120 Hardy Plants for Cottage Gardens 
in early spring. Iam told by an entomologist that they are the 
larvae of some small Bibio flies, and are not particularly in- 
jurious, as they feed upon dead leaves and decaying vegeta- 
tion. I am glad they have carrion tastes, for it disturbed me 
not a little to find whole nests of these vermin every spring, a 
sort of vanguard of the hordes that I have to combat later. 
As they have no criminal record, I’ll dismiss them for worse 
offenders. 
In dry seasons the most destructive worm is the brownish 
gray, sometimes bluish lead-colored cutworm, varying from 
half an inch to an inch and a half long. Whenever you see a 
young plant cut off just above the ground, and withering in 
the sun, you may know it is the work of the cutworm. Take 
any weapon you can find—a hairpin, if no other is at hand— 
and stir the earth slightly within a few inches of the plant, and 
you will find the worm just below the surface of the earth. It 
never goes deep, nor far. Do not throw it over the wall, but 
kill it on the spot. Sweet peas, sweet alyssum, gypsophila and 
coreopsis are its favorite diet among annuals; among peren- 
nials, young larkspurs, lychnis, lupines, lily of the valley, gla- 
diolus, and pansy; and it dotes on a two-year-old Eremurus. 
Before planting a bed, or before anything is up in it, the ad- 
vice is to spread a poisoned bait made of one part of Paris 
green to fifty parts of dry bran, placed in tiny piles over the 
ground in the afternoon and evening. Also to dip fresh young 
clover, pigweed, mullein or peppergrass in a solution of one 
part of Paris green to one hundred parts of water. As cut- 
worms eat at night, it is also recommended to go out with a 
lantern and gather the harvest. I never could understand why 
a burglar’s outfit of lantern and weapons were necessary, 
when the good honest sun will find the culprit eating almost 
any hour of the day and when not eating, snoozing in torpid 
idleness near his table. The cutworm never indulges in a con« 
