172 DISEASES OF THE SWEET PEA 



on old sod. They are sometimes intro- 

 duced into a new place with the compost. 

 The larvae of cut worms have the habit 

 of cutting herbaceous plants at the stem 

 end. The injury is inflicted at night or 

 on dark days: the worms return to the 

 ground as soon as the sun appears. The 

 adult of the cutworm is a moth which 

 lays her eggs in old fields or pastures where 

 there is plenty of grass for the young larvae 

 to feed upon. As the young hatch, they 

 feed on roots of grass. The first season 

 the young cutworms usually attain about 

 half an inch in length. As winter ap- 

 proaches they build earthen cells in the 

 ground and thus protect themselves from 

 cold weather. In the spring, if the field 

 is allowed to remain in grass, plenty of 

 food is on hand for them. However when 

 the sod is plowed under, and other garden 

 crops planted, such as the sweet pea, the 



