The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-20
TOBACCO
 FEEDING WORMS. Washington Specialists Give Attention to the Destruc-
 tive Wire Worm. SUFFIELD SPECIMEN. Expert Advice Given as to Best Way of Over
 coming the Pest.
;UFFIELD SPECIMEN.

Hartford, June 19.-The belated sum- mer, cut worms and thielavia basicola or root rot have not been the only mis- cries of the tobacco farmer this season. An old enemy which has been waging a warfare on the plants for a number of years has recruited in large numbers and has done untold damage to the small plants in the field just after set ting. This is nothing other than the old-fashioned wire worm, so-called by it's hard, firm texture which makes it hard to treat and exterminate
 They are the larvae of snap-b bugs and beetles and belong to the family Eiateridae. This pest has been de- structive in some sections and in Suf- field last week Professors A. D. Sham- el, of the Hockanum Experiment sta tion of the Bureau of Plant Industry, procured samples of the worms and their destruction of plants and for warded them to Dr. L. c. Howard, chief of the bureau of entomology of Washington and the bureau, through c. L. Marriott, the acting chief entomolo- gist, has said that the identity of the pest is accurate and that it has never heretofore been disastrous to tobacco although in the suffield section this season it has destroyed quarter of large field,
 The pest has been working havoc among sugar beets, corn, vegetables in general and particularly potatoes in various sections of the country. Salt has been used in the fight in protec- ton of these crops but it must not be
 used on tobacco, as salt, salt brine and
 salty fertilizers destroy forms of plant
 life essential to tobacco.
 Professor Marriott endorses the sug- gestion of planting out poisoned pota-
 toes three feet apart each way in the
 field as feasible means of extermina- tion, the directions for which are as fol- lows: Sliced potatoes well poisoned with paris green, one pound to 15O gallons of water placed late in the day, throughout the field three feet apart each way and protected in some simple way from the heat of the sun to pre- vent drying will affect a large destruc-
 tion of the wire worm as well as the cut worm, both of which species feed l almost exclusively at night Bran mash well poisoned with paris green made
 more palatable to the pests by an ad- 1 dition of glucose or Inolasses and water also Is useful in fighting the pests. Cleared of It's technicalities, the life history of the pest now getting ex- tremely busy Is as follows: They vary in color from a light yellow to brown
 and spotted yellow and brown. The
 beetles are the earliest of any species. 1 Coming in April and May and flying l rapidly in the heat of the day. The eggs are deposited in moist places with | grassy vegetation, weeds or corn and 1 the larvae, upon matching, feed upon
 roots, developing slowly and requiring about two years for the perfection of
 the cycle of life. The wire worms go into the chrysalis in autumn and the
 beetles hatch in the late fall, remain | ing quiet until the heat of the spring
 wakes them from their lethargy and
 they then fly far and wide, spreading their species.
 | Prompt attention to the pest on it's
 first appearance will pay the tobacco
 farmers and the prompt action of the | bureau of plant industry is of great val
 ue to those who find this pest among
 the vicissltudes of tobacco culture.