14 The Bulletin. 



regular items in his bill of fare. Certain predaceous insects like the 

 ground beetles also attack and devour cutworms. Parasitic flies sting 

 and deposit their eggs within the bodies of cutworms, and these eggs, 

 hatching to maggots, eventually cause the death of the cutworm. There 

 are also certain fungous and bacterial diseases which kill a considerable 

 number. 



These natural enemies, while not by any means preventing all dam- 

 age by cutworms, at least act as a check upon them, and we believe it 

 proper that the reader should know of them. 



REMEDIES. 



Preventive Measures. — As the eggs are laid in weedy and grassy 

 lands, we can see at once that cabbage planted immediately after a 

 growth of sod and weeds will almost surely suffer, as the cutworms 

 are already in the soil. Therefore it is a good plan to have cabbage 

 come after some cultivated crop. If cabbage must be planted after 

 a crop of grass or weeds then the injury will be lessened by plowing as 

 long in advance as possible and cultivating the ground several times 

 before setting out the plants. In the spring setting of cabbage plants 

 it should be remembered that those set early will be damaged most, and 

 those set later will suffer less. 



Poisoned Bran Mash. — This is one of the most commonly recom- 

 mended remedies. It is made in several different ways ; the main idea is 



Fig. 5— Adult Moth of the Variegated Cutworm, one of our most destructive species. 



(Photo by Z. P. MotPalf.) 



to have a sweet, poisoned mixture of which Avheat bran forms the 

 bulk. This is one way to make it : Sprinkle one ounce of Paris green 

 into two pounds of wheat bran, and mix thoroughly. Then mix 

 water and molasses together to make a thin sweet liquid and add 

 enough to the bran to make a thick mash. This makes a mixture which 

 has bulk and body enough to be easily handled, it is sweet enough to 

 be attractive to the cutworms, yet is poisonous and fatal to them. The 

 mash should be thick enough so that it can be squeezed together in the 

 hand. This is distributed through the cabbage bed or field, before the 

 cabbage plants are set out, while the ground is yet bare, and the cut- 

 worms, being at that time Avithout other food in the soil, will eat this 

 poisoned bait. The mash may be used after the plants are set, but 

 not so effectively. Distribute the mash along the rows where the cab- 



