30 Bulletin of the New York State Museum. 



Hellebore. — An experiment with hellebore dissolved in water has 

 proved entirely successful in protecting young tobacco plants from 

 the worms. A writer from West Meriden, Conn., gives this satis- 

 factory account of its use : 



" On Tuesday, June 22d, we set three thousand plants, and on 

 the next morning I took from one row of one hundred and eighty 

 plants, two hundred and fourteen cut-worms, and on the same day, 

 in the same field, I set twelve plants dipped in a solution of white 

 hellebore, and to this time they remain untouched, while the plants 

 in the rows on either side are more than half destroyed. June 24th 

 we set over two thousand plants treated in the same manner, and I 

 find only one plant eaten, and that slightly. The plants are not 

 injuriously affected by the treatment. On plants already set, sift 

 the powder from a muslin bag, and I am told they are protected 

 perfectly. It appears to be a specific for the cut- worm. "We use 

 one-quarter of a pound to ten quarts of water" (Count. Gent, for 

 July 8, 1875, p. 425). 



Goal Oil. — Not only is the odor of this substance serviceable in 

 preventing attack, but the oil is also an insecticide. It could be 

 mixed with dry sand and scattered around the plants to be pro- 

 tected, as for example, a tablespoonful about a cabbage or tomato 

 plant. To check the depredations beneath the surface or to destroy 

 the larva hiding there, it might be necessary to use it in a larger 

 quantity. A teacupful of the oil (kerosene) to a pailful of sand has 

 been recommended, to be renewed each week during the presence 

 of the worms. A larger proportion of the oil might safely be used — 

 a sufficient quantity to moisten the sand to a degree not preventing 

 its running readily through the hand when distributing it. 



Cultivation -of sod-land. — It is claimed that where land is not 

 allowed to lie in sod for over two years at a time, cut-worms will 

 not accumulate in it, and consequently corn planted upon it when 

 broken up suffers much less from attack. 



Thick planting. — Planting more seed than is needed for maturity 

 has frequently been found of service. When the larvae are not 

 numerous, two or three stalks of corn or beans may suffice them to 

 complete their growth when near their pupation and the attack is 

 late. Although the labor of subsequently thinning by" hand is 

 saved, the policy can not be recommended, as the relief obtained is 

 but temporary, for the numerous progeny of the larvse which you 

 have helped to mature, may the following season require for their 

 needs every stalk in a hill. 



