116 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL, [1 Fes., 1902. 
to finding these green eggs, they are apt to escape notice, as they are almost the 
colour of the leaf. When the worm emerges from the egg it at once attacks 
the leaf, and unless it is killed will in its short life eat a tremendous amount of 
leaf. 
Process or §* Wormrne.” 
To realise the amount of care and labour required to keep a patch free 
from worms, one must see the work as it is done through a whole season. 
“ Worming ” must be done largely in the early morning and late in the evening, 
as the worms often hide in the fresh earth during the heat of the midday sun. 
To one who has not seen the work before, it is not what might be termed 
pleasant, for the worm is pulled in two before it is dropped. When one is not 
expert in the work, they have a bad manner of bursting in one’s face. For 
years the tobacco-growers have striven to find something to kill the tobacco 
worms without injuring the sale of their crop. Paris green in very small 
quantities has been used as a spray upon the plants; but it is not thoroughly 
satisfactory. The manufacturer and buyer do not like the idea of using and 
selling tobacco that has had Paris green upon it. JI am sure the man who uses 
tobacco would not knowingly buy “the weed” that had Paris green used upon 
it. Ofcourse if a very small amount is used and a good rain is allowed to wash 
it clean before “ housing,” it would be perfectly safe—but all growers are not 
as careful as they might be. 
Another pest which the grower had to contend within the past few years 
is a small grasshopper, which, if anything, is a worse feeder than the worm. 
The worm stays on one plant usually, and often will eat one leaf before 
moving to another. But the grasshopper eats small holes in many leaves, and 
thus ruins them for “wrappers.” Not long ago a small boy asked if some 
grasshoppers were not very smart. In explanation of his question he said : 
‘““ Well, you see, grasshoppers been eatin’ grass and other stuff, an’ when 
you catch ’em an’ say * Spit tobacco an’ [ll let you go,’ it would take em a long 
time. But now they jes go into the tobacco patches an’ chew it, and when you 
say to ’em, ‘Spit tobacco an’ I’ll let you go,’ why they kin right away.” 
Tue PestrreRous GRASSHOPPER. 
The reason the grasshopper is such a pest is that there is no way to catch 
them. The worms cannot get away, and it is simply a matter of finding and 
killing them before they do too much damage to the leaves; but with the 
grasshopper it is an entirely different matter. The moment you walk through 
the patch they hop and fly in every direction, and are gone only to return the 
moment you leave again. 
Every tobacco man’s wife makes it a point of turning out as big a “ gang” 
of turkeys as she can. She does this not alone to provide herself with Christmas 
pin money, but to protect the tobacco patch as well. As soon as the young 
turkeys are of any size the little children drive the whole “gang” to the 
tobacco patch every morning, and leave them there all day. Soon the feast of 
tobacco worms and grasshoppers impresses itself upon the limited minds of the 
turkeys, and they go to the patch of their own accord. It is very interesting to 
watch the “gang” as it follows the dusty path up through the woods toward 
the “clearing.” Each turkey has its head on one side scanning the dusty grass 
for any stray grasshoppers which lurk there. Suddenly a youngster sees one, and 
makes a wild dash for it, only to have it jump from under its eager bill and fly 
ae the road. A splash of fine dust from the middle of the road shows where 
the hopper has dropped again, and the whole “ gang” stalks after it. Thus it 
goes on all day long in and about the clearing in the woods, and there is really 
no telling how many hoppers a turkey will eat in the course of a day. 
SUCKERING. 
During the midsummer months “the weed” is apt to grow what is 
commonly called “ suckers” from a point where the leaves join the main stalk. 
To keep all the strength of the plant in the growing tissue of the leaves, these 
