36 Bulletin op the New York State Museum. 



" I tried the salt by selecting a piece of ground occupied for 

 three years by a straw-rick, and upon which my cattle ran. After 

 removing the old straw and manure and top-dressing the adjoining 

 field, I selected this spot, as I had always found worms worse in such 

 places. Immediately after planting the corn, I applied one table- 

 spoonful of salt scattered over the hill. Not a hill was touched by 

 cut-worms, but all around this plot, where salt ivas not applied the 

 worms cut two to three out of five hills, and we often found one to 

 fifteen cut-worms in a hill, but none where salt was applied." 



Mr. du Fief also bears testimony to the value of the copperas 

 preventive. He gives his manner of preparing the seed-corn, which 

 differs slightly from that stated above mainly in time of soaking. 



" I pulverized two pounds of copperas at night, and the next 

 morning put in soak, and I put one and a half bushels of corn in 

 soak in a separate vessel at night. After soaking twelve hours, I 

 poured off the water from the corn into a tub; I then added as much 

 water as will cover the corn, and add to it the copperas water, and 

 thoroughly mix and pour over the corn, and let it remain in cop- 

 peras water twelve hours; I then poured off the copperas water 

 and rolled the seed-corn in J. J. T 's Excelsior, or plaster;" 



Condensing his details — a forty-four acre field was planted in 

 corn — first ten acres without the copperas preparation — next to it 

 nearly ten acres with the prepared seed, and the remainder with 

 unprepared — all treated alike, except the copperas application. 

 He writes: 



" To the surprise and satisfaction of myself and hands it [the 

 prepared corn] came up regular, green and vigorous, and grew 

 rapidly. I soon found it necessary to replant. I found, on 

 examination, not a hill cut or a worm to be found where the copperas 

 ivas used, and the entire field elsewhere cut from two or three hills 

 out of five, with, sometimes, fifteen cut-worms in a hill." 



The results, as obtained by his neighbors, as well as by himself, 

 were pronounced most marked and astonishing ( Country Gentleman, 

 for April 23, 1874, p, 259, c. 3). 



Mr. E. Harvey, of Chester county, Pennsylvania, confirms the 

 efficacy of the salt application, as above directed (not applied to the 

 blades of corn, which it will kill), based upon the results of a great 

 many trials made by a great many different persons during the last 

 fifteen or more years (Oomitry Gentleman, for July 2, 1874, 

 p. 419, c. 4). 



