THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 



ring ; some of them also have a shining, horny, black spot, on the 

 top of the first ring. They are of a cylindrical form, tapering a 

 little at each end, rather thick in proportion to their length, and are 

 provided with sixteen legs. They are changed to chrysalids in the 

 ground, without previously making silken cocoons. 



It is chiefly during the months of June and July that they are 

 found to be most destructive. Whole grain-fields are sometimes 

 laid waste by them. Cabbage-plants, till they are grown to a con- 

 siderable size, are very apt to be cut off and destroyed' by them. 

 Potato-vines, beans, beets, and various other culinary plants suffer 

 in the same way. The products of our flower-gardens are not 

 spared ; asters, balsams, pinks, and many other kinds of flowers are 

 often shorn of their leaves and of their central buds, by these con- 

 cealed spoilers. 



There are several species of Agrotis, the larvae of which are inju- 

 rious to culinary plants ; but the chief culprit fe the same as that 

 which is destructive to young corn. The corn-cut worms make 

 their appearance in great numbers at irregular periods, and confine 

 themselves in their devastations to no particular vegetables, all that 

 are succulent being relished by these indiscriminate devourers ; but, 

 if their choice is not limited, they prefer corn-plants when not more 

 than a few inches above the earth, early sown buckwheat, young 

 pumpkin plants, young beans, cabbage-plants, and many other field 

 and garden vegetables. When first disclosed from the eggs they 

 subsist on the various grasses. They descend in the ground on the 

 approach of severe frosts, and reappear in the spring about half 

 grown. They seek their food in the night or in cloudy weather, 

 and retire before sunrise into the ground, or beneath stones or any 

 substance which can shelter them from the rays of the sun ; here 

 they remain coiled up during the day, except while devouring the 

 food which they generally drag into their places of concealment. 

 Their transformation to pupae occurs at different periods, sometimes 

 earlier, sometimes later, according to the forwardness of the season, 

 but usually not much later than the middle of July. The moths, 

 as well as the larvae, vary much in the depth of their color, from a 

 pale ash to a deep or obscure brown. The ordinary spots of the 

 upper wings of the moth are always connected by a blackish line ; 

 where the color is of the deepest shade these spots are scarcely 

 visible, but when the color is lighter they are very obvious. This 

 moth is very abundant in the New England States, from the mid- 

 dle of June till the middle or end of August. The fore- wings are 



