324 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



mer broods, and then is held in check and prevented from being too nu- 

 merous by its natural enemies. Some birds that prey upon and devour so 

 greedily the larvae of the true army-worm, also feed just as readily upon 

 the larvae of the fall army-worm. The same may be said of the parasitic 

 insects that destroy them. Like the true army-worm, this fall army-worm 

 does not occur in damaging quantities every year, neither has it occurred 

 in damaging quantities in one locality, in two consecutive seasons. 



REMEDIES. 



The fall army-worm may be prevented from spreading away from 

 the badly infested areas in our meadows or fields, or may be prevented 

 from entering our fields, by the same methods that were described under 

 the true army-worm. It is frequently an easy matter to successfully kill 

 vast hordes of these larvae when in the field by the simple process of 

 rolling the field. This should be done when the field is hard enough, 

 and comparatively free from stones or rough places, so that the insects 

 will be crushed while the grass or wheat will not be injured in any par- 

 ticular way. Late plowing will destroy vast numbers of these insects in 

 their winter quarters, and the continual rotation of crops will have a 

 great deal to do towards checking their undue development. 



It would also be a good plan to turn poultry of all kinds into the in- 

 fested fields and allow them to devour the worms. It sometimes hapi>ens 

 that in the marching of the fall, as well as the true army-worm, that 

 they are detected trying to cross a road or lane, and in such cases one 

 can crush them in immense numbers by drawing a roller back and forth 

 over the area over which they are marching. 



Where these larvae occur in gardens or fields containing late vege- 

 tables, they sometimes do considerable damage, and will also attack the 

 flower garden and devour sweet peas, pansies and other varieties. Where 

 garden vegetables are in the immediate vicinity of fields badly infested 

 w illi these worms, the garden plants may be protected either by the plow- 

 ing of furrows, or by scattering rows of poisoned bran about the field. 

 This will necessitate, however, the keeping of poultry out of such patches, 

 otherwise the poultry will be killed. The poisoned bran may be made by 

 mi.xing a pound of Paris green or a half pound of pure arsenic with a 

 bushel of bran. This should be stirred up thoroughly in a dry condition, 

 and then made into a thick dough by means of sweetened water. This 

 should then be scattered about the plants, or along the sides of the garden 

 nearest the worms. 



