684 Agricultural Experiment Station, Ithaca, N. Y. 



two years in succession. Those who practice this are rarely 

 troubled with cutworms, even in cornfields. What crops shall con- 

 stitute the rotation must be determined by the individual for his 

 locality and soils. 



In corn fields. — From the earliest times, cutworms have done 

 more damage to corn than to any other crop. Almost every year 

 thousands of acres have to be replanted in this country. This is 

 largely to be explained by the fact that corn is the crop most often 

 planted on newly-plowed lands that have usually lain in sod for 

 several years and are thus often full of the posts. If the prepara- 

 tion of corn ground were begun the preceding summer, as described 

 at the beginning of the discussion of the measures adapted to gar- 

 den crops, we believe much less corn would have to be i-eplanted 

 on account of cutworms. It is doubtful if either early or late fall, 

 or early or late spring plowing, each of which has it's advocates, will 

 in itself have much effect on the crop of cutworms that may appear 

 in the spring; the soil must be more than simply plowed. 



Many recommendations have been made to prevent the attacks 

 of cutworms on corn, and two of these have especially commended 

 themselves to some eminent writers on these insects. These are 

 first, the application of salt, either by soaking the seed in strong 

 brine or by sprinkling a tablespoonful on the hill immediately after 

 planting; and second, the soaking of the seed in a solution of 

 copperas. Each recommendation is backed by seemingly strong 

 testimony from farmers They theorize that in each case some of 

 the salt or copperas finds it way into the tissues of the young plant 

 and renders it distasteful to the worms. Possibly an exceedingly 

 small amount of the minerals might thus get into the plant, but it 

 is very improbable that enough would to render it unpalatable to 

 hungry cutworms which can eat onion-tops, tobacco- stalks and all 

 kinds of weeds with relish. 



We now know that the mere soaking of seeds in water brings in 

 a very important factor which may influence the whole after-life of 

 the plant. All know that soaked seeds sprout quicker, and it has 

 been shown by careful experiments (with hot water) that from such 

 seeds a much more vigorous and productive plant will grow. In 

 the evidence submitted in support of the methods of soaking the 

 corn in brine or a copperas solution, it is clear from the context 

 that the seed in the comparison or check fields was not soaked in 

 water, as it should have been to have eliminated the very important 



