1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



507 



small cost. The boards may be of cheap stuff; 

 the clapboards ought to be pretty good. 



We hope the foregoing will be of some use to 

 our correspondents, and particularly to Master 

 Elldns, whom we are especially anxious to assist 

 in his fight with an insect that has proved itself a 

 match for much older and more experienced per- 

 sons. The receipt he sends us would be no pro- 

 tection against the canker worm. Nothing short 

 of an utter impossibility will prevent the ascent of 

 the grub. 



SQUASH BORER. 



I have a field of Hubbard squashes which have 

 looked well until lately. The vines seem to dry 

 up, and in hills where vines have not commenced 

 to run, the stalks are eat off under the ground. 

 Larger vines wliich have put out a number of leaves 

 seem to be drying, wilting up and dying out. Can 

 you tell me the cause and a cure ? h. a. m. 



Hudson, y. H., July 1 7, 1871. 



Remarks. — Some cultivators have had to aban- 

 don squash raising on account of this destructive 

 insect. The first scientific description of it ever 

 published was written for the New England Far- 

 mer, (old series) by Prof. T. W. Harris, who gave 

 it the name Egeria cucurhita;. The grub or cater- 

 pillar, that does the mischief has sixteen legs. 

 After devouring the inside of the vine it enters the 

 ground, forms a cocoon of a gummy substance 

 covered with particles of earth, changes to a crys- 

 alis, and comes forth the next summer a winged 

 ftisect. The moth is conspicuous for its orange- 

 colored body, spotted with black, and its hind legs 

 fringed with long orange-colored and black hairs. 

 It deposits its eggs on the vines close to the roots, 

 from the first of July to the middle of August. 

 From these eggs the "borer" is hatched. 



The only remedy we know of is to cover the 

 stems of the squash vines with eai-th for some dis- 

 tance from the root, and as the mother moth pre- 

 fers to leave her eggs near the root, she will leave 

 those thus protected and hunt up some other per- 

 son's vines and lay her eggs there. 



EXPERIMENTS IN MANURING FOR CORN. 



I planted a piece of ccnn this season, manuring a 

 part with horse manure, aud a part with chip ma- 

 nure which had received a little of the barnyard 

 soakings, partly as an experiment, and partly for 

 the want of any better manure. The first men- 

 tioned corn came up ahead of the other, with ap- 

 parently stronger stalks, and retained its prece- 

 dence for about three week, after which that ma- 

 nured with chip dirt shot ahead; and now at the 

 second hoeing, the rows can l)e distinguished at 

 quite a distance by the considerably larger size of 

 the stalks, and the darker hue of their color. The 

 corn was planted on poorish, sandy loam, and ma- 

 nured in the liill. I will give you the results in 

 the. fall if they are worth it. I have been told by 

 several this spring that chip dirt Or even green 

 muck is better for corn than horse or cow manure, 

 and begin to believe it myself. 



ASHES IN THE HILL. 



Did you ever know of ashes, applied in the hill, 

 killing com ? I applied about a pint to the hill on 

 a piece a short time since, and a few rows which 



did not get hoed for several days show many stalks 

 entirely rotted off close to the ground. Perhaps I 

 applied too much ashes. 



SOIL FOR ONIONS. 



Do onions require a'mellow or a hard soil ? I 

 have been told to put them on a hard soil, but am 

 having fair success on a deep mellow soil, manured 

 with hen-manure, ashes and soot, with a sprink- 

 ling of brine. 



CUT WORMS. 



The common white grub worms are doing much 

 damage by eating off the corn just htdow the 

 ground hereabouts. What will stop them, or is 

 there no relief to be had ? w. h. w. 



JSamston, Que., June 31, 1871. 



Remarks. — Send us the results of your experi- 

 ments in manuring for corn. 



Clear wood ashes would be likely to injure the 

 tender corn shoots, applied as liberally as j'ou 

 state; especially if leached by rain so as to form a 

 pretty strong lye at one time. 



Persons engaged extensively in the culture of 

 onions, state that they do better on a deep soil, but 

 one that is a little compact on the surface. 



We have never known any substance applied to 

 the soil that would destroy the white grub or cut 

 worm. Much mischief may be prevented by open- 

 ing a hill where one stalk has been cut down, and 

 hauling out the depredator. He may be found 

 readily in most cases. 



SYSTEM AND PLAN. 



Jones has a place for everything, 



And everything in place; 

 A snug tool-house— a liandy building, 



That fills its proper space. 

 Smith's toolti are lying all a-spread. 



In every way that's loose; 

 Ton might pasture an hundred head 



In his "great wagon-bouse." 



Jones aims at common sense practice 



In everything he does ; 

 Smith runs blindly — goes by guess, 



That source of many woes. 

 Jones imitates the prosperous mam 



In every noble trait, 

 Smith follows "old ruts," with no plan, 



At "a poor dying rate." 

 Maine, 1S71. J. w. L. 



■WHITE SPECKS IN BUTTER. 



White specks in butter should be avoided, as 

 they injui-e the keeping and also the sale of butter. 

 Mrs. A. M. B. in No. 23, though not a farmer's 

 wife (she ought to be,) mentions a new cream 

 strainer, &c. When the specks are in the cream, 

 and she wishes to crush them, let her try the old 

 "cheese strainer" and she will find a good cream 

 strainer unpatended. But I believe more in pre- 

 vention than cure. Therefore we v.ould find the 

 cause, then apply the remedy. First, in the spring 

 the air is very drying, and a current of air blowing on 

 the surface of the cream in the milk room, as it is 

 rising in the pans, drys it in particles so hard that 

 churning fails to break them up. Another cause. 

 Wanning the milk room by a stove, the heat rising 

 to the upper part of the room, heats the jars on the 

 top shelves so as to partially melt the cream on 

 top, and nutkes it so hard it breaks into lumps or 

 specks. After rinsing the butter, if specks remain, 

 work the butter when it is so cold and hard you 

 can hardly do it with the butter worker, aud you 

 will break many of them. If many specks remain 

 iu the buttermilk, strain them out with a seive, 



