248 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



homes aud very headquarters of cut-worms. In such a case, the 

 baits should be prepared and laid before the young plants appear 

 above the surface of the ground. 



There is another habit of the cut-worms, which we can make use 

 in combating them. Thej', like some more highly organized be- 

 ings, do not like to work more than is absolutely necessary. As it 

 is important for them to hide under the soil or elsewhere during 

 the day so as to escape their enemies, they are forced towards morn- 

 ing, after each nocturnal feast, to burrow again or search for 

 shelter. This they do, as a general rule, close to the plant that they 

 infest. If we furnish thein a handy shelter, they will very often 

 utilize it. By placing on the ground near the plants to be protected 

 such objects as pieces of boards, shingles or even flat stones, we 

 induce many cut-worins to xitilize them as shelters, and here they 

 remain all day. Large numbers can thus be discovered and cap- 

 tured during the day and should be killed. 



Though there are a number of climbing cut-worms which infest 

 orchards, we have not many in Minnesota that injure fruit trees- 

 If trees should suffer, however, it is not difficult to prevent the 

 worms froin reaching the foliage. All that is needed is to make a 

 thick ring of "Raupenleim" around the trunk; this sticky material 

 will prevent any insect from crawling over it, and as it possesses tt 

 the same time a strong and repelling odor it is a very useful mater- 

 ial for many purposes. The great majority of our native species do 

 not climb and are very much opposed to undertaking such extra 

 labor. Indeed, it is doubtful if some of our cut-worms could climb 

 trees if they wanted to. At all events the3^ can not climb upon anj"^- 

 thing that is smooth, and their inability to do so gives us another 

 method to out-general this enemy. The remedy based upon this 

 habit can not, however, be applied upon a large scale, as it requires 

 considerable labor, but whenever only a few hundred or thousand 

 plants need protection it can be used with great success. By re- 

 moving the tops and bottoms of tin cans, that can be found in such 

 abundance almost anywhere, and by removing the solder, we have 

 an excellent material to protect our plants against cut-worms. The 

 best method would be to have strips of such tin about three itiches 

 wide and long enough to be bent into a circle at least an inch and 

 one-half in diameter. These strips are to be bent so as to form a 

 sort of spiral collar, which can be slipped around the plants very 

 readily without endangering their leaves. This protective collar 

 should be pressed into the ground at least an inch deep, so that the 

 plaut is as thoroughly protected against tlie cut-worms from below, 

 provided, however, that the culprit be not inclosed within this circle. 

 Such tin collars can be inade during tlie time when there is little 

 work on hand, and once made, if takej care of, they will last for 

 many seasons. They are readily applied and as readily removed 

 when the danger is over, when they should be stored away for future 

 use. Of course, other substances could be substituted for such tin 

 collars, such as stiff paper, but such substitutes never last as well 

 as those made of tin, and a heavy rain is apt to ruin them, nor are 

 they so readily applied as the inore elastic collars of metal. 



