5. The two affections of the grain in our table are widely different in their modes of attack, but both tend to lessen the quantity of produce. The first, the Ear-Cockle (_Vitrio tritici_) is an affection of the grain, which at starting it will be well to distinguish from smut or bunt. In the latter, the grain is filled with what appears a black powder, the grains of which the microscope shows to be a fungus;[21] whilst in the cockle the seed, which is purple externally—hence called “purples”—is filled with what appears to be white cotton wool. This, under the microscope, has the appearance of a multitude of eels. These are, indeed, minute infusorial worms, and are exceedingly curious; the smallest portion of the cottony substance taken on a pin’s point and just moistened with water, often showing thousands of the eels under a good instrument; for drawings and descriptions of which and good drawings (after Bauer), we should recommend the reader to consult “Curtis’s Farm Insects.” A damp season favours the production of these; hence drainage and such conditions as increase the effects of damp and cold are to be guarded against. [21] See _ante_, p. 183. The _Corn Moth_ is best known by the presence of a small, slightly hairy maggot, which is found to eat the flour from the grain; this is the larva of a small moth, probably the _Butalis cerealella_. It is easily found in the chaff scales; and during the summer of 1861 we saw as many as six in a single ear, and it was, indeed, one of the causes of the bad yield of that year. We know of no remedy for this evil; but, perhaps, if we were better acquainted with the habits of the moth itself, means might be devised for taking it before the eggs are laid in the young ear of corn. 6. The _Corn or Granary Weevil_ (_Calandra granaria_) and others.—These attack corn in store, and probably differ in species according to the kind of corn. This is a small beetle, the female of which makes a hole in the grain and deposits an egg, which soon hatches into the maggot; this eats out the grain with great assiduity until its partial period of rest in the pupa state; which passed, the beetle finishes the work, and may frequently be found in the interior of wheat. The usual structures of granaries and corn-stores contribute to the increase of this pest, as they are mostly dark and ill-ventilated chambers. The best remedy is to expose the grain to the greatest possible amount of cold, by spreading it on the floors in hard frosts, and letting in light and air. Curtis quotes the “Bulletin des Sciences Agriculture” for July, 1826, for the following plan:—“Lay fleeces of wool, which have not been scoured, on the grain; the oily matter attracts the insects amongst the wool, where they soon die, from what cause is not exactly known. M. B. C. Payrandeau related to the Philomatic Society of Paris that his father had made the discovery in 1811, and had since practised it on a large scale.”