488 Transactions of the 





ered, but if the latter, he must be hunted down. The size of the "sign 

 on the plant he is supposed to have left will indicate which is the more 

 probable. When satisfied that a worm is no longer on a plant, and it 

 appears that his operations stopped before he was grown, and before he 

 had worked upwards as far as the leaves were eligible, it is fair to infer 

 that a bird or yellow jacket has got away with him. Sometimes two 

 worms will be operating on one plant. This can be inferred from the 

 sign, and equal pains must be taken to destroy both. 



Instead of being a tedious and costly job, as this may seem, it is soon 

 accomplished. When worms are tolerably plenty, one hand may be ex- 

 pected, after he has learned the wa}*sof the creature, to worm thoroughly 

 five thousand plants or more per da} 7 . Care is to be taken in this as well 

 as in all other operations, not to break the stems nor the edges of the 

 leaves. If the stem be broken, that part of the leaf bej'ond the fracture 

 "withers. For manufacturing purposes — especially in all the varieties of 

 cigar tobacco — an unbroken edge is one important element in the value 

 of the leaf. For these reasons, too, the use of turkeys and ducks to 

 catch worms is costly as well as ineffective. They fail to find the very 

 small ones, and injure leaves. 



Several other insects take up their abode in the plant, but work little 

 or no injury. One of these is a fly having a body shaped like that of 

 the scarabseus beetles. It is usually a pale green; occasionally one will 

 be found of a light brown. Another insect is a small, roundish black 

 beetle. This one is fond of collecting in numbers at one point — at first 

 on the stem of a leaf; apparently they suck the rising sap, for that part 

 of the leaf beyond them will look dull and blighted; if when it is in this 

 condition the sun's rays fall hotly on it, it may scorch; but after the 

 beetles have removed to another point of operation, the leaf (unless 

 scorched) shortl} 7 recovers. After the blossoms appear, these beetles 

 collect on the flower stalks. Another insect is a flea, which bites pin 

 holes in the leaf. But all these amount to nothing. The real enemy of 

 the plant is the horn-worm. It is said that grasshoppers, when coming 

 in great numbers, have destroyed young plants. The moth made by 

 the bud-worm has not, so far as yet reported, been identified. That 

 made by the cut-worm is well known. The only effectual means of 

 checking the increase of all these creatures is by deep plowing in the 

 Autumn, turning the chrysalis to the Winter frosts. The numbers in 

 which all insects appear, as well as the date of their appearance, varies 

 with different seasons, and a long wet season^ even though cold, appears 

 to be most favorable to them. 



SUCKERING. 



As the plant develops, a sucker starts at the point of junction of each 

 leaf with the stalk, commencing with the lower leaves. Up to this 

 point, the planter might have proceeded, following successfully the 

 methods pointed out in this series of papers in their details, almost 

 without the exercise of his own judgment. From this point on, the 

 degree of his success will be influenced by that with which he brings 

 iudgment to bear on the work. As a rule for suckering, it might be 

 said, defer it until the flower stalks begin to sprout; by that time the 

 lower suckers may be a foot or more long, while those at the topmost 

 leaves will be sufficiently developed to be got hold of and broken out. 

 If the plants are making a strong growth and the condition and charac- 

 ter of the soil are such that that kind of growth can be expected to the 



