266 
Sept. 
seed of one to produce the other, as for a cow to bear 
a young colt, or a merino ewe a litter of Berkshire 
pigs. 
The other correspondent whose communication we 
have already alluded to, residing at Portland, Chau- 
tauque county, merely assumes that a change may be 
produced in wheat by the pollen from the chess falling 
upon it. But as there is no proof whatever, of such a 
result, and as science deals in certainties , not in con¬ 
jectures, we cannot attach great importance to this 
supposition, especially as no such cross was ever pro¬ 
duced from different genera, by all the careful and 
skilful experiments ever performed. Who ever heard 
of a cross between a cherry and an apple .tree ? Or 
between a pumpkin and a pine apple ? Who ever 
heard of half-bred animals resulting from the dog and 
the raccoon? or from the domestic duck and the turkey- 
buzzard ? When these have taken place, we shall be 
more ready to look for a half-transmuted wheat head. 
We have other proof of an incontro.vertible charac¬ 
ter. If wet weather and freezing will change wheat 
to chess in one place , it will do so in another, under 
like influences. But there arq countries possessing a 
climate like ours, where chess is never found—where 
no winter-killing ever produces a vestige of this 
weed; and some of our own farmers, to our certain 
knowledge, have with great and long continued care 
and labor, ceased to raise any chess whatever, no mat¬ 
ter what the winters may be. In the one case, wheat 
is raised in regions of country where the weed has 
never been introduced,—where there is no seed,—con¬ 
sequently it cannot grow. In the other, the seeds 
have been extirpated from the farms,—hence no chess 
is ever seen. 
With a single question we conclude these remarks. 
Why is it, that among the countless millions of plants 
that are said to change from wheat to chess not one 
is ever caught in the act; or why is it that there 
should not be found one solitary plant partly changed^ 
or with distinct wheat and chess on the same root or 
stem ? Large prizes of money have been repeatedly 
offered for such curiosities, but they have never made 
their appearance, although we often hear of them a 
long way off. The fact is, they never existed. 
Smoky Chimneys. 
I wish you could throw some light through your pa¬ 
per upon the subject of building chimneys that will 
draw well. I have looked in vain for a good article 
upon that subject, and need advice. S. J. Sherwood. 
Beloit , WisJxily, 1854. 
The draught of chimneys is occasioned by the up¬ 
ward tendency of the column of rarefied and lightened 
air which fills it as soon as the fire heats this column. 
It operates precisely like a column of water running 
down a tube, only in a reversed direction. To make a 
fire-place draw well, the throat just above the fire 
should be contracted to about four inches wide. Through 
this throat the hot air will rush violently to fill the 
vacancy above, occasioned by the rising column. Ma¬ 
ny chimneys draw badly in consequence of being 
made too large for the fire to heat the column sufficient¬ 
ly. As a general rule, the chimney should always be 
smallest just above the fire, and be again slightly 
contracted at the opening at the top. The contraction 
at the top prevents the wind from blowing down, the 
current being a little more rapid at its place of escape, 
and less easily effected by reverse currents of wind. 
Our correspondent will find this subject more fully 
treated of, with several engravings by way of exlana- 
tion, in Thomas’s “ Farm Implements,” &c. p. 227. 
The Weevil in Wheat, 
Mr. L. Tucker —The weevil has this year for the 
first time, made its appearance in our county, and is 
doing much injury to the wheat crop. As it is some¬ 
thing entirely new to me and my neighbor farmers, I 
should like to get all the information I possibly can in 
reference.tj^it. Is there a preventive or remedy? 
Would early or bate sowing make any difference? 
Does it get into all kinds of Wheat? We in our coun¬ 
ty principally sow the white blue stem, which has been , 
grown some ten or twelve years very successfully. 
There is some Mediterranean grown, but very little. 
Could you or some of your numerous subscribers give 
the requested information, it would very much oblige 
a subscriber. J. GL Meyer. Aaronsburg ) Centre 
Co., Pa., July 7, 1854. 
A correspondent in the western part of Ohio, states 
that it has destroyed nearly all the wheat in that re¬ 
gion and has extended into Indiana.; and from large 
portions west we hear accounts of its ravages. Intel¬ 
ligent cultivators have sought eagerly for many years 
to find a remedy, without much success. Early sown 
and early ripening crops are more apt to escape. Even 
portions of the same field are very differently affected, 
the earlier and best ripened parts often affording a 
fair return, while the later and poorer portions are 
completely destroyed. High culture therefore, pro¬ 
mises as well as any remedy. The Mediterranean 
wheat is more apt to escape—partly perhaps from its 
early maturity. Some parts of New-York, where this 
insect has formerly been exceedingly destructive, have 
for a year or two past, not suffered nearly so much,— 
which leads to the hope that like many other insects, 
it may have its day and pass away—or at least" inter¬ 
mit its ravages. —— 
Insect in Wheat. 
Messrs. Editors —Enclosed you will find a spire 
of wheat, with an insect in it. It is destroying my 
wheat considerably, by eating off the stem just above 
the upper joint, when in blossom. Timothy has been 
injured in the same way for several years past, and it 
has been attributed to the wire worms. The ravages 
of this insect ar£ shown by the heads turning white 
while in blossom. 
Do you know its character or name, or how it gets 
into the stalk ? There is no opening or mark that I 
can perceive. It may be a common insect in wheat¬ 
growing sections, but I did not know that it attacked 
timothy in the same way. W. Oswego , July 8, 1854. 
On reaching us, we discovered only two specimens 
of the insect. At first they appeared dead and dried 
legless larvse, but a closer inspection showed they were 
the insects passed to the pupa state. They are about 
three sixteenths of an inch in length, and one-thirtieth 
of an inch in diameter—light green, with a. slig 
