L'82 



THE ILLmOIS FAEMEK. 



Sept. 



The Grub. — This wvirin is doing great damagf} 

 to the corn crop i:nd moadows in the northern 

 fart of tliis State. We have t-eea acres wliere 

 the grass was perfecly dead and you could lift 

 up the su'l like a quilt on a bed, the grub having 

 jomplettily cut »hc r ooty of the grass and loosen- 

 ?d the sod. When f la-ucd over you ■will find from 

 ren to tweTity to a Fquare foot. This is one of 

 the gacred beetles of the ancients, scarabnuis 

 .sacer, and one of the many large kinds of dung 

 ..'liafers that inhabit our couutry ; an insect 

 whose " drovfsy lium " falls so often on our ear 

 luring the stillness of an autumnal twilight — 

 which digs a cylindrical hole in the earth, often 

 of considerable depth, and conveys a small quan- 

 tity of dung to the bo; torn, in which she deposits 

 her eggs. This «a3 or e of the creeping things 

 to which the E;^;yp<i!iiis pud divine 'onors, and 

 appears to have constituted one of the favorite 

 duties of that remarkable people. It was con- 

 Hecrated to the sun ; was sculptured on their 

 rings, bracelets ani o'her ornaments, and even 

 enclosed with the embalmed dead, as typical of 

 the sun which is the foundation of light and heat, 

 and the source of a 1 abundance. It came like- 

 wise to be reg'irde 1 as the emblem of fertility, 

 and we are told by Dr Clark that it is eaten by 

 the Egyptitin v^oinc:!, cvca at the prefeut day, 

 under the idea that it is cihcacious for this pur- 

 pose. 



This grub reni-i'is in its present state two 

 years bef .re it anives at maturity and comes 

 iorth a pf rrt'cc insect. When first making its ap 

 pearance it js of a ligl'.t brown color, as it ad- 

 vances in age it a'^siiraes a darker appearance. 

 Last season these beed-s were very numerous ; 

 the present crop of iarvie is the result ; we may 

 expect a cloud of the peil'ect insect next season. 

 L>o not thiiik, however, ;!ie farmers will hold theiti 

 very sacred cr wish t.-. venerate 30 mean an insect 

 as the "tumb'e bug." — Farmer's Ad. 



The above we think U a little mixed, but we 

 will not attempt to decide, but suppose the grub 

 alluded to is the .May beetle, PlnjUop haza quer- 

 cina, samples of which abound in manure heaps 

 during the summer. la the grounds of Robert 

 Douglass, at Wauk. gan, they had been very de- 

 structive to the pear seedlings. They could be 

 directly ti'ac.:'d to the manure, as they were only 

 found on that part of lite seed beds manured. — 

 The young gnitis arc now a quarter of an inch 

 long; we ".ve incHi'cd to think thoy come to ma- 

 turity the third sea on. The "tumble bug," or 

 dung beetle is of tlic same family, but we did not 

 suspect him of b-ing UMSchievcus. The truth is 

 we need a State Etitymologist, whose business it 

 should be to post our firmers up in a better per'.' 

 sonal acquaintance with the insects destructive to 

 vegetation. From pages 269 to 263 is an article 

 from Mr. Tliomas, who elves a valuable hint in 

 regard to piepared t-peciiuens of insects, to ena- 

 ble us to diitiao;ui,-:h iniividuals. If one-third of 



the money thus far thrown away on the State Ge- 

 ological survey had been paid such men as Mr. 

 Thomas and Dr, Walsh, we should have been 

 spared thousands of dollars by the army worm, 

 the chinch bug and the IJe?sian fly. We arc sick 

 and tired of seeing do-nothing farmers elected to 

 the Legislature. All such men as completely ig- 

 uorc the interest of their calling, as though they 

 had never seen a farm. It is to be hoped that in 

 the Constitutional Convention provision will be 

 made for the publication of the geological survey 

 reports and the creation, of an entymological de- 

 partment in connection with the museum of the 

 State agricultural society. At least we want 

 some one who will furnish at a cheap rate pre- 

 pared specimens of insects to enable any person 

 to make accurate comparisons. But few persons 

 know the names of insects, much less their hab- 

 its, and even with dra^wings and descriptions 

 they will often prove at fault. Works on insects 

 are also exceedingly rare, and can be fcund only 

 at long intervals ; for these and other reasons we 

 shall urge upon the Stale to fill up the void in 

 this department, and thus materially benefit the 

 farmer. While the State is paying five or sis 

 thousand dollars a year to investigate the history 

 of insects turned to stone, it would be far more 

 profitable to investigate those t ow living and 

 fiicding upon the products of our toil. 



SOEEEL AND OtIIER WeED5. — TIlC followiug 



excellent hints in a nut-shell, we find in the 

 jNIassachusetts Ploicman, which has always set 

 the example of using no more words than neces- 

 sary in saying what it has to say. — Wis. Farmer. 



"Many of our papers are giving directions for 

 killing sorrel. It seems to be "a lion in the 

 way" with some farmers, and we have heard 

 the assertion that it cannot be killed short of 

 pulltng up by hand and being laid on a dry 

 rock. 



l>ut where the soil is free of rocks there is 

 no darger of its prevailing to any extent. A 

 good plow, well held, will bury it deep enough to 

 prevent its appearance through tiie summer, pro- 

 vided that some valuable plant is encouraged to 

 take its place. Every decent soU ^vih bear some- 

 thing in the course of the summer, aud when the 

 farmer neglects to improve his lin 1 he must ex- 

 pect to find it green with some kiu'iof vegetable. 

 A good growth of clover will bury all the sorrel 

 and smother it for the whole season. A growth 

 of buckwheat will smother all other vegetation, 

 and come near killing all foul weeds." 



— A correspondent wants to know whether, 

 j considering the great utility of the ocean, poets 

 I are not wrong in calling it a "waste of water?" 



