D8 THE CULTIVATOR. 
■vve ask gentlemen of scientific knowledge to aid us in applying ge-|| 
ological and chemical science to the laborers of the field ; and vie,, 
particularly urge an esteemed correspondent to redeem his pro-, 
mise in this particular. We urge him to do it for the public bene-i 
fit. All have a ‘public duty to perform ; and much is expected from" 
him to whom much is given. 
We are not certain that lime is the only requisite in the valley ii 
of the Mohawk, to restore the soil to its former fitness fur the |j 
wheat crop; yet it may be, and the experiment deserves trial. The 
valley of the Mohawk, and west Vermont, were, within the recol¬ 
lection of the writer, the districts which furnished nearly all the 
wheat which was bought in Albany, Troy and Lansingburgh. The 
former now sends to market but a trifling amount, and the latter 
does not grow enough, nor half enough, for its own consumption. 
We have little doubt but these districts might again become wheat 
districts, by the aid of agricultural science, and the value of their 
products greatly enhanced. But the present generation will neither 
acqirue nor apply that science. This must, as in every other bu- ‘ 
siness, be learnt in youth, and be incorporated with practical in¬ 
struction. We must look to the rising generation for these im¬ 
provements, and we must qualify our sons, by iimely education, to 
make these improvements. What, that is useful in this businessj 
of life, does the young farmer learn in school, if we even embrace; 
schools of the higher order! The professional man learns in his| 
school many of the fundamental maxims of science, and rules of j 
practice, which are to govern him in his profession. Yet the agri-j 
culturist, whose business embraces a far greater scope of science j 
than any one profession, and the profits of whose labors depend j 
essentially upon the application of this science, learns nothing in; 
his school which can forward him in the great business upon which j 
not only his individual success depends, but which constitutes the j 
main source of the public prosperity. The studies of common 
schools, with competent teachers, might be rendered highly useful 
to agriculture, by imbuing the minds of the young farmers with the 
elementary principles of the business which is to occupy him through 
life. 
bage that will add 112 pounds to the weight of an ox, will, when be¬ 
stowed on a dairy cow, of ordinary good breed, and in fair condition 
to yield milk, enable her to yield about 2,700 imperial pints of milk. 
And as it is well known that even in Scotland, where milk often 
contains as much cream as that of cows fed on richer pasture, yet 
in general seventeen pints of milk will yield an imperial pound of 
butter; and the buttermilk will sell at Id. the three pints; and as 
120 pints of that milk yield from sixteen pounds avoirdupois, of full 
milk or Dunlop cheese, itis easy to ascertain whether the 112 pounds 
ot beef, or these quantities of butter and buttermilk, or of cheese, 
will realize the greatest sum. 
2,700 pints of milk will yield nearly 385 pounds, or twenty- 
seven stone imperial of full milk cheese; and if made into butter, 
they will give 157 pounds, besides the buttermilk, which would 
amount to half the quantity of milk churned. The average price of 
beef, for seven years past, has not exceeded 6s. per English stone ; 
and the 112 pounds of course amounts to £2 8s. while twenty-seven 
stones of cheese, at 5s. per stone, the average price paid by the 
merchant to the farmer, during the last seven years, amounts to £6 
17s. Gel. ; and the average price of 157 pounds butter, at 8d. per 
pound for the same period, amounts to £55s. and the buttermilk to 
£1 17s. (id. more, or £7 2s. 6d.; so that the average price of the 
cheese exceeds that of the beef, to the amount of £4 9s. 6d.; and 
the butter and buttermilk give £4 14s. 6d. more than the beef pro¬ 
duced from the same quantity of food to the cattle.” 
The above extract is from the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture 
for March. Let us apply its leading facts to our market. We will 
assume that the average price of beef in our large towns is $5 per 
cwt. of butter sixteen cents per pound, and of full milk cheese seven 
cents. 
The result would be this : 
112 lbs. of beef, at 5 cents,. .. $5 60 
380 lbs. of cheese, at 7 cents, .. 26 60 
157 lbs. o{ butter, at 16 cents,. 24 22 
These f icts, at all events, are worthy the consideration of cattle 
farmers. 
Seed Corn .— Thomas Foster, of Auburn, writes us, that he has 
for years selected his seed corn, at harvest time, from stalks produc¬ 
ing two ears, preferring the upper ear, and that he has had one- 
eighth more product than from seed saved in the ordinary way. 
“ A Subscriber,” who dates from Stamfordville, suggests a sus¬ 
picion, that Junket may he unhealthy, because, when left standing, 
it formed itself into a hard curd. We can only say, that his suspici¬ 
ons are unfounded, as we have used it ten or a dozen years without 
the least perceptible injuiious effect, even on the most delicate ha¬ 
bits. Eggs form one of the hardest cements, and yet they constitute 
a harmless and nutritious food. The laws of chemistry do not apply 
to the human stomach. The expected effect of rennet upon milk is 
to produce curd. 
Skinless Oats .—The communication of Mr. Thorp, in relation to 
this valuable species of grain, cannot fail to interest the farmer ; and 
Mr. Thorp deserves their thanks for the care with which he has 
nursed, increased and brought it into notice. A bushel of these 
oats, we are told, will weigh forty-five pounds, while the average 
weight of the common oat is believed not to be over thirty-six or 
thirty-eight pounds. Mr. T. will exhibit a sample of the skinless 
oat at the Albany Cattle Fair, on the 8th and 9th October instant. 
Ribbon Grass (Phalaris Americana .)—We again invite the rea¬ 
der’s attention to this subject, and refer him to the interesting let¬ 
ters of Mr. Goodrich and Dr. Harris, under the head of correspon¬ 
dence. The experiments of the latter gentleman seem conclusively 
to show, that the highest expectations which we indulged in our 
former remarks, seem likely to be fully realized ; and that we have 
in the ribbon grass a plant peculiarly calculated to render produc¬ 
tive and profitable, a description of land hitherto mere waste. There 
is reason to believe that this grass will prove highly beneficial also 
upon the sloping banks of streams and rivulets, to prevent their ab¬ 
rasion by the water. 
THE PROFITS OF THE DAIRY COMPARED WITH THAT OF FATTENING 
ANIMALS. 
“ It has been asserted on the authority of the Board of Agricul¬ 
ture, and upon incontrovertible data, which any farmer or cow feed- 
er may ascertain for his own satisfaction, that the quantity of her- 
THE GRAIN WORM AND WEEVIL. 
The injury that has been done in a section of our state the present 
season to the wheat crop by the ravages of an insect, called by some 
the grain worm, and by others the weevil, ought to lead to the in¬ 
quiry whether these destructive animals are identical, and if not, 
what is their true character. Their ravages for the present year 
have been confined to a small district of country as far as our know¬ 
ledge extends, but as it is in the nature of these insects to spread, 
the probability is that in a few years we shall hear of the deple¬ 
tions they have committed through much more extended districts. 
It is only by acquiring a thorough knowledge of the animal, and its 
habits, that we will ultimately he able to stop its progress, and thus 
put an end to the evil. The first question is, are the grain worm 
and weevil identical ? Thu grain worm is thus described by M. 
Bauer : “ Its first state is an egg, or fungus, deposited in the grain 
of wheat, whether when growing or not does not appear. Its se¬ 
cond state is after the grain has germinated and is growing, when 
the principle of the fungus is absorbed through the circulatory pow¬ 
ers of the plant, and will produce a diseased grain the succeeding 
season.” But it does not appear from him that the growing, or form¬ 
ing ear of wheat, if stung by an insect, will produce the worm soon 
enough to make its ravages by the time the grain is hardened. His 
words are, that “it requires several generations of these worms to 
introduce their eggs into the young germen : the large worms found 
in the substance of the young stem were undoubtedly some of the 
worms with which the seed corn or grain was inoculated, for they 
were on the point of laying their eggs in that stage, and these egg s 
being again propelled by the rising of the sap a stage further, there 
come to maturity, and then lay their eggs, and thus progressively 
reach the elementary substance of the ear, when they are finally de¬ 
posited in the then forming grain : the whole progress (to reach the 
grain) probably requires three reproductions.” It appears from this 
account of the grain worm, which to understand more fully we must 
refer the reader to the April and the August numbers of the Culti¬ 
vator, that in no case has it been traced to the insect form, and we 
are left therefore to infer that it does not assume the shape of a fly 
or beetle, with the power to pierce a grain of wheat, deposite its egg, 
and thus produce a maggot or worm in the ear. It is upon the prin¬ 
ciple, therefore, that the egg or fungus of the grain worm, adhering 
