The Prescott daily news., 1915-08-21
ARMY WORM MAY
 VISIT THIS t STATE $
Farmers Should Be Prepared to Meet Invasion by This Pest With Pois- oned Bait of Arsenate of Lead.


 in 1912 with the grass worm will take warning in the fact that this insect is busy this year in Texas and is very likely to work its way northward. The ravagcs of this insect are l"~gely to be averted through intensive culti- vation and the use of arsenate of lead and poisoned bait.
 The full grown grass worm or fall army worm, as it is often called, is about one and half inches long. It Is of a pale yellowish brown or black color, being mottled and streaked with yellow. On each side of the ab- domen there is broad waving band of yellow, mottled more or less with reddish. On it's head there is a vel low inverted ~"
 Feeds on Corn and Sorghum.
 The grass worm is essentially grass pest, feeding upon our various wild grasses and upon our tame grasses, including corn, sorghum, Johnson grass, Sudan grass, millets. etc. It is also very fond of alfalfa, and will feed upon cotton when grasses are not readily available.
 Particular care must be taken to keep the late corn and cane well cul- tivated It might be said in this con- nection that many fields of corn were lost in 1912 on account of poor culti- vation. The worms will feed upon crab grass which is allowed to grow up in field, and will later turn their attention to the main crop. Aside from this, the importance of cultiva- tion will become apparent when it is Known that the worms enter the ground for the purpose of transform Ing to the pupn stage. By cultivat- ing, fifty to ninety per cent of the worms in the ground can be killed. thus preventing heavy emergence of moths which would otherwise deposit eggs for a larger generation.
 Use Arsenate of Lead.
 Where the worms have made their appearance in corn field it is ad- visable to dust with arsenate of lead at the rate of three to five pounds per acre, the latter being mixed first with two or three times it's weight of cheap flour. The material is applied in the same way that cotton is dusted for the army worm
 Where corn is to be used as fodder dusting with arsenate of lead would be attended with danger. In such an event a poison bait can be scattered broadcast on the ground where the worms are at work. This might be applied at the rate of seven pounds per acre.
 Poisoned Bait.
 Poisoned bait can be made as fol lows; Mix one hundred pounds of wheat bran with two to three pounds or Paris green, and after the poison las been uniformly worked into the bran, work the matter into thick dough with three to four gallons of molasses, to which has prevously been added the juice of six lemons or or anges. This material will then be ready to apply
 Alfalfa fields which are infested should be immediately cut where this practice can be resorted to without injury to the plants. After the hay has been removed, one may apply poisoned bait, or else the worms may be killed by taking number of folds of chicken wire. weighting this down with a section harrow and dragging it over the infested field.
 Where fields are threatened by mi grating worms they should be sur rounded by deep furrow. Worms