The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1900-08-02
rHE curwoRsa PEST.

! THE CUTwORM PEST.
Prof. Pipsr Of the Agricultural College o.
Its Phenomenal Outbreak.
/ Prof. Chas. v. Piper. entomologist o
the Agricultural College and School o
Science of Pullman, has looked int.
the phenomenal outbreak of the cut
worm pest as far as it has been possibl,
under the circumstances, aud in al
interview will the Pullman correspond
ent os the Post-Intelligencer, says:
From specimens received the PES
proves to be the well-known varieeatet
cutworm, the larvae of moth know
to entomologists as Peridroma saucia
The original home Of this insect is prob.
ably in Europe, but it is now widespread
Its first record in America was In l84l
but 1t now occurs in all parts Of the
Union and in Canada. In 1893 and in
1885 1t caused considerable damage Ia
grapes In California, and in 1888 was
destructive to potatoes In Arkansas.
Many other instances of its ravages are
on record, and taken altogether it
Is one of the most injurious of cut.
worms.
"The insect has wide range of food
plants, attacking almost all sorts of
garden and field crops, MANY weeds.
such as purslane, dock, pigweed, etc.
and even climbing the trunks of apple,
cherry, maple, elm and other trees and
feeding on the foliage. There are per.
laps very few plants that it will not
feed on If driven to 1T by hunger.
Heretofore the insect has been quite
rare one in this state. Our collections
show specimens from Seattle, Yakima,
Pullman and Mt. Rainier, mostly cap
tured in June and July.
"From observations the life history
Of the insect is as follows: The eggs
are laid in the early spring and hatch
during April and May. From these
adult moths were reared by Riley,
LINER and Others at various dates from
June 20 to July 5. Tn all the previous
records of injury by this insect III
America, the damage has been done by
the spring brood of worms. There are
10 previous instances on record of q
second brood of larvae in July and
August in America, though such have
been recorded in England. From this
second brood in England adults were
reared In September aud October. Un-
der ordinary conditions, however, this
second brood probably passes the win.
ter In the pupa stage, the adults elnerg-
ing in early spring. Upon this point,
however, the evidence Is very scanty,
a nd n 10 f<, Ro hnv,oA hot ho -
remarkable outbreak will enable OBJ
servers 10 clear up the matter.
"The present outbreak of the insect
Is phenomenal, and judging from the
records of the insect elsewhere, and its
previous history In this state, is not
likely to be duplicated in many years.
Judging from the reports received
and the specimens sent In, 1t is prob
able that the bulk of the damage Is al.
ready done. Most of the worms re-
ceived are full grown, and some have
already pupated in our breeding cages.
If, however, there are yet good many
OF the worms that are small, the plants
should be sprayed at once, and thor
Oughly, with Paris green. For tile cab
bage use the dry method; for other
plants the wet method, Us follows:
"Dry application. = When applied
dry the poison should be Thoroughly
mixed with lime or -four, one part of
the poison tO twenty parts Of the -four
or lime, or If the application is made to
vegetables which may stOn be used for
food, the mixture should not be strong
er than ollie part of Paris green to one
hundred parts of -four or lime. Various
methods of applying the powder are
used. A simple cnntrivaIce il II tin
box of convenient size having the bot
tom finely perforated or covered with u
fine wire gauze. This is fastened to a
handle AMI with 1t u person can distri-
bute the poison rs desired. 1t is better
to- dust early in the morning or late In
the evening while the leaves are wet
with dew, In order that the mixture
may adhere more readily to the plant.
"Wet application.-Thi method is
much preferred i'm the great majority
of cases. The poison is applied as a
spray, using one pound of Paris green
to lJO or 200 gallons of water for such
trees rs apples, pears, etc. But for
peach aud plum trees and other plants
with delicate foliage which Is very sus-
ceptible to the poison, the mixture
should not be stronger than one pound
of Paris green to $50 or 800 gallons of
water. A pailful or two of fresh lime
water should be added to every 200
GALLONS of the mixture to prevent the
poison from scalding the foliage. In
preparing the mixture the Paris green
should be mixed into fine paste with
small amount of water; it should
then be strained thoroughly and the
bulk of water added. The lime may
be added to the paste before straining
in amount equal to the amount of
poison used, instead of added to the
mixture rs above recommended. The
mixture must be kept well stirred dur.
ing the spraying. -.
1.-THE gathering Of the worms by
hand and then destroying them Is
sometimes very practicable, and I'm the
case of small garden plots is much tn
be preferred. While the work Is much
more laborious. the results are i'm.
mediate"
TEACHERS EXAMINATION.