384 
THE CULTIVATOR. Nov. 
mal. The bone should be small and the joints tine— 
nothing is more indicative of high breeding than, this; 
and the legs should be no longer than, when fully fat, 
would just prevent the animaPs belly from trailing upon 
the ground. The leg is the least profitable portion of 
the hog, and we require no more of it than is absolutely 
necessary for the rest. See that the feet be firm and 
sound; that the toes lie well together, and press straight- 
ly upon the ground; as also, that the claws are even, 
upright, and healthy. Many say that the form of the 
head is of little or no consequence, and that a good hog 
may have an ugly head; but I regard the head of all 
animals as one of the very principal points in which pure 
or impure breeding will be the most obviously indicated. 
A highbred animal will invariably be found to arrive 
more speedily to maturity, to take flesh earlier, and 
with greater facility, and, altogether, to turn out more 
profitably, than one of questionable or impure stock; 
and such being the case, I consider that the head of the 
hog is, by no means, a point to be overlooked by the 
purchaser. The description of head most likely to 
promise, or rather to be concomitant of, high breeding, 
is one not carrying heavy bone, not too flat on the fore¬ 
head or possessing a too elongated snout—the snout 
should be short, and the forehead rather convex, curving 
upward; and the ear should be, while pendulous, incli¬ 
ning somewhat forward, and, at the same time, light 
and thin. Nor s'hould the buyer pass over even the car¬ 
riage of a pig. If this be dull, heavy, and dejected, re¬ 
ject him, on suspicion of ill-health, if not of some con¬ 
cealed disorder actually existing, or just about to break 
forth; and there cannot be a more unfavorable symptom 
than a hang-down, slouching head. Of course, a fat 
hog for slaughter, or a sow heavy with young, has not 
much sprightliness of deportment. 
Nor is color altogether to be lost sight of. In the case 
of hogs I would prefer those colors which are character¬ 
istic of our most esteemed breeds. If the hair be scant, I 
would look for black, as denoting connection with the 
Neapolitan; but if too bare of hair,I would be disposed 
to apprehend too immediate alliance with that variety, 
and a consequent want of hardihood, that, however un¬ 
important, if pork be the object, renders such animals 
hazardous speculations as stores, from their extreme 
susceptibility to cold, and consequent liability to disease. 
If white, and not too small. I would like them as ex¬ 
hibiting connection with the Chinese. If light or sandy, 
or red with black marks, I would recognize our favorite 
Berkshire; and so on, with reference to every possible 
variety of hue. These observations may appear trivial; 
but they are the most important I have yet made, and 
the pig buyer will find his account in attending to them. 
-—Rural Hand Book. 
On the Joint Worm. 
In our volume of last year (p. 321) we published a 
letter from Alex. Rives, Esq., of Virginia, giving an ac¬ 
count of the ravages of the “ Joint Worm,” on the wheat 
crops of that State, together with a letter from Dr. Asa 
Fitch, of Salem, giving his views in relation to the char¬ 
acter of the insect. In the last Southern Planter , we 
find the following letter, on the same subject, from Dr. 
Harris, of Cambridge: 
The peculiar disease now affecting wheat in Virginia, 
seems to be of the same nature as that which attacked 
barley in Massachusetts above twenty-five years ago. 
This disease consists of hard, woody, gall-like tumors on 
the stem of the plant situated mostly in the sheathing 
bases of the lower leaves, or in the second or the third 
joint, more rarely in the substance of the stem itself. On 
being opened, these tumors are found to contain several 
little yellowish white maggots, called joint worms in Vir¬ 
ginia. each lodged in a separate cell rather larger than 
its own body. These tumors, by their pressure and 
hardness, obstruct the circulation, obliterate the hollow 
of the stem, and prevent its due development, thereby 
greatly reducing the amount of the crop. The greater 
part of the maggots remain unchanged in the tumors 
through the winter, and in the following months of May 
and June are transformed to tiny, blackish, four-winged 
flies, belonging to the genus Eurytoma. Prof. Cabell 
has ascertained that a very few undergo this change dur¬ 
ing the first summer. When first observed in Massachu¬ 
setts, these insects were supposed to be parasites, in ac¬ 
cordance with the known habits and history of others 
belonging to the same family; and it was thought that 
the real culprits would be found to be some species of 
Cecidomyia, or small flies resembling the Hessian fly and 
the wheat fly. Hitherto, however, no species of Cecido¬ 
myia has been obtained from the diseased barley straw in 
Massachusetts, or from the diseased -wheat straw of Vir¬ 
ginia. On the contray, both, in repeated instances, have 
furnished large numbers of the same kind of Eurytoma. 
If, then, this insect be the sole cause of the disease, as 
Prof. Cabell and others are inclined to believe, it becomes 
important to consider whether the history of the insect 
will suggest any means for diminishing or arresting its 
ravages. 
As the disease is seated near the base of the straw, in 
or near the second or third joint, the greater part of the 
diseased portions will be left in the stubble when the 
grain is reaped. This fact has been noticed in barley 
fields in Masachusetts, and doubtless occurs also in the 
wheat fields of Virginia. Most of the insects remain un¬ 
changed in the stubble till the following year. If, then, 
we can destroy the maggots remaining in the stubble in 
the field, before they have completed their transforma¬ 
tions and made their escape, we shall, in great measure, 
restrain their further propagation and increase; for it is 
in the winged state that insects propagate their kind. It 
has been found in Massachusetts, that plowing in the 
stubble has no effect upon the insects, which remain un¬ 
injured under the slight covering of earth, and easily 
make their way to the surface when they have completed 
their transformations. The only practicable way of de¬ 
stroying the insects, is to burn the stubble containing 
them. Some few may complete their transformations 
and take wing during the first summer, before the grain 
is reaped, and will thereby escape being burnt with the 
stubble; and these, if allowed to increase, will suffice to 
continue their race. The remedy suggested, to be suc¬ 
cessful, must be followed up in several successive years, 
and if generally adopted, and thoroughly and carefully 
employed, cannot fail to exterminate the Eurytoma. 
Highly manured and thoroughly tilled fields, by pro¬ 
moting a rapid and vigorous growth of the plant, may 
render it less liable to suffer from the attacks of the in¬ 
sect. Large fields, well seeded, will probably escape bet¬ 
ter than those that are smaller and thinner sown, in 
which the insects, when about to lay their eggs, can pen¬ 
etrate easily and to a greater extent. Thaddeijs Wil¬ 
liam Harris, M.D. Cambridge, Mass., Aug. 18,1852. 
Agriculture of Jefferson County. 
We have been favored with the Address of J. A. 
Sherman. Esq., President of the Jefferson Co. (N. Y.) 
Ag. Society, at its late Fair, together with the report 
of the viewing committee, from which we make the fol¬ 
lowing extracts: 
Products of Jefferson County. — A half century has 
now passed since the pioneers of our county first trod 
upon its fertile soil, and the sound of the white man’s 
axe first echoed through its then dark and wilderness 
forests. Comparatively, few of those early settlers are 
left among us; they were our fathers and our forefathers, 
our mothers, our brothers and our sisters. They pre¬ 
pared this wide and fertile field, and we are left to reap 
and enjoy its harvest. Yes, gentlemen, through your 
hardships, toils, and privations, through your energy and 
perseverance, by the labor of your hands and from the 
sweat of your browns have those unbroken forests been 
changed into fruitful fields and smiling meadows. The 
seven hundred and thirty-three thousand acres which 
comprise the limits of our county, now contain some 
