180 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[Decemter, 



it to his neighbors, and it finally got into 

 print. Remedies, whether true or false, when 

 in print are received with a large margin of 

 doubt, if they are not totally disbelieved, but 

 when verbally communicated they are at once 

 credited. It was so in this case. Sundry 

 caterpillar infested trees were bored and sul- 

 phured and plugged, but the caterpillars 

 ■would not disappear " worth a cent." Why ¥ 

 Because they were not yet ready — they were 

 not yet matured. Had the first experimenter 

 waited two days longer, his caterpillars would 

 have disappeared without the hole, the sul- 

 phur or the plug. These caterpillars, after 

 they perfect their larval state, come down 

 from the trees, burrow into the earth, pupate, 

 and come forth a moth the following season. 

 Such incidental results are often credited as 

 genuine, and obtain a wide circulation before 

 they are discovered to be only false appear- 

 ances. We do not pretend to say that Mr. 

 Lockwood's aud Prof. Cook's experiments are 

 of this character, but Prof. C. himself seems 

 to express a doubt that they possibly may be, 

 hence he says: "If future experience sustains 

 the conclusions as to the efficacy of this rem- 

 edy, it will be a very important discovery;" 

 and so indeed it will be; not only on account 

 of its efficiency, but also on account of its ac- 

 cessibility and its inexpeusiveness; for in 

 many instances, if we even know what will 

 destroy noxious insects, we find a difficulty 

 in gaining access to them. 



For many years Lancaster county has not 

 grown enough of apples for the consumption 

 of her own citizens, and the deficiency in 

 supply has been made up by the importation 

 of apples from New York, Ohio, Michigan, 

 and other localities. It seems strange to see 

 farmers in this prolific county ordering from 

 half a dozen to twenty barrels of apples for 

 their home consumption during a single 

 winter season, but such in many instances is, 

 and long has been, the case. Their trees 

 bloom profusely, but along comes a furious 

 northwest wind, driving a cold dash of rain 

 just about the fertilizing period, and away 

 goes the apple crop with it. Or the fruit sets 

 encouragingly, but is attacked by the codling 

 and the curculio, aud soon begins to gnarl and 

 fall. In importing apples, they also often im- 

 port something else,and that something is cod- 

 lings and curculios. So far as concerns the cur- 

 cuUos, they all likely perish, but this is not 

 the case with codlings. We know from ex- 

 perience that some of these foreign apples are 

 infested by the codling. It may not be gen- 

 eral, but it is at least occasional. How fre- 

 quently, we know not, for we can only take 

 cognizance of what conies under our own 

 observation, in our individual consumption. 

 If these apples are keiJt in a cold place, of 

 course, the functions of the worms are sus- 

 pended, and hence at any time during the 

 whole winter, when the fruit is transferred to 

 a warmer temperature, lively codlings may be 

 found. It is true, much of it is exempted, 

 but some of it is badly infested. As these 

 worms mature and the temperature rises, they 

 come out of the apples, and either escape 

 through the fissures in the containing vessels, 

 or spin their tiny cocoons in .some protecting 

 crevice within them. On one occasion, in 

 late spring, about fifty escaped from a barrel 

 in which we kept apples during the previous 

 winter. It is true, that we have always had 

 codlings enough of our own in Lancaster 

 county, but if we never had had any, this 

 would have been an effective means of intro- 

 ducing them. The Codling Moth ( Carpocapsa 

 pomonellce) is a foreign insect, and it is by 

 some such means that it was first introduced 

 into this country. We would suggest that as 

 soon as one of these barrels is emptied, it be 

 inverted over a blazing fire of straw, shavings 

 or paper, in like manner as coopers do, in the 

 process of manufacturing them. If even only 

 a few or no codlings are in them, it will dry 

 them out, destroy the mould, and make them 

 fitter for any future use, even if they are only 

 to be eventually used for " kindling wood." 

 ^ 



Send la your Subscriptions for 1881. 



TOBACCO PESTS— No. 5. 



Perhaps the most formidable foe to the to- 

 bacco crop is what is now generally and ap- 

 propriately becoming known undt^rthe name 

 of "Horn-worm." There are too many 

 worms that now infest the tobacco to rely im- 

 plicitly on the indefinite name of "Tobacco- 

 worm." Tobacco was cultivated in the 

 Southern States long before its introduction 

 into the Northern States; and therefore the 

 people of that region, from the very begin- 

 ning, called it the "Horn-worm," in order, 

 perhaps, to distinguish it from other worms 

 that also infested the tobacco crop. 



The Most Dangerous Pest. 



We regard this as the most formidable, by 

 virtue of its great size and the quantity of 

 provender it is able to consume in an incredi- 

 bly short space of time. These Horn- worms 

 have two very distinct lives or phases of life, 

 and no doubt many people are well acquaint- 

 ed with them in one phase who are imable to 

 recognize them in the other phase; and this 

 dual character of their active life runs p;iral- 

 lel, with a few exceptions, throughout the 

 entire class insectfe. It is true that in the 

 unexceptional orders there is a medial phase, 

 but it is not an active one, except so far a-s it 

 is instrumental in effecting their metamorpho- 

 sis from the lower phase to the higher. 



The Horn-worm illustrates as high and 

 perfect a type of insect transformation as is 

 known to science, although, as a whole, it 

 does not typically represent the class to 

 which it belongs. In the trinal forms of tarfa, 

 pupa and imago, the lines of demarkation 

 are as distinct as if they belonged to the three 

 different insects remotely separated from each 

 other, and the individual who is able to rec- 

 ognize them in these three forms is thrice 

 armed in his warfare against them. In the 

 larva form it is called the "Horn-worm," be- 

 cause it is then a worm, and on the hind end 

 of its body it has a well developed horn. And 

 although in this form it undergoes a series of 

 changes in its progress towards completion, yet 

 it is still a devouring worm, and in this form 

 does all the damage to tobacco or any other 

 plant it may be feeding on, and after each 

 successive moult it increases in size and be- 

 comes more voracious. 



Not Always Recognized. 



I am satisfied that there are some people 

 who are not able to recognize it outside of the 

 worm form, for it is not very long since some, 

 who ought to have known better, entertained 

 the opinion that the "grasshopper" was the 

 parent of the Horn-worn ; and during the 

 present season the moth itself was sent to me 

 as something new — something that liad never 

 been seen before. After the Horn-worm has 

 attained its full size, when it is from three and 

 a-half to four inches in length, it is of a green- 

 ish color, and has a row of oblong diagonal 

 whitish spots along its sides ; it stops eating, 

 comes down from the plant and burrows into 

 the ground. Here, in a few weeks (sometimes 

 only a few days), it passes into its chrysalis or 

 piqm state, when it becomes of a brown color, 

 pointed at the hinder end ; the front end be- 

 comes blunt and has a long sneath-like ap- 

 pendage, bent from the head to the chest, like 

 the handle of a jug. This handle is peculiar 

 to it and all those of the same genus, and 

 encloses its long spiral proboscis or sucking 

 apparatus. 



Development of the Moth. 



The chrysalis of the Horn-worm remain in 

 the earth during the winter and until late in 

 the spring, the moth evolving during the 

 month of June, later or earlier, accordmg to 

 special or other local circumstances, some 

 alleging that there are more than one brood 

 during the year, and others holding a contrary 

 opinion. It is not necessary to discuss this 

 question here, especially since there are ap- 

 pearances that equally favor both views. 

 Farther south there is probably more than 

 one brood, owing to a more protracted warm 

 season, but under any circumstances, the 

 broods even of known single-brooded insects 



may become so scattered and diversified that 

 there may appear to be several broods, when 

 in reality there is only one. Insects that hiber- 

 nate in the pupa state may become deceived 

 by warm weather late in autumn or early in 

 spring, a circumstance that is well known to 

 those who have paid any attention to their 

 study. In their transformations and develop- 

 ment they are greatly influenced by both heat 

 aud cold — the one accelerating, and the other 

 retarding their progress. In single-brooded, 

 or annual insects, there is no month more pro- 

 lific in their evolutions from the pupa state 

 than the month of lune, and this is also true 

 of those tliat are biennial, triennial, quadren- 

 nial, quintennial, or any other period — even 

 those that are septemdecennial. The " fly " 

 of the Horn-worm comes forth generally about 

 the middle of June, and from that date to the 

 end of it, or even as late as the middle of 

 July. It is then a large gray moth with a 

 robust body, marked on the sides with rows 

 of large yellow spots. The body is about two 

 inches in length, and tapers to a point, and 

 the wings expand from five to six inches. In 

 England this moth is very generally called the 

 "Hawk-moth," but there is nothing of the 

 Hawk in its character. Others call them 

 "Humming-bird moths," because, like a 

 humming bird, they noise themselves on their 

 wings before a flowering plant, and introduce 

 their probosces into the flower cups and ex- 

 tract the nectar therefrom. In Lancaster 

 county we have two specimens of these Hawk- 

 moths, the Sphinx {Macrosilla) Carolina, and 

 the quinquemarulata, or the Southern and 

 Northern sphinx. We are a middle region, 

 and have both species, but farther South, it is 

 said, they have only the former species, and 

 in the North the latter. 



Life of the Hawk Moth, 



These moths run and are concealed during 

 the day, and come forth in the evening in 

 quest of food and to deposit their eggs. They 

 are partial to the flowers of the "Jamestown 

 weed," but do not confine themselves to it, as 

 I have seen them frequently hovering about 

 the flowers of various species of convolvuli. 

 After their nectar feast they retire to the to- 

 bacco fields and deposit their eggs. These 

 are deposited in small groups here and there 

 on the tobacco leaves, and this is continued 

 for several days, or until all are deposited; 

 aud this accounts for the different sized 

 worms found on the plants at the same time. 

 Methods Employed for its Destruction. 



This Horn-worm is perhaps coeval with the 

 cultivation of tobacco, and has always been 

 regarded as its main enemy, and many have 

 been the remedies resorted to for its destruc- 

 tion; but, notwithstanding all that have been 

 tried, it is still the chief and most conspicuous 

 enemy. The commonest, most universal 

 and most reliable remedy has been hand 

 picking. Indeed, the old tobacco growers 

 know no other, except the training of turkeys 

 and geese as auxiliaries, and it is still contin- 

 ued. Knowing its partiality for the James- 

 town weed, some progressive planters have 

 planted it in promixity to the tobacco field' 

 and have stationed persons near them armed' 

 with paddles to strike down the moths while 

 they are engaged in sucking the nector from 

 tliese flowers. Where this system was vigi- 

 lantly followed up, there was fewer worms to 

 be picked from the plants. Others introduc- 

 ed an active liquid poison into the flowers, 

 and the moths fell victims to their own insa- 

 tiate voracity. Although both these remedies 

 were progressive, they were not entirely ef- 

 fectual, nor did they displace hand-picking. 

 Some of the moths may have escaped, and 

 others may have deposited their eggs before 

 they fell vfctims to either of these remedies. 

 Various traps to capture the moth were also 

 invented and amongst these is one by Mr. 

 Gibble, of Mount Joy, Pa., which was illus- 

 trated and described in the Lancaster Far- 

 MEii for June, 1880, page 82, which, according 

 to the testimony of those who used it, seems 

 to be satisfactory in its results. But, of 

 course, this is also liable to the same draw- 



