The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-05-07

'ihorl, aulutant. NaUOnrl Service Scho'
and the Mississippi valley They are
reddish brown in color. about one
and One-fourth inches long, cylin-
drical in shape, and have three slight
lobes or projections on the tail. These
insects spend a considerably longer
time in the soil than tho wheat wire
worm. In some cases they have been
known to live in the ground as long
as six years. On the other hand they
are almost exclusively confined to
poorly drained and heavy soils. For
thorough tile drainage will undoubt-
eddy prove beneficial in their control.
The thorough cultivation of waste
land, especially along drainage
bitches and creeks during mid-sun-
mer. and the deep cultivation OF
crops and fallow land are also rec
commended.
Meadow Wircworms.
Meadow wireworms attack corn,
potatoes, tomatoes, onions, cabbage,
radishes. turnips, horse-radIsh, spin
ach, sugar beets and alfalfa. In the
Northwest they are most destructive
on irrigated lands and in the East on
poorly drained areas. They look very
much like the dry-land wireworm, but
can be easily distinguished from other
varieties by their forked tails. They
do not usually attack beans or peas
and the planting OF these crops before
seeding to corn would therefore assist
in controlling the pest. The thorough
tile draining of infested fields in east
ern areas and the heavy lining of the
land at the rate Of about tons to
the acre, together with deep cultiva-
ton during July and August are 9th
or measures that specialists recon-
mend for their control. Experiments
are now being conducted on irrigated
lands in the Northwest with view
TO determine the best methods of con-
trolling the insects there.
The Corn and Cotton Wireworm,
This is one of the most trouble
some pests of the southern United
States and II has done serious damage
IN the Carolinas, Missouri, Arkansas
and southern Illinois. Corn sufferg
the most, but oats, rye, cowpeas. crab
grass, johnson grass. peanuts. cotton,
tobacco, sweet potatoes and water.
melons are all susceptible to damage
from 1t. This worm is very unlike
the other wireworms. 1t is not hard
and wiry but soft and elongate. The
body usually is white and composed
apparently of 26 joints. When full
grown the insect is about as thick
as heavy pack thread. While most
CT the wlreworms are found chiefly
in low-lying or poorly drained lands
the corn and cotton wireworm is the
most numerous on the higher parts OF
the field in light sandy soils. The
control OF this pest Is now a matter
of study by the Department of Agri-
culture.
The Dry Land Wireworm
These insects, which are very SINH
lar in appearance, seem to be confined
to the dry farming regions OF the
Northwest and to the wheat regions
OF the northern Middle West, They
spend two full summers and a part
OF the third in the ground, trans
forming to beetles during July and
August of the third summer. The
beetles, however, do not come out
from the ground until the fourth
spring. In the dry-land regions this
wtreworm feeds only during spring.
The hot, dry months 1t passes at n
depth of from to inches below
the surface. This habit makes 1t pos.
sible to control the best by breaking
up the soil in the hot months. The
resting wireworms that are not act
ually crushed by the cultivation will
soon succumb to drying when their
cells are broken open. In infested
regions in the Northwest. therefore,
farmers are recommended to disk or
drag harrow the summer fallow as
early as possible in the spring in or
der to produce q dust mulch. The
disking should be continued as often
as is necessary to maintain this
mulch. The disking should be con-
Gnued as often as is necessary to
maintain this mulch and to keep
down the weeks. In July or early in
august the summer fallow should be
plowed and Immediately afterwards
dragged. AS soon as the crop is re-
moved, the stubble should be plowed.
This method OF handling land will
not only kill Off many of the insects.
but will materially reduce the weeds.
The early disking merely softens the
soil and allows the weed seeds to
cprout. These are subsequently de-
stroyed by the summer ploying.
In conclusion, the new bulletin Of
the department Of agriculture points