THE SOUTHE 



RN PLANTER. 



265 



yielding double the quantity of those above 

 the line, and but a lew feet apart. It was also 

 noticeable, that while worms had seriously in- 

 jured the corn above the ditch, not a hill was 

 molested below, as far as the water had 

 reached. And here I will remark that on all 

 irrigated lands the grasshopper ceases to be " a 

 burden " to the farmer, and the same may be 

 said of all the various insects and worms that 

 prey upon vegetation, whose combined depre- 

 dations often deprive him of one-half of the 

 product of the hay-field. Indeed, every de- 

 scription of vermin, which burrow beneath, or 

 live on the surface, always to the annoyance 

 of the farmer, find no resting place on irriga- 

 ted land. 



Time will not now permit me to go into a ge- 

 neraldetailof directions in relation to fertilizing 

 land with water. I will observe, however, that 

 all irrigation, after vegetation has commenced 

 in the spring, should be, if practicable, applied 

 only in the night, or between the setting and 

 rising of the sun, and gradually discontinued 

 as the season advances, and by the first of 

 August entirely withheld, except to supply the 

 deficiency which may be needed in the absence 

 of rains. I am aware that but small portions 

 of a country can be benefited by irrigation, 

 yet when we look at the extent it is practised 

 in the eastern hemisphere, where the surface 

 is more flat and level than here, it certainly 

 can be done to a still greater extent in many 

 of these states. Indeed, there are methods 

 adapted to both level and hilly districts, which 

 can be as easily resorted to here as in foreign 

 countries. When the least doubt exists with 

 regard to the practicability of irrigation, the 

 eye should not be trusted without the aid of 

 a correct levelling: instrument. All streams 

 seek and flow through the lowest grounds and 

 valleys in their vicinity ; consequently by the 

 laws of gravitation, aided by the spring fresh- 

 ets and rains, the soluble salts, the finely di- 

 vided organic matters, and the richest parts of 

 all soils, are gradually moving towards the 

 place where waters flow, and are continually 

 passing away with the current, and this forms 

 one of the drawbacks upon the permanent fer- 

 tility of soils. To arrest these matters from 

 wholly passing away and being lost, is one of 

 the important ends of irrigation. Even the 

 smallest rills which flow but a few weeks in 

 spring, may in most cases be diverted from 

 their natural courses, and spread upon meadow 

 or plough lands, in a few years rendering other 

 and more expensive manures unnecessary as 

 far as their waters reach; and it is certainly a 

 great addition to the value of any farm, if the 

 location admits of a portion of the same being 

 fertilized by means of water, without going to 

 an unreasonable expense. With this view, a 

 careful examination of every stream which the 

 farmer has at his command, should be made, 

 and this, in most cases, can easily be done. 



A. B. 



From Hovey's Magazine of Horticulture. 



THE CURCULIO AND CODLING MOTH. 



Their Habits, and the Best Means of Preventing 

 their Ravages upon Fruits. 



BY M. H. SIMPSON. 



Dear Sir— My attention has been called to 

 examine the insects which are destructive to 

 fruits, and to ascertain their habits, in conse- 

 quence of being a sufferer for a number of 

 years. As the information may be of use, I 

 herewith submit the result of my experiments 

 and observation. There are only two insects 

 which have caused me any trouble; the others 

 are all easily destroyed, viz: Curculio and 

 Codling moth. These two have destroyed the 

 past year seven-eighths of my apples, cherries, 

 plums and peaches, and have disfigured the pears 

 by their punctures. 



THE CURCULIO. 



The curculios commenced puncturing the 

 fruit about the sixth of June, and deposited 

 the ir eggs in lull three-fourths of the apples, 

 causing them to drop when very small, and to 

 an equal extent the cherry and peach. The 

 plums would have been all destroyed, but for 

 the means adopted in saving them: this was 

 by shaking the trees, the insect falling upon, 

 cotton cloth, extended over a frame, which I 

 placed under the tree, and also by placing a 

 frame over the tree, and extending worsted 

 netting over it, which was sufficiently open to 

 admit air and light. The labor and expense 

 of these methods are considerable, and I hope 

 better plans may be found, one of which I am 

 now experimenting upon with some prospect 

 of success. 



I showered the trees, before the buds broke, 

 with whitewash, with a hand engine, covering 

 the branches entirely; the time required for a 

 moderate sized tree was only five minutes, and 

 the expense of lime hardly worth estimating. 

 If this does not answer the purpose, 1 shall 

 syringe the fruit when but little larger than a 

 common bean; myexperimentshave convinced 

 me that this latter method is a sure preventive. 

 I found four of the larvae in one apple nearly 

 ready to go into the ground, where they go 

 through their crysalis state, and remain until 

 the following season in a torpid condition. I 

 have produced the perfect insect from the larvae 

 which were found in the apple, peach and cher- 

 ry. In about four weeks the larva? attain their 

 full size, and are then known as the cherry and 

 peach worm, generally so called, and also the 

 small apple worm ; and they are the cause of 

 the cherry and peac h rot by their late punctures. 

 Respecting the habits of this insect, I have no- 

 ticed that they commence their attacks on the 

 fruit from the first to the tenthof June. I have 

 seen them as late as the 1st September, but 



