1846. THE CULTIVATOR. 211 
deposit of the larva necessarily ground up with what 
little farina is left, renders the flour very bitter and 
revolting; at least to modern Anglo-Saxon stomachs, 
unaccustomed to eating birds nests and similar dainties, 
or unacquainted with the peculiar relish afforded to 
some palates by broiled locusts, (as in Gambia,) or 
grubs picked from the bark of trees, as reported of 
some in the West India Islands. 
Our weevil-eaten wheat is besides considered un¬ 
wholesome, and several protracted cases of intestinal 
derangement have been traced apparently to this source. 
The longer the wheat is kept on hand the more it de¬ 
teriorates, until at length a bushel will not weigh, if I 
remember correctly, over 45 lbs. The price being one- 
third, perhaps one half lower than that of good wheat, 
it is evident that a crop of weevil-eaten wheat when 
sold at 60 lbs. to the bushel, will realize for its owner 
considerably less than half the amount which good 
wheat would have brought him. In this state it is pur¬ 
chased by distillers; and as fire and fermentation are 
said to purify all things, it is hoped, before it appears 
in the shape of spirituous liquors, fermentation has 
done its duty in neutralizing the effects of our four 
winged foes. Should, however, any evil result to 
those using the beverage, it would be hardly fair to 
convict our ill-fated moth of all the mischief ; as King 
Alcohol ought to come in for a fair share. 
Y. What is the remedy ? 
After all, this is the important question. The ascer¬ 
taining of the species, the investigation of its habits, 
the determining the position of the egg, and time of its 
deposition, &c., although interesting in themselves, are 
chiefly useful as furnishing data for a remedy. 
I shall speak first of those remedies in general use. 
1. Scalding has been practised here successfully. 
Baskets of grain are dipped into kettles of boiling 
water for a few seconds, until the water soaks through; 
the grain is then spread out thin to dry in the sun, on 
boards or sheets. But the drying is tedious, trouble¬ 
some, and expensive, especially when there is a suc¬ 
cession of wet weather; The flour of scalded wheat, 
as far as tried here, was excellent; but an experienced 
miller remarks, that the scalding, by thickening the 
skin, would considerably increase the bran, at the ex¬ 
pense of the superfine flour. This, in merchant mills, 
if found to be the case, might be sufficient of itself, to 
prevent its adoption. 
2. Kiln drying was employed successfully in France. 
Dr. Harris says a temperature of 167 degrees Fahren¬ 
heit continued 12 hours; or 104 degrees continued two 
days, will kill the insect. Kiln drying possesses the ad¬ 
vantages of ensuring the keeping quality of the flour; 
but the heat requires great care in its regulation. Be¬ 
sides, here they charge five cents per bushel for the 
operation; and it is only rarely that suitable kilns can 
be found through the country. 
3. Salt, as a preventive, has been recommended; it 
was even asserted that to put wheat into a barrel and 
place on it a pint of salt, would prevent the insect from 
damaging the grain. Whether the salt could have any 
effect by somewhat lowering the temperature, or whe¬ 
ther some other circumstances, in the threshing or 
storing of the grain was the cause why it appeared, 
as asserted, less weevil eaten than that which had not 
been salted, I do not pretend to decide. But of this I 
am certain, that among those who said they succeeded 
by this means, none so far as I could learn, had put 
away two portions treated exactly alike, except that 
the one had, and the other had not salt over it. I con¬ 
sider the question, therefore, as the president says, in 
the debating societies, still “ open for discussion” or 
what is much better, for experiment. 
4. Sprinkling with Lime .—The incorporating tho¬ 
roughly of about 1 bushel of lime with 100 bushels of 
wheat, when putting away the latter, in the garner, 
was here at first supposed efficaceous. But one fact, 
' well ascertained, is worth folios of suppositions. A 
neighboring farmer mixed lime with his wheat, in 
1844, stirred it and sunned it repeatedly. This wheat 
kept unusually well, but few weevils hatching out. 
Being however a shrewd man, he, in 1845, resolved to 
test the matter fairly. One portion of his wheat he 
stirred and sunned without liming it; another portion he 
limed , but did not stir or sun it. The first saved well; 
the latter was much w’eevil eaten. These particulars I 
ascertained personally from him, as I went to him pur¬ 
posely to know. I do not pretend to decide, whether 
stirring the wheat rubbed off the eggs before they could 
hatch, or whether the power of our meridian July sun 
is sufficient to destroy the embryo life in the egg, or 
whether the effect is produced by some other cause; 
but the fact that early threshing, stirring, and sunning, 
seem tolerably effectual, in some way or other, is 
strongly corroborated by most of the testimony I have 
collected on the subject. 
5. Time of Sowing .—I cannot ascertain that late or 
early sowing of wheat, has any effect in increasing or 
decreasing the evil. 
6. Untried Remedy .—Finding the eggs on the spot 
already mentioned, outside of the grain, and perceiving, 
also, that by dry friction between my hands, of some 
40 or 50 grains, the eggs rubbed off pretty readily, it 
occurred to me that this might be done on a large scale. 
This, I regret to say, I have not had an opportunity of 
testing in practice, but I have learned various facts, 
which I think render it probable that the purpose would 
be fully accomplished by rubbers, (small mill stones, 
turning very rapidly, and set far enough apart to rub, 
but not bruise the grain,) such as are used in Virginia 
and other large wheat-growing districts. Perhaps the 
same object might be effected by a smut machine. The 
facts are these: Rubbers, I am informed by experienced 
Virginia millers, and smut machines, as asserted to me 
by a stranger, (of whose correctness, therefore, I have 
not the means of judging,) will rub wheat until the 
grain is thereby deprived of the downy pubescence at 
the apex, familiarly, I believe, termed, “fuzz.” Rub¬ 
bers or smut machines are almost absolutely necessary 
to ensure first rate flour; more especially in the west, 
where so much grain is got out on dirt floors. So that, 
should rubbers prove efficacious against weevil, the 
outlay would be no new, or otherwise useless expense. 
I am farther informed, that three feet rubbers could be 
made to clean or rub 1000 bushels in a day. In this 
case, I estimate that the expense of rubbing ought not 
to be over one cent per bushel. To this expense any 
farmer would gladl) submit in a weevil year, to secure 
his crop from being worm-eaten. 
But to ensure success, he must, if my views be correct, 
examine the grain attentively at harvest time, and if 
there be signs of eggs, thresh out his grain as soon as 
practicable, certainly not later here than the latter part 
of July. He may then take it to the rubbers, pay his 
rent—a bushel—and bring it home to his garners; or 
what he has to spare, the miller or merchant would 
then readily buy of him, if once the operation is proved 
to be effectual in preserving it. An intelligent car¬ 
penter here says he has been for sometime thinking 
about, and he believes has contrived, a new kind of 
smut machine, which he attaches to the common wheat 
fan or winnowing machine. Should this prove the 
case, of course the farmer might rub his own grain free 
from weevil, without going to mill. 
Should all these remedies fail, I have another corps 
de reserve, which, I will mention, although I fear it 
will prove a i( forlorn hope.” 
In no instance, when dissecting grain, did I find two 
similar worms in one grain; but I occasionally found 
our w T orm hors de combat or nearly so; the juices of 
his body extracted, and a smaller worm alongside, 
revelling in the spoils. The latter had a shape some¬ 
what like an hour-glass, contracted in the middle, 
but enlarging both ways until the extremities again be¬ 
come pointed. This fellow was fat enough. Occa¬ 
sionally I detected similar larva farther advanced, and 
finally changed into small black flies, of which some 
farmers had noticed large numbers, among the “tail¬ 
ings ” of the winnowing machine. They supposed 
them a new enemy; but I am much mistaken if they do 
not prove friends, instead of foes; being no other, I 
imagine, than a species of ichneumon fly; (similar 
probable to the Ceraphron destructor, which preys on 
