CORN CULTURE 21 



ripening delayed. Rotation of crops is one of the surest 

 remedies against this pest. 



Wireworms. Wireworms also make their home in 

 sod, and hence are worst in newly broken ground. They 

 are the larvae of the click-beetle, whose eggs are laid in 

 meadows and pastures in the fall. They hatch out as 

 small reddish-brown worms in the early spring. The 

 worms attack the sprouting kernel, and also bore holes 

 through the young plant. Fall plowing and rotation of 

 crops are the best remedies against the wireworm. 



The corn ear-worm. The worm often found working 

 in the tips of corn ears has a wide range of appetite. It 

 attacks not only corn, but cotton, tobacco and many other 

 plants. 



The corn ear-worm lives through the winter in the 

 pupa state, and comes out in the spring as a moth. There 

 are several broods each season. The harm done by the 

 ear-worms is often most noticeable on sweet corn intended 

 for canning. There is no certain remedy known, though 

 fall plowing is thought to reduce their number. 



TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION 



1. Go into a corn-field and secure several of the beetles 

 of the corn root-worm. They are green, and about twice 

 the size of a pinhead. Learn to recognize the insect at 

 sight. 



2. If possible secure a number of the pupae of the 

 corn root-worm. They can be found in great numbers 

 around the roots of corn in a field where the worms have 

 been at work. Keep the pupae in warm moist soil in a 

 box covered with netting or glass and watch for the 

 beetles to come out. 



3. Find hills of corn which have suffered from the 

 corn root-worm. How do you discover where they have 

 been at work? Does the hill pull up easily as compared 

 with a good hill? What is the condition of the ear? 



