208 



Nature-Study Agriculture 



Army 

 worms 



Checking 



their 



progress 



Cutworms 



Remedies 



Tent cater- 

 pillars 



Plant-eating insects. Army worms are the larvae of 

 a night-flying moth. They are sometimes very de- 

 structive, and, again, for many years it may be difficult 

 to find any trace of them. There are seasons when they 

 travel in great numbers from one field to another, devour- 

 ing the crops as they go. It is possible sometimes to 

 protect a field against them by plowing a deep furrow 

 around it. If the sides are steep and the dirt loose and 

 crumbly, the worms after crawling into it cannot well 

 get out. 



When army worms are not numerous, they are some- 

 times spoken of as " cutworms." But the real cutworm 

 is the larva of a different moth. Cutworms feed only 

 at night and hide in the ground during the day. There 

 are two ways of trapping them in a garden. One is to 

 lay leafy boughs around in the garden so that the worms 

 will crawl under these for shelter. The other way is 

 to punch holes in the ground with a hoe handle. In 

 the morning several worms may be found in each hole. 

 Arsenate of lead sprayed upon the leaves is a good pro- 

 tection against cutworms. They can also be killed by 

 a poisoned bait, made of a pound of Paris green mixed 

 with forty pounds of bran. This is sweetened with 

 molasses, and enough water is added to make a stiff 

 mass. Birds can be prevented from getting this poison 

 by putting it under boards, which are held up from 

 the ground far enough for the worms to crawl under. 



A most interesting as well as destructive insect is the 

 tent caterpillar. It is especially harmful to the apple 

 tree, but it also attacks the cherry, plum, peach, and 

 several other trees. It feeds upon the leaf, each cater- 



