Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1854-07-19
agricultural.
Tl IL 5oiNr woR n.

ne 3leA&Duf3a fTtbbiatly ~ IuDliaDtBE tbt
annexed article on the subject Of the J0ipt
Worm, aud the mode Of resisting its rava-
ees, gays il comes from gentleman who has
had experience IL tie matter of which be
writes:
The method propose Tor their dest'ue
ton are as follows:
LIST Burn tie st1bble al some time after
tho frosts Of autumn have killed the Yegeta
ton that springs up after harvest, and before
tie first u April I. would facilitate the op-
GRAFTON to select some dry and windy day for
that purpose. Ia order to ensure tho burn
ing, about which many entertain doubts, /
would advise that wheat be sown quito thick,
with a beasy application Of guauo. No fears
need bs entertained concerning tie degtruc.
ton u the young clover sown in the prece-
ding spring, as les long tap root at this time
Of tho year would ensure its life agaiast SO
slight FIRE Indeed | should rot cor slider
the heat Of the fire more dangerous to the
clover than the tr0sts Of autumn which every
one knows are entirely harmless And
think the ash 0f tie hard weed that springs
up after harvest would be more bcneiei. 60
the clover crop than il the weed itself we're
permitted to remain on the land, as it uudcr-
goes very slow decomposition. Az regards
the joint worm lcft in the straw, their De
slruetion may be effected either by spreading
it in the farm pens and sui ieeting it to the
tramgliag Of the stock or even il it we're
left 10 TIE rick DO not tl;ak there would
be a fearful number from this source, as all
in the body Of the rick would perish before
Matching. Gas believe they DO } or when they
had Matched, being made to extricato them
selves from the body Of the rick
Should il be advisable to apply the straw
20 the cloverGclds, | would advise that the
straw Of this year be not applied until June
Of the second year, by which time all the fly
in the body Of the rick would have died.
But the most advisable disposition of the
surplus straw, after composing as much as
possible IN the farm peus during the winter
and early spring, would be to burn it also, as
the value OF the straw would be iuconsidera.
BILE, compared with tho wheat we would lose
~ their presence.
I'd. The second plan is to plough in the
stubble. and either seed the land in wheat
again OF oats But if wheat follows, it nc.
cessarily involves succession Of crops, which
u
ofyears, without destroying tie fertility Of
the lands. If the cat crop follows, the laud
is left in a wretched condition Whether it
would do to follow with corn and the next
spring seed in clover or other grass, am un-
able to say, but have been told that it does
very well The turning under Of the stub.
bic will most certainly destroy the fly in the
field ploughed bat it is still liaolo to invasion
from other stubblo fields, and requires Of
course, concert Of action. have tried this
method fully, and whenever the early vafie-
ties have been seeded have produced good
crops OF wheat; aud in no instance have |
had field in wheat without joint worm
stubblo being adjaeent.
3ra 1t is universally the case (e@teris par
ibus) that the attacks Of the joiat worm arc
,aadc upon the late wheat in preference to the |
'srly-- either upon the late varieties or the |
Na late seeding. Under such circumstances |
] think if we wero to leave strip Of land |
around our wheat fields, ssy ten or fifteen !
yards wide unseeded until we had finished |
Ir ceop with some early, hardy and prolific
variety, (say early purple straw ard then !
seed this strip with some very late kind, (say |
the blue STEM the dcpradations of the Joint /
worm might be confined to this narrow piece
of ground, ard thereby save tie main crop
The stubbe would be very thick and burn
most readily, and we would thus destroy
them without burning over the whole fields.
Ia conclusion | would advise without excep-
ton, and upon all sorts of land, the applica-
ton Of guano to the wheat crop, as am full
ly convinced (ndepeudent of the increased ,
yiolt from this as q manure) it has the effect |
of causing the wheat to throw out more roots.
and take an additional quantity of silica into
the stalk, thereby rendering it much less la
bic to the puucturo of the joiut worm from
its greater hardness. have noticed in all
sections Of the country where there is a de-
fcieney Of silica, however vigorous the wheat
may grow, it suffers most from the ravages of |
the joirt worm; and in proof IS, cite the
rcd lands Of the south west mountain coun
try. Go W. IIACKErr.
Louisa Co., June II, 1854.