202 
JOURNAL  OE  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  25,  189f. 
be  easily  distinguished  from  other  worms,  which  are  all  furnished 
with  many  more  of  such  appendages. 
Miss  Ormerod,  who  has  been  a  close  personal  observer  of  the 
habits  of  insects,  has  little  doubt  but  that  the  eggs  are  laid  either  just 
below  the  ground  near  the  food  plants,  or  among  the  leafage  on  the 
ground  level.  Wireworm  is  most  injuriously  active  on  light  soils, 
chalk,  gravelly  soil,  fen  land,  and  the  like.  It  is  a  matter  of  vital 
importance  to  the  wireworm  that  it  should  be  able  easily  to  get 
through  the  soil  in  search  of  fresh  food,  so  that  we  find  as  a  general 
rule  that  strong  clay  lands  are  exempt  from  this  pest. 
We  have  been  looking  over  some  old  statistics  of  damage  done 
by  wireworm,  and  we  will  just  note  a  few  instances  for  the  sake 
of  the  unbelieving.  On  dne  farm  of  1000  acres  the  occupier  notes 
that  in  an  average  of  seasons  the  loss  on  his  corn  crop  would 
amount  to  £700.  This  is  Hampshire  ;  and  he  further  adds  that 
the  losses  on  most  Hampshire  and  Wiltshire  farms  is  equal  to  the 
rent !  This  is  owing  in  a  great  measure  to  Sainfoin  being  a  leading 
crop,  and  Sainfoin  is  the  home  and  nursery  of  the  wireworm. 
Another  man  from  Derbyshire  says  5  bushels  an  acre  is  what 
he  estimates  as  his  loss  from  this  cause.  From  Canterbury : 
“  The  average  amount  of  injury  is  about  one- tenth  of  the  crop.” 
Dalkeith  :  The  wireworms  have  not  left  half  a  crop.  These 
crops  mentioned  are  corn  crops.  It  attacks  the  young  Turnip, 
Swede,  and  Potato  plants,  exterminating,  or  nearly  so,  the  two 
former,  and  making  of  the  latter  a  grubby  sample.  To  the  Hop 
grower  it  is  an  enemy  to  be  fought  against,  and  only  exterminated 
by  great  cost.  The  wireworm  is  always  to  be  found  after  such 
crops  a*  Clover  and  old  Grass.  These  crops  are  usually  allowed  to 
stand  several  years,  then  when  broken  up  and  sown,  whatever  the 
crop  may  be,  the  farmer  is  sure  at  least  of  one  thing,  and  that  is  the 
presence  of  the  wireworm  in  great  numbers.  “  Dirty  ”  land,  too, 
encourages  the  growth  of  the  pest — the  cover  is  there,  and 
advantage  is  taken  of  it. 
Grass  or  Clover  which  is  to  be  broken  up  for  a  crop  should  be 
fed  down  as  closely  as  possible  ;  then,  say  many  experts,  dress  well 
with  lime  or  salt,  or  both.  Nothing  consolidates  land  like  the 
treading  by  sheep,  and  they  are  also  close  feeders.  After  plough¬ 
ing,  the  land  should  be  well  rolled  with  what  is  called  a  Cambridge 
or  ring  roller.  Where  the  turf  has  previously  been  pared  and 
burned  the  danger  of  wireworm  is  reduced  to  a  minimum,  but  this 
process  is  one  that  entails  more  expense  than  the  ordinary  farmer 
can  stand . 
Four,  and  even  6  tons  of  lime  per  acre  are  recommended,  and 
even  in  one  case  15  tons  of  gas  lime  per  aere,  but  this  seems  to  us 
very  much  in  excess.  No  corn  crop  could  stand  this,  and  it  is 
doubtful  how  the  Turnips  would  like  it  the  following  summer. 
In  a  case  where  the  farmer  suspects  the  presence  of  wireworm  to 
any  extent  (that  is  in  old  Clover  ley  or  old  grass),  the  safest  crop 
to  take,  and  a  profitable  one,  is  a  Potato  crop,  especially  a  strong¬ 
growing  variety.  The  plant  is  so  vigorous  that  it  gets  clean  away 
from  any  harm,  then  a  crop  of  Wheat  may  be  sown  with  confidence, 
and  a  good  return  expected. 
In  all  and  every  case  he  must  insist  on  generous  cultivation.  A 
strong  healthy  plant  well  forced  on  by  suitable  manures  soon  gets 
beyond  fear  of  damage,  while  a  poorly  nourished  plant  must  of 
necessity  succumb.  Firm  ground  and  a  healthy  flourishing  plant 
will  bid  defiance  to  the  wireworm.  Farmyard  manure,  by  opening 
and  lightening  the  land,  will  seriously  encourage  wireworm.  Arti¬ 
ficial  manures  are  free  from  this  defect. 
It  is  also  advocated  that  a  crop  of  White  Mustard  grown  and 
then  ploughed  in  is  a  certain  remedy  ;  at  any  rate,  it  makes  a 
capital  manure.  As  a  crop,  too,  Flax  is  safe  from  injury,  and  is 
being  grown  with  success  in  some  parts  of  the  kingdom.  It 
is  an  old  remedy  to  sow  Rape  cake  dust  with  the  grain  ;  the  worm 
prefers  the  cake,  and  thus  allows  the  young  plant  to  get  well 
ahead.  Miss  Ormerod  has  been  trying  some  experiments,  feeding 
worms  with  two  different  kinds  of  cake— viz.,  Indian  Rape  cake 
and  Black  Sea  Rape  cake.  The  Indian  cake  is  made  from 
Mustard  seed.  Worms  fed  entirely  on  this  cake  died  at  the  fort¬ 
night’s  end.  She  found  those  fed  on  Black  Sea  cake,  or  true 
Rape,  were  alive  at  the  end  of  three  weeks.  She  exposes  a  common 
fallacy  that  the  worms  burst  from  over-feeding.  She  found  no  one 
instance  of  this. 
Now  for  this  week’s  writer  to  the  “  Agricultural  Gazette.”  He 
says,  “Remembering  the  old  custom  of  ploughing  in  a  crop  of 
Mustard  as  a  protection  for  Wheat,  I  have  had  all  my  garden  crops 
dressed  with  Mustard  dross,  a  cheap  form  of  Mustard  refuse* 
This  dross  kills  the  wireworm  in  a  few  minutes.”  He  goes  on  to 
add  that  this  dross  is  pressed  into  cakes  and  exported  to  Belgium, 
to  be  ploughed  into  the  ground  where  wireworm  abounds.  The 
cost  is  about  2?.  to  4s.  per  cwt.  He  adds,  that  when  farming  in 
Northampton  and  Hereford  400  acres  of  land  his  annual  loss  from 
wireworm  averaged  £50  per  annum . 
This  statement  about  the  effect  of  true  Mustard  seems  to  fully 
bear  out  the  facts  in  Miss  Ormerod’s  experiments. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
We  have  again  to  chronicle  a  week  of  disappointment.  No  sooner 
have  a  couple  of  fine  breezy  days  dried  the  land  surface  and  the  horses 
are  yoked  in  the  drill  than  down  comes  the  rain  again,  and  we  are  just 
where  we  were  before.  As  we  write  it  is  too  wet  to  cart  muck,  and  as 
for  the  drag  or  the  plough,  they  are  much  better  in  the  shed  than  on  the 
land  in  its  present  state.  We  have  to-day  met  one  of  the  largest  arable 
land  farmers  in  Lincolnshire  ;  he  says  he  has  quite  given  up  sowing  for 
the  present,  and  shall  wait  for  drier  conditions,  even  if  he  has  to  drill 
his  corn  late.  Meanwhile  he  has  been  ploughing  Wheat  up,  and  says 
that  much  in  his  district  is  too  thin  to  give  any  real  prospect  of  an 
average  crop.  He  attributes  the  loss  of  plant  to  the  seed  having  been 
too  bold,  and  having  burst  in  the  soddened  soil ;  in  his  own  words,  “  No 
more  fat  seed  Wheat  for  me.” 
We  hear  many  complaints  of  loss  of  plant  from  wireworm.  Unfortu¬ 
nately  rolling,  the  best  remedy,  has  been  hardly  possible  lately. 
Lambing  has  proceeded  more  rapidly,  and  the  yard  at  night  is  pre¬ 
senting  a  thinned  appearance.  Lambs  are  plentiful,  but  there  is  loss 
amongst  the  ewes  ;  several  cases  of  liver  fluke  have  been  noted,  and 
these  on  farms  not  usually  liable  to  this  disease.  We  suppose  the  disease 
has  been  encouraged  by  the  abnormally  wet  autumn. 
The  wet  has  been  bad  for  the  young  lambs,  still  they  are  better  out 
than  in  the  pens.  It  is  bad  for  the  ewe  to  keep  her  stewed  up  in  a  close 
place.  Care  should  always  be  taken  that  the  ewes  should  not  have  access 
to  water,  as  if  a  sheep  is  in  the  least  feverish,  and  gets  as  much  water 
as  she  cares  to  drink,  she  will  almost  certainly  die. 
It  is  time  the  cattle  were  getting  a  little  hardening  by  being  turned 
out  for  a  few  hours  every  day.  If  the  pastures  are  handy  to  the  yards 
they  would  be  better  out  altogether  during  the  day,  and  most  farmers 
will  be  glad  to  have  them  out,  bedding  is  so  scarce.  With  shelter  to 
fly  to  in  a  storm  and  careful  shepherding  there  is  little  gained  by  keep¬ 
ing  cattle  up  after  the  equinox  ;  there  may  not  be  much  grass  to  look 
at,  but  it  will  grow,  and  what  there  is  will  be  young  and  sweet. 
It  is  almost  time  to  drill  Thousand-headed  Kale.  We  intend  putting 
a  small  acreage  in  early  in  April  for  autumn  feed. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamden  Square,  London. 
Lat.  51°  12' 40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8/  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
Rain. 
1897. 
March. 
|  Barometer 
at  32°,  and 
|  Sea  Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass, 
Inchs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inch?. 
Sunday  —  14 
29-4  3 
40-7 
39-9 
S.E. 
40-7 
44-9 
37-1 
51-3 
31-2 
0317 
Monday  ..  15 
29-338 
44-4 
42-2 
S. 
40-2 
48-7 
39-1 
73-4 
32-0 
0-124 
Tuesday  ..  16 
29-451 
44-9 
43  7 
s. 
40-4 
53-6 
38-6 
»4-9 
30-2 
0H6S 
Wednesday  17 
29-621 
48-4 
46-3 
s.w. 
41-6 
53-3 
41-9 
70-9 
34-1 
0'3u2 
Thursday . .  18 
29-517 
43-1 
42-1 
s.w. 
43-8 
54  3 
42-5 
95-1 
37-7 
0-117 
Friday  . .  Is 
29-814 
51-9 
45-7 
w. 
43-8 
57-1 
42-2 
95-6 
36-4 
— 
Saturday  . .  20 
30-141 
49-8 
449 
N.W. 
43-6 
57-8 
42-2 
98-0 
34-9 
— 
29-606 
46-2 
43-5 
41-9 
52  8 
40-5 
81-3 
33-8 
0-986 
REMARKS. 
14th. — Spots  of  rain  early,  wet  from  10.30  a.m.  to  noon  and  9  to  10.30  p.m.  ;  fair  between, 
and  a  gleam  of  aun  at  noon. 
15th.— Sunny  early  and  between  8  and  4  P.M.,  otherwise  overcast,  with  rain  from 
11.30  A.M.  to  2.30  P.M.  and  at  6.30  P.M 
16th.— Overcast,  with  frequent  rain  in  morniDg  and  evening  ;  generally  sunny  in 
afternoon. 
17th.— Occasional  sun  In  morning ;  frequent  rain  in  afternoon,  and  heavy  rain  at 
10  P.M. 
18th.— Very  rough  and  wet  till  10.80  A.M.,  much  bright  sunshine  from  11  A.M.,  and 
bright  night. 
19th.— Brilliant  from  sunrise  to  noon,  frequently  cloudy,  with  high  wind  after. 
20th. — Bright  and  sunny  till  11  A.M.,  cloudy  after. 
A  wet  and  rather  warm  week.— Q-.  J.  Symons. 
