Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1921-06-22

articles produced by the soil shows
that people have been profiting by
| the lectures, written articles and 9TH
err information given them by the de-
! partment and also feels that the peo-
! pie are taking more interest in the
protection of their crops than hereto
fore. He is always glad to be of as
sistance in such cases, knowing full
well that the earlier the attention.
! the more benefit he can be to the
grower.
Said Mr.. Dudley in relation to the
ear worm pest:
THE corn ear worm (heliothis
obsoleta) does the greatest amount of
damage by working into the ears Of
AS the caterpillars make their way
into an ear, they usually feed upon
the silk, then upon the kernels at the
top of the ear, and later they may
eat a broad channel down the ear,
| leaving a path of refuse behind. In
most instances more injury is done
to the ear through water and molds
that follow up the invading cater
piller than is actually done through
the Jaws of the worm. Such moldy
corn when fed to stock may cause
cases of severe illness and even
death. A generation of worms may
attack corn before the ears have
formed and if such is the case, the
caterpillars may be found feeding in
the axis of the leaves and stems, or
in the heart of the plant among
rolled up leaves.
There are four stages in the life
cycle of this insect, namely, egg,
caterpillar, pupa and moth. The eggs
may be laid upon the leaves of the
corn plant, but should the plant be in
silk, the eggs are then usually glued
to the silk. The eggs within few
days hatch into caterpillars and
these feed by eating the silk or by
gnawing away the surface tissue of
the leaves. AS the worms get larger
they will be found feeding in the
heart of the corn plant or on the
kernels of the ear. When the cater
pillars are full grown they measure
one and a half inches in length and
vary in color from green to pink,
brown or almost black and in mark
ings from a plain to spotted or even
striped appearance. The caterpillars
when full grown, usually cut a circu-
lar opening through the husks of the
car and through this make their es-
cape. They now burrow into the
ground one half to six inches deep,
hollow out a chamber and within
this change to the pupa. The pupa
is an oval, brown or blackish body,
three -fourths of an inch in length.
The moth which energies from the
pupa is a yellowish. olive green or
drab colored insect with an expanse
of wings of one and three-fourthS
inches Each female moth is capa-
BILE of laying several thousand eggs.
as many as 5000 having been obtained
from one insect.
Fall blowing of cornfields and
their edges, followed by thorough
narrowing. will destroy many of the
alternating pupa and thus aid in
controlling this pest. However, since
the moth is so very prolific, the next
summer may find many ears of corn
again infested.
During the past few years an at
tempt to control the ear worm was
made by busting growing ears of
corn with powdered lead arsenate IS
cent. and sulphur rs per cent. This
process, however, is very laborious,
for after the powdered lead arsenate
and sulphur are thoroughly mixed,
they must be carefully applied as a
dust to the silk of each ear at in
tervals of three or four days. The
busting may be done through a
cheese cloth bag or through powder
gun. The first application of the
poison is to be made when the silk
first makes it's appearance and the
/ last when the silk has become dry.
Owing to the large amount of labor
necessary to carry on the busting
process, this method of control be-
comes practicable only on corn grown
! in small amounts. such as sweet corn
! and or corn which will bring a big
price, such as seed corn"