MAIZE 



MAIZE 



413 



insect destroys the corn crop to the greatest 

 extent. 



Cutworms. — There are many different species of 

 cutworms, and the life-history of the different 

 kinds differs considerably. They destroy some young 

 corn plants in almost every corn-field and occasion- 

 ally destroy entire crops. Such destruction is most 

 likely to occur when old meadows or pastures are 

 plowed in the spring and planted in corn. Early 

 fall-plowing is very effective in preventing de- 

 struction of corn by cutworms. They can be pois- 

 oned by scattering about the 

 field bran to which has been 

 added Paris green and molas- 

 ses in about the proportions 

 of thirty pounds of bran, one 

 pound of Paris green, two 

 quarts of molasses and enough 

 water to moisten the bran. 

 Succulent clover or alfalfa 

 can be sprayed thoroughly 

 with Paris green, then cut 

 and scattered in small quan- 

 tities where the worms are 

 most destructive. Often when 

 the entire field is severely 

 attacked it is best to disk or 

 till the ground, then wait a 

 week or two and plant again. 

 The writer has seen fields 

 treated in this way in which 

 the first planting was entirely 

 destroyed and the second 

 planting uninjured, resulting 

 in a big yield of corn. 



Webworms. — If the destruc- 

 tion is the work of sod web- 

 worms, it is not advisable to 

 plant the field a second time 

 till late in May, on the 40th 

 parallel, as the worms begin 

 to pupate at that time. Web- 

 worms are easily distinguished 

 from cutworms by being 

 much smaller, about one-half 

 inch long. They eat the 

 young plants but usually do 

 not cut them entirely off as 

 do cutworms. Like the cut- 

 worms, they pass the days under clods near the 

 base of the young plants. They are enclosed in 

 a silken web, the web having small particles of 

 earth attached. 



Chinch bugs and grasshoppers often enter corn- 

 fields in great hordes from adjoining fields. When 

 wheat is harvested, chinch bugs may enter adjoin- 

 ing corn-fields in sufficient numbers to destroy the 

 corn crop. If the work is begun in time, they can be 

 trapped successfully as they are about to enter the 

 corn. A strip ten feet or more wide should be 

 plowed, disked and harrowed into a dusty condi- 

 tion. Through this strip one or more dusty fur- 

 rows or ditches should be made by dragging a 

 log back and forth. If well made, the dusty sides 

 of the ditch will prevent the bugs from escaping, 



and the digging of holes at intervals in the ditch 

 will cause them to be caught in large quantities in 

 the holes. They can then be killed by pouring 

 kerosene on them. Should a rain interfere with the 

 preservation of the dusty trenches, a strip of coal- 

 tar can be substituted to prevent the bugs enter- 

 ing the corn. [See page 42.] 



If begun in time, grasshoppers can be prevented 

 entering the corn by frequent use of wide catchers. 

 These are drawn rapidly around the field or over 

 adjoining meadow or stubble. Early morning is 



Fig. 631. 



HusUng com in the field by hand. The old way, and still 

 followed in very many parts of the country. 



the best time. As the grasshoppers take wing, the 

 canvas comes in contact with them and they fall 

 into the pan. They can be caught in large quanti- 

 ties and furnish good food for poultry, especially 

 turkeys. If used for this purpose, water, rather 

 than kerosene, should be placed in the pan of the 

 catcher. 



Crows take warning readily and will not trouble 

 a field for several days after a few of them have 

 eaten grains of corn that have been soaked in a 

 strychnine solution. Alcohol dissolves strychnine 

 more readily than does water. The corn should be 

 soaked in the strychnine solution for a day or two 

 and placed about the field soon after the corn is 

 planted and before the crows begin pulling up the 

 young plants. 



