CUT WORMS. 209 



are removed or where the sides are open. There 

 appear to be several species of these insects, and 

 as the worms are voracious eaters, they can in 

 a short time do considerable damage to small 

 plants. It is not uncommon to find young plants 

 having only six or eight good leaves, completely 

 cut down by these pests. Sometimes the worms 

 instead of cutting off the leaves will cut off the 

 stems, and of course in such cases the plant is 

 ruined. The worms appear to be the same kind 

 as those which feed upon grasses. In fact where 

 grass is allowed to grow around the houses and in 

 the beds, the insects are, as a rule, much more 

 apt to be troublesome. The worms are often 

 found an inch and a half in length, and it is 

 seldom that they can be seen on the plants in 

 the day time, unless in cloudy weather or in dark 

 places. 



About all that can be done in the way of 

 holding this pest in check is to watch the plants 

 carefully, and at the first evidence of injury to 

 search for the worms and detroy them. As a rule, 

 if the worms are not found on the plant, they will 

 be discovered just beneath the surface of the 

 ground near the stem. By digging in the soil 

 around the plants, the insect can be brought from 

 its hiding place and destroyed. In closed houses, 

 where fumigation is practiced, the cut worms are 

 of course destroyed, but in the field and in frames 

 the collection and destruction of the pest, as 



