. 



Salt and salt marsh mud is recommended as 

 a disperser of these and other field vermin. I 

 know that strong brine, liberally applied to 

 the laying boxes, roosts and walls of the hen- 

 house will effectually banish hen vermin ; and 

 I know that very weak brine applied to 

 squashes, cucumbers, &c., will kill the vines. 



For the protection of corn from grubs and 

 other larvas, the following remedy has been 

 given : a tablespoonful of salt and plaster, one 

 part of the former and three parts of the latter, 

 applied around the corn, not too near, as soon 



as it is up. Many intelligent farmers use a 

 similar mixture as a fertilizer ; but it is doubt- 

 ful whether so small a quantity of salt will kill 

 the larvas. I. B. Hahtwell. 



Wilkinsonville, Mass., 1867. 



QUANTITY OF SEED PER ACRE. 



There is a great diversity of opinion in this 

 country in relation to the quantity of seed re- 

 quisite to stock an acre, and we find, often- 

 times, that the want of a regular and recog- 

 nized rule in this particular, is the source of 

 serious failures, and loss of both time and 

 cash. 



The usual quantities of the several kinds of 



seed accorded to the acre in New England is, 



so far as we are acquainted with general usage, 



as follows : — 



Wheat l« bushels. 



Rye \\ " 



Ptas 2 '< 



Barley 1^102 " 



Oats 2 to 3 " 



Buckwheat 3 to 4 pecks. 



Clover seed, (red) 10 pounds. 



Indian corn 6 quarts. 



In the '^ Farmer'' s Dictionary,'''' there is a 



table in which the quantity of seed usually 



allowed to the acre by the farmers of Great 



Britain, is set down as follows : — 



Wheat 2.1 to 3^ bushels. 



Oats 4 to 6 " 



Barley 3 to 4 " 



Rye • . 2^ to 3| '< 



Peas 34 to 4| '< 



Buckwheat 2 to 2^ " 



Clover, (red) 12 to 16 pounds. 



Clover, (white) 2 to 4 " 



Trefoil . . • 2 " 



Kye grass, here called "Witch 



grass," and never sowed . . 2 " 



Turnips 2 to 3 " 



From four to six bushels of oats, and from 

 three and a half to four and a half bushels of 

 peas, would he considered rather a large allow- 

 ance here. We apprehend there is a mistake 

 in the figures, though we find that in cultivat- 

 ing the fiax plant, the most experienced grow- 

 ers In Great Britain, and particularly in Ire- 

 land, where the best flax probably In the world 

 is produced, never sow less than six bushels to 

 the acre. 



In this country, from half a bushel to three 

 pecks, and sometimes four of buckwheat, and 

 from two to two and a half of peas, ^re deemed 

 an ample allowance, even on the richest lands. 

 We may, perhaps, account for the superior 

 quantity of seed allowed by the English by 

 the well known superiority of their prepara- 

 tory labors, and their highly systematic modes 

 of cultivation. 



