Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1884-07-17
The COrn-Root Worm.

The Corn-Root Worm.
The corn-root worm, in the form in
in which it affects the root of corn, is a
slender white grub, not thicker than a
pin, from one-fourth to three-eighths of
an inch in length, with a small brown
head, and six very short legs. 1t COM
mences its attack in May or June, usu-
ally at some distance from the stalk,
towards which it eats its way beneath
the epidermis, killing the root as fast as
it proceeds. Late in July or early in
August it transforms in the ground near
the base of the hill, changing into a
white pupa, about fifteen hundreths of
an inch long and two-thirds that width,
looking somewhat like an adult beetle,
but with the wings and pwingeovers
rudimentary, and with the legs closely
drawn up against the body. A few
days later it emerges as a perfect insect,
about one-fifth of an inch in length,
varying in color from pale greenish
brown to bright grass green, and usually
without spots or markings of any kind.
The beetle climbs up the stalk, living
on fallen pollen and upon the silk at
the tip Of the ear until the latter dies,
when few of the beetles creep down
between the husks and feed upon the
corn itself, while others resort for food
to the pollen ofsuch weeds in, the field
as are at that time in blossom. In Sep
tember and October the eggs are laid in
the ground upon or about the roots of
the corn, and most of the beetles soon
after disappear from the field. They
may ordinarily be found upon the late
blooming plants, feeding as usual upon
the pollen of the flowers and also to
some extent upon molds and other
fungi, and upon decaying vegetation.
There can be no further doubt that the
insect is single brooded, that it hiber-
mates in the egg as o rule, and that this
does net hatch until after the ground
has been ploughed and planted to corn
in the spring, probably in May and
June. 4 @ & " b 81 8
Although the adult beetles, when
numerous, do some harm by eating the
silk before the kernels are fertilized by
the pollen, and also destroy occasionally
a few kernels in the tip of the ear, yet
the principal injury is done by the larvae
in its attack upon the roots. The ex-
tent of this injury depends not only up
on the number of the worms, but also
upon the soil and weather and the
general condition of the crop, being
worst on high land and in dry weather.
Under specially unfavorable circum-
stances the loss due to the insect may
amount to from one-fOurth to One-half
or even three-fourths of the crop; but
when the conditions are generally
favorable, it rarely amounts to more
than ten or twelve per cent. and fire.
quently even to less. Although the
roots penetrated by the larv@ die and
decay, thrifty corn will throw out new
ones to replace those lost. The hold OF
the stalk upon the ground is often SO
weakened that a slight wind is suffi-
cient to prostrate the corn. Under
these circumstances it will often throw
out new roots from the joints above the
ground, thus rallying to certain extent
against serious injury.
AS the result of numerous observa-
tions and comparisons, it is clearly to
be seen that little or NO mischiefis done
except in fields that have been in corn
during the year or two preceding, and
frequent change of crops is therefore
a complete preventive. Beyond this,
the life history of the insect gives us
little hope of fighting it effectually ex-
cept at too great expense, as the eggs
and worms are scattered and hidden 10
the ground, and the perfect beetle is
widely dispersed throughout the field.
Experiments will be instituted at the
earliest possible day to determine
whether some fertilizer whose value to
the crop will pay for its use may not
have destructive effect either upon
the egg or Larvae in the ground. A full
account of this beetle, with illustrations
of its different stages, viii be published
in the next annual report from this
ice.-Indiona Farmer.
Hay Fever.
For twenty years 1 was a sufferer from
Catarrh of the head and throat in a
very aggravated form, and during the
summer months with Hay Fever. I
procured bottle of Ely's Cream Balm,
and after a few applications received de-