Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 August 1896 — FARMS AND FARMERS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARMS AND FARMERS

Cntwormg and White Grubs. The cutworm is commonly confused %rith the white grub, and is in many cases mistaken for the grub. The adult of the cutworm is a moth, and lays its eggs mostly in grass and other places. The larva or worm feeds upon grass and leaves of other plants—sometimes the roots—until full grown, when It enters the ground to transform, and in a few days or weeks the adult moth emerges. The moths are of various colors, and are quite common during the summer months. They are night flyers, and hide during the day in grass and other places. They measure about one to one and one-half Inches across the wings, and are commonly called millers. The white grub, on the (Other hand, is the larva or worm Hatched from eggs laid by the June or May beetles. The eggs are usually laid in grass, where they hatch In about a

|tuonth, and the little grubs feed upon the rootlets of various plants for the (first year. They burow down into the ground fcpm 18 Inches to two taet, where they remain *>ver winter. During the second year the grub eats near the surface, and does great damage on account of its size and larger appetite. They spend the winter as before, and the third year they l*each maturity. The grub passes its transformation ln ( little cells in the earth, and the mature beetle emerges in the spring. The adult is a dark chestnut brown beetle,

the head often black, and the breast sometimes covered with yellowish hairs. The body is about an inch long, and the

beetles are rapacious feeders. They appear Id May and June, buzzing about certain trees at night. It is not an uncommon thing Just at dusk, in May or June, to see thousands of beetles swarming about trees. They feed upon the leaves, and often defoliate large numbers of trees. Sutnmlng up, then, the adult of the white grub is the May or June beetle, and that of the cutworm a delicate moth. Grubs usually feed upon roots, and remain below the surface, while cutworms feed upon leaves and other foliage, eating at night and hiding during the day under anything that will conceal them. When ■these insects are numerous tlfey are

difficult to combat over large areas. In gardens, cutworms may be destroyed' by strewing bunches of green grass, clover, ca b b age leaves, etc., between the rows and sprinkling with paris i green in Solution—

a teaspoonful to a pail of frater. If this is.done before the crops are planted, or the seeds have come up, many of,the young worms may be destroyed before they can do any harm. In a small way tomato, cabbage and other plants can be, protected by encircling their stems close to the ground with bands of tin or tarred paper. Rotation of crops may often be advantageous with field crops.—American Agriculturist. Cost of Marketing Vegetables. The farmer who begins growing garden vegetables on a large scale quickly finds that it Is not the growing that Is anoet difficult and expensive, but the marketing. This is especially true if tire farmer is at a distance from,a good market, and is obliged to rely on city commission houses and shipment to them by rail. He will usually find that after the commissions have been deducted there is little profit left for himself. In most cases the farmer who wants to go Into the business of market gardening will do best to begin on a small scale, providing at first for the customers whom he can make sure of near by, and marketing his product himself. In this way he will gift a much better price than the commission man can afford. Dealing directly with the consumers, his goods will bring higher prices, and, will be well worth them, too, as they wifi be much fresher than those the commission merchant can furnish. When this local trade Is firmly established the farmer may better judge whether it Is advisable to extend his business, knowing that the larger part of his products must be sold on commission, and at prices that pay very narrow profit a .... . Plowing After Early Peas. AU who have grown peas know how inevitably, after the.early crop has been gathered, greeds which hare sprung up between and in the rows make aston- .. . . i . -, ’

Ishing progress, and unless plowed u»der will soon outgrow everything else. We know the reason now in the fact that the pea roots underground have been decomposing the air and putting its nitrogen in available form. This nitrogenous fertility, though made without cost, Is far too valuable to be wasted on weeds. If the pea vines are of the dwarf varieties that do not need to be bushed, they may be profitably plowed under where their decay will still further increase soli fertility. It is a good preparation for some late crop, as turnips or late cabbage, to plow under pea vines and plant the new crop over them. It needs only sufficient, moisture to make t.lijs second eroj? fi success, as the peas wljlte growlng'haye provided the nitrogenous plant footTrequlred.

Egg Tniatin-r in Cellam. Most farmers put the eggs down cellar in summer time, as being the coolest place they can find for them. This is all right If the cellar has been duly cleaned, whitewashed and ventilated, so as tjjjteep Its air pure. But there are condinons In which.eggs in cellars will spoil quite as quickly as in a warmer room upstairs. The egg shell Is porous. If there are odors of decaying vegetables or of tainted meat in the air, they will penetrate the egg. While the germ will not begin to develop a cbick at the cellar temperature, the presence of tainted air Ip. contact with the egg will cause it to lose its flavor almost at once, and soon become as bad as It is possible for an egg to be. In such eases the chick dies and its own decay makes the egg worse than It would otherwise be. Eggs for keeping ought never to be fertilized. The cocks should either be killed off or confined so they cannot get to the hens after midsummer. In this way much trouble will be saved. The hens will lay more eggs, and eggs thus produced infertile can be easily kept until winter and sold at winter prices. Support for Berry Bushes. Wire is very commonly used as a sup port for raspberry and blackberry bush es, this being of necessity very stout and very firmly braced. But this does not suffice to keep the wire stiffly in place. Where wires are stretched along each side of a row already, they can be made much more efficient by tying them together with cross wires'every ton feet or so. This pulls them together and keeps the bushes upright aud in place. Where there is no support at present and support it to be given the bushes, the plan shown in the diagram can be followed to advantage. Light wooden strips of inch-square stuff are held up by stakes of the same material and rigidly attached to each other by

cross wires. These cross wires are the most Important part of the whole, for they are constantly pulling the bushes up into close quarters—the one thing for which supports are desired. New Varieties of Wheat. The wheat blossom usually fertilizes Itself, and for this reason new varieties are rarely originated, except by sports, But the crossing of different varieties may be done artificially by taking off the stamens from one ear, and carefully depositing on the blossom the pollen of a different variety. It Is not best to try to cross widely different varieties, as these would be only mongrels. This seems to be the origin of some new varieties of wheat which are partly bald and partly bearded. Some have thought these were distinct varieties, but a farmer who saved seed of each separate, and sowed' both, found ’that the bald and bearded beads appeared In both lots, though the majority of the grain was of the kind sown. Fodder Corn for Cows. There Is no advantage in feeding com that has been sown for fodder until it gets Into the tasselling stage. Cows will not eat it unless half starved, and for the very good reason that it contains no nutrition. The cpm that is best for fodder is that which has had enough room to grow so that it can set an ear if nothing more than a nubbin. The juices of com rapidly increase in sweetness as the com approaches the earing stage, and they are then nutritious feed.

Farm Notes. It is stated that in Minnesota the sunflower Is raised for fuel, an acre furnishing a year’s aupply for a family, the heads, seeds and stalks all being burned. 1 To produce cattle, fait and large at the least expense, feeding must begin with the calves. They should be taught to eat while they are drinking milk. Keep oats in a trough near them. Their future growth depends largely upon the care given them the first year. It takes no more feed, when properly and regularly given, to keep calves fat all theic lives than to half way do It One of the most useful appliances on a farm, and which costs but very little compared with the many uses to which it can be put, Is the windmill. It grinds food, provides water for stock and can be used for irrigating small plots. They are now being adapted for purposes of Irrigation on many large fArmb," two or more windmills being sqis£|eat to fill a large reservoir and keep a constant supply of water. Too many acres on a farm Is claimed as one of the curses the fanner has, because he must cultivate more land than Is necessary In order to obtain a crop that might be got from less land upon which all of the manure can be advan'tageously sprehd; but too much land is no worse an infliction thon too much stock of an Inferior kind,-yet. hundreds of farmers feed animals that give no profit because they will not procure good broods and grade up tbeir stock.

VARIEGATED CUTWORM. a, Larva; b, moth.

JUNE BUG.

WHITE GRUB.