194 



AGRICULTURE ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE 



like cutworms or army worms. They feed on the leaves 

 and buds and also attack the tassels and young ears of corn. 

 In a short time they reach their full size and then burrow 

 into the ground. After two or three weeks they come out 

 of the ground as moths, which at once lay more eggs. There 

 are several broods in a season. 



Clothes moth. The clothes moth is known in every house- 

 hold. It lays its eggs in woolen garments and the young 



worms hatch out- 

 and eat the 

 cloth. You have 

 no doubt seen 

 the silken cover- 

 ings in which 

 they hide. Chests 

 or closets of cam- 

 phor wood or ce- 

 dar are partly 

 proof against 

 these moths. It 

 is not generally 

 known that an ordinary closet or chest may be made partly 

 moth proof by painting the walls with cedar oil (or with oil 

 of lavender or similar oils). The oil is expensive, but the 

 effect lasts a long time. Various substances', including the 

 so-called moth balls, may be used with good effect to protect 

 clothing. Carbon bisulphid may be,used_tQjlestroy the eggs 

 and worms in clothin^wnlcn is to be packed away. (Carbon 

 bisulphid is poisonous, and easily catches fire if brought near 

 a lamp.) For information about household insects, send ten 

 cents to the Superintendent of Documents, Union Building, 

 Washington, D.C., for " The Principal Household Insects of 

 the United States." 



FIG. 110. Moth of army or cut worm. (Enlarged.) 



