VEGETABLES DESCRIPTION AND CULTURE. 219 



The light wood fires would also probably serve the same 

 purpose. 



Where the worm has eaten the ear, a secure retreat is 

 afforded to many other insects, and as the dampness from 

 the exuded sap favors the growth of mould, the remainder 

 of the ear is thus destroyed. 



The worms are brown, or green striped with brown, 

 and from half an inch to over an inch in length. They 

 are in some seasons quite destructive in the South, prefer- 

 ring the Sugar corn to the ordinary field varieties. 



The Bill-bug, or Corn-borer, (Sphenophorus), is 

 about half an inch in length, of a reddish-brown or red- 

 dish-black color. The head is furnished with a long bill 

 or trunk, whence its name. It is destructive to Southern 

 corn crops, where abundant. The bug eats into the corn- 

 stalk just at the surface of the ground, and deposits its 

 egg. The grub, when hatched, devours the substance of 

 the stalk, and at length is transformed into the pupa, or 

 chrysalis state, remaining in the stalk until spring. The 

 best remedy is to burn the cornstalks and roots, by which 

 their number, the succeeding year, is greatly lessened. 



For Seed. — Select the best ears from stalks that bear 

 more than one. 



Use. — Indian corn is prepared in a greater variety of 

 w T ays for the table than any other grain. In fact, the 

 modes of preparation alone would almost fill a volume. 

 That from the garden is mostly boiled green. Green corn 

 can be very easily preserved for w T inter use, by cutting off 

 the kernels after boiling, and drying in a shaded, airy 

 lace. Or, cut the corn off the cob, and put it in a stone 

 jar, wdth a handful of salt to a pint of corn. When the jar 

 s full, put a weight on it. When you wish to use it, re- 

 ove a little of the top, and wash and soak it over night, 

 ugar corn is the best for this purpose. 



