Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-03-04
INSECT PESTS IN CLOVER
Few in Number and Easily
Controlled if Intelligent
Effort is Made.

III you CuL OlC CLOVER StSIiiS iiSdi LIZ
ground and look at the cut ends some
nt theao ,taoW the solid white pith aud
nthers the burrows of the clover stem
borer, which eats out the pith, leaving
the walls of the burrow brown and dis
rolored
. The beetle lives over winter as an
adult. comes out in the spring and lays
Its eggs not only on red and common
clover but also on wild sweet clover,
sagweed and various other weeds.
There is only one generation of the
Insect year. The mother beetle bites
a, hole in the side Of the clover stem
and with its ovipositor reaches to the
pith and inserts an egg.
The grub transforms within the
clover stem, and the beetles energies
by cutting a round hole through the
side of the stem. The injury by this
insect is. chiefly mechanical, although
the insect in destroying the pith de-
prives the plant of some of its reserve
food material in the form of starch.
These followed out stems, when they
get large, fall to the ground easily car
rying, the flowers to1the ground, becom-
Ing covered with dirt and not easy to
NOW.
Cutting the clover at the usual times
always gets rid of,these insects, nur1er-
BUS as they may be, for the old beetles
disappear early in July and new beetles
DO not begin to come out until about
The first of August, and normal cutting
hnds almost eli of the insects inside the
stems
We are indebted to Europe for the
clover root borer. The beetles are
small, cylindrical and brown. They
belong. to the same group as the bark
beetles that make their galleries under
the bark of dead trees.
If 1t is present in red clover in May
or June you will know it all right; the
plant is stunted, flowers imperfectly,
breaks off easily at the crown, withers
and dies. .,.s.. !.
This insect has killed an immense
amount of clover, in New York Michi-
gan and Ontario. 1t has teen Injurious
In Ohio and occurs in this state, but is
notfvery Injurious here as yet
The beetles come out from the roots
In May, and lay their. eggs on the roots
and the. grubs-stout. white, footless
creatures-tunnel along. the roots
We can find this. pest in its various
stages in the clover roots at almost
any time throughout the year
Where it is bad one cannot do much
except to pillow the clover under, even
though, with sufficient rain, the plant
can stave off the injury far into the
season.
In Canada they prize red clover so
highly as green fertilizer that they
do not hesitate to ,plow it under at the
hrst signs Of the presence of this in
sect
The clover, hay worm is found in
stacked or stored clover It is active in
winter They work at the bottom Of
the hay,,sWhere it is warmer and more
moist than elsewhere. They. eat the
hay and web together the rest of it with
silk, intermingled with black particles
like grains Of gunpowder.
The hay appears to be widowed and
stock refuse to eat it. In fact, if there
IS: much moisture a fungus is present
also, These wriggling brownish cater
pillars turn into yellow moths with
purple markings. ~
The moths. often enter houses al
night and fly to. the lights. They live
in old clover. hay and the new ha,
should not be stored or stacked OF
the remains of the old. The old refuse
hay should be cleared out and burned
Out, Of doors the moth lays her egg.
at<the bottom of the clover stack, espe.
clally If the, stack rests on the ground
and a good preventive is to erect the
stack on platform of logs or rails
giving 1t ventilation underneath.
Another good method is to salt thy
stack for two or three feet from tn,
bottom.
1T is injurious in. proportion to tn,
warmth and moisture. If your bar,
has nc. refuse hay in it. If you do no
put,sthe new stock on the remains o
the old one, do you. need to salt it
IT, would be a wise precaution in
region where this pest is known t.
occur.
Cutting the hay crop when it ha
Just begun to bloom. and as mucl
earlier than that as possible, or els
epasturing or clipping back the growt
still&earlier the season, will circum
vent the worst Of the insects injuriou
to fthe seed crop.
Another thing, lots of these insect
enter the field in the latter part @
the first year Of the growth and Ii
over until the following spring, SO !
Is "a wise practice to clip the Glove
late in its first season, removing esne
ctally the premature heads that ar
present.
We must cut early enough to a1lo,
the plant to recover itself before fros
say two or three weeks. after the oat
harvest.
Another thing is to destroy the vol
unteerc clover If some Of US knew bo,
many insects volunteer clover carrie
over we would not raise it. we ca
-1siiy cut it twice a year when we G,
the cultivated clover
When we want to find clover rs s.
In abundance we never fail to find the
by the roadside or the railroad ira :,
Another thing is not to allow Glove
to run for. more than two years. It wi
run longer If you let it
To summarize: The insect pests
cloger are few in number, and as a rll
within our control if we choose to en-,
troll them Furthermore they can
controlled as a class by methods tn;
interfere but little, If any, With Gu,
tonary farm practice
The worst pest to deal with is Il
root bLrer in regions where it has. e.
tablished itself. One has to pillow u,
= NH, AZ =