246 TOBACCO LEAF. 



Burning the trash from the fields before plowing, 

 and breaking the land in the fall of the year, are both 

 very destructive to the cutworms. Clean culture, leav- 

 ing nothing to harbor worms during the winter, is im- 

 portant. When tht>y are found in the soil, however, 

 there is no better remedy than to hunt them out about 

 each hill of plants, and destroy them. Cutworms dis- 

 appear upon the advent of hot weather. Enclosing 

 plants with stiff collars of brown paper, stuck well into 

 the earth, is effective, but involves much labor. Cut- 

 worms may be caught by putting on each hill, or every 

 few hills, at night, a bit of clover, cabbage or other 

 tender green stuff the worms relish, first covering the 

 same with a mixture of Paris green, one part to flour 

 twenty parts, or dipped in a pail of water containing a 

 tablespoonful of the poison ; the poison sickens the 

 worms so they won't eat, or kills them outright. Birds, 

 chickens, turkeys and pigs are very fond of cutworms, 

 and may, under some circumstances, be utilized for 

 their destruction. The common bluebird is known to 

 have a special fondness for them, and will do valuable 

 service in field and garden if left unmolested. Exam- 

 ination of the contents of the stomachs of the bluebird 

 shot in Tennessee during February, showed that 30 per 

 cent of the food consisted of cutworms. During March, 

 also, its food has been found to contain a large percent- 

 age of these insects. 



Like the chinch bug, cutworms are subject to dis- 

 eases, which appear to be caused by attacks of bacteria 

 and other parasitic enemies. The Kentucky experiment 

 station reports that those affected with the trouble 

 would often go into the ground as if to change to pupae, 

 but instead died, becoming flaccid and discolored, and 

 when recently dead were filled with a clear, yellowish 

 fluid, in which were large numbers of bacilli, some of 

 them in active motion. It is hoped that practical 



