State Agricultural Society. ■ 487 



of half an inch he becomes a pale green in color, and commonly changes 

 his position from the edge of the •' scollop " that he is cutting, for one on 

 the under side of the leaf, where he is apt to lay himself along a vein — 

 of which he appears to be a part; he would now often be hard to find 

 but for that tell tail. Growing larger, the worm becomes a darker green, 

 with annular yellowish spots along his sides; he soon completes his full 

 growth — a length of three and one half to four inches by a diameter of 

 about three eighths of an inch, and then betakes himself to the ground, 

 where he burrows six inches and more deep, spins a light cocoon, and 

 later appears as the ■" horn-blower " moth — that great moth near the 

 size of a humming bird, the sound of whose flight its own nearly resem- 

 bles, that is often seen and heard after dusk during the Summer months. 



These in their turn breed a second crop of tobacco worms, that may 

 begin to appear by the time the first crop is fairly done with. This 

 second crop is not apt to be nearly so plentiful as the first, nor aro the 

 ravages it commits really so injurious as those of the first; for the plants 

 being now grown, can better afford the loss of leaves. But the planter 

 can no better afford the loss of his tobacco; therefore the second crop 

 of worms are to receive as faithful attention as the first; and for the 

 further reason that they are to be the immediate progenitors of the next 

 season's crop. They are much harder to find than the first crop. It is 

 not easy now to see their sign amid the rank leafage, nor to distinguish 

 their operations on leaves from those of the first crop. Special atten- 

 tion may be directed to the newer leaves of the plant — those that have 

 grown since the epoch of the first worms; "sign" on these leaves is 

 sure to be that of new worms, and they appear, too, to prefer these 

 younger leaves, especially in the earlier stages of their own career. 



To find sign of tobacco worms, walk very slowly between the rows 

 of plants, scrutinizing the leaves of the plants as you approach them for 

 " black " particles of any kind, and for scollops eaten out of their edges. 

 It obstructs instead of assisting this operation, to stoop and examine the 

 separate leaves of the plants; you can best detect "sign" in an upright 

 position, taking a "bird's-eye" view of the whole plant. There are other 

 insects than tobacco worms that eat holes in the leaves, and occasionally 

 take a piece out of the edge; but these operations do not amount to 

 much, and those of the worm are so characteristic that they are soon 

 recognized at a glance. Besides, if there be another leaf beneath the 

 spot that has been eaten, it will infallibly show "sign" if the mischief 

 was done by the worm. Having detected his work on a plant, it is by 

 no means to be passed till the worm is taken and killed, or it is abso- 

 lutely certain that he is not there. Observe the plant a moment before 

 moving a leaf. Observe the course of the worm upwards by the sign, 

 increasing regularly in size, left on successive leaves. Having noted the 

 topmost leaf on which this is to be seen, turn up the leaf immediately 

 over it, and on its under side, four times out of five, there is the 

 culprit. When sure he is not there, turn to the corresponding leaf on 

 the opposite side of the stalk; he may have just changed his base; and 

 if need be, go over every leaf on the plant a second or a third time, till 

 it is put bej'ond a peradven-ture that the worm is not to be found. The 

 worm will occasionally have been taken off by a bird; more often a 

 shrunken, hollow, transparent shell may be found, identified by the black 

 horn — the "wretched remains" that have been sucked dry by a spider. 

 Or it may be obvious that the worm has operated to the top of the plant- 

 giving his parting work to the tender stalk — and has either gone into the 

 ground or on to another plant. If the former, he is not to be diacov- 



