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206 



THE ILLINOIS FAKMER. 



July 



Rye for Sheep. 



Rye is one of the most valuable of the 

 green feeds for sheep. A friend of ours, 

 an amateur farmer who has his means all 

 locked up in real estate, but who is deter- 

 mined to make it pay his expenses in spite 

 of the hard times for all real estate spec- 

 ulators, enclosed four hundred acres, which 

 he rents out on shares, the most of which 

 has been cultivated in corn since the crash 

 ot 1857. Betjinninf;- to fear that his third 

 of the corn crop would not pay his taxes 

 on some thousands of acres of wild land, 

 with his other expenses, applied to his 

 arithmetic, which convinced him that a 

 thousand good mutton sheep would help 

 him out; so after the corn was laid by he 

 persuaded one of his tenants to allow him 

 to sow some thirty acres of rye among the 

 corn. His thousand sheep were purchased 

 in August, herded wherever he could find 

 feed until the corn was ripe, when they were 

 tuz'ned on the young rye, and which was 

 their principal feed until the first of June, 

 when it was turned under and planted to 

 corn. A portion of the crop' was well fed 

 down, but had it not been for the standing 

 corn stalks a respectable crop could have 

 been harvested from a part of the field. — 

 Here was the large part of the feed of a 

 thousand sheep for eight months costing 

 twelve dollars for seed and about the same 

 for labor, and returning the land in far bet- 

 ter condition than it was before, no doubt to 

 the extent of the seed and labor. We have 

 never seen a lot of sheep and lambs at this 

 season in so good condition as this rye fed 

 flock. 



The flock is now on the prairie, and will 

 remain there until his meadow is ready to 

 turn into, when the rye pasture will be re- 

 peated. He will clear at least fifteen hun- 

 dred dollars the first year in this operation, 

 the result of brains in farmins;. 



-*a»- 



frain rf all kinds has been lavishly sown 

 in southern Peunsylviinia and Maryland, and 

 gives evidence of a superabundant harvest. 



The Curculio. 



A late number of the Horticulturist contains a 

 commuDJcation from an old snd well known cul- 

 tivaior of Cincinnati, reviewing and rriticising 

 the diiffrent modes which have been adopted for 

 destroying or eluding this troublesome insect. — 

 He says, " some shake the trees- I believe this 

 would be a safe remedy if tliey W( uld begin at 

 daylight, and shake the trees till night, not even 

 leaving the trees to eat their meals." We entirely 

 agree with him. Where the insects are not abun- 

 dant, a less frequent or continued shaking might 

 answer. But this "shaking" n<ust not b3 con- 

 founded with the greatly superior process of jar- 

 ring the insects on sheets aud desiroyiny them. — 

 Many have merely tried the tirst remedy orca- 

 sionnily, and from its failure have denounced the 

 I'tter, supposing them to be neariy identical. — 

 There is scarcely any resemblance between them. 

 Shaking repels or drops only a portion of these 

 depredators ; many remain fast in the tree. Go 

 to a tree that cx)ntaius twenty curculios, as is 

 sometimes «he case where they have been un- 

 molested ; "shake" it, and perhaps one third, 

 or popdbly one-half will fall; "jar" it with the 

 hand, or strike it with a mallet wound with cloth, 

 to prevent bruising, and perhaps one-half of the 

 remainder will fall; strike it s-liarply with the 

 back of an axe, and every one will come down. 

 All this we know from experience. To prevent 

 bruising, a limb should be sawed near the body 

 of the tree, leaving a stump an inch long to re- 

 ceive the blow. Now it will be observed that 

 there will bo enough left after the shaking to 

 pu- cture fill the fruit, or even after the soft jar- 

 ring, whicii in a sufficient reason why these modes 

 have failed, or but partially succeeded. The 

 d;ii!y or twice daily jarring must be continued 

 fur several weeks, in order to kill the new com- 

 ers which daily appear. By intermitting two or 

 three days Ihe fruit may be all stung, which is 

 another cause of failure. It is not necessary to 

 cite the many instances which we have witness- 

 ed where the jarrinpj and killirg process has 

 proved completely effectual. Shaking alone, 

 without killing which appears to be the mode 

 all'ided to by the writer, can accomplish but 

 little, unless constantly repeated, as the insects 

 will soon find their way b%ck to the trees. 



The next mode which this correspondent al- 

 ludes to, is the use of "various washes and 

 fumigations of horrible odors," and "offensive 

 manures under the trees." He thinks these 

 might succeed, but adds, "I should not wish 

 to live in the house, nor make the family a 

 minute's visit," where these odors filled the air. 

 " If they would not meet the approval of the 

 curculio, they would not n;eet mine." 



He recommends planting trees so as to bang 

 over water; but this would be inconvenient, and 

 often impossible, and the editor remarks that it 

 has repeatedly failed. 



He especially recommends paving under the 

 tree. This would prevent a future crop being 

 destroyed, as the larvtc could not escace into the 

 earth, aud must consequertly perish on the hard 

 surface. It will not kill the insects of this 

 year, uor cure the fruit already stung, and is 



