PACK-4RD.] THE NORTHERN ARMY-WORM. 701 



steadily over every obstacle, wherever their instinct leads them. Unlike 

 the cut-worm, which moves by night singly, from field to field, and 

 secrete themselves by day-tirae amid the roots of the plants they attack, 

 the army-worm feeds in the forenoon and evening generally, scattered 

 over fields of grain or grass, either eating the leaves or cutting oft" the 

 heads and letting it fall on the ground. They will thus cut across the 

 field, wantonly mowing oft" the heads of the grain. In this way, in 

 Plymouth County, Massachusetts, they destroyed an acre and a half of 

 wheat in one night, and then attacked a corn-field in the same way. 



All young insects, or those in the larval stage, are exceedingly vora- 

 cious ; they eat surprising quantities of food. When these army-worms 

 are shut up together without food, they will quickly devour each other. 

 We give some extracts to illustrate what we have said, from the New 

 England Farmer and Boston Cultivator. A writer in Dauvers, Mass., 

 says: " They were seen in great numbers through the entire field of 

 several acres, climbing up the stalks of the barley, eating the blades 

 and cutting off the heads of the grain. The day after these worms 

 were discovered, the barley was mowed in order to preserve it, when 

 they dropped to the ground, throwing themselves into a coil, a habit of 

 the insect when disturbed. Many of them soon commenced a march 

 for the neighboring fields and gardens, while others bliudlj^ pushed for- 

 ward a column across the highways over a stone wall, where they were 

 crushed by travelers on the road. But the main body marched to the 

 adjoining gardens and inclosures, where the proprietors were waiting 

 to receive them in their intrenchments, which had been thrown up a 

 foot wide and two feet deep. The worms, as they fell in their advance 

 into the trenches, were assailed in various ways by eager combatants, 

 some spreading over them lime, tar, or ashes, while others resorted 

 vigorously to pounding them. In this way, countless numbers of them 

 were destroyed. The rear guard, composed principally of those of 

 smaller growth, kept in the field, where they were picked up by a troop 

 of fifty young red-winged blackbirds. I also noticed the robins feeding 

 on these vermin." Again : " In adjoining lots they were commencing 

 their devastation upon the corn, turnips, cabbages, weeds, and grass. 

 They leave the grass-ground completely clean and white, so that it has the 

 appearance of having been scorched in the sun. The cabbage and turnips 

 they destroy by eating the tender parts of the plants, while they attack 

 the corn by descending the spindle and concealing themselves in large 

 numbers among the leaves where the corn is to make its appearance. 

 Corn thus attacked, looks wilted and drooping. In some hills, the 

 stalks were stripped of all their leaves. There were no worms upon the 

 potato-tops, though they have killed all the grass to the borders of the 

 field." 



The damage done to crops in Western Massachusetts alone was esti- 

 mated to amount to half a million doUars. In the Middle and Western 

 States, the army-worm appears in numbers in certain years, and then 

 are rare for some years. In Southern Illinois, in 1818 or 18L*0, they 

 were more numerous than in 18G1. They also appeared in 1825, 1826, 

 1834, 1841. In 1842 they were about as numerous as in 1801. In 1849 

 they were numerous in Southern Illinois. In 1850 they occurred in 

 small numbers. In 1855 it appeared in Northern Ohio; in 1854 it 

 abounded in Boone County, Missouri, and in 1805, 1800, and especially 

 in 1809, in portions of the State. In 1871 it occurred in Illinois, and iii 

 1872 in Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and 

 Tioga County, New York. — (Riley.) Tlius it is well known and estab- 

 lished in the South and West, so that when it appeared in New York 



