The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1914-08-01

Letters, Telephone messages, anu
individual callers have been soliciting
aid from the United States Depart
ment Of Agriculture to stop the ad.
vance of the hordes Of army worms
| that threaten their fields OF wheat,
oats, corn, timothy, blue grass, and
other grasses. There seems to be
general outbreak of this pest through
out the North, east OF the ROCKY
Mountains These worms are emerg'
ing from eggs laid by moths that APP
parently swarmed up from the south
west. Great numbers of these moths
have been noticed in the vicinity oil
Washington during the past month,
hundreds Of their broken wings hay
ing been seen near the Union Station
Lawns In the capital are being over
run by this pest.
The army worm is a smooth, strip
ed caterpillar about an inch and
quarter long and quarter OF an men
in diameter. It Is rather dark In ap'
pearance. While normally 1t feeds
by night and hides by day, not being
generally noticed, az soon as 1t mas
increased to such a number that its
food supply falls short 1t starts 10
travel and, becoming boider feeds
both night and day. The moth from
which this worn, matches Is brown
with a white spot on the center OF
each fore wing. 1t measures about an
inch and one.half from wing to wing.
How Worms May Be Destroyed
II the worms have not yet attack
cd - field the most practical way 10
keen them out is to plow burrows Ill
front of them, throwing the furrow VI
tho direction toward which they are
travelling. The worms will fall into
the furrow and when this is iuli they
NAV be killed either by dragging
log hack and forth in the furrow OF
by destroying the worms in ho'eS
previously dug at intervals OF ~ leeI
in the bottom of the furrow' nero
sere noured on them in the holes VIII
destroy them.
If the worms are already in the
field the following mixture which Will
attract the worms and destroy them
should be spread about:
pound of paris green (poisonous)
30 pounds of wheat bran.
Juice of one half dozen oranges.
Bring this mixture to stiif dough
by the use of dilute molasses ana
scatter it amongst .se worms. care
should be taken to keep this dough
sromfrom children or domestic ant
mails.
Prompt action to prevent the worms
from infesting field is much petter
than later efforts to attempt to XIII
them in the grain. Once the cater
| nillars have infested field the
measures necessary to destroy them
may seriously hurt or even destroy
| the crop.
The worms at first are almost al
ways localized in some definite preeo'
ing place in the field. and immaculate
efforts should be taken to eradicate
,,o IN those small areas before they
have had time to spread. The nor
NAL breeding place OF the army worm
10 IN rank grass. such as is usually
found along the edges of swamps or
In spots of pasture land that have
been overfertilized. They are practi'
callv never found in swamps, because
the worm needs reasonably dry
place in which to breed.
Clean cultivation. rotation OF crops
cleaning up of fence corners, close
pasturage, and the burning over OF
waste grassland in the spring or fall
are good measures to prevent a re-
currence of the army worm.
What to Do For Lawns
For small areas, like lawns and
private grounds, the poison bait, Mon
toned above, may be used. Equally
efficient is 1.-THE application OF spray
of / pound arsenate of lead dissolved
In % gallons Of water, If the pow"
dered arsenate of lead is more easily
obtainable. pound of this may be
mixed with $ pounds OF flour ana
irsted on the grass where the worms
ore feeding. II must be remembered
that arscnate Of lead is a dead'| pol
son to men and ANIMALS as we'll as to
! army worms