The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-07-17
TO STOP THE ARMY WORM.
Flowed Furroyvs and Poison for New outbreak of Pest That Threatens Fields of Wheat, Oats, Corn, Tim othy and Blue Grasss-Lavvns in Washington, D. o. overrun.

Washington, July 17.-Letters, tel
 ephone messages, and individual call
 CTS have been soliciting aid from the U. S. Department of Agriculture to stop the advance of the hordes of ar
 my worms that threaten their fields of wheat. oats, corn, timothy, blue grass. and other grasses, There
 seems to be a general outbreak of this pest throughout the North, east of the Rocky Mountains These
 worms are emerging from eggs laid by moths that apparently swarmed
 up from the Southwest. Great numbers or these moths have been no- ] ticed in the vicinity of. Washington 1 during the past month. hundreds Of their broken wings having been seen
 near the Union Station Lawns in
 the capital are being overrun by this pest.
 The army worm is a smooth, strip ! ed caterpillar about an inch and a
 quarter long and quarter of an inch in diameter It is rather dark in ap- pearance. While normally it feeds l by night and hides by day, not being
 generally noticed, as soon as it has I increased to such a number that it's food supply falls short, 1t starts to travel and becoming bo1der, feeds both night and day. The moth from with white spot on the center of each forewtng. It measures. about an inch and one-half from wing to wing
 How Worms May Be Destroyed.
 if the worms have not yet attacked I @ field the most practical way to keep
 them out iE to blow Afurrows in front of thems throwing the furrow in the direction toward which they are
 travelling. The worms will fall into the furrow and when this is full they may be killed either by dragging log
 back and forth in the. furroW or by
 destroying the worms in holes pre- viously dug at intervals of 20 feet in the bottom of the furrow. Kerosene poured on them in the holes will de- sstroy them.
 If the worms are already in the field the following mixture which will at
 tract the worms and destroy them should be spread about:
 1 pound of paris green (poisonous1 50 pounds of wheat bran.
 Juice of one-half dozen oranges
 Bring this mixture to a stiff dougk by the use of dilute moIasses and scatter it am ongst the worms. Care should be taken to keep this dough from children or domestic animals
 Prompt action to prevent the worms from lnfesttng field is much better than later efforts to attempt to kill fhern in the grain. Once the caterpillars have infested a field. the measures necessary to destroy them
 may seriously hurt or even destroy the crop.
 The worms at first are almost al- l ways localized in some definite breed-s ing place 1n. the Held and immediate efforts should be taken to eradicate them in these small areas before they have had time to spread. The nor
 mal breeding place of the army worm is in rank grass, such as is usually found along the edges of sWamps or in spots of pasture land that have
 been over-fer tilized., They are prac- tica1Iy never. found in swamps, be cause 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 If waste grass land 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 men toned above may be sused@ Equally 1 efficient is the application of a spray of ona pound arsenate of lead dissolv- 1 ed in 25 gallons of water. If the powdered arsenate of lead is more easily obtainable, one pound of this may be mixed with pounds of flour and dusted on the grass where the
 worms are feeding. It must be re-
 mennbered that arsenate of lead is a
 deadly poison to men and animals, as well as to army worms.
 PRESIDENT TAKES A DAY OFF. | .