VOL. XXIII.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, JUNE 23,1888.
NO. 25
written for the Indiana Parmer.
The Army Worm—Leucania   Unipuncta.
BY PROF. F. M. WEBSTER.
As a more or less serious visitation of
this well known pest is now almost assured, a few points regarding the habits
snd methods of destroying the worms
may be of interest..
The insect is more or less common every
season, but only develops in destructive
numbers, under certain favorable conditions, viz.: During a' cool, more or less
wet, spring, which has been preceded by
one or more dry seasons.
THE ADULT.
This is a moth or miller, with an expanse of wings amounting to about 1%
inches,rather heavy bodied,the fore wings
of a reddish brown or fawn color, more or
less spotted with fine black scales, and
with a rather indistinct white spot on the
median vein, near the center of the fore
wing.   See fig. 1.
; Fig. l.
'""""' THJBEGasr    "'   '  ' "
These are deposited in spring, usually
in low grass places, but sometimes on
the higher lands or even in fields of small
grain.     the larvae ob worm.
When first hatched from the eggs, these
»re very small and nearly white in color,
but when full grown are 114 inches long,
dingy black, striped longitudinally, as follows: A. Broad dusky stripe on the middle
ofthe back,then a narrow black line,then a
narrow white line, then a yellowish stripe,
then an obscure white line, then a dusky
stripe, then a narrow white line, then a
yellowish stripe, then an obsolete, narrow
white line, beneath obscure green. See
fig2.
rods wide, were wetted with a mixture of
one pound of Paris green or London purple, to about 80 gallons of water, few of
the worms eating of the leaves would survive. As the worms feed for the most
part during the night, the measure will
be more effective if applied during the late
afternoon. There is no doubt but that
these worms can be killed by poisoning,
and I have faith enough in the "gumption" of our farmers to believe that they
can devise a way of applying it in a safe
and practical manner. By watching closely the vicinity of low grass lands or orchards, an invasion, if taken in time, may
be nipped in the bud as it were, and before any serious damage has been done.
By being careful of stock no injurious results need occur.
Purdue University, Lafayette.
 .  ♦ -.	
German Millet.
Editors Indiana*., armer:
For the benefit of your many readers I
would like to submit to them my
experience, for the last three years
in growing German millet. As to
the product, in good soil, I can safely say, it yielded 314 tons of hay per
acre, which was equal to any of my
clover hay for feeding. Some may
think this a large yield, but I believe it is not as large as I should put
it, and think it is not an over estimate.
I am very' particular' to "get 'the pure
German millet seed for sowing, as in
many places the •common millet is sold
for German,which will not yield over half
as much.
I usually sow about one bushel of seed
per acre, broadcast, and lightly harrow, or
brush it in. Por hay it should be cut
when in bloom, and thoroughly cured before stacking or placing in the barn.
This year, as the hay crop is very short,
I have sowed about 15 acres, and as Boon
as my oats are cut, I will sow about 10
acres more.
I recommend all to sow millet, if only
In a small way, and see what a large
amount of hay you can grow on a small
piece of ground. R. H. H.
Owen Co.
Fig. 2
REMEDIAL MEASURES.
Until the worms are about two-thirds
sK-wn they do  not attract  much atten-
°n\ , * at this time seem to be suddenly
arcrt, hj a   mania  for  m-grating,
°a frequently  move  together in large
nam ' bodles>whicn -*"«» g-^en them the
h ~le of wmy worm.   Where the eggs
U w ii Mi in the midst of the K-**1-***--*-
but   h lgh imP°ssible to  combat them,
dest    n on the march theycan often b0
'n thY** *by cnttinS ditches or furrows
»nd iT ?ath*lnto which they yfia f8U-
W aj  y be destroyed by drawing a heavy
to no°D8 in the tuxrow> There seems to
alao ^0n why they cannot be fought
Se(:t8 ' arsenl«»l mixtures, as other in-
do so ,!*e' Provided it is not necessary to
-*nda   TrtUre landj,>In B™1* or meadow
tr^ted*wtnarrow Btrip whlch has been
*hen d*J"?* a-« poisons could be cut, and
*°old n Y°rned'   ■*• 8°°d shower or two
"-J way 7 washthe poison all off
HrlPo-t^nly "PP*81"8 Plausible  that if „
grass or grain, say  two or three
Written for the Indiana Farmer.
Green Manuring.—No. 3.
BY JOHN M. STAHL.
We closed the preceding article by pointing out that the roots of the crop, by putting in the soil one powerful solvent, carbonic acid, increased the productiveness
of the soil. These roots produce the same
effects by other and somewhat similar
methods.
The roots of plants exude substances
which dissolve the soil in contact, thus
giving the roots more food and making it
easier for them to force their way. This
has been known for a long time and is yet
being investigated. The lowest order of
plants, the mosses and lichens, are able to
extract nourishment from the most various and the most insoluble rocks. Prof.
Johnson states that the white quartz hills
of Berkshire, Mass., are covered, on their
moister northern slopes, with large patches of leathery lichen, which adheres so
firmly to the rocks, that, on being forced
oft,particles of the rock itself were detached. Many ofthe old marbles of Greece
are incrusted with oxalate of lime, left by
the decay of lichens which have grown
upon their surface. Liebig wrote, in his
"Modern Agriculture": We frequently
find in meadows smooth lime stones with
their surfaces covered with a net work of
small furrows.* When these stones are
newly taken out of the ground, we find
that each furrow corresponds to a rootlet,
which appears as if It had eaten its way
into the stone. Goeppert stated that the
hard fine-grained rock of the Zobtenberg,
a mountain of Silesia, is in aU cases soft
ened on its surface where covered with
lichens, while the bare rock, closely adjacent, is so hard as to resist the knife.
These lower orders of plants thus disintegrate the rock until sufficient soil is produced to support higher plants. This action of the roots is accounted one of the
active agents in the production of soils.
The roots of the higher orders of plants,
have the same action,by reason of the viscous liquid which they exude. The experiments of Sachs with wheat, corn,
squash and bean plants, and of Dietrich
with plants of lupine, peas, vetch, spurry,
and buckwheat, made this certain. In
speaking of these experiments by Dietrich,
Prof. Storer, of Harvard, says:
"It appeared plainly enough that the
roots of the leguminous plants, especially
that of the lupine, exerted a more powerful
solvent influence than those of grain bearing plants, like wheat and rye; but in
every case the decomposing power of the
roots was distinct and unquestionable. It
is interesting to observe as one result of
this corrosion of the soil by acids exuded
from the roots, that the constituent of the
soil must be set free directly in contact
with the roots; that is to say, at the very
places where they can be most readily absorbed and utilized by the plant."
Others, notably Schumacher,Heiden and
Cohn, have made similar experiments, to
make assurance doubly sure. Stohmann
conducted exhaustive experiments with
corn in peat from which every thing soluble in water had been removed. Here
the plants had to depend upon the solvent
action of the matter exuded from their
roots, for plant food.
Another matter need be scarcely more
than mentioned, as it is doubtless well
understood by my readers. The roots of
clover and of some other plants commonly used in green manuring penetrate to a
comparatively great depth in the soil and
sub-soil, forming a net work. The extremities of roots are provided with
smooth, hard caps, and the softening of
the soil in their way by the matters exuded from them has just been noted.
Hence what is often observed is not s trange,
that roots penetrate hard subsoil. We
have seen what is their beneficial effect
while they' are alive. When they decay
they leave numberless little ways for the
ingress of water and air,also powerful solvents of the rock into soil and of tbe Boil
into available plant food. This action of
the air and of water lies at the base of tillage ; it need not be argued; and it is
equally apparent to any person who has
considered the depth to which roots pane-
trate and the net works which they form,
that by their decay in the soil they must
largely increase the action of those agents
that must first make available plant food
out of rock, that must even precede the
lichen, if not because of the necessity of
the lichen, at least by the purpose of the
Creator. Thus by green manuring we may
constantly increase the quantity of the
soil by accretions downward; the roots
constantly convert rocky subsoil into soil.
And we also better the quality of the soil.
Not alone by the betterment of the soil's
texture; but also because the carbonic and
other acids brought in contact with the
soil by the roots decompose unavailable
organic compounds and put them in such
shape that the plants coming after may
feed upon them. Green manuring increases the fertility of the soil already existing while continually adding to the soil
from below.
Quincy, 111.
Some of the railroads in Alabama will
sell tickets to land seekers, upon a certificate from the office of the Commissioner
of Agriculture, B. F. Kolb, Montgomery,
at one cent per mile, and it is hoped that
this arrangement can be made with all the
roads of the State.
Summer Manuring, ls It Bight or
Wrong?
Editors Indiana Farmer:
If you will kindly give me a little space
in the columns of your valuable paper,I
will express my views on this subjact,
which it seems to me has never been fully
debated, and ask through the same medium, the advice and counsel of those who
are older and more experienced In farm
matters than myself.
There  seems to be a wide  diversify of
opinion among those who write for the
agricultural press, as to the proper time
and manner of applying manure ;my own
theory has always been that the best time
was whenever it was most convenient, in
the fall of the year if possible, but if not,
any time up to corn  planting.   I prefer
the month of August for several reasons,
the days are long and a much larger amount
of work can be accomplished than in the
short winter days, the ground is solid and
much larger loads can be hauled and it is
not injured by being trampled and cut up,
as is the case when the frost has gone out
in the spring, I have often  seen a good
farmer who lives near me, hauling manure
in March  when it  required  the  united
strength of four powerful horses to draw
a very  ordinary two-horse load through
his fields, and it  always occurred to  me
that he was injuring his land more than
the manure was worth.   I think another
reason in favor of early manuring is, that
the fall rains open the pores of the ground
and give it an opportunity to absorb all
the strength of the manure, while in winter the ground is generally frozen and the
rain washes the strength out of the manure and carries it away over the surface
of the ground in the shape of darkly colored water, till it is lost in some water course
below.
But it was not of manuring in general
that I wished to speak, so much as of an
experiment that I am trying at the present time. My hand is now engaged in
hauling out manure upon a clover field
that I expect to cultivate in corn next
spring. Now you will be ready to say that
I am carrying my hobby of early manuring to the extreme, but give me one moment for explanation. The manure in
question is the debris of a large straw stack
that stood in my barn lot and around
which I fed my cattle the past winter.
It will make a large amount of manure,
from 60 to75 loads. I wish to place my
straw in the same lot this year and there
is not room for the second* stack without
placing it upon the site of the first, if I do
this I of course lose the use of the manure
this year and will next year be in exactly
the same situation w ith regard to m y straw
that I am at present. I had a large number
of cattle through the winter and the straw
was worked down early and is well rotted,
though some of it is still a little too green
and would be better for standing till later,
but as that is out of the question I have
decided to risk applying it now. Be the
experiment a success or failure, I wlll at
least be wiser by that  much experience.
As I said in the beginning I would be
glad to have an expression from some experienced farmer upon the wisdom or
folly of my experiment and advice upon
what course to pursue should such an
emergency arise again.
With the kindest wishes for the success
of the Farmer which I esteem highly as a
practical farm paper, I am respectfully
yours. . A. Z.
Greensburg.
Sioux City built a $30,000 corn palace last
fall, and it proves so great a success financially and as an advertisement of the
city's growth and advantages that it is
proposed to build a larger and finerpalace
ofthe same material this summer. It
will be open for exhibition from Sept. 24th
to Oct. 6th.