The Wilmingtonian, and Delaware register., 1825-11-03
'vhe Practical FarMer.
From the MaysuiRe Eagle.
TiIE WEENIL.

THE WEENiL.
The enquiry of almost every farmer 49,
aHow shall we preserve our wheat from ehe
weeviR"
We answerAthrash it Immediately, clean
il from the chaff, spread it in a barn OF open
room. and if it acquires the least warmth
stir it daily.
The wheat which we received about the
first of this month, which then hau sone
weevil in the grain, we found neatea ~,
few days. We spread and constantly sur
red it for about two weeks; those .neh ~ y
ate their way out--none have SINCE pred ~
lit now lies in bulk without heatinS' aha
we consider it greatly preferred 70 thas
which we are daily receiving from the tnfasi-
ing floor. ,,,.h,,so of
wheat on hand. which was thrashcd from the
shock and from the stack before the weeVil
commenced their ravages. 1t has been "
inr in the garners near sixty days, aud has
been kept cool by frequent stirring; the wee
vii has not touched it-and we,have no hes-
itaton in saying, let their ravages be what
they NAV in the stack, wheat thus cleaned
and kept cool, will in all cases be free from
the flying weeyil.
We are now receiving lot Of a thousand
bushels. w-ich was thrashed in July and
early in August, run through the tan anu
spread in large barn. 1t is perfectly cool
and has not received the least damage All
small lots, thrashed and cleaned at abodt
that time, and kept cool, we find IN the same
good order. 1t is also said that some who
thrashed and penned their wheat IN the chaff
before the wecvil were visible, have pre-
served it; but of this we speak with some
doubt.
We now hear many speak of thrashins
and slowing away in the chaF. But those
we would advise to be cautious; there IS
scarcely a stack of wheat in the country en-
tireIy free from weevil, and that which CON
tains but small oition, will heat 1t pack
ed away in the chat. We have heard some
wild theorists recommend this mode to neat
the wheat, which they say, will kill the
wcevl and destroy the eggs, from which
they hatch"
This reminds us of the old story of the
Dutchman, who set fire to his barn to divest
it of rats; for we know that wheat thus heat
ed will never afterwards grow, nor will the
-four made from it reward the miller for his
labor of grinding.
1t is not our design to enter into the nat
ural history Of this insect. We are desirous
that the farmers should preserve their pre-
sent and future crops of wheat from destruc-
ton; and being willing that they should
profit by our short experience, we freely
tell them "that which we know" HI,
much however, we will add as mere opinion
We believe they are produced from an egs
which, after being laid IN the grain, require!
certain degree of heat to produce ANNA
tion. That portion which is produced by
the straw in the stack, during the summer
and fall, appears tobe natures choice. i
. is against that portion of heat we should hav'
the farmers to guard, when we advise then
to thrash and keep their wheat cool
Whether the eggs is deposited in the tel'
or in the stack, we pretend not to say bu
we have rather concluded in the latter
but we can with safety say, that the whea
now on hand, which never went through
the sweat, or which has never attained tina
heat to which nearly all wheat i'll the stacl
is subject, whether it contains the egg or not
has produced no weevil; and that which W.
have recently received from the stack, ceas
cs to hatch or in any wise produce them
SO soon as we can get it perfectly cool.
On these and other observations, too nu
merous for insertion, we advise those VIII
would preserve their present crops, tothras
and clean them Immediately, and those VIII
would hereafter effectualy guard agains
the flying weevil, advise to thrash from tn
shock, or before the wheat takes the sweat
Mnysylle Ky. Sept. 20.