﻿the 
  same 
  results 
  may 
  be 
  obtained 
  by 
  heavily 
  spraying 
  a 
  patch 
  of 
  clover 
  

   with 
  Paris 
  green 
  stirred 
  up 
  in 
  water, 
  and 
  then 
  mowing 
  this 
  poisoned 
  

   vegetation 
  and 
  scattering 
  it 
  here 
  and 
  there 
  among 
  the 
  plants 
  in 
  small 
  

   bundles 
  or 
  packages. 
  

  

  Only 
  four 
  kinds 
  of 
  cutworms* 
  have 
  so 
  far 
  been 
  reported 
  as 
  attacking 
  

   beets 
  in 
  America, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  altogether 
  probable 
  that 
  most 
  of 
  our 
  common 
  

   species 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  to 
  feed 
  upon 
  them, 
  as 
  upon 
  other 
  vegetation. 
  

   Two 
  of 
  the 
  above 
  are 
  common 
  Illinois 
  species; 
  the 
  greasy 
  cutworm 
  and 
  

   the 
  spotted 
  cutworm. 
  The 
  former 
  {Agrotis 
  ypsilon 
  — 
  Fig. 
  30) 
  is 
  a 
  some- 
  

   what 
  greasy-looking 
  smooth 
  caterpillar, 
  dirty 
  gray 
  to 
  blackish, 
  with 
  

   small 
  darker 
  dots 
  and 
  faint 
  indications 
  of 
  a 
  paler 
  stripe 
  down 
  the 
  mid- 
  

   dle 
  of 
  the 
  back. 
  The 
  latter 
  {Nocttea 
  c-7iigrum 
  — 
  Fig. 
  28) 
  has 
  a 
  double 
  

   row 
  of 
  narrow 
  blackish 
  triangles 
  on 
  the 
  back, 
  diminishing 
  in 
  size 
  from 
  

   behind 
  forwards 
  and 
  usually 
  disappearing 
  before 
  reaching 
  the 
  head. 
  

   The 
  army-cutworm 
  {Chorizagrotis 
  agresiis) 
  varies 
  from 
  light 
  green 
  to 
  

   dark 
  brown 
  with 
  stripes 
  along 
  the 
  sides. 
  The 
  fourth 
  American 
  beet- 
  

   cutworm 
  (^Noctua 
  plecta) 
  is 
  not 
  known 
  to 
  us 
  in 
  the 
  larval 
  stage. 
  

  

  The 
  Western 
  Army- 
  Cutworm. 
  

   Chorizagrotis 
  agrestis 
  Grote. 
  

   This 
  species 
  ranges 
  from 
  Nebraska 
  and 
  Texas 
  to 
  Arizona 
  and 
  Mon- 
  

   tana. 
  It 
  attracted 
  special 
  attention 
  in 
  1897 
  by 
  a 
  remarkably 
  destructive 
  

   outbreak 
  in 
  Montana, 
  where 
  it 
  traveled 
  in 
  hordes, 
  like 
  the 
  army-worm, 
  

   by 
  night, 
  as 
  its 
  supply 
  of 
  food 
  became 
  exhaustedf 
  . 
  It 
  practically 
  swept 
  

   the 
  country 
  clean 
  of 
  vegetation 
  as 
  it 
  went, 
  devouring 
  all 
  kinds 
  of 
  farm 
  

   and 
  garden 
  crops 
  (including 
  beets) 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  weeds 
  and 
  grasses 
  and 
  the 
  

   leaves 
  of 
  fruiting 
  shrubs 
  and 
  trees. 
  Immense 
  numbers 
  were 
  drowned 
  

   in 
  irrigation 
  ditches. 
  One 
  section 
  of 
  a 
  ditch, 
  for 
  example, 
  two 
  hundred 
  

   and 
  fifty 
  feet 
  long 
  and 
  two 
  feet 
  wide, 
  was 
  filled 
  with 
  a 
  mass 
  of 
  cutworms 
  

  

  *As 
  this 
  article 
  is 
  going 
  to 
  press 
  we 
  notice 
  a 
  report 
  of 
  serious 
  and 
  peculiar 
  injuries 
  to 
  beets 
  by 
  the 
  

   so-called 
  dark-sided 
  cutworm 
  {Carneades 
  viessoria), 
  published 
  in 
  Bulletin 
  42 
  of 
  the 
  Washington 
  State 
  

   Experiment 
  Station, 
  in 
  an 
  article 
  entitled 
  "A 
  New 
  Sugar 
  Beet 
  Pest, 
  and 
  Other 
  Insects 
  Attacking 
  the 
  

   Beet." 
  The 
  writer, 
  Mr. 
  R. 
  W. 
  Doane, 
  says: 
  

  

  "Among 
  the 
  various 
  species 
  of 
  cutworms 
  that 
  frequently 
  do 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  damage 
  to 
  the 
  beets 
  is 
  the 
  

   dark-sided 
  cutworm 
  {Carneadcs 
  messoria). 
  These 
  are 
  dark, 
  earth-colored 
  larvic 
  that 
  feed 
  sometimes 
  

   upon 
  the 
  leaves 
  of 
  the 
  plant, 
  but 
  more 
  commonly 
  on 
  the 
  upper 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  root. 
  Sometimes 
  the 
  roots 
  

   are 
  gnawed 
  entirely 
  in 
  two, 
  at 
  other 
  times 
  large, 
  ugly-looking 
  holes 
  are 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  sides, 
  which, 
  if 
  made 
  

   while 
  the 
  plant 
  is 
  young, 
  either 
  wholly 
  destroys 
  it 
  or 
  causes 
  it 
  to 
  develop 
  into 
  a 
  deformed, 
  ill-looking 
  root. 
  

   The 
  worms 
  usually 
  feed 
  only 
  at 
  night, 
  lying 
  concealed 
  in 
  the 
  ground 
  during 
  the 
  day. 
  In 
  very 
  badly 
  in- 
  

   fested 
  fields 
  we 
  have 
  often 
  found 
  five 
  or 
  six 
  larvae 
  around 
  a 
  single 
  beet, 
  usually 
  lying 
  quite 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  

   root, 
  but 
  sometimes 
  a 
  few 
  inches 
  away. 
  When 
  fully 
  grown 
  these 
  larva; 
  change 
  to 
  brown 
  pupa; 
  from 
  

   which, 
  some 
  time 
  later, 
  the 
  adult 
  moth 
  emerges. 
  

  

  "The 
  best 
  and 
  often 
  the 
  cheapest 
  way 
  to 
  get 
  rid 
  of 
  these 
  pests 
  is 
  to 
  search 
  them 
  out 
  and 
  destroy 
  

   th-em. 
  Where 
  indications 
  of 
  the 
  insect's 
  work 
  are 
  found, 
  the 
  worm 
  itself 
  is 
  almost 
  sure 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  

   soil 
  not 
  far 
  away. 
  As 
  they 
  are 
  unusually 
  near 
  the 
  surface 
  they 
  are 
  not 
  hard 
  to 
  find, 
  and 
  one 
  person 
  can 
  

   go 
  over 
  quite 
  a 
  large 
  field 
  in 
  a 
  day 
  and 
  destroy 
  nearly 
  all 
  the 
  worms 
  therein. 
  These 
  larva; 
  are 
  frequently 
  

   found 
  hid 
  away 
  under 
  loose 
  boards 
  or 
  stones 
  lying 
  about 
  in 
  the 
  fields. 
  This 
  suggests 
  the 
  feasibility 
  of 
  

   using 
  such 
  things 
  as 
  traps, 
  and 
  very 
  excellent 
  results 
  have 
  been 
  obtained 
  by 
  scattering 
  loose 
  boards 
  

   around 
  over 
  the 
  field 
  and 
  collecting 
  and 
  destroying 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  worms 
  that 
  use 
  these 
  for 
  their 
  hiding 
  

   places 
  during 
  the 
  day." 
  

  

  tBull. 
  Mont. 
  Agr. 
  Exper. 
  Station, 
  No. 
  ny, 
  pp. 
  10-18. 
  

  

  