332 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
their presence is usually indicated by a prema¬ 
ture drying of the silk. They are more numer¬ 
ous in some years than in others, but upon the 
whole are apparently increasing, at least in 
the Eastern States. In Kansas, in 1860, the 
corn crop was so much injured by this worm, 
that in some counties the yield was only 
about one-eighth of the usual amount, and 
this of inferior quality. As the presence of this 
insect is not suspected until the mischief has 
been accomplished, no remedy can be applied 
when the enemy is discovered. When the 
young worm has entered the ear it is safe ; 
even were its presence known, the husks pre¬ 
vent the direct application of anything to 
destroy it, and all remedies must be of a pre¬ 
ventive character. That which, from experi¬ 
ence in the cotton fields, seems to promise 
the best results, is to trap the moth at night 
by means of a fight. We mentioned not long 
ago the traps for the May-Bug, and similar 
lamp-traps have been invented for catch¬ 
ing this, and especially the moth of the 
Cotton Worm ( Aletia ). These are much alike 
in principle ; a lamp with or without a lan¬ 
tern, is placed in a broad shallow pan which 
holds some destructive liquid. Water with 
a little kerosene floating upon the surface, has 
been found the most effective. Some have 
used attractive liquids without the lamp. A 
mixture of molasses and vinegar, or of molas¬ 
ses and beer, without and with arsenic, has 
been tried with some success, but inferior to 
that attending the use of the lamp. To be of 
service, traps should be set very early, before 
the corn shows any sign of tassel or ear. If 
it should prove that in all cases the first 
brood feeds upon the undeveloped tassel, at¬ 
tention must be directed to this brood. Ex¬ 
periments are needed to determine what pro¬ 
portion of the staminate flowers may be re¬ 
moved, and yet leave enough to furnish suffi¬ 
cient pollen to fertilize all of the ears. That 
ordinarily a great excess of pollen is produced, 
is evident, but until we know how great this 
excess is, the destruction of the first brood 
by removing the tassel can not be practised. 
Churning with the Wind. 
Dr. G. P. Hachenberg, Travis Co., Texas, 
has a “chum” which he describes as fol- 
A WINDMILL “CHURN.” 
lows: “I place the cream in a large glass, 
air-tight jar, about two-thirds full, and ad¬ 
just the jar in fine of the axis of a wind¬ 
mill, swung low to the ground, as shown in 
the engraving herewith. The jar is placed 
inside of a box, which keeps the cream cool, 
as well as in its proper place. In very hot 
weather, ice wrapped in woollen cloth may 
be placed within the box, around the jar. 
As the windmill revolves, the jar turns with 
its axis, thus keeping up an agitation of the 
cream until the churning is effected. A con¬ 
venient method to chum by this process, is 
to put the cream in the jar in the evening, 
and remove the butter in the morning. The 
butter is not only made, but thoroughly 
worked, and taken out in a fine, firm ball. 
We might call this the tumbling process.” 
Wire Fences, and Bracing Them. 
A good fence on the farm is of the greatest 
importance, and suggestions as to the best 
kinds, and the building of them, are valuable. 
There are but few sections of our country 
where any fence can be erected so cheaply as 
the common barbed wire fence, now being 
used so extensively throughout the Western 
States. A wire fence, properly put up, is as 
effectual in turning stock, which has become 
accustomed to it, as a stone wall or a board 
cation. These compounds are very soluble,, 
and if no crop is on the soil, they are washed 
out . to a large extent by the rains. The 
roots—Turnips, Swedes, Mangolds, etc., take 
up these compounds of nitrogen, and use 
them in growth. In this way they are not 
only saved, but become an important element 
of the food of animals. After passing through 
and serving the farm stock, they are in large 
part returned to the land, to feed succeeding 
crops. The root crop does not grow to itself 
alone, and therefore should be a part of a rota¬ 
tion, where fertility of the soil is to be kept 
up, and good crops raised at the same time.. 
o 
1 - ' 
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|| 
i .y ...... 
METHODS OF BRACING WIRE FENCE POSTS, 
fence; and although an animal may be oc¬ 
casionally injured, there is on the whole but 
little danger to be apprehended in using it. 
Four wires, all barbed, are generally used. 
The fence could be made much cheaper, and 
nearly or quite as effective, by using two 
strands of common wire in connection with 
two barbed wires, placing them alternately, 
a barbed wire at the bottom, about one foot 
from the ground for cattle, and closer for 
sheep. To turn horses and cattle, it is well 
to fasten a strip of lath, whitewashed or 
painted white, to the top wire. This aids 
the stock in determining the proximity to a 
fence in the dusk, when, without this, 
they might run into it and be injured. 
The most essential thing to observe in 
building a wire fence is the bracing of the 
end-posts. They are usually braced from the 
inside, which I think is a mistake, as the 
wires always have a tendency to lift the posts 
from the ground, and thereby become slack. 
A far better way is as follows : Take a 3 / e -incli 
rod and bolt one end through the post, be¬ 
tween the uppermost two wires, shown at a 
in the engraving, and fasten the other end of 
the rod to a large stone or log, sunk three or 
four feet below the surface on the outside of 
the post. When it is desirable to drive nearer 
the end post than the brace will allow, the 
second post may be braced, b, and the support 
carried to the end-post by means of a piece 
of scantling, c. Braced in this manner, the 
wires have a tendency to pull down the end- 
posts instead of lifting them ; and when the 
work is properly done, a fence will remain in 
place, and be of service until two-thirds of 
the posts have rotted off. A stretcher is not 
only convenient but necessary in facilitating 
the construction of a well-built wire fence. 
F. H. McFarland, Dallas Co., Iowa. 
The Root Crop.— The active growth of 
the root crop takes place late in the season, 
and in this respect it differs materially from 
the cereals. The grains begin to “ shoot ” in 
early spring, and conclude growing before 
midsummer arrives. During the hot weather, 
the nitrates are formed in the greatest abun¬ 
dance by the chemical process called nitrifi¬ 
Attractive Country Roads. 
BY EBEN E. REXFORD. 
At the West we rarely see a country road 
that has much attractiveness about it, save 
in the newly-settled portions, where men 
have not had time to commit 
the wholesale sacrilege of de¬ 
stroying every tree and shrub. 
There is no reason why our 
roads should not be made as. 
pleasant as our farms. They 
can be, at little expense. Leave 
the work of beautifying them 
to Nature. Every year she makes an ef¬ 
fort to do what man fights against per¬ 
sistently. Trees start up along the fences, 
and shrubs take shelter behind old logs, and 
stones, and stumps, and make an effort to 
obtain a foothold there. If these could be 
left to grow, it would not be long before a 
now bare and cheerless strip of road would 
beoome a pleasant thing to see. In travelling 
over it, a constant succession of delightful 
views would be afforded, and the eye and 
the mind would enjoy the variety. 
I wish I could prevail on every road-master 
to leave a tree here and there, to grow, in a. 
few years, into a beauty and a blessing. Let 
them make nooks by the wayside, where 
weary travellers can pause beneath the shade 
on summer days, and rest. Let shrubs grow 
by the rocks and in the fence corners. I do. 
not mean that they should allow every bush 
to grow, until the road-side becomes a thicket,, 
but that a few of the many Nature has- 
planted should be left to help break up the 
monotony of the highway. At the West 
most roads are straight, and consequently 
lack the charm of angle and curve, which 
characterizes the roads among the Eastern 
hills. The only way in which the monotony 
of these straight, level roads, can be over¬ 
come, is by breaking up the sameness, by al¬ 
lowing trees to grow, and encouraging Nature 
in her efforts to reclaim the landscape that 
has been wrested from her control. We lose 
sight of the beautiful in our efforts to “get 
ahead.” They understand these things bet¬ 
ter in the Old World, where nothing is more 
beautiful and picturesque than bits of road¬ 
side scenery, usually bordered by hedges. 
The main object of a road is, of course, its. 
usefulness, and a road cannot be too good. 
But usefulness and beauty can be made to go 
hand in hand. In making a road ornamen¬ 
tal, it by no means follows that we neglect 
the practical questions of how it can best 
be made to serve the purposes of travel. 
As a general thing, our roads are much too. 
wide; they should be only wide enough to 
allow vehicles to pass. Ordinarily, there are- 
two beaten tracks, with wide spaces between 
these and the fences, to grow up to weeds. 
