Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1918-05-01
TELL HOW CUTWORMS
CAN BE FRUSTRATED
Means or Meeting Ravages Of These
Pests Are Outlined by M. A. A.
Specialists

Preparedness against the coming
or the cutworm, which works havoc
with crops in many parts of the State
almost every spring, is being urged
M. A. C.
Injury from this worm is gener-
ally worst about the time the corn be-
gins to sprout," declares Don B.
Whelan, field entomologist for the
college, land once discovered, prompt
action Is necessary. Such plants as
are attacked are usually cut off at or
q little below the surface of the
ground-the ravages beginning about
the time the first plants sprout and
continuing until late June or July, by
which time the worms are full grown.
During the day the worms hide
beneath debris, or just under the sur
face OF the soil, coming out ait night
to feed. If only a few plants are
found cut of, the culprit can gener-
ally be discovered hiding within a
lew inches of the plants attacked.
IF cutworms are found to be very
abundant in corn land, it. is advisable
to use a poison bait, of which the
best known, probably, is the Kansas
bait. This can be prepared as fol-
lows: Take 20 pounds of coarse bran,
add one pound of paris green or three
fourths pound of white arsenic, and
three finely chopped oranges or lem
ons. Mix into this two gallons Of
water into which a half gallon of
cheap molasses has been stirred. Add
enough more water to the bran to
make a good stiff mash. This bait
should then be distributed over the in
Tested field in small humps taking
care to sprinkle it sparingly around
each plant. Inasmuch as cutworms
do most of their feeding at night it
is best to spread this poison in the
evening, so it will not dry out before
the worms find it. When the corn
comes through the ground is about
the best time of the year to apply
this bait, as this will allow for re-
planting of injured hills if necessary.
Land to be planted to corn next
year should be plowed in the late
summer before the cutworms lay their
eggs, for if the foliage is turned uR-
egg laying. Late fall blowing de-
stroys many of the alternating
worms.
"The practice. of pasturing hogs up
on land harboring either cutworms or
white grubs is a good one. These ami
mails root up and destroy these and
many other insect pests. Farm poul-
try if trained to follow the pillow, is of
great value in picking Nup the insects
before they can crawl back into the
earth.
"There are many species of cut
worms but inasmuch as their habits,
life histories and general appearance
are similar, they are all considered
under the name of cutworms. The
adults of the cutworms are grayish
or brownish moths or "millers," often
seen flying around lights on summer
evenings. Each moth lays from 200
to 500 eggs on the lower leaves of
grass in fields covered with dense
vegetation. This accounts for the
fact that cutworms are often abun-
dant in fields which have been in
grass or weeds the proceeding fall.
The eggs Matched in. the early fall,
a few weeks after they are laid, and
the young cutworms, after feeding on
grass and other vegetation until cold
weather, pass the winter as partly
grown caterpillars. II such fields
are left undisturbed the cutworms
will feed on the grass and weeds and
little damage will result, but if it is
broken up and corn or some other
cultivated crop is planted the worms
find themselves deprived of much of
their food, so the newly planted corn
suffers. The worms attain their full
growth about the first Of July, chang
ing at that time into. the pupa or rest
inc stapev