\ 
101 
give his own words: ‘I have used £0,000 plants to get a stand of 18,000. 
They were planted three times, June 1, 12, and 26, and even now many 
plants are being destroyed.” The land is of a fine character and will 
produce almost anything. It was in tobacco in 1896; in wheat 1897; 
in clover 1898, and tobacco again this season (1899). 
This insect has been known, so far as I can find out through tobacco 
growers, for the last fifteen years, and possibly longer, as a destructive 
pest to young tobacco in southern Maryland. My conclusions from 
this season’s observations are (1) that it is most likely to occur over 
local areas in tobacco following timothy or grass; (2) that the charac- 
ter of the soil has little or nothing to do with its ravages; (3) that the 
attack upon corn is also a frequent occurrence in the same section, 
especially when following grass or timothy. 
It is difficult at present to make other than general recommendations, 
as there is much to be learned yet about the habits of this insect, and 
room for a great deal of experimental work. I am at present working 
upon the details of its life history. I have collected pup in the field 
in corn and tobacco June 26, 1899, July 6, 1898, and July 21, 1897, and 
have reared the adult moths July 2 and 10, 1898, July 24, 1899, 
and August 7, 12, 16, and 18,1897. I have now 11 breeding cages 
established for other observations. 
Experimentally, I have 8 cages under observation in which the young 
tobacco plants, roots and all, were first dipped in Paris green and 
water of various strengths, then set in 10-inch flower pots and the 
stalk worm established upon them. These experiments are to deter- 
mine (1) the effect of strong solutions of Paris green upon the young 
plants; and (2) whether or not larve attacking plants previously dipped 
will not be destroyed. The results of these observations will soon be 
published in a bulletin from the Maryland Experiment Station. 
In conclusion, at present, I would recommend (1) that growers of 
tobacco avoid planting upon grass or timothy sod; (2) that where grass 
land is plowed down it would be well to put it in wheat, following with 
clover, before tobacco. If desirable corn could follow the grass and the 
land could be seeded in crimson clover at the last working. This would 
serve a twofold object by revealing the exact location of the larve in the 
area under cultivation by their attack upon the corn, when they could be 
destroyed largely by frequent harrowing and rolling, and by affording 
a most excellent soil crop to turn down the following spring, which 
would be a decided advantage to the tobacco; that if it is found nec- 
essary to have tobacco follow grass it should be broken in the spring 
as early as possible, and frequently rolled and harrowed, at the same 
time delaying the setting of the plants as long as possible in order to 
destroy. and starve the larve within the ground. 
In view of these facts and past experiences of tobacco growers in 
southern Maryland, we can safely say that the stalk worm, Crambus 
caliginosellus, is an important economic species to be added to the list 
