Evening star., 1918-07-14
PESTS WA|1|NGFOR
EARLY ROASTING EARS
Tassel and Ear Worms Destroy
Sugar Corn Unless Simple 'Dopes'
Are Applied in Time.

03C 0ppl1Cu III AlMC.
When the home GARDENERS early
sweet corn begins to show it's first
signs Of tasseling, with just tiny
sprig of green flower stem peeping
up from among the broad green leaves
at the stalk crown. it will be time for
him to cease his watchful waiting and
get into action. In fact, it would be
well for him, II he wants to avoid
serious loss OF corn. to get his spray
pump ready. lay out his can of lead
arsenate. with a spoon handy to mix
q good mess of poison before the tas-
sci point even appears. for there Is
likely to be a worm at the heart of
many a stalk And this worm doesn't
wait for the tassel to get beyond the
embryonic stage before he begins to
feed upon 1t.
Vicious Looking Pest.
He is an ugly. vicious-looking fell
low-makes one think of a German
general-has a rather fat. brown
body. about an inch long, small! head,
slightly hooded, with sort OF visor
standing out above a pair OF ugly
jaws. But he is active il he is fat,
and an effort to catch him alive may
result in failure II the gardener feels
any timidity about tackiing such a
soft. unprepossessing thing bare
handed. At the first disturbance OF
the stalk crown Mr.. Worm stops
feeding and prepares for escape
down further into the heart OF the
corn. The only thing to be said In
commendation of this garden Hun or
his habits is that he begins feeding az
the top of the young tassel and Is not
out Of reach OF the gardens poison.
But he eats rapidly and the poison
must be got to him early or, better
still, be in the tassel feast awaiting
him, or he'll finish the life germs OF
that stalk in few hours.
Two ways have been devised to feed
poison to the tassel worm. One Is TO
apply a spray OF arsenate OF lead or
paris green in sufficient quantity for
it to run down inside the broad crown
leaves and soak into the tassel en-
bryo. There is no danger to the gar
dener or the plant In this method un-
less paris green Is put on too strong
and then only the plant IL harmed. Tor
the poison does not come into con-
tact with any edible part Of the corn.
The other method is to insert the
nozzle of a powder gun among the
leaves of the crown and pump a cloud
of powder downward till the tassel and
surrounding leaves are all thorough
ly coated. ANY of the hellepore or
other poisonous powders may be used
effectively and there Is little danger
Of rain washing it away before the
tassel emerges into bloom and De-
comes too tough to tempt the worm.
Ear Worm Comes Later.
This tassel worm should not be con-
fused with the ear worm that has
been so common and SO annoyingly
destructive in recent years. He comes
along later, just about the time the
young ears are beginning to show the
tender silk through the top OF the
husk. The ear worm has some Of the
personal characteristics Of the tassel
Hun, but his uniform Is green, SO
that he is easily distinguishable from
his earlier rival. The ear worm
crawls up the stalk till he comes to
the ear, bores through the husk near
the crown, enters and begins a raven
Gus feast on the tender young ker-
nels Just when they are in their early
milk stage. He begins at the tip OF
the ear, FIRST cutting away the silk.
then works down, eating as he goes.
sometimes reaching the middle OF the
ear before his appetite is satisfied
The ear worm is particularly OBJ
noxious to corn growers because he
comes just at the time that his foray
serves to blast the food hopes, bred
of long weeks OF labor and watching.
1t surely is vexatious to the expec-
tant novice to see his. corn grow up
sturdily, blossom into fine tassel, de-
yelop ear stalks, then put forth SILK
and promise SO much. only to be de-
stroyed almost on the day of har-
vest.