Oxford Democrat., 1920-06-08
AMONG THE FARMERS.
"sPrnD TIE PLow."
caterplllsrs and Other Thlngs.

! The entomologist of the Maine Agri
cultural Experiment Station has dis
covered new kind of caterpillar In 9
grass field near 0rono. I6 fact, has dis
covered so many of him or her or both
that he has felt called upon to give warn
ing that there may be an invasion oi
crawling hosts that would put Attils
and bis army of Huns into the shade.
The reader will remember that Attils
was called "The Scourge of God" and
those who have witnessed an invasion
OF insects or their larva have been will.
ing to grant them the same name. It ir
generally the larva instead of the insect
that makes the invasion. The larva OF
any insect seems to be all stomach, while
the mature form is spirituelle, clothed
In the colors of the rainbow and not
given to gross things. In fact, the moth
or butterfly of q rspulsive, all-consuminR
worm can assume q form 80 attractive
that one can easily believe the Biblical
statement that the devil can assume the
form of an angel of light.
This new larva found at Orono Is a
hairy thing, yellow and black, while the
moth has body of peacock blue and
wings of dull black with a spread of
some two inches or so. The fact that
the Orono professors found twenty on Q
square yard leads them to estimate that
there might be some four thousand oD
an acre, which sounds like quite .
respectable number, and leads them to
warn farmers to annihilate this army be.
fore the female of the species gets in her
work of adding to the army at the rate
OF five or six hundred per. Their reme-
dy is fre-burn over the infested area
either in fall or spring.
There have been several invasions OF
insects in Oxford County which have
been deemed by historians worthy of
preservation. The first was q grasshop.
per invasion and occurred early in the
agricultural operations of what is now
the State of Maine. It was In the early
part of the last century.
There was no small invasion of these
insects some forty-five years ago. Peo.
pie living up and down the Little andre.
scoggiu River valley to save their corn
from being entirely devoured by these
pests, took long ropes with man on
either end and passed them over the
growing corn driving the hoppers be.
fore them and into the river when they
could. They were go thick and fell into
ponds and other bodies of water in such
quantities that the water would be thick
with them In many places.
Another invasion that Is remembered
by older people was that of the army
worm which occurred In the years 1874,
1875 and 1915. They were so numerous
as to entirely denude forests, especially
where the growth was chiefly poplar.
Cherry trees, apple trees, and, in fact,
all fruit trees were especially dainty
dishes for these worms, and ornamental
trees on lawns were not passed by. Any
one who had any regard for these deco.
rated them with Q band of sulphur
around the trunk; for these crawling
things did not fancy any suggestion of q
sulphurous hereafter.
Not only did they crawl over trees and
vegetation but over roads, houses and
In fact anything which got In their way.
The writer saw the roads of the town of
Paris so completely covered that 1t was
impossible to put ones foot down with
out crushing dozens and perhaps hun
dreds of caterpillars. At Hebron Acad-
emy the buildings were 80 covered, espe.
cially the Trustee House, which was
later destroyed by FIRE, that 1t was
impossible to tell the color of the paint
on them. Thousands of them died and
their bodies hung rotting from the trees
growing on the campus; and the smell
emitted outdid anything that has been
sung concerning the "stenches Of Co.
logne."
So thick we're they over sll the land.
scape that favorite way Of destroying
them was to plow furrow across one
end of field into which they would
tumble as they crawled along, and then
kill them by pouring boiling water over
them. In little while the furrow
would be completely filled and a new
one would have to be turned.
So numerous were they that they
stalled trains on the Grand Trunk and
other railroads in Maine; that is, they
crawled over the rails in such quantities
that the trucks In crushing them became
80 slimy as simply to spin round and
round without moving. The only RENE
dy for this was sand, and the crew had
to get off and shovel 1t on the rails, as
the locomotive OF those days bad no
sand box mounted on its boiler.
What became of them is q mystery.
In the three years they ragged they con-
tinually increased in numbers and then
disappeared, scarcely solitary straggler
remaining. What became of them is q
mystery. Several theories have been
advanced. One was the cold winter fol.
lowing the invasion, killing the eggs.
Another was that some parasite had put
in an appearance in such quantities as 10
exterminate the worms; but so far as
the writer knows 1t was never discov
cred. A third theory was contagious
disease. The last. has considerable
plausibility for instead Of the worms en-
casing themselves in "winding Sheet
awaiting resurrection, they simply died
and had no future-something the farm
ers of Oxford County never deplored.
Then there has been the brown.tail
moth, the invasion OF which Is too recent
to need comment; and the gypsy moth
invasion which even yet has not been
repelled.
So IL the yellow.black peril discovered
by the Orono professors becomes q fact
1t will but add one more interesting,
even II disagreeable event to the con-
tinuous performance of nature.
AQUARIUs.