218 IN'SECTS INJURIOUS TO STAPLE CROPS. 



Prof. Johnson as follows: ''The uninjured tobacco had a 

 leaf- spread of from ten to twelve inches. A few rods 

 beyond, where the soil was not so gravelly and better, we 

 found the larv^ had literally destroyed the first and second 

 plantings, and were at work upon the third, damagiug it 

 severely, although the ground had been replanted before 

 tlie last planting. Here and there was a young plant just 

 beginning to wilt, and invariably we found the larva at 

 work either in the stalk or at the base of the plant just 

 below the surface of the ground. So far as I could ascer- 

 tain the attack is always at the surface or just below. In 

 many instances the larv^ had hollowed out the stalks from 

 the base of the roots to the branches of the first leaves. 

 Many plants were gnawed irregularly around the stalk 

 below the surface, and some, in fact, were completely cut 

 pff at the surface, the insect always working from below. 

 In the great majority of cases the larvse were found in a 

 small mass of web near the plant, and sometimes within 

 it. In one plant, less than six inches high, we found four 

 larvae within the stalk, but as a rule only a single one was 

 present." 



Prof. Johnson concluded " (1) that it is most likely to 

 occur over local areas in tobacco following timothy or 

 grass; (2) that the character of the soil has little or noth- 

 ing to do with its ravages; (3) that the attack u])o\\ corn 

 is also a frequent occurrence in the same section, esj)ecially 

 when following grass or timothy." 



Remedies. — He recommended "(1) that growers of 

 tobacco avoid planting upon grass or timothy sod; (2) 

 that where grass land is plowed down it would be well to 

 put it in wheat, following with clover, before tobacco. If 

 desirable, corn could follow the grass and the land could 



