Williams news., 1919-08-01

Prepared by the United States Depart
 ment of Agriculture.)
 The army worm has cut a wide swath this year in the vicinities of DallaS and Fort Worth. Tex. Strenu- ous efforts to prevent it's spread have been made, and absence of other re ports gives ground for the hope that it may not appear elsewhere this sum- mer, but United States deparment of agriculture entomologists urge all farmers in all states east of the Rocky mountains to remain on the watch for the pest until cool weather comes next autumn.
 There are usually three generations of caterpillars-the form in which the pest greatly damages crops by feeding upon them-in a year, but seldom or never are there two successive out breaks in any one locality. The in- sects usually appear in the fields very suddenly, and it seems certain that the moths-the parents of the caterpi1- lars-at times f1ysin great numbers for many miles, in the direction of the prevailing winds, and alight in body to deposit their eggs at some place favorable to the development of their offspring. This fact accounts for the appearance of the army worm in re- gions far removed from any known source of infestation.
 How to Identify Worm.
 The full-grown army worm is nearly naked, smooth, striped cater pillar, about one and one-half inch long. Its general color is usually greenish, and the stripes, one along each side and a broad one down the center of the back, are dark and often nearly black. The stripe along the back usually has a fine, 1ight-colored broken stripe running down its cen ter. The color of the body between the dark stripes varies from greenish to reddish brown. The head is green ish brown, speckled with black.
 "When an army of these worms is at work in a field" says one of the publications of the department of agriculture, which are not given to ex- aggeration or to seeking after melo- dramatic effects, "the champing of their jaws is plainly to be heard as they greedily devour every blade in sight. In this stage the army worm frequently consumes all of the food supply near the place where it has developed from the eggs. When such is the case the caterpillars mass to- gether and crawl away in a body in search of other food. It is this habit which has gained for the insect the popular name of army worm.'"
 Killing Worms in Burrows.
 It is the massing together of the caterpillars which gives to the farmer the chance of destroying them in great numbers. Burrows or ditches are plowed or dug completely around the infested area, or directly across the path of the advancing horde. In at tempting to cross such ditches the worms fall into them, and can easily be destroyed by crushing them with a log dragged back and forth through the ditch or furrow. If shallow post holes are sunk in the bottom of the ditch at intervals of about 20 feet, the worms will crawl along the ditch bottoms and fall into the holes, where they may be destroyed by crushing or other means. If the subsoil is of such a nature that water penetrates it but slowly, the post holes may be partially filled with water, with a layer of coal oil or petroleum on the top of it. The oil kills the worms immediately.
 Other Control Measures.
 Watchfulness and quick action on the part of farmers are essential in all the control measures, which in clude, in addition to the ditching method, the following:
 In case of a general invasion, give the ground light cultivation, if pos sibIe, after the caterpillars have gone