﻿THE 
  ARMY 
  WORM 
  IN 
  NEW 
  JERSEY 
  IN 
  1880. 
  141 
  

  

  Indian 
  corn 
  were 
  completely 
  destroyed. 
  . 
  A 
  friend 
  lost 
  forty 
  acres 
  of 
  

   newly-sown 
  grass, 
  with 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  meadows 
  j 
  a 
  v^ery 
  serious 
  

   score 
  here 
  for 
  one 
  man, 
  as 
  with 
  us 
  ^'Hay 
  is 
  King." 
  Let 
  me 
  instance 
  a 
  

   forty-acre 
  wheat-field 
  of 
  his 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  worms 
  took 
  possession. 
  The 
  

   wheat 
  when 
  harvested 
  proved 
  a 
  good 
  yield, 
  for 
  it 
  had 
  got 
  out 
  of 
  milk 
  

   when 
  the 
  army 
  made 
  its 
  inroad. 
  The 
  straw 
  was 
  not 
  hurt, 
  although 
  

   the 
  worms 
  had 
  climbed 
  every 
  stem 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  headj 
  but 
  straw 
  and 
  ear 
  

   were 
  nearly 
  ripe. 
  It 
  was 
  different, 
  however, 
  with 
  the 
  low 
  and 
  late-grown 
  

   stools. 
  These 
  they 
  crept 
  up, 
  and 
  ate 
  through 
  the 
  thin, 
  green 
  neck 
  of 
  

   the 
  plant, 
  cutting 
  off 
  the 
  nubbin-ears, 
  which 
  fell 
  and 
  thickly 
  covered 
  the 
  

   ground. 
  If 
  the 
  outside 
  of 
  the 
  straw 
  was 
  not 
  too 
  hard, 
  the 
  worm 
  would 
  

   then 
  literally 
  skin 
  it, 
  eating 
  downwards. 
  They 
  would 
  eat 
  these 
  nubbin- 
  

   heads 
  occasionally 
  before 
  cutting 
  them 
  off'j 
  but 
  this 
  was 
  only 
  when 
  

   they 
  proved 
  to 
  be 
  softj 
  that 
  is, 
  those 
  ears 
  whose 
  growth 
  had 
  been 
  back- 
  

   ward. 
  

  

  In 
  this 
  wheat-field 
  the 
  young 
  grass 
  and 
  clover 
  were 
  all 
  eaten 
  up 
  and 
  

   the 
  headlands 
  cleared 
  off'. 
  Every 
  weed, 
  too, 
  was 
  cleaned 
  up. 
  Even 
  

   that 
  bitter 
  nuisance, 
  the 
  Eagweed 
  {Ambrosia 
  ariemisicefolia), 
  was 
  all 
  

   devoured. 
  With 
  us 
  after 
  harvest 
  the 
  Eagweed 
  takes 
  possession 
  of 
  the 
  

   soil 
  ; 
  but 
  as 
  this 
  weed 
  makes 
  its 
  appearance 
  in 
  summer, 
  the 
  spring 
  

   timothy 
  and 
  clover 
  get 
  the 
  start 
  and 
  keep 
  this 
  weed 
  under. 
  The 
  fiill 
  

   succeeding 
  the 
  harvest 
  above 
  iDreseuted 
  the 
  singular 
  spectacle 
  of 
  a 
  

   stubble-field 
  without 
  a 
  weed. 
  It 
  was 
  sheer 
  nakedness 
  itself. 
  On 
  

   another 
  farm, 
  having 
  consumed 
  the 
  grass, 
  the 
  worms 
  took 
  possession 
  

   of 
  a 
  strawberry 
  -field, 
  eating 
  both 
  leaves 
  and 
  the 
  unripe 
  fruit. 
  Eiley 
  

   gives 
  an 
  instance 
  in 
  which, 
  when 
  driven 
  into 
  straits, 
  these 
  caterpillars 
  

   ate 
  an 
  onion 
  patch. 
  We 
  must 
  then 
  conclude 
  that 
  the 
  larva 
  of 
  Leucania 
  

   tmipuncta 
  is 
  well-nigh 
  omnivorous. 
  Doubtless 
  when 
  its 
  food 
  is 
  tender 
  

   and 
  in 
  no 
  stint, 
  like 
  the 
  Lord 
  Mayor's 
  fool, 
  it 
  knows 
  what 
  is 
  good 
  and 
  

   is 
  much 
  more 
  dainty. 
  

  

  The 
  number 
  of 
  worms 
  in 
  that 
  forty-acre 
  field 
  was 
  simply 
  fearful. 
  In 
  

   the 
  parlance 
  of 
  the 
  spectators 
  there 
  were 
  " 
  millions 
  and 
  millions." 
  The 
  

   squirming 
  mass 
  and 
  the 
  crinkling 
  sound 
  of 
  their 
  feeding 
  were 
  especially 
  

   repulsive. 
  But 
  few 
  dared 
  to 
  enter 
  the 
  field. 
  In 
  truth, 
  strong 
  men 
  

   turned 
  pale 
  from 
  nausea, 
  so 
  loathsome 
  was 
  the 
  sight. 
  It 
  really 
  seemed 
  

   that 
  nature 
  was 
  smitten 
  with 
  a 
  plague 
  of 
  crawling 
  vermin. 
  

  

  What 
  governs 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  travel 
  of 
  these 
  worms? 
  Do 
  the}' 
  smell 
  

   the 
  new 
  food 
  from 
  a 
  distance 
  ? 
  I 
  think 
  they 
  do, 
  for 
  they 
  cross 
  naked 
  

   roads 
  with 
  unerring 
  directness 
  to 
  the 
  object 
  sought. 
  The 
  great 
  army 
  

   in 
  that 
  wheat-field, 
  having 
  finished 
  their 
  havoc, 
  divided 
  into 
  two 
  parts: 
  

   the 
  one 
  left 
  on 
  one 
  side 
  and 
  entered 
  a 
  timothy-field 
  — 
  the 
  other 
  left 
  the 
  

   foraged 
  land 
  and 
  marched 
  straight 
  across 
  the 
  road 
  and 
  took 
  possession 
  

   of 
  a 
  corn-field. 
  Having 
  ruined 
  the 
  timothy 
  and 
  the 
  corn, 
  the 
  great 
  army 
  

   disappeared, 
  as 
  was 
  remarked, 
  "as 
  if 
  by 
  magic!" 
  But 
  the 
  trick 
  was 
  

   very 
  simide 
  -, 
  they 
  had 
  entered 
  the 
  ground 
  to 
  assume 
  the 
  pupa 
  state. 
  

   The 
  notion 
  prevails 
  that 
  the 
  worms 
  move 
  for 
  a 
  certain 
  point 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  