Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1902-05-29
THE ONION cuTwoRM.
feeds TIL About the Middle of june
Several Ways to Treat 1t.

Feeds TIL About the Middle of June.
Several Ways to Treat 1t.
1t is probable that on onion fields at
least eggs of the cutworm are mostly
laid late in fall upon the weeds and
other debris remaining upon unculti-
waited spots in the fields, along ditch
borders and fences or on adjoining
highlands. From these highlands the
weeds and eggs are borne upon the
fields by the high water of early spring
and furnish starting points for the
spread of the young worms. These also
advance from the borders of the field
and from the ditch banks. Some of the
young worms feed for a time before
going into winter quarters in the
ground, and some of the moths proba-
bly, remain alive, though dormant, dur
ing the winter and resume egg laying
in the spring, says f. II. Hall of the
New York station.
The Eggs and the Young.-The eggs
upon the weeds hatch early in the
spring and soon spread to the onions.
The worms begin to feed early in May.
They eat rayenously and continue to
grow until they finish feeding, some
times before the middle of June. They
are then about an inch and a quarter
in length and are marked upon the
sides by a decided dark band or stripe.
They now burrow into the ground a
short distance and form small cavities,
in which they change first to dark
brown chrysalids and then into moths.
The moths may emerge at any time be-
tween the last of July and October and
soon begin to lay their eggs.
Several Lines of Northumberland
lines of treatment have been tested by
the New York station, but the dry
poisoned bait proved most satisfactory.
A resin lime mixture to which paris
green was added was sprayed upon the
young plants and destroyed some of
the worms but not enough Of them to
make the treatment advisable.
Kerosene emulsion sprayed upon the
young plants at night when the worms
were most active seemed to produce an
lLllQCQlolC ChCOty 40 S1lC WIN IA W
ped to the ground when touched by
the spray and appeared fatally injured
by the kerosene, but by morning cap
tured specimens had regained their
full vigor, and careful investigation
of the ground about the plants failed
to reveal any dead worms.
Bunches of freshly cut grass were
dipped into water to which paris green
had been added and were placed upon
the margins of a field where most of
the onions had been destroyed, but
for some reason the bait was not
touched.
Poisoned Bran Mixture.-A poisoned
bran mixture was prepared by adding
about one pound of paris green to fif-
ty pounds of moistened bran and mix
ing thoroughly. Small piles of this
mixture, a spoonful to handful in a
place, were scattered in spots frequent
ed by the worms, and on the following
morning dead cutworms were found in
abundance upon and under the surface
of the soil about the piles. After the
first day the bait became moldy at the
bottom and caked so hard at the top
that the worms could not eat it well.
A Mixture Easier to Applicability
pounds of dry bran and middlings in
equal parts mixed with one pound of
paris green proved equally acceptable
to the worms, equally deadly in eff
feet and much easier to apply. This
mixture can be distributed by means
of an onion seed drill and thus deposit
ed evenly and continuously about the
margins of the fields before the advanc-
ing destroyers it forms a line of de-
Tense across which the worms will sell
dom pass without feasting to their
death. If the worms become scattered
over the fields, the dry bait can be ap-
piled quickly and uniformly alongside
the rows by use of the drill.
This treatment is fully as efficient as
hand picking, is less expensive and is,
for onions at least, very satisfactory
defense against the cutworms.