The Kosciusko star. (Kosciusko, Miss.) 18??-1898, 1895-08-30
Breaking Sod Land.


About one-half of our injurious insects
spend part of their lives in the soil
either as larvae or pup9, and although
they are present in the soil at all sea-
sons, they are by far the most common
during the fall and winter. Many spe-
cies that exist in summer, as catterpil-
lars of various kinds, go into the soil as
pupe in autumn and spend the winter
IN a dormant condition and in the spring
hatch into the mature insects. Many
species that injure growing crops in the
mature state are injurious to the roots OF
grasses in their earlier conditions of life,
and some species which are normally in
furious TO grasses may become also in
furious to some cultivated crop when the
grass land is broken up and other crops
planted.
As an illustration Of this last we may
mention the corn stalk eater" a beetle
which did considerable damage in Adams
County in May of this year. Many COM
munications from the vicinity OF
Natchez indicated much damage being
done by beetle which is normally not
Injurious to corn, but is injurious to the
roots Of grasses upon which the larvae
iced Investigation developed the fact
shat the lands where the beetle did the
most damage had been in pasture the
year preceding and that these lands are
not broken until about the time of The
planting of the corn. Last year the ma
;nre beetles. had been attracted to the
pasture by the droppings of the cattle
and had laid large number Of eggs in
She sod. These eggs hatched into grubs
which worked upon the grass roots and
ihe time the fields we're plowed. But
ss the corn was planted in the fields
already infested with the insects, the
hitter fed upon the corn as it was the
Snly thing present in the fields.
This illustration points to the fact
hat it is very important that all sod
land should be thoroughly broken in
the fall as this will destroy the food
plants of many of our injurious in
besides exposing them to the g, rt,oo -
be destroyed by the chano' .1;.;o
y! the weather or to r. go ooA'
h;,1s ~ manw % picked up by the
rus !" Dl"nJ cases to wait until the
. 100, Tvs , n1, ,egun work is too late to
ahap a RENE dy' a preventive IS oe'1er
hahao, ,dy in nearly every case, and
.,aking up Of sod land in the fall
n excellent remedy for many insects,
especially those injurious to corn.
Throughout the North it is and should
be a common practice to pillow in the
fall; the land is more thoroughly broken
pp and in better condition for planting
IN she spring While the same condi-
lions so far as tho advantages Of fall
blowing occur in tho South, yet the
land washes more readily here and steps
should be taken to prevent this So
that while it probably does not pay to
plow in the fail as a rule in the South,
yet this should be done in the case Of
sod, as the sod will largely prevent wash
ing.
This year in Mississippi more COM
plaint was heard regarding cut-worms
7han perhaps all other insects combined.
These insects are the larvae of NIGHTLY
Ing moths which lay their eggs at the
roots of grasses, The cut-worms be-
come full grown in early spring and do
considerable damage in gardens. They
are always the most numerous on land
nhiqh has had considerable grass upon
it the preceding season Fall blowing
will expose the worms as well as destroy
sbo food piaat and in this way much OF
the damage ordinarily caused by these
san be prevented,