12 FARMERS’ BULLETIN 152. 
WILD-BIRD AND OTHER ENEMIES. 
Among the important enemies of the fall army worm are our 
common wild birds. Some of these are the following: Crow black- 
bird or grackle, yellow-headed blackbird, chipping sparrow, blue- 
bird, mocking bird, and meadowlark. 
Domestic fowls will feed readily on the caterpillars if allowed 
access to infested fields, but will, of course, take only those indi- 
viduals which they can reach from the ground. 
Toads undoubtedly eat many caterpillars, while skunks feed upon 
the insects in both larval and pupal stages and are of far greater 
value to the farmer in this manner 
than is generally realized. 
CONTROL MEASURES. 
THE IMPORTANCE OF WATCHFULNESS 
AND PREPAREDNESS. 
In practically all cases where the 
fall army worm commits serious 
injuries to cultivated crops the 
damage can be prevented if the 
farmer is on the alert to discover 
the insects when they first appear. 
Every farmer should possess a prac- 
tical spraying outfit. Such outfits 
Erg: 11— The spined soldier bug Nymph) “are not lecessarily expeuan ee 
oryoung. Greatly enlarged. (Original. ) t H 
they may be purchased at prices to 
suit almost any pocketbook. He should also keep on hand at all times 
a few pounds of one of the standard insecticides, such as arsenate of 
lead, Paris green, or arsenite of zinc. These are reliable and may be 
kept indefinitely without loss or deterioration in closed containers. 
A copy of Farmers’ Bulletin No. 127 should be at hand, as this pub- 
lication, which can be secured free of charge by application to the 
Secretary of Agriculture, tells how to mix and apply insecticides in 
controlling all classes of injurious insects. By observing these pre- 
cautions and keeping a constant watch over his growing crops, the 
farmer should be in a position to meet invasions of fall army worms 
or other caterpillars and easily vanquish these pests before they 
have had a chance to commit serious damage to his crops. 
The farmer should cultivate a spirit of suspicion with regard to 
this insect and realize that the finer the stand of young grain, the 
more tempting the bait for the army worms, and that a field of corn, 
beautiful, green, and rustling in the breeze, may at the same time 
have millions of young army worms devouring the crab grass be- 
tween its rows, easily controlled if sprayed with arsenicals to-day, 
but which by to-morrow may have caused irreparable damage (fig. 
