The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1894-10-18
The Chestnut and its WeeyiI.

IT is Il well known fact tina the weevil
damages to great extent the chestnut
as d market crop. This is made the sub
ject of bulletin l05 of the North Carolina
Experiment Station. The life history
of this annoying insect is described.
and how the parent beetle lays her eggs
in the immature husk or burr of the nut
when still on the tree. The eggs hatch
and if the nuts remain upon he.grOund
the worms in about ten days bore their
way out and enter the ground to pass
finally into the adult state during the
coming spring. 1t is altogether ilnpos-
sihlc to prevent the beetle from laying
her eggs on the native chestnut trees in
the forests. but in cultivated orchards
of Spanish or japanese chestnuts the
treatment would be the same as for the
plum curculio. For treating the nests.
the following plan successfully followed
by an experienced correspondent Is
recommended: scald the nests by
placing Il bushel or so in Il tub. pour
enough boiling water over them to GOV.
or one or two inches. Stir with a stick,
allow to remain about five minutes, and
the wcevilly nuts come to the surface
and can be SKINNED ely and destroyed
or fed to hogs. Put the good nuts in
bags half full. and dry in the sun.
Siltf.fc dltl mani l'uldJt freely 10 lldSltH
drying. The kernels thus treated re-
main soft and do not get fiinty.
The Army Worms.
The weather this year has been ex-
ceptiOnally favorable to the army
worms of which we have two general
namely. Laphygna frugiperda. the
southern army worm, and lleliOphila
unipunctata. the northern army worm.
This year the latter genus is the more
common but both are troublesome.
These worms prefer soft green millet,
corn small grain, grass, and clOvers.
The southern worm eats fruit and v:g-
etables. They do not modest cotton,
cow peas. peanuts. or tobacco; nor can
they damage dry cured fodder. or
ripcncd grain shocked or standing in
field They never damage fodder or
grain in barn.
REMEDIES: When these worms at
tack i grass or forage field cut the crop
at uIire and haul into barn or rake up
into windows as soon as cut. Have Il
man follow and spray or sprinkle with
>rrosene emulsion, or pure kerosene
oil or boiling hot water upon the worms
which will be found covering the
ground. The forage may then be cured
rs usual in field. To prevent advancing
WORMS from peItluR lnlo IL lleltl, plOW Il
long, wide and deep furrow across their
line of march. or . feet outside the
field to be protected. The land side
must ne towards the protected field.
and should be cut under if practica Bile.
/ When the advancing worms have half
| filled this furrOw pile straw or dry pine
| tags upon them and fire: or pillow an
/ other furrow just inside the last throw
! ing the dirt upon the worms. Roll or
stamp this hard. Repeat burrows as
often as necessary When crossing
roads or bare ground the worms may be
crushed by driving Il heavy roller over
them. or kerosene may be sprayed upon
them or dry straw or litter may be scat
tcred'and fired. They may be poisoned
by Paris green. but this remedy is not
de>ra bic when the crop is to be utilized
as forage. As soon as full grown the
worms will enter the ground and
change to the dormant pupa state in
which they will remain until spring.
Fields in which the worms have worked
this fall should be deeply plowed and
rolled heavily or stamped as soon as the
worms are gone. This will bury the
pupae SO deeply they will not reach the
surface in spring. Fall crops may be
sown as soon as the worms begin to ,!is
appear. Gerald Mccarthy. Entomolo
gist North Carolina Experiment sta
! ton.