, I 
URAL LIFE 
''aGBICIH TURpyil 
mmsm 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-F0R HIE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MAY 19, 18G0 
MOORE’S RDRAL NEW-YORKER, 
AS ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
attains its growth in about six weeks. It then 
changes to a flaxseed-like body, within which the 
worm becomes a pnpa the following spring, and 
from this the lly is evolved in ten or twelve days. 
The fly closely resembles a mosquito in its ap¬ 
pearance, but is one-third smaller, and has no 
bill for sucking blood; it is black, the joints of 
the body being slightly marked with red. It 
appears early in May, lays its eggs for another 
generation, and soon perishes. The worms from 
Granary Weevil. 
The Grain Weevil, f Calandria granaria,) is, 
in the mindB of many, confounded with tbo 
Midge. It is, however, entirely different, 
and works its mischief In the granary, after the 
wheat is stored, and old store bonnes are often 
badly infestod. It has never been as injurious in 
this country us in Europe, and the cause is, per¬ 
haps, that our wheat is not usually stored for a 
long time, and our store houses generally are of 
wood, and consequently less damp than old stone 
and brick buildings such as are used in Europe. 
It has been known in Europe for a very long 
time, and when it first made its appearance in 
this country we are unable to say. 
The granary weevil, in its perfect state, is a 
small beetle of a pitch-red color, about one-eighth 
of an inch long, with a slender snout slightly 
bent downward, a coarsely-punctured and very 
long tborax, constituting about one-half the 
length of the whole body, and wing-covers that, 
are furrowed, and do not entirely cover the tip 
of the abdomen. This little insect, both in its 
beetle and grub state, devours stored wheat and 
other cereals, and often commits much havoc in 
granaries, brew-houses, etc. 
commences cutting into the leaves, and in the 
opening deposits her egg. The larva is hatched 
in about a week, and commences feeding on the 
tivation of a heavy soil for winter wheat, and your 
custom is to follow the Crusher with the Cultivator, 
which lifts and leaves in a loose, friable state, the 
soil broken and pressed down with the Crusher.” 
That is undoubtedly true for two or three inches 
in depth; but if your hard-baked soil was turned 
over in chnnkB eight or ten inches deep, your 
Clod-Crusher, with the Cultivator to follow, would 
break and pulverize the surface only,—and when 
you have done this, your soil is packed down so 
effectually with the lino soil you have made on the 
top, that by the next spring, after the heavy rains 
and frost have carried the line particles down and 
filled all the crevices, the soil is cemented and 
baked as hard as ever again, especially if followed 
by rains snllicienl to wash the fine particles of earth 
to the pressed clods beneath. 1 have often seen 
it so fine on top that in the spring it run together 
and looked like soap; and when the dry weather 
commenced, it baked, and in some instances 
cracked open. T hardly need say that a first rate 
crop of wheat never grew under such circum¬ 
stances. Yet in some favorable seasons this 
treatment might give a reasonably good crop, but 
not often. And yet 1 am free to say that if you 
do not know any other, and I cannot tell yon any 
better way of plowing your hard baked soil than 
into chunks by turning over furrows ten or twelve 
inches wide, then the Clod-Crusher is a useful 
Implement—and I would not advise you to dis¬ 
pense with it, or the Trustees of Ihe Agricultural 
College to bury theirs. 
For the purpose of testing the principle, I will 
take two pieces that would seem to be* ns neces¬ 
sary for the use of tho Clod-Crusher us any soil I 
have ever cultivated. The first is an old traveled 
road, taken up a ml inclosed to prep ire it for wheat. 
I set a sharp plow so as to cut twelve or fifteen 
inches deep, and from one to two inches wide, de¬ 
pending on the condition and certainty of its dis¬ 
solving, of which every farmer, experienced in 
soils, can judge, —and then I shave up the hard 
soil without turning it over, but simply shaving 
it off far enough to make room for the next slice, 
and so continue as you would to slice up dried 
beef; and it will lay up just as loose and light as 
beef shaved up. The mold-board should be sulli- 
ciently high to raise it two feet, as the solid com¬ 
pact soil, when shaved up in this manner, will he 
increased in depth from its original twelve or 
fifteen inches, to at least, two feet Prepared in 
this manner, tho air circulates freely through this 
two feet of chipped-up soil, which you and the 
Trustees of the Agricultural College, with the 
wise men of the East, press down again with your 
Crusher, as if to keep the air out, and put at defi¬ 
ance the plain teaching of the Creator,—as if the 
All-Wise had never given a thought to Agricul¬ 
ture, and had made air and light exclusively for 
living, breathing creatures. 
I can hardly doubt that you, as well as all expe¬ 
rienced wheat-growers, will agree with me in the 
assertion, that wheat does much better where the 
soil is left a little coarse, or a portion of it in small 
chips, than where it is all pulverized and made 
fine by the Crusher, or otherwise fit for an onion 
bed. There are several reasons why this is so, 
the most important of which is, that the small 
chunks gradually dissolve and continue to fertilize 
the roots long after the seed is sown, which pro¬ 
cess is quite equal to a thorough hoeing when in 
drills. Again, all heavy day soils which have 
been worked too wet and without manure, and 
which have consequently settled down hard and 
compact, need only to lie treaty ns above de¬ 
scribed, to yield from live to ten htsbelfl more of 
wheat per acre, than by the process of chunking 
up and pressing down again, if in other respects 
good wheat land. The great secret of cultivating 
land is to make heavy soils light, and soils which 
are too light, more tenacious and heavy. No 
wise farmer ever chunks up his land with the 
plow, or makes it into brick-bats, for the purpose 
of breaking them up again with the Crusher or 
with anything else. 
Again, Mr. S. says: — “It is much less work to 
pulverize the soil with the Crusher and Cultivator 
than to do it by three plowings, as recommended 
by Mr. Dickinson.” I beg you, Mr. S., not to 
regard me quite so verdant as to recommend 
three plowings to make hard soils fine. When it 
is onco chunked up I consider it about spoiled for 
a crop that season. I do not pretend to be aufll- 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors, 
Tub Rural New-Yorker is deniifncil to ho unsnrpiwnf<1 
in VaJui', Purity, Uurfulness and Variety of Contents, and 
nni'jun And beautiful in Appearance, lit: Conductor devotes 
hi- personal attention to tlui supervision of its various de¬ 
partments, aad earnestly labors to render the Rural an 
eminently Reliable Guide on all tire important Practical, 
Scientific and other Subjects intimately connected with tho 
business of those whoso intou -ts it Zealously advocates. 
As a Family Journal it is eminently Instructive and En¬ 
tertaining being so conducted that it can be safely taken 
to the Hearts and Homes of people o( Intelligence, taste 
and discrimination. It embraces more Agricultural, Horti¬ 
cultural, Scientific, Educational, Literary rind News Matter, 
interspersed with appropriate and beautilid Engravings, 
than any other journal, — rendering it thi^P^*»t complete 
Agricultural, Literary ami Family }' I'wspai’kr in 
America. 
via. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4 . 
I la. 2. Wheat Stalk with (heath broken away, showing 
the worms on their way down. 
Fig. 3, 4. Wheal Stalk with sheath removed, showing 
the “ (lax seeds'' in their ordinary situation. 
those eggs nestle to the lower joints of the stalks, 
weakening them, and causing them to bend and 
fall down from the weight of the head, so that 
toward harvest, an infested field looks as though 
cattle had passed through it. 
Wheal iHidjjc. 
The W HR AT Midge, ( Cecidomyia Tritiei,) which 
for a few years past has almost annihilated wheat 
culture in the celebrated Genesee country, was 
no doubt brought from Kufopo to this country. 
The effects of this insect on wheat were Observed 
long before tho cause was ascertained, and until 
1771 it was supposed to be the result of mildew. 
At that time Christophkk Gullet announced 
that it was occasioned by a small fly. The reports 
of the ravages of the Ifi-nsian Fly in America, 
caused some alarm in England, and led to an 
investigation of the insects preying upon wheat, 
and in 1797 the history and habits of tho Wheat 
Midge-ware satisfactorily traced out by Marsh am 
and Kmisy. It is generally thought that this 
midge first appeared in Ibis country in 1820, in 
the north-western part of Vermont, but that it 
did not become so numerous as to attract partic 
ular attention until eight or nine years afterward. 
GOOSEBERRY SAW ELY, GRUB, COCOON AND PER¬ 
FECT INSECT. 
leaf, increasing its size and frequently changing 
its skin, till it is about three-quarters of an inch 
in length. It is now of a dull pale-green color, 
the first thoracic segment being deep yellow, Ihe 
penultimate lifting also of the name color; the 
feet, tail, and head, are black, and each segment is 
dotted black also, some having as many as twenty 
four spots arranged in lines down tho back, while 
those on the sides are more irregular, with one 
large one at the base of each foot. They have 
six pectoral, sharp, horny feet; the fourth seg¬ 
ment appears destitute of feet, but tho six follow¬ 
ing are each furnished with a pair of legs, which 
assist them in walking; they have also a pair of 
feet at tbo extremity of the last segment. In the 
fly state it assumes an ochroous color; the body 
is orange, sometimes bright. 
The broods of caterpillars appear in succession 
occasionally from March till October, but in 
greatest numbers in June. Sometimes they se¬ 
verely attack the gooseberry in July and August, 
and after denuding the bushes of their foliage, 
they descend into the earth, spinning thcmaclves 
a yellowish cocoon of an elliptical form, and 
remain in their pupa state till t,ho following 
spring. Those of the early summer brood de¬ 
scend in like manner, but In the coarse of three 
weeks, or less, undergo their transformation, and 
again appear as perfect files. These nnmorous 
broods cause the greatest discouragement, for 
after weeks of labor, when the cultivator thinks 
the conquest gained and tho crop safe, another 
Innumerable army comes to the attack. 
The consideration of Imported Weeds we are 
compelled to leave for another number. 
IMPORTED INSECTS AND WEEDS. 
Many of our most destructive insects, and 
most troubldsome weeds, are of European origin. 
The Hessian Fly, the Wheat Midge, and tho Cana¬ 
da Thistle, are of this number. Every year, no 
doubt, wo are adding to our stock of noxious 
insects and weeds by importation. Some of these 
will not become troublesome on account of un¬ 
congeniality of climate, Ac,, while others may 
flourish, and years hence spread over the land, 
cansing losses too groat for calculation. Any 
botanist or careful observer who visits our nurse¬ 
ries, will be surprised to find so great a number 
of foreign wends, imported, no doubt, with trees 
and plants. Our seedsmen, too, are largely aid¬ 
ing in this work, while all importers of barrels, 
boxes, or crates, where packing of straw or hay 
is used, may lend a helping hand. Wo do not 
know that there is any remedy, the connection 
between this country and Europe is now so inti¬ 
mate, yet a word of caution may not be amiss. 
When a decided enemy appears, efforts for its 
destruction should he general, and then they 
would be successful. Our attention is called to 
this subject by the following note: 
Eos. Kura i. New-Yorker: —We have had a sad illus¬ 
tration of tho way in which diseases are brought to this 
country. But we are constantly importing with our 
foreign seeds, evils which, though unnoticed at first, rnay, 
and 1 think will, work a still greater injury to the farm¬ 
ing community. Every year we are importing enemies 
in the forms of seeds, of weeds, and insects, which may 
ravage our country worse than an army. A word of 
caution in the Rural, for the future, as well as a little 
information in regard to the past, in this respect, I think 
would bo profitable.—T. W., Michigan , 1860, 
Hessian Fly. 
The Hessian Fly, (Cecidomyia destructor, J 
which proved so injurious to our wheat, it iB 
thought was brought over in straw used for pack¬ 
ing by the Hessian soldiers during the Revolution, 
hence the name. They became numerous in 1779 
on Long Island and Staten Island, and gradually 
extended over the country in all directions. 
Fig. 5. Fig. ti. Fig. 7. 
Fig. 5. Granary weevil, magnified, and the natural size. 
Fig. 0. Grain of wheat opened. showing the weevil at. work. 
FlO. 7. Nyinph, or pupa of the weevil, magnified. 
After the sexes have paired, the female makes 
a hole in a grain of wheat and deposits an egg. 
These holes are not perpendicular to the surface 
of the grain, but oblique, or even parallel, and 
are sopped with a specios of gluten of the same 
color of the corn. Sometimes two eggs are de¬ 
posited in the same kernel, and the larvic of the 
twins are just as plump as those who have the 
good fortune to have a whole grain to themselves. 
From the egg is hatched in due time a small 
footless grub, which, during Hb growth, eats out 
the entire contents of the grain, and when lodged 
in the grain, is perfectly sheltered from all inju¬ 
ries of the air, because its excrements serve to 
close up the aperture; so there is no use of stir¬ 
ring the grain, as nothing can incommode it. It 
is very white—lias the form of an elongated soft 
worm, and the body is composed of nine promi¬ 
nent rounded rings; it is nearly a line iu length, 
with a yellow rounded head, provided with proper 
instruments for gnawing the grain. When the 
larva has eaten all the flour, and it is arrived at 
its full growth, it jemalnu in the envelope of the 
grain, where it is metamorphosed into a nymph, 
of a clear white and transparent color; the pro¬ 
boscis and antenna: can readily be distinguished; 
but it gives no sign of life, except when disturb¬ 
ed, and then but u Blight movement of the abdo¬ 
men. 
THE CLOD-CRUSHER AGAIN, 
Friend Moore: —In the Rural of March 10th, 
(page 78,) I find a criticism from Mr. E, W. 
Stewart, of Erie Co., on my remarks at the 
Annuul Meeting of the State Agricultural Society, 
for which I am much obliged. 
My remarks on the Clod-Crusher, as well as on 
some other things connected with the State Agri¬ 
cultural College, were made in a spirit of friend¬ 
ship toward the Institution, with profound respect 
for the distinguished gentlemen who preside over 
and direct its affairs, and In the presence of its 
President and Trustees, for the purpose of correct¬ 
ing snob errors taught and practiced there as cun 
only be corrected by practical farmers. Similar 
institutions in all countries thus far have so sig¬ 
nally failed for the want, of knowledge reduced to 
practice, that neither yon nor I have ever seen the 
first practical farmer that was educated at one of 
them. And therefore It is the duty of every 
farmer iu thiu State, not only to do all that he cau i 
to save our own Institution from the use of all 
worthless implements, no matter how fur-fetched 
or dear-bought, but to scrutinize with a jealous eye > 
and be alow to adopt the doubtful theories bo 
vauntingly taught and so loudly proclaimed as 
sciences by professors that have never learned the 
first lesson in practical farming. 
And now, Mr. STEWART, for our mutual benefit, 
and for the benefit of those that arc younger and 
of less experience than ourselves, let os calmly 
sit down and reason together, and sec if my views, 
plainly set forth, shall be unconvincing, or my 
assertions unfounded upon facta or experiments 
with the Clod-Crasher, as you choose to charac¬ 
terize them. 
In your experience, you say you “have found 
the Crusher almost Indispensable to the proper cul¬ 
Eight or ten days after, the perfect insect 
eats its way out, and immediately commences 
preparation for another brood. These insects 
arc effectually destroyed by kiln-drying the 
wheat: and grain thut is kept cool, well ventila¬ 
ted, and is frequently moved, is said to be exempt 
from attack. 
Gooseberry Saw Fly, 
The Gooseberry Catbri-illar is one of the 
greatest nuisances we have iu the garden. It 
has almost destroyed the crop of currants around 
this city for the last two years, and many of the 
gooseberry and currant bushes have been bo in¬ 
jured as to be worthless. A few years ago the 
currant was almost without an enemy; now it is 
only after the most diligent contest with the 
disgusting worms, that the crop and the plants 
can be preserved from destruction. How long 
since this Insect was first seen in America we 
cannot say, but there can be no doubt that it is 
the Gooseberry Saw Fly of Europe, and was im¬ 
ported by our nurserymen with gooseberry plants. 
It, however, finds this country far more congenial 
than its native land, and increases with such 
fearful rapidity jib to threaten the entire destruc¬ 
tion of this valuable Binall fruit. 
The flies emerge from their winter quarters in 
the ground the latter part of April or early in 
May, and soon after the female begins to deposit 
her eggs on the under side of the newly expanded 
leaves, choosing the sides of the veins or nervures 
as a fitting place. With the saw-like appendage, 
for which the family is remarkable, tho female 
hairs, as shown in the engraviug. Its general 
appearance iB that of an orange-colored gnat. 
The time of the appearance of this fly varies 
according to the situation of the country, being 
in some places in June, and in others lute in July. 
The first half of July, however, is the time when 
^ the largest number of 
eggS are de P°sited ; a 
period which, in a great 
. _ part of the country 
would find the spring 
Ns ^— an "i winter grains in 
Kernel of wheat, with the *^<5 best state for re¬ 
husk, an<l the worms feed- ceiving the Oku:. The 
mg upon Its pulp. b bh 
insects are active in the 
morning and evening, and appear in swarms; but 
during the day, when the sky is cloudless, they 
conceal themselves among the grain and grass. 
After about eight days, the eggs that have been 
deposited In the heads of the grain are hatched. 
The maggots are orange color, and attain their 
growth iu about twelve or fourteen days; they 
are about the eighth of an inch loug, but their 
size is not uniform. Their number is also varia¬ 
ble, as many as forty being sometimes found on 
a single plant, and at other times two or three only. 
l'IG. 1. nESSIAN FLY—FEMALE MAGNIFIED. 
Alter being quite destructive for a few years, its 
ravages nearly cease. Probably this result is 
produced by parasitic insects, or the scarcity of 
food and facilities for propagation. The ravages 
ot this insect were alluded to in Europe in 1732. 
It deposits tts eggs in the stalk in the autumn. 
These hatch in about a week, and the worm 
crawlR down the sheath of the leaf to its base, 
just below the surface of the ground, where it 
remains, subsisting upon the juices of the plant, 
without wounding it, but causing it to turn yel¬ 
low and die. It is a small white maggot, and 
