96 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



" Tliere is a worm here that feeds upon clover hny. Tt is of a reddish 

 brown color, with a bright red head, and is about three-fourths of an inch 

 long-. It begins its ravages towards the latter part of the feeding season 

 at the bottom of the mow, and works its way upwards, devouring the 

 heads and leaves. It leaves in its pathway a filniy web which gives the 

 impression to the careless observer, that the hay has become mouldy from 

 having been stowed away too green. When the hay is thrown out, a sub- 

 stance resembling gunpowder in appearance is deposited which is probably 

 the excrement of the insect. The worm is shy and active, avoiding the 

 light, and is not apt to be observed unless sought for. 



" Tiie neighbors here had never heard of this worm till I mentioned it. 

 This may be owing to there being but little clover hay made h(;re, and 

 that being generally fed out early ; or perhaps the worm is a new comer. 



Two years ago I noticed the bad appearance of the hay at the bottom of 

 the mow, but did not discover the cause till a year later. By the last of 

 February of last year, I found the worms had penetrated two or three feet 

 from the bottom, and when I came to the bottom in April there was not a 

 head or leaf of clover to bo seen ; nothing but the naked stems, with a little 

 mixture of timothy, which was not disturbed. Last spring they made 

 their appearance much later than before. I saw nothing of them till April, 

 when within six or eight inches of the bottom of the mow. They had 

 evidently just begun to work. 



Pigeon Manure. 



Mr. Solon Robinson — A correspondent wishes to know the best way to 

 use pigeon manure. I reply that "I have used within two or^three years 

 past about 150 barrels of pigeon manure, obtained from city dove cotes. 

 It has proved eminently successful until the present year, when, owing to 

 the drought, it has in most cases been useless, and in some injurious. My 

 mode of using it has been to mix it with five or six times its bulk of muck, 

 mold or loam, makiiig up the pile out of doors where it would be exposed 

 to the rain which softens the lumps, and by frequent turning mixing the 

 ingredients well together, so that the whole mass is extremely rich and 

 well suited for any kind of manurial purposes. It will bo good for straw- 

 berries in a rainy season, and good for nothing in a dry one. It is purely 

 an ammoniacal manure, and like guano and other manures of that class, 

 requires moisture to develop its value." 



Shooting Catterpillars. 



Mr. Thomas G. Redding, Royal Oak, Michigan, recommends by his own 

 experience the plan of shooting catterpillars' nests from trees as the best 

 way to get rid of them. " Load the gun with a small charge of powder 

 without wad. Place the muzzle of the gun near the nest, and its explosion 

 explodes all the worms." His theory about producing sweet and sour 

 apples by joining the halves of buds from sweet and sour trees, has been 

 so often and thoroughly exploded that it would be a waste of powder to 

 fire at it again. 



