Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1882-07-06
THE ARMY WORM.
A Description of the Pest and How tC
ThWart His OperatiOns.

As description of the appearance and
habits of this worm. as well as the meth
DDS of destroying it, will undoubtedly be
interesting to many persons, we make 6
few extracts from q letter written by 8
correspondent in Tennessee for the Guilt
vator and Country Gentleman. Hebegins
the letter by saying that the prospects
for good corn and wheat crops is very
fine, but that farmers are not content,
saying:
"The army worm has come, and we will
be ruined. The army worm originates
in old meadow lands more particularly,
and where there are no meadows in a
neighborhood, hear of no worms. They
travel from the meadows to the wheat.
oats, rye, barley and corn. If the wheat.
rye and barley are past the bloom, and
making the grain when attacked by the
worm, the grain is oftener benefited by
being stripped of the blades than in jured.
Oats, if attacked, are generally ruined
so is the corn; both being very tender
plants, the worm goes for them heavily.
| will describe the worm for the benefit
OF those who are unacquainted with him.
| He is bald-headed, well-formed, black
body, with two rather yellow than white
stripes from head to tail. When full
grown it is fourth less in size than a
common pencil, and when ready to
deposit its cotton is rather yellow, and is
very clumsy or slow, but in almost
constant motion and very hungry, eating
rapidly until he disappears. Where he
goes do not know; he simply goes out
of sight. / find no holes that he goes
into, and do not find him dead on the
ground. Where does he go to? walked
the ditch two hours this evening, and
the foregoing is the best description
can give you.
''He is might say, rather an innocent
looking worm, and has not the hideous
look of the cut and measuring worms.
The force upon my farm have been Civ
ing him battle for four or five days.
First, between my wheat field and
meadows, and corn field and meadows,
we ditched, throwing the earth out on
the meadow side, and making the side
next the wheat slanting under, SO that
when the worms come into the ditch,
which they do by thousands and millions,
they attempt to crawl out on the corn
and wheat side, and fall back, and when
collected in the ditch we hitch mule or
horse to small log of wood and draw it
down and up the ditch, and mash the
army to death. With 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. But if 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, if you will stand idly by and
permit them to do so. 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 rope from fifty to two hun.
dred feet in length, and weight it in the
middle and put man or boy at each end
of it, and let them pass the rope over
the field once day SO long as the.
lives, which is usually ten days, and you
will save the field from injury. The fat
fellows are never to make second trip up
the stalk; one trip with the rope is sufi-
cient with that crop. A repetition of
this operation once day for ten days
will save the crop; and it is easier and
cheaper than ditching. ! have succeeded
in keeping them so far out of my wheat;
SO have no occasion to use the rope
practice, but others are using it every
day, including Sunday, and report sue
cess" sTssAS