The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1893-06-15
The Life History of Cut Worms.


There are few garden pests that are
more exasperating in their manner of
doing damage than cut worms, writes
Clarence N. Weed in the American Cul.
tlvator. A choice tomato plant, per-
haps of a new variety a half dozen
young cabbages, two or three Young
squashes near together, are found lying
PROSTATE in the morning. when they
We're upright and healthy the evering
before, 1t is easy to see that their
stems have been cut off near the sur
face of the ground during the night,
but no other signs of the depredator are
visible. Sometimes by poking the
earth away from the roots Of the plans
one can find dirty brown worm. TIL
is the cut worm, the author of the mis-
chief.
There are great many different spe-
cles of these cut worms, and they at
tack great variety of field and garden
crops. They are all young or Larvae Of
medium sized night flying moths. These
moths deposit their eggs generally on
the twigs or branches OF trees or shrubs,
and the larvae, which soon hatch from
the eggs, descend to the ground, where
they feed upon grass or clover They
become about half grown by the time
winter sets in. Then they shelter
themselves under boards or rubbish, or
burrow into the soil.
Thus they pass the winter, and in
spring come ont of their hiding places
in a very famished condition. They
begin feeding as soon as possible, and
attack great variety of plants, such as
cabbages, tomatoes, turnips, squashes,
| melons, corn, oats, and others. In the
| garden they commonly gnaw off the
stems and leave the plants lying on the
ground, though occasionally they ea5
F.! the whole plant. Late in the spring,
! or early in summer, they become full
| grown as WORMS. Then they MAX 3
themselves hollow cells in the soil and
change to the pupa or chrysalis state
! Two or three weeks later they again
/ change, this time coming forth as adult
] moths. In some species there are two
| broods each season, and in others there
is but one.
Like all other injurious insects, cut
worms tiuctuate greatly in numbers
fromyear TO year. Some seasons they
are very destructive, while at other
| times their injuries may attract no at
| tention. This is doubtless due to- the
| various enemies cut worms have to cor
| tend with. They are preyed upon BIZ
birds, toads, frogs, and predictions bee
| ties. They are attacked by many kind !;
| of parasites, and are subject to certlia
contagious diseases. All these agencies
help greatly to keep the pests in check,
ARTIFICIAL REMEDIES,
l have recently summarized three
| most important methods Of artifcialiy
checking cut worm damage as follows /:
!. The poison method. This consists
! in killing off the Worms before the cro;,s
are planted, by streYing Over the soil
punches of fresh clover or cabbage
leaves, which have been treated with
Paris green or London Purple, either
by dipping into solution of poison, 81:
busting it on dry. The halfgrown
worms prowling aboutin search of food
eat of the bats thus set and are de-
stroyed before doing any harm. This
method has proved practical success
with many. gardeners, and is well worth
trying, where there is likely to be
trouble from these parts. Of course
care must be taken that chickens or
stock do not get at the poisoned leaves.
?. Using boards as traps This
method consists in placing. boards on
the ground i'll and about the garden
and collecting in the morning the worms
that Will congregate beneath them dur
ing the night.
3. Digging out the worms where
plants have been cut off. This is prac-
tlcable in most gardens and is well
worth doing, thus preventing further
damage.
Fall blowing is also a valuable gen.
eral measure, because it exposes the
worms to enemies and the weather.
Burning up rubbish and burning over
waste grassland also kills some.