CORN. 325 



They are most to be dreaded in dry seasons, yet they cannot exist without some moisture. 



Affected plants are known by the dying off of the outer leaves, 

 i They cut into the stem above the roots and sometimes separate the stalk. 



Gardens suffer exceedingly; lettuce often falls a sacrifice to them. 



On light lands they do most mischief from the beginning of March to June. 



Lower parts of fields bordering on marshes most infested. 



Rye-grass most dangerous with clover, for encouraging wire-worms. 



Gravelly and sandy soils most infested; strong loam and clay most free from them. 



Wheat sown in dry weather most likely to suffer. 



By constantly disturbing the insects it is probable they may be driven from a locality. 



A summer fallow and burning the rubbish is recommended after clover and grasses; it 

 tills the eggs and starves the worms; but fallows must be kept very clear from grasses and 

 weeds. Nothing more dangerous than to leave strips and patches of grass or lays in plowed 

 fields. 



Feeding land close with sheep will prevent the eggs from being laid. Folding oxen and 

 sheep in the spring may also keep the beetles from coming out of the earth. Harrowing and 

 hard rolling in March and April strongly recommended. Top-dressings of lime useful before 

 rolling. 



Domestic fowls and numerous small birds eat a large number of them. 



Fall plowing has been found to be very beneficial ; this exposes them to the frost, which 

 will have a tendency to destroy vast numbers of them. A Western farmer gives his expe 

 rience as follows: 



Last fall I commenced to plow a stubble-field of twelve acres; I had it about half done 

 when winter set in, consequently the other half was not plowed till spring. The part broken 

 in the spring was at least one-fourth destroyed by the wire and grub- worms while the other 

 part was scarcely touched. &quot; 



Coating the seed with tar, as has previously been suggested under &quot; Preparation of 

 Seed,&quot; has also a very good effect in checking the evil. 



The corn-worm or ball- worm does considerable damage to the ears of corn in the latitude 

 of southern Illinois, also to both cotton and corn in the cotton-growing sections. It attacks 

 corn in the ear, eating first the silk, and as it increases in size afterwards, the kernels, some 

 times ruining whole fields of corn. Fields that are early planted are less liable to be attacked 

 by it than the late. Fall plowing is also a good remedy, and in fact the most effectual means 

 of destroying these insects, as the larvaa are brought to the surface and frozen. Many 

 farmers build bonfires near the corn-fields in the evening in summer at the time the insects 

 that lay the eggs producing these various pests are most active, and by which means many 

 are attracted to the fire by the light, and destroyed. 



Birds are sometimes troublesome, especially crows and blackbirds, which will frequently 

 pull up the young corn-plants in order to obtain the kernels. Blackbirds and birds of several 

 kinds will also sometimes do injury to the grain in the ear. Notwithstanding these facts, we 

 would say to the farmer, spare the birds I The vast numbers of insects they destroy daily is 

 a great benefit to the farmer, and, if the birds are diminished in numbers, the insects will 

 increase. It is better to frighten the birds away from the corn-fields at the time they may do 

 the most mischief, and permit them to live to aid the farmer in exterminating these minute 

 pests worms and insects that cannot be frightened or driven away so easily. Millions of 

 dollars worth in products are annually destroyed in this country through insects, and birds 

 are the only enemies able to contend against them vigorously. They are the noted caterpillar- 

 killers and insect-destroyers generally. Crows will destroy not only insects, but mice, young 

 rats, lizards, small snakes, caterpillars, and other vermin, and are valuable scavengers on the 

 farm. Coating the seed with tar, as has been previously suggested, is a good remedy. 



