The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1890-06-10
under the head of cottOn-eating in.

4 III OOL4O 4OSOAASANO wy
to tobacco. Crickets deposit their
eggs chiefly upon blackberry and rasp-
berry bushes, and are not generally
troublesome except where these
bushes ABOUND. This is a good reason
why fence corners, gullies and bitches
should be kept free from the bushes.
Other reasons for keeping fields clean
of these bushes are given in Bulletin
70 of the Exper ment Station.
The pest par excellence OF the to
bacco field is the "horn caterpillar.
This is the larval form of the large
AMI beautiful hawk moth or hum
ming bird moth, Sphinr Carolina.
These moths usually appear in June
and the female lays her eggs singly
upon the upper surface of the leaves
of the tobacco plant. The eggs are
greenish when laid but oon change
to white. They hatch out in "a to 30
hours, and the worms, then only the
size Of hairs, at once begin to eat.
They bore through the leaves to g9t
away from the sun, and continue to
feed on the under side of the leaf.
Their power for mischief increases
with their increase in size. Toe
caterpillar reaches it's full size about
the last of August or early in Septem-
Der. 1t then ceases to eat, descend5
into the ground and transforms to the
pupa state in which, as a rule, it re-
mains during the winter. II IS prob,
able, however, hat many winged in,
sects come forth and lay eggs upon
the sprouts and second growth of the
tobacco plants. These Sprouts should
therefore be removed.
The hawk moth, like the cutworm
and cotton moths, are night flyers,
and therefore the lantern trap, so
often mentioned, must here again be
offered as the best and most practical
remedy. Another remedy which can
be used as subsidiary to the lantern
trap, is the use of poisoned liquids.
These moths r exceedingly fond of
the nectar secreted by the flowers of
the jamestown weed, and this fact is
often taken advantage of by pour ng
into the flowers a half teaspoonful of
a liquid mixture of Paris green. To
serve as traps the jamestown weed is
planted in rows Is to 20 feet apart
through the field. The trouble is
that this weed thrives only on the
richest soil, and cannot be made to
grow on our best tobacco land.
Moreover it is very poisonous and not
a thing to have where children or
fowls may get at it. Probably the
garden petunia will serve the same
purpose and has the advantage of
growing on any soil and is not pois.
onous. The jamestown weed, petunia
and tobacco all belong to the same
botanical family-the Solonacea. Man
ufacturers now make a porcelain imi-
tation of the jamestown weed flower.
These have been used very successful
ly in some parts of the South.
NoTE.-We have not been able to
learn the name of the manufacturer
Of these imitation flowers in time for
this article. The name will be given
in a later paper. @. MCC.
Where tobacco plants are allowed to
become infested by the young worms
the best remedy is the kerosene emul-
sion prepared and diluted as recon-
mended in the first of these papers.
1t must be applied to the under side
of the leaves and with sufficient force
to spatter the liquid on the worms. A
very good spraying machine for this
purpose is the Eureka sprayer, made
by Adam Weaber, at Vineland, N. J.
1t costs $40 and freight. Old brooms
or wisps Of twigs may be used to dash
the liquid on the worms. The larger
worms should be hand picked. Some
of these will be found with white egg
like masses on their backs. These
white masses are the cocoons of a
parasite fly, and such worms should
not be killed. The parasites
will kill it and many more. The
horn at the tail end is not a Weapon.
The worm may be handled without
the least danger of its singing or bit
ing.
The proftableness of clean farming
cannot be too strongly urged upon
farmers The piles of trash, stumps
and stubble left in fields during the
winter are generally nurseries of pests
which will damage the farmers crops
the succeeding spring, and the damage
they occasion will a hundred times
exceed the cost of removing them.
AL trash should be carefully piled
and burned as soon as possible after
New Years day. There is very little
farm work at that time, and therefore
the continued presence of these pest
nurseries is all the more r~eprehensible.
The next paper will treat of corn
eating insects.
The Cumming, Ca, Clarion, pub.
fishes resolutions by Harmony Ali,
ance No. $50, refusing support to
any legislative candidate who will not