Birmingham state herald., 1896-03-04
 Corn Insects in the South.

The Mississippi experiment station has published bulletin on insects inju- rious to corn. The publication is intend ed to be used as a reference during the season, and also to awaken some farm CTS to see the advantage of fall blowing for the destruction of insects. From this bulletin we extract the following:
 Summary of Remedies.-The reader will perhaps have noticed that under the head of remedies for nearly all the fore going insects, fall blowing in one way or another has been mentioned We wish here to call special attention to this point. In this state and throughout many localities of the south land washes considerably, and all possible means should be taken to prevent this by hill- side ditches~an the like. With some land it would not be advisable to blow in the fall, owing to danger of washing, but in case the sod land or land which has been allowed to become grown over with grass, it will pay to break up the sod in the fall, as it will leave the soil in better condition for working early in the spring. Fully three-fourths of our injurious in sects spend part of their lives upon or within the ground, and autumn is the best time for their destruction By fall blowing the larvae and pupae are exposed upon the surface, where they are picked up by the birds or killed during the win ter by sudden changes of the weather. Many larvae also will die during the win ter from lack of food; and insects which pass the winter in the ground as pupae are killed by the breaking up of the com pact earth surrounding them. Recent in vestigations regarding the food of birds show that these do immense good in de- stroying larvae and pupae during the winter. Sod land contains many insects, and the case of the Ligyrus beetle, all ready mentioned, serves as an illustra- ton of the fact that these insects will work upon other plants aside from grass if the land is not plowed until spring.
 "When corn is laid by too early the land becomes covered With thick growth of crab grass and weeds, form ing a suitable place for many insects to deposit their eggs. On the station farm it is our practice to SOW COW peas be- tween the rows of corn when the latter is laid by This method is practiced principally on account of the e1ects Of the peas as a fertilizer; but at the same time the method has many advantages from an chronological point of view as the peas attract less insects than would a miscellaneous assortment of weeds and grasses.
 land is plowed in the fall, a much better farm practice than fall blowing consists in the breaking up of sod and other lands during the summer and planting cow peas. either broadcast or in rows, to be cultivated Ttfs-method practically ac- complishes the same results as fall plow- ing, so far as regards the insects; and considering the great fertilizing value of the peas, the method cannot be too strongly recommended"
 If the Strawberry patch has been mulched during the winter remove the covering from the crowns of the plants very gradually. Better go over the bed three or four times than to uncover them all at once. Too much haste will result in loss. Experience must be the guide.