The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1911-09-28
The Web Worm Miller

year but from an educational point it
, should be read and preserved for future
Inference or better still we would sug-
gest that everyone interested in grow
ing crop, talk with Frank Deich who
furnished the facts for this article and
slso that they visit the beet fields of
Mr.. Deich and see for themselves what
little work at the proper time will do
toward ridding the country of the web
worm miller pest and of how much val
ue it is in dollars and cents to every
farmer and & gardener.
The web worm miller Is q creamy
white insect and is to be found more or
less generally in all green vegetation
for several days previous to the coming
Of the worms. These millers lay from
500 to 700 eggs each season after which
they die but the thing to do is to trap
them before these eggs are laid, viz:
trap them as soon as they appear in
any quantities.
Mr.. Deich first realized what these
millers were late one afternoon and i'm
mediately consulted with Mr.. Ackerman
the Field Superintendent of the Great
Western Sugar Co. and they proceeded
at once to set the traps for that night
This trap consists simply of an ord,-
nary wash tub in which bricks or some
like material is placed SO that lantern
when set on same will throw light a.
bout inches above the foliage. Wat
er is then placed in the tubs till it
comes up to the bottom of the lantern,
in the water place about one pint of
kerosine. When it commences to get
dark light the lantern and retire out
q E of the field and if desired watch
sSse results. The millers attracted by
the light fly to it and drop into the So
luton of oil and water and arc instant
ly killed. Mr.. Deich tells US that the
flying Of the millers into the light re-
sembled light in heavy fall of snow.
The kerosine penetrates the millers as
ink does piece of blotting paper and
in the morning you will find as did Mr..
Deicf some two or three inches of mil
lers in your tubs.
About one tub or trap Is sufficient
for every five acres, the expense is
practically nothing and the results are
wonderful.
Mr.. Deich brought into our office six
beets, three taken from the field in
which he had traps and three from
nearby field where no traps were plac-
ed until the following night, which
was too cold for the millers to fly. The
three beets from the trapped field
weighed 214 pounds and separately
weighed 8, II and pounds and when
brought to the Office had fine luxur-
liant foliage, the other three weighed
81 pounds and all that was left of the
tops was the bare spines. These two
fields had the same seed, the same wa
ter, the same cultivation and the beets
were comparatively the same size at
the time of the coming of the millers.
In two weeks there was difference in
VT ght of over ID pounds and the first
bel will now test 1879 while the lat
ter Will test about per cent.
The millers after laying their eggs
die, the eggs hatch and the worms
commence feeding on the foliage, they
eat and live for about two weeks, then
they commence to crawl away and fin
ally bury themselves just underneath
the surface of the ground form their
cocoors and unless killed by water, cuL
tivation and weather will come forth
another year as millers again.
These pests commence to lay their
eggs in the center of the field and grad
ually work in circle toward the sides
consequently you will find fields where
the corners are uninjured; as the worms
follow the mode of the parent miller in
feeding proclivities, you will usually
find the center of the field attacted
first.
These worms seem to be no respect
er of foliage eating beet tops and in
some cases the head of the beet, alfal-
ia, weeds grass, cabbage and like veg
etables with the same avidity.
The miller will probably make their
first appearance about June but cult
walton has great deal to do with their
egg laying, as agitation in the field
causes them to move and in fact it is
possible to quite successfully drive
them from field but there is no as
surance of their not returning while if
they are trapped they are gone for
ever.
A I'm sultry night is the best time