502 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 27 
THE LIFE STORY OF A WORM. 
The Wonders of Insect Changes. 
Almost every year there appear in the newspapers 
thrilling accounts of persons having suffered severe 
injury from handling the large, green worm which is 
familiar to every one who tries to raise tomatoes. In 
the lower left-hand portion of Fig. 157 is shown one of 
these worms, life-size. There is no denying that they 
are repugnant-looking creatures ; and the presence of 
a sharp, curved horn projecting from the back near 
the tail end, and the peculiar habit the worm has, 
when disturbed of raising the forward portion of its 
body into a threatening, striking position, are charac¬ 
teristics to which are doubtless due such reports as 
the following: 
“ It will inflict a mortal sting with the horn on its 
tail, and it is capable of ejecting a venom to a distance 
of several feet, which is certain death to whomsoever 
it strikes.” 
Now, the facts are, that these ugly-looking cater¬ 
pillars are as harmless as new-born babes ! The 
caudal horn could hardly be made to pierce the ten- 
derest skin, and the dark liquid, which these worms, 
like the grasshoppers, emit from their mouths when 
roughly handled, is perfectly harmless. Thus we 
may fearlessly gather some of the worms and transfer 
them to tomato branches placed in a bottle of water 
which is sunken into some soil in a cage of some kind 
—an ordinary two-quart fruit jar will do if some mus¬ 
lin be tied over the top. As the worms are ravenous 
eaters, they must be supplied with fresh food every 
day or two. But some morning early in September, 
there will be no trace of the worms on the plants ; but 
tell-tale burrows in the soil will reveal them snugly 
hidden away in smooth chambers made 
in the earth by the caterpillar rolling 
over and over and thus crowding back 
the earth. Within this earthen cell, the 
caterpillar contracts, its skin is shed, 
and there appears, not another worm, 
but a dark-brown object like the peculiar 
pitcher-shaped creature shown at the 
right in Fig. 157. This is called the pupa, 
and the insect remains in this stage, 
scarcely ever moving a muscle, from 
September until the following July. 
These pupae are often brought to the 
surface in plowing or cultivating gar¬ 
dens in the fall or spring. The handle 
to this pitcher-shaped pupa, really en¬ 
cases a very important organ as we shall 
see later. 
While many persons are doubtless 
familiar with the two stages—caterpillar 
and pupa—of this tomato pest, compara¬ 
tively few have seen the insect in its 
adult stage—the moth. The large-bodied, 
strong-winged moths, one of which is 
shown in the upper portion of Fig. 157, 
appear only during July in our State, 
and fly only at night, or in early evening. 
What wonderful changes must have been 
going on within that commonplace looking brown 
pitcher-like pupa during those long winter months that 
it has spent in its earthen cell ! For in July, from this 
pupa, there bursts the beautifully clothed and per¬ 
fectly-formed (even to every scale and hair being of the 
proper color and in its proper place) moth which crawls 
to the surface of the earth where its wings soon expand 
and dry, when it wings its happy flight sipping nectar 
from the flowers as it goes ! As the predominant 
colors in the moth are gray and black, the illustra¬ 
tion is nearly true to nature as regards coloring ; the 
white spots along each side of the middle of the abdo¬ 
men, are yellow in nature. 
The illustration shows the long antenna? projecting 
from each side of the head ; but to see its most in¬ 
teresting feature, the moth must be turned over. 
Then we would see coiled up like a watch spring on 
the underside of the head, a long—five to six inches 
in length—tongue with which the moth can probe 
flowers with long, slender tubes like the tobacco, 
petunia, etc., whose nectaries are beyond the reach of 
ordinary insects. It was in the handle of the pitcher¬ 
like pupa that this remarkable tongue was developed 
and stored previous to its appearance in the moth. 
With its tongue extended, the moth can poise on its 
wings at some distance from the flower on which it 
may be nourishing itself ; and as it resembles a hum¬ 
ming bird in its motions, and also in the sound made 
by its wings, it is often mistaken for one of these 
little busy birds. 
The moths lay their eggs at night on the undersides 
of the leaves of tomato, potato, or tobacco plants, and 
in a few days, the greedy green worms are at work. 
They are ravenous feeders, usually becoming full 
grown in a month. Although they are so .large, they 
so closely resemble the color of the tomato foliage, 
that they are are not easily seen ; their large, black 
pellets of excrement usually first reveal their pres¬ 
ence. Sometimes, however, a few of the worms attain 
a dark brown or almost black color ; so strikingly 
different are these brown ones from the common 
green forms, that one can scarcely believe that not 
the slightest difference can be detected in the pupae, 
or the moths which may be developed from these dif¬ 
ferently colored caterpillars. 
A Worm That “ Has Worms." 
Occasionally, one finds one of these green worms 
which presents the appearance shown in the lower 
left-hand corner of Fig. 157 ; that is, the caterpillar 
looks as though it had been rolled in rice which had 
been coated with glue, and the kernels had adhered 
to its back. Usually, these caterpillars have a sickly 
gait, and well they may. These white objects pro¬ 
jecting from the skin of the'caterpillar, are not eggs 
or seeds, as some have supposed ; but each one is a 
cocoon within which there will be found a white 
maggot developing into a minute four-winged fly ! 
How did the cocoons get into such a curious position ? 
It happened in this way : When the caterpillar was 
about half grown, one of these minute flies espied it 
and, hovering over it, darted down upon it and at 
each dart inserted a minute egg through the skin of 
the worm. Each little tty is supplied with 100 or 
more eggs, and usually she does not stop until the 
poor, defenseless worm has received nearly the full 
stock. The worm doubtless wriggles as each egg is 
pricked through the skin, but it can do nothing to 
prevent the deadly work. In a short time, these 
minute eggs hatch into white maggots which thrive 
and grow fat at the expense of their host that is all 
the time eating ravenously without its food having 
much effect so far as increase in its size is concerned. 
And how can the poor worm grow with 100 or more 
greedy little mouths at work within its body, absorb¬ 
ing the food as fast as it is assimilated ? 
Right here comes in one of those mysterious things 
in nature that is so frequently met with among in¬ 
sects. The little maggots working inside the body of 
the caterpillar, understand perfectly well that if they 
should attack a vital organ, their host would die and, 
consequently, their food supply be cut off. Hence the 
maggots or parasites feed entirely and only on the 
juices and fatty tissues of the body, allowing the vital 
functions of their host to go on undisturbed until his 
death. 
In every case, the parasites become full grown before 
the caterpillar has become so weakened that death 
ensues. The full-grown maggots then work their 
way through the skin on the back of their host, and 
proceed to spin about themselves the white cocoons. 
It is a very interesting operation to watch one of these 
parasites spinning its cocoon about itself. The cocoon 
finished, the parasite transforms within through a 
pupa stage to the minute fly like its parent, which 
laid the eggs in the worm. When the fly has become 
fully formed, and is ready to escape from the cocoon, 
it deftly makes a cut around the upper end of the 
cocoon, and then pushes off the end, which opens like 
a little door, usually hinged at one side. The cater¬ 
pillar usually lives but a short time after the parasites 
emerge from the cocoons. It is a curious sight to see 
one of these worms walking about with these cocoons 
attached to its back, and one should never destroy 
such an afflicted worm, for it is carrying latent destruc¬ 
tion for many more caterpillars. Nearly 150 of the para¬ 
sites have been bred from a single worm, and it seems 
strange that the parasites do not check the pest to a 
greater extent than they do. Perhaps they, in turn, 
have their enemies. Such things often happen in the 
insect world. m. v. slingereand. 
HOW TO MAKE “SANITARY MILK.” 
IIOW BACTERIA ARE KErT OUT OF IT. 
[editorial correspondence.] 
Part III. 
Ensilage the Backbone of the System. 
Four big silos, each holding 500 tons, are the springs 
from which this sanitary milkflows. Of course the grow¬ 
ing of 2,000 tons or more of ensilage, is a great under¬ 
taking, particularly on a farm which, like this, is not 
at all adapted to fodder crops. Most of the soil is 
stiff and sour, designed for “scenery ” rather than for 
farming. The summers are very dry. The only land 
available for the ensilage crop, was a series of tough 
old meadows, most of them yielding scarcely half a 
ton of hay to the acre. Much of this land is a long 
distance from the barn. Hauling manure to them 
was out of the question. After carefully figuring on 
the price of purchased stable manure, Mr. Cottrell 
found that it would cost over $8,000 to buy and haul 
the manure needed for 200 acres of the sod. He 
found that he could obtain the same amount of fer¬ 
tility in fertilizers for about $2,500—the difference 
being largely due to the great cost of hauling the 
manure up these steep hills. 
A year ago last fall, 215 acres of this old sod were 
plowed. The following spring the land was well 
worked up with disc and Acme harrows, and drilled 
with corn—using 700 pounds per acre of a fertilizer 
the formula of which was arranged after studying 
the special needs of this soil. Of course many proph¬ 
esied failure, for this plan was different from any¬ 
thing yet attempted ; but, in spite of the dry season, 
over 2,000 tons of ensilage were put into the silo. 
This plan of using fertilizers on sod for corn, will be 
continued. In time, a full rotation will 
be established of seeding to wheat and 
clover after the corn—the wheat to be 
cut and fed green. When they get winter 
oats that will stand this latitude, they 
will have a more useful seeding crop than 
the wheat. It is thought that after one 
or two rounds of this rotation—with 
fertilizers and clover sod, this soil will 
be greatly improved, and will not only 
work easier, but be more productive. 
Silo-filling on this farm is an immense 
undertaking. The great Ross ensilage 
cutter will handle 190 tons of corn per 
day, and this must all be cut and hauled 
long distances. As Mr. Cottrell says, 
“ Every time the cutter breaks down, 75 
men must stand idle.” For ensilage corn, 
he uses the Rural Thoroughbred Flint, 
which The R. N.-Y. has always advocated 
This variety grows over 10 feet high with 
good culture, gives a comparatively 
small stalk, but an immense growth of 
leaf and ear. There is a much smaller 
proportion of the coarse stem and butt 
than is found in some of the ensilage 
corns. Onejdrawback about the variety 
is that the seed is usually slow to sprout, 
and gives an uneven stand like the Evergreen sweet 
corn. It is safe to say that without fertilizers and 
ensilage, Ellerslie farm could never support its Guern¬ 
sey herd. 
What Is Fed with the Ensilage ? 
I have reserved the grain feeding for the last. It is 
one of the most interesting things about the farm, 
and one to which Mr. Cottrell has given much thought. 
In this great barn, the cows stand facing the center, 
with a wide alley between. They are watered by use 
of the Buckley watering device, which keeps water 
constantly before them. The water buckets are fitted 
with covers, so that hay and dust are kept out—the 
cow raising the cover with her nose whenever she 
cares to drink. Down the alley from the wall over¬ 
head, in front of each row of cows, runs a steel rail 
or trolley to which is hung a big feeding car. This 
is filled with grain or ensilage and quickly run down 
the line, the feeder rapidly serving each cow with 
her portion. 
After much experiment and study, Mr. Cottrell has 
selected the following grain mixture as the standard 
for these Guernseys : 360 pounds of bran, 265 pounds 
of corn meal, 50 pounds of oil meal, 25 pounds of 
cotton-seed meal—total 700 pounds. Of this mixture, 
cows in average flow of milk, receive nine or ten 
pounds daily, with 35 pounds of ensilage or its equiv¬ 
alent in some other green fodder. As we passed 
through the barn, I noticed a man weighing grain 
into little boxes. 
“There” said Mr. Cottrell, “is one of the most 
important things on the farm—it is weighing out 
individual rations for certain cows. We are weighing 
them for 13 cows just now. Here is a table posted on 
the wall showing how much meal, bran, etc., to give 
to each cow. You will notice that they are in vary¬ 
ing quantities. These little boxes have the names 
of the cows marked on them, and each portion is 
•THREE STAGES OF A WORM ; ITS ENEMIES. Fig. 157. 
