The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-06-13
Attack tho Fleids In Many Parts OF
That Famous Agricultural Hi
noIs County This
Week.
POISON AND TRAPS USED
Tho Army Travels Rapidly and Eats
Everything Green That 10 In
Its Line OF March In tho
6prina

Tho army worm is attacking Han
cock county by divisions, and seems
to be making its attack IN several
townships simultaneously.
The cool, wet spring Is favorable
to the army worm. and this year shey
were Matched from the egg In large
numbers
The army worm Is caterpillar.
almost black. smooth. and with light
stripes down the sides. Some OF
them grow to two inches In length,
but the majority are smaller.
In the Hancock county attacks the
army worm seems to have gone over
the top in the rye fields, and after
stripping them completely, the army
moves on to the crop in the adtoin-
ing field, be it corn or wheat,
meadow or anything else that 10
green
The quantity an army worm can
eat is incredible, and they feed for
about ten days. Quick. decisive
sctino Is necessary to repel their
attack in force.
How to Fight Them.
Two methods of fighting this army
very large figures, even in one county
like Hancock, are In vogue. One ID
to poison them and the other Is to
trap them in holes in the ground.
The poison used is a poisoned
bran made as follows: Mix thorough
ly in the dry state twenty-five
pounds of wheat bran and one pound
Of Paris green. Take SIX finely
ground lemons or oranges and one
quart OF syrup and mix with two gal
Ions Of water. The exact amount of
water needed will be determined by
the fineness of the bran used. Coarse
bran Is best. Then put the two mix
lures together and make a stiff mash
which will crumble easily. Low
grade molasses with strong odor
should be used where available.
These are cheaper and also give bst-
ter results.
II your druggist does not have tho
Paris green get him to phone or tele-
graph to a wholesale drug company.
The cost should be about IS cents
to seventy-five cents per pound. Scat
ter the poison bran where the In
scots are working and tn the dtreo-
ton they are moving. 1t should be
scattered SO that twenty-five pounds
will cover from one to two acres
except where the worms are very
thick, when moro should be used as
needed.
Where the worms are travelling out
of an infested field in which most
of the damage possible has already
been done, the poison should be
spread around the edges Of that field,
and also in the edges of the field
adjoining. The worms feed mostly
at night and poison should be scat
tered in the evening about dusk. Tho
easiest method for spreading ia to
scatter by hand from wagon OF
from horseback.
How to Trap Them.
Trap them In post holes dug in the
bottom of a deep furrow. Pillow a
furrow ten inches deep with the YER
teal side away from the field from
which the worms are emerging. Clean
out the furrow with shovels so as to
get a straight side with no bridges,
then bore postholes two feet deep
in the bottom of the furrow at inter-
walls of about twenty feet. Where
tu6 WOTulS are LulCkebL LlSSS 0Ol6S
will fill up at night and the worms
piled in them will die and can be
removed the following day to make
the trap ready for the next batch.
In loose soil which will not stand up
at the edge Of the furrow, log can
be drug, back and forth in the furrow
to crush the worms that are oross-
ing there. Use this trap In conJunc-
ton with the poisoning wherever pos
sible.
A poison spray can be used where
a spray outfit Is available. Use two
pounds arsenate of lead and ten
pounds of common salt to fifty gal
Ions of water. Spray the vegetation
thoroughly and keep all live stock
away from the field. Where the
poison bran is properly distributed
there Is little danger of poisoning
live stock, but it is better to be safe
than sorry. Be sure that the live
stock does not have access to the
bran mixture stored in tubs or sacks.