84 



COT-WOnUS. DIKFEBENT OPERATIONS Of TDK TWO WORUS. 



tion in tlie fields, none of them being met witli in the gardens. It was on 

 the 20th of June that, in examining a cornfield, I fiiBt noticed this second 

 worm, lying under the sods, it being of a wliite or pale smoky color with a 

 bright tawny yellow head, and the same kind which I have heretofore 

 named the Yellow-headed Cut-worm. This cornfield had been broken up 

 just before planting, and the roots of the grass were still juicy, succulent 

 and unwithered, at least in all the larger masses of turf; and this worm 

 evidently preferred these grass-roots to the young corn; for on examining 

 a multitude of the hills of corn in which one or more of the young plants 

 had been cut off, it was invariably the Striped worm first mentioned, which 

 was discovered there; not one of these Yellow-heuded worms had as yet 

 molested the corn. Five days afterwards, this same cornfield was again 

 visited. The weather in the interval had been warm and dry, whereby the 

 grass-roots in the clumps of turf had become dry and withered, unadapted 

 for feeding the worms any longer. And now on examining where the 

 blades of young corn had been newly cut off, the mischief was discovered 

 to have been done in nearly half the instances by this Yellow-headed worm, 

 which was found lying in the earth contiguous to the severed plant. Thus, 

 it was sufficiently demonstrated that so long as it could find any roots of 

 grass for its nourishment, this worm did not molest the corn. Therefore 

 the corn remained unattackcd by it, until about the date specified, namely, 

 the 25th of June. A few years before, however, I found this same Yellow- 

 headed Cut-worm making severe havoc in a cornfield at the very beginning 

 of June — there probably being no juicy roots of grass in this field, on 

 which it was able to sustain itself. Having the fact thus established, that 

 these worms will not trouble the corn, so long as they are able to find grass 

 111 the field on which to nourish themselves, it becomes an important ques- 

 tion to be considered, whether, after all, it may not be better to break up 

 our corn ground in the spring than in the fall; so that hereby, a portion of 

 the roois of the turf may remain sufficiently fresh and unwithered to 

 feed these Cut-worms and hereby keep them back from falling upon the 

 corn. This is a difficult subject to determine; and it is only by repeated 

 observations, carefully made, that it can be satisfactorily settled. 



The operations of these two worms were so very different that upon see- 

 ing a severed plant it was readily told which worm it was that had cut it 

 off, and would be found lying in the ground by its side. The smaller 

 Striped worm, which first appeared, cut off the plants half an inch or an 

 inch above the surface of the ground; and many of the plants, being sever- 

 ed at this height, survive the injury, new leaves pushing up from the 

 centre of the stump. Instances were noticed, in which the worm had cut 

 oir the plant below the lower leaf, which leaf remaining, green and thrifty, 

 the plant would thereby be vigorously sustained while new leaves were 

 putting forth from its centre. The larger Yellow-headed worm, on the other 

 hand, severs the plants almost an inch below the surface of the ground, 

 whereby they are effectually killed in every instance. This worm also 

 lies deeper in the ground than the other, it being usually met with about 

 two inches below the surface, whilst the smaller worm only goes down 



