The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-08-06
THE ARMY WORM.

ITS RAvAGEs ON LONG IsLAED-THE DAT CROP
DESTROYED AND THE YOUNG coRN EATEN
OUT OF THE HusKs.
Although tine Colorado potato beetle has as yet
deRe but little damage In the TWO agricultural
counties OF Long Island-sunolk and Queens-the
farmers are suffering from the depredations Of
another pest, in some respects even more Iormi-
daole. The army worm mas made It's appearance
In untold numbers, ana the green neds OF oats
and corn are disappearing ON rte line OF It's
vastating march as though swept away by IRE
On Wednesday Of last week Mr.. " r. Terry, OF
Queens found them at work IN his cat held lie
at once set his reapers 10 work. The worm eats
scarcely anything but the green and succuent
stems which connect the grain TO the stalk The
kernels drop 10 the GROUND, which is thus often
literally covered with tue ''cutv oats, while the
stalks are left standing upright and baked.
On Friday the worms were seen thlckly in1est-
ing IA potato neld belonging TO MIR. Dan,el lIud-
son. on saturday morning II was found tnat
they mad struck his ADJOINING oat field and 1t Is
estimated that during the night at least rfty
bushels OF oats were lost Mr.. hudson at once
started MS reaping machine and saved wnat he
could Tor feed.
NEWS OF THE INVASION
soon spread. and farmers were seen in every
direction drop Ing their tools ana running Ior
tneir cat nelds TO ascertain whether they. too,
We're sufferers. Mr.. George L. hallocK found one
OF ms leds literally alve with worms, and I'M
long as he could see on Saturday nigRt. ON
Monday the worms were seen IN me corn fields.
The farmers Immediately commenced dltcning
ana .renchlng wherever tne movements OF the
pests could thus be Interrupted.
On Tuesday Mr.. George f. Warner found that
tney had struck Ills odt Held, having, as he said,
literally "sWafmed out or the woods.u CAPTAIN
Euwaru Hawkins of Jamesport Is reported "a
have lost MS Whole crop o oats before ne knew
the worms were at WORK. me farmers OF oregon,
Catc1ogue, Peconc anu various other places nave
taken the alarm ana are dong everything that
suggests ltseI as preventive OF loss
From southampton and Easthampton the re.
port Is that the
They were first observed in the latter part or
July and nave succeeded III DESTROYING almost tue
entire oat crop. oome farmers nave commenced
pIoughIng III what Is lett OF tue straw, and prob.
ably all viii do SO and put The lana uown In tur.
nlpS or sJme otncr iate crop The worms are
seriouslt Iamaged some feds. Tney seem ~
swarm everywhere-iu the roads meaaows, stuo-
bic and grow ny heds. 1t Is dlhcult TO dry the
cut oats Tor loddvr and the loss Is elt all the more
IN consequence OF the shortness OF tue hay crop.
Near kIvernead village Mr.. Ii. L. grimm lost
handsome field Uf oats, and Ut Sayyllle tue worms
have badly damaged number OF fields. In at
lacking corn The worms go TO the vital part wnere
the ear Is forming
The reports from Queens county show that Mr..
Tut le oil Jerusalem, has lost hls enIlre Dat crop.
Mr.. r. g. BarnuM o. East Meadow, has had some
forty acres OF Tine oats almost completely rulnea.
Mr. L. Il. Fisn, OF the same place. calculates That
ne mas Loot at least 400 bushels OF oats or pros
pectlve crop OF 500 bushels. on Friday last he
examined MS oats and iound them dong fnely;
on the Monday following he found that the worms
had cut swain directly through the hed leaving
the nead!ess stalks standing bare. Other Iesa
serious depredatons are reported, BUT Queens
county, thus far, appears 10 nave suffered LEST
than Suffolk.
THE WORM OR CATERPILLAR
Is from hall an inch TO two inches long, brownlsh
with white stripe running the wnoe length OF
the DodY. The appe Irance ana diss D. earance o.
the pests are very sudden, and they are terribly
voraeIouS. While prelernng oais, they 40 MOI
hesitate TO attack OtBsr fields, ana more particu.
larry seem 10 relish corn. up the stalks OF whlcl
they crawl, eating the tenuer leaves, entering the
ems OF tue buos, and completely eating up the
growing ear, ooLn kernel and cob. rney often
cross highways IN their marcn though deep cut
hole often stops their progress until IL Is illed
with the foremost, wneD those behind VIII pass
over the bodies OF th8lr predecessors. The best
protection oil the farmer, therefore, Is dltchDR or
plOuHhing around their helds. Tue worms all into
the oil Gu or lurfoW and can tEen ue destroyed by
burning straw over rne.n. Some fifteen years ago
these worms made their appearance In the same
sections ol Long Island, but their NUMBER was
almost us nothing in comparison with that VI tie
present year.