Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1843-05-31
Eror, t!.r !spu,hrrn critiraor.

From G.r SoHiaera CuiiirGtor.
Cut Hoyms.-Wc annex. says The A
merican Farmer. with feelings Of plea.
sure, the following truly valuable com
munication from DR. Samuel ID. Martin.
upon The habits. nature aud species of The
cut-w0rms, and from cur personal knuwi-
edge OF the scientific and practical knowl-
edge. the. acute observation. and phlo.
sophie turn Of mind of tho writer. we are
convinced ,hnt the means which he sus-
gests for their destruction. arc those the
best adapted 10 thai purpose. Farmers
and planters, whose lands are Infested
with ihe cui-worins will DO well TO bear
in mind wha, the Doctor says upon The
subject.
Last spring ] collected some cut-worms
md put them into glass jar with suii-
cheney Of dirt, where fed them until they
rolled themselves up in mud balls. BY
cut-worms mean a worm about an inch
long OF a grey color, that lives under the
ground. and comes on, in The night. and
dark cloudy days, and cuis off plant.
eats pasi aud endenyors TO drag the balance
into The ground after IT. When taken ou,
Of the ground he puIs his head and tail
iuscther and rolls himself into n kidney
shape. Those cut-worms. afier going into
The chrysalis state, produced grey miller
or molh. such as we lrequen:iy see about
our candles in the summer time, and are
called by US candIe-1i
kept three Of those miilcrs in n jar,and
they deposited their eggs upon some. cIo.
ser leaves and bloom thai put IN the
jar. On The 2i,h OF June ii,nse eggs
hatched liuIe caiicrpillars or cut worms.
l fed them principally upon young glover
leaves. / think there mist have been
several hundred; did not coun, them.
When they were nearly grown they be-
came so voracious, aud required the jar,
which had held only three piuis. to be
filled SO frequently tina, killed all bul
three of them; these wound up in mud
baIis on The 2lsi Of July, came OUT millers.
moths az candle. flies, as you may chonsc
10 call them, from the 5th TO the 7lh of
August. Unfortunately all The moIll, were
of one sex, so that lost :he breed; these
call the two.crop cut-worm.
Other cut-worms that put up at the
same time, ,ha, is, early in :he spring, did
not produce moths until the ] l,h OF Au-
gust; these were no, quite as dark co!ore,l
as the first. These call the one crop
est worm. This will reconcile the state
mcnts OF two writers upon The subject, who
have differed about tho time the moth
makes lis appearance. lbe two crop kinds
appearing al both times. saw. also, the
moth thai produced tho cui-worm lolcra.
bly, abundan, in my clover feli in De.
toher.
This moth is nigh, ly and is rarely
seen in the day time. unless reused from
Ills hiding places. From The attraction
,La, firc hiss this kind of butterfly. (pcrmii
me TO cali q moth butterfly. III accord.
sage ith it's common namcl i, is proba-
bic that fires kiudlcd in our fields with
hrusti and straw, Of dark nights. might
destroy great uamher Of them. Sal, put
on The ground nigh, also destroy The
worm but the best remedy that l have
ever tried is fall pInughing. This. by de-
strpyiug the vcgeia'ion, makes tho hy
seek other places Of dcposiiins her eggs ;
aud i, also destroys the roots OF the grass
upon which the young worm would live
during the winter. have had no ground
infested by them where have had the
ground pIoushed in The fall or winter.
This moth that produces the cu,-worm
is lie pheisaa dsrsf.aier Of enlomologisls.
4 have made experiments with Tho bud
worrn ond grub-worm, but have not room
in this paper to give them. I was more
injured iasl ycaf by Tho bud-wortn than ali
The other worm aud irsccts. Andii has.
been the case for some yeafs past, that
they have done mo more damage than sny
other insec, except the blister ly aud
srass-hopper.
The cut-worm is a very voracious cat
terpi!lnr, und get their growth in tho sum
mer time in less than a month. Gold
weather rela.ds their growth. aud those
Thar arc haiched III The fall remain iu q
torpid state during The winter, and gel
their growth slowly in the spriug at which
time they do US the principal damage in
cutting ofihe young corn and other ynung
vegetables. Though they remain in n
torpid state during tic winner, they require
food as soon as tho weather gets warm in
the sprinc, aud if the vegetation has heen
all destroyed by fall or min'er ploughiug.
which is rarely the case. they mus, starvc.
But suppose j, is no, SO much onlhis
aecoun, as the turning up the ground and
destroying their covers. which allows the
frcsi and Wet 10 affect .hem.
SAME. ID. MARTIN.