1863. 



THE ILLmOIS FARMER 



24:7 



weeks since, for the preservation of their locust 

 trees, and with admirable effect : 



Bore a hole into the heart of the tree ; put into 

 the same from thirty to forty grains of calomel, and 

 then plug the hole tight. A trial of this recipe has 

 completely stayed the ravages of the borer, and 

 saved the trees. Quite a number of men have 

 tried it, and more are about doing so. In one case 

 a gentleman in town had, on several still evenings, 

 by listening, heard the borers at work ; but since 

 putting in the calomel he has heard nothing of 

 them, neither does he discover any fresh dust at 

 the foot of the trees. 



All should try it immediately. — ^z. 



— Well, try it, as we think it a good place for 

 calomel, much better than to be taken into the 

 stomach of any member of the farmer's family. 

 By all means dispose of all the calomel on hand, 

 but we would make no new purchase for this pur- 

 pose. E». 



4»t 



Seeds — Thickness of Sowing, 



A pound of barley contains about 15,000 grains; 

 if three bushels be sown on an acre, it will aver- 

 age 600 grains to every 3 feet square. In a pound 

 of turnip seed, there are computed to be from 

 180,000 to iOO,000 seeds; if three pounds be sown 

 per acre in rows 2 feet apart, every yard in length 

 will contain about lOOseeds, In order to present 

 this subject in an intelligent light before the read- 

 er, the following table is presented : 



No. of seeds No. seeds sown 



Plants. per lb. per acre. 



Wheat 10,000 1,000,000 



Oats 10,000 3,000,000 



Barley 15,000 2,500,000 



Rye 20,000 8,500,000 



Beans 1,000 140,000 



Peas 2,000 300,000 



Turnips ., 180,000 500,000 



Mangel Wurtzel *20,000 140,000 



Carrots 200,000 1,400,000 



Parsnips 100,000 700,000 



Rape 120,000 1,200,000 



"Vetches 8,000 1,800,000 



Sainfoin 20,000 2,000,000 



Luceane 200,000 3,000 000 



Flax 100,000 15,000,000 



Red Clover 250,000 2,500,000 



*Every Mangel seed is a capsule, containing two 

 or three seeds. 



Grass seeds vary in number from 500,000 to 

 3,000,000 per pound, and in weight from 4 or 5 

 pounds, in case of meadow Fox-tail to 49 pounds 

 as Timothy, for example, per bushel — from 2 to 

 10 pounds being sown per acre in mixture with 

 other grass seeds. These statements serve to give 

 one an arithmetical estimate of the thickness of 

 seeding in case the seeds are good, and are well 

 covered. — Ux. 



i»> 



The Locusts Gone. 



The dismal music from field and wood that greet- 

 ed the ears of the people throughout a wide range 

 of Eastern Ohio during the hot days of June and 

 well into July, is stilled, and "all is quiet" on the 

 Tuscarawas, and in the valleys of other famous 



sections in that region. The locusts have departed 

 — retreated, fled, and not even the veriest scout 

 can find the line of their retreat. But that they 

 "fall back" terribly "demoralized," so much so that 

 they will not be able again to marshal their hosts 

 for seventeen years, is not doubted. The Canton 

 Repository thus speculates oo their sudden "taking 

 off:" 



"The holes in the ground from which they 

 emerged, are not all closed up yet, but it i? not 

 probable that they have departed by tlie same ave- 

 nues through which they came ; and it is equally 

 improbable that they have been smitten with a 

 sudden disgust with the world and dug into the 

 earth again, to wait for seventeen long years for 

 'something to turn up,' before they accept natural- 

 ization papers. Neither is it probable that they 

 have concentrated as the birds do in the autumn, 

 for a grand flight southward to re-inforce that oth- 

 er pest which flaunts a uniform of their color ; for 

 one pestilence at a time will do in a country, es- 

 pecially if that evil takes the hideous shape of se- 

 cession, and were there not valid reasons against 

 the theory of their southern migration, there is 

 still a potent one remaining, that is, the sun of the 

 Cotton Confederacy has set in eternal darkness, 

 and even locusts, stupid as they are, have a weak- 

 ness for the sunshine." — Ohio Farmer. 



The way to Prevent the Rayages of the 

 Chintz Bug. 



That this bug is a very troublesome and destruc- 

 tive insect is admitted by all farmers. Much has 

 been written concerning its destructive qualities, 

 and^'the desolations which follow in the train of its 

 operations. Some remedies have been proposed 

 for its destjuction, but hitherto without much suc- 

 cess. In order to become successful with the cure 

 it is necessary to become acquainted with the pro- 

 ducing cause of the vermin. This cause is the pov- 

 erty of the soil. The agriculturist exhausts the 

 soil without any, or with but small recuperation of 

 its exhausted powers, and the result is, the pro- 

 duction of these destructive little insects. Just 

 like poor, half fed, half cared for cattle, producing 

 lice, and other insects, denoting poverty and 

 wretchedness. We were taken through a large 

 field of a thrifty, experimenting farmer, as he was 

 cutting his wheat last week, and he gave us his ex- 

 perience thus. — This part of the field, said he, is 

 sadly injnred by the bug, there are not more than 

 eight bushels to the acre if so much. Then he 

 showed me the bug on a stalk of corn close by, 

 where there were hundreds of them, as they had 

 fled from the wheat to the corn. We went on, 

 and came to where the wheat was as fine as you 

 could wish to behold. Higher, thicker, firmer, 

 noble ears, and taking two in his hands and rubbing 

 out the grain, he showed me as fine, plump kernels' 

 as it was desirable to see. This part of the field 

 said he, I manured, and spread it well over the 

 ground, and plowed it down in August, and here 

 there are no chintz bugs, and I have three times as 

 much grain and straw, as where there was no ma- 

 nure put. And I am persuaded that the chintz 

 bug is the result of the poverty of the land, for the 

 soil and plowing are the same, and it has had the 

 same crops, and nothing but the manure has made 

 the difference. I would advise farmers to experi- 



