The Red Cloud chief., 1882-08-10

AZ Q ~dc~cripsAsn OF The sppean -
and habits Of this sorrn. ~ well - u
| methods of DESTROYING IL. Win undosbe
| sdiy be Interesting 10 many resdeu. W
make . few extracts from . letter WIT
ten BY . correspondent ID Tennessee IL
| the C~alfsrafoy and Coasfry G~esaemss.
| He bcyiss the letter BY ssying thss tn
prospect for good corn and wheat crops
d very fne. but that farmers are mol
content. saying:
The anny-xo-m has come. and ~
viii be ruined. The amy-worm Orig
mates in old meadow lands more psrieu.
larry. and where there are no Meadow
in . Eeighborhood hear VI no uosms
| They travel from the meadows io the
! wheat. oats, re. barley and eorn- u
tho wheat. rye and barley are past the
bloom. and making the grain when At.
tackled BY the worm. the grain 10 oft
ensr benefited by being stripped Of the
blades than injured. Oats. Il attacked,
are generally ruined-so Is the corn
both being very tender planiA the
worms 20 tor them heavily. vii de
scribe the worm for the benefit Of thoss
who are unacguainted with him: lie 1.
~bald-heAded. welcomed. black body.
With two rather yellow than white
stripes from head 10 tail. When full
grown II il \ fourth less in size than Z
common pencil. and when ready To de-
post his cotton is rather yellow. snd Il
very clumsy or slow. but in almost con.
slant motion and very hungry. eating
rapidly until be disappears Where he
1900 A. ~ asx- ~. -snUtf 1900 ...s
Of sight. 1 find no holes that he goes
into. and I do o ind him dead on the
ground. Where does be go 10?
walked the d tch two hours this evening
aud the foregoing i. the best descrip-
ton | can give You.
He Is. l might say. rather an inno-
cent-iooking worm. and has not the
hideous look of,he cut and measuring
worms. The workmen upon my farm
have been giving him battle for o "a or
five days. First between ms wheat
field and meadows. and cor field and
meadows. we ditched. throwing the
earth out on the meadow side, and
making the side next to the wheat or
corn sianting under, SD that when the
worms come into the ditch. which they
do by the thousands and millions. they
attempt tn crawl out on the corn aud
wheat side. and fall back. and when
collected in the ditch We hitch n mule
ar horse 10 n small log Of wood and
draw it up and down the ditch and
mash the army To death. With q little
care they never pass the ditch. As |
before stated. they never originate in
the wheat or corn field, unless the
wheat has been sown on an old meadow.
Bet il they do get into the wheat. then
there is only one mode of fighting them.
and that is by the old Virginia mode. The
worms crawl up the stalk and strip the
blades off up To the head. il you will
stand idly by and permit them to do 50.
To prevent this is almost too cheap and
simple To relate. The worm is very
clumsy. and the least shock precipitates
him to the ground. and while there he
does little or no damage.
Take a rope from iifty TO 100 feet
in length and weight in the middle and
put q mar or boy at each end OF it and
let them pass the rope over the field
once a day so long rs the worm lives.
which is usually ten days, and you will
save the field from injury. The fat fell
lows are never To make a second trip
up the stalk: one trip with the rope is
sufficient with that crop. a repetition
Of this operation once q day for ten
days will save the crop; and it is easier
and cheaper than ditching. l have
succeeded in keeping them so far out Of
my wheat; so | have nc occasion 10 use
the rope practice, but others are using
1t every day. including Sunday, and re-
port success"