Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1845-07-24

their way" alike undisturbed We onco nh, 6va
different species OF worms in stone ;or viii oortb
The earth was kept moist and sailed NJ vor;oua
times turning out the earth, and counting Tho in.
sects every two or three days, to see if salt occa
stoned the death of any, or any way effected thor,
Finding all alive and WE'LL" at each counting we
had applied at the rate of over forty bushels 10 the
acre, with no difference in the result. The occur
renee of an accident broke off the experiment and
prevented us from ascertainng the precise quantity
Oh SAT- which an acre would require to kill all the
worms that might be in the soil. But, as before re-
Ihutkeu, we have ascertaned from several trials,
hat IL VIII take less salt to kill vegetation than il
Wou'o 10 XIII worms so that in conducting an ex-
pertinent the former consequence may be first ex-
pected.
In articles written on the subject of insects. and
worms, there IS too frequently Indebtedness and
IN some cases an inconsistency, which renders them
worse than useless as they only promulgate error.
treat mistakes are committed from an ignoratce
OF the habits of insects, particularly of their trans
formations. All insects, when they have acquired
their full growth in the larva or worm state pass
into the chrysalis pupa, and thence into the per-
iect ny state. Those of the same species, placed
under the same circumstances, hatch nearly at the
same time, and of course finish their first period,
and are changed TO the chrysalis altogerher.-From
the time they are Matched, till shortly before they
pass to the next stage their voracty increases but
when they have attained their full growth, and the
time IOr transformation arrives, they suddenly cease
feeding, and the ordinary observer sees them no
more.
Now we have known instances of farmers be-
coming greatly alarmed at the devastation commit
ted by worms on their field crops; but not having
examined with sufficient attention. they did not be-
come aware Of the prevalence of the insect till lis
size and the widespread destruction it had occa-
stoned, showed it to be nearly full grown and that
its predatory labors were, of course, nearly ended
| In this state OF the case the farmer anxious to
check the injury sows his fields at once with salt,
ashes, or lime. lie sows all alike, however-he
makes no experiment which teaches anything--he
makes no division of the ground, marked by metes
and bounds-applying the supposed remedy TO
some lots, and not applying it to others-as should
be done to understand the results. In a few days
the worms, in accordance with their natural organ
ization and habits, stop eating; and descending
into the earth, las is the habit of triDes) pre-
pare for transformation. The farmer examines his
crops-the mischief has been stopped the worms
are gone and he eXults in the faith that "sahhas
done The work for EN-"
i Another instance of error in entomology, lately
met our eye in the Boston Cuitraior, and from
that has been copied extensively into other papers
! The writer asserts that 'the cut worm would not
be found in corn, were it not planted in sward or
sod land. They are the progeny of species of
beetle or other insect which could never propagate
its kind without the aid of dung which is found in
grass-feds that have been fed by horses or cattle
and in this they enclose their eggs. and sink them
a given distance below the surface"
Here are several which may be produce
tive of greater or less injury In The first place, it
is too much to say that "the cut-worm could not
be found in corn, it were not planted on sod
ground" 1t may, TO be sure, be somewhat uncer-
tain what species of insect is here alluded to under
the name of cut worn," but the term is usually
applied to those worms which eat off the stems of
young plants, generally at the surface Of the
rrro bour oil dor halo,
surface They are known to entomologsts under
the name of -1groiidide, or Field Moths. The
group includes several species-we cannot say
how many known in this country-we have
been acquainted with five or six; but of
them are "beetles," as this writer supposes-they
are all moths, mlers. We ascertalned this
more than twenty years ago. by taking some of the
arva as they were about to pass into the chrysais
state and confirming them till their transformation
was completed. Dr. Harris has we'll described
these insects. He says "Most of these moths
come forth in July and August, and soon after
wards lay their eggs in the ground, in plowod
fields, gardens and meadows"
The assertion of the writer in the Boston Guilt
vator that the insect could never propagate its
Fl kind without the aid of dung in grass fields
which have been fed by horses or CATTLE" must
have been made without proper knowledge of the
subject, and the same remark will apply to the his
= tory of the insect. The worm, he says, sis the
) progeny of species of beetle or other insect %
This statement, IN The other Of its paris is
c undoubtedly correct But from what follows in
r regard to the eggs being deposited in "dung," the
o writer has evidently taken the dung ball-beetle,
= tscarabaus rectus?) as the parent Of the "cut
worm" Many persons may have seen numbers Of
If cut worms on meadows where cattle and horses
d were never pastured and where none of their DUG
it could be found. The insect is found mostly or
it sod grounds, but the eggs are laid, as stated b!
" DR.. Harris, in the above quotation, ain plowet
fields, gardens and meadows" and the larva are o
course found more less in all these situations.