The Army Worm

The northern part of our State bas suffered coWiderably this season fróm a raid on meadows and grain fields by the army worm. It carne too late to do mucb harni to wheat, rye and barley ; but oat.s, corn and timoüiy fed the armies wherever found. Potatoes vvere unKuched, peas sown with oats were lef t whiie the oats were eaten, and clover in tiinotüy was lelt. The true army worm seldom, il' ever, touches the foliage of trees i' schrubs. There are many invasions of inseets known as the army worm, l)iit tliis is tlie only real army worm, and is known scientificaljy as Leucaniu unipuncta. It may be recognized by the general dingy black color with the following longitudinal stripes : On the back is a broad dusky stripe with a narrow white line in the center ; below this is a narrow black line, then follows, in the order najned, a narrow' white line, a yellowish stripe, a faint white line, a dusky stripe, a narrow white line, a yellowish stripe, and an obscure white line ; the belly is a dirty green. The army worms chango but little in color through their entire growth. When fully grown the)7areaboutoneand one-half inches long. They then bury themselves in the ground, when they finish feeding, and a few days later transforni to a chrysalis, or pupa. They will reniain in this condition until the last of August or first of September, when they will appear as a reddish brown moth, similar to the dingy moths flying around the lights at night. These moths do not feed on the plants, but mate; and a few days later the female will commence laying eggs on the grass in meadows, pastures and especially waste places, such as marshes and " cat holes." The moths soon die. The eggs remain over winter, and the next spring batch out into small army worms that feed and grow just as their predecessors did. The army worm caterpillars and moths may be found in limited numbers almost any season, but it is only an occasional season when they march out from their usual feeding ground, the marshes, and strip the surrounding fields of their growing crops. A dr}' season, such as that of last year, is very favorable for them to increase rapidly and soon to spread outside of the marshes on surrounding grass, when tender food becomes scarce. If people with marshes on or near their farms would take the trouble to burn the marshes over at any convenient time through the fall, they would burn most of tlie eugs, and so prevent what might result in an army worm invasión the next year. The prospects are that there will be no general invasión next year. There are a great many parasites, such as the "blow ñies" and slenderbee-like parasites that lay their eggs on the army worms. The egg hatches into a maggo't that feeds on the army worm, destroys it, and later ehanges into a parasite like its parent. ■ If the parasites have done as good work in all the states as in thé regions visited by myself, and we do not have a dry autumn, there will be little danger of an attack next year, as nearly every caterpillar collected bas been killed by sorne parasite. When an army worm invasión occurs, the best thing that can be done is to trap the caterpillars in ditches. Wheu they start from their breeding ground it is in some certain direction, and few obstructions stop them, or change their course. If they come to a building, they climb up over it, down on the otherside, and continue on their journey. If it is a brook, they bridge it with their numbers and pass on, or perish in the attempt. When they come to a ditch, they drop into it and attempt to climb up the other side, but if it is properly constructed, thev will keep dropping back because of the loose soil near the top. When the ditch is well covered, kerosene may be poured along in it and ignited, or straw put in the ditch and burned. Another method is to plow or cut another ditch in front of the first ditch, and bury the ones in the first ditch, and so continue ditehing ahead of them. When tlie army is once in a field, little can be done to stop their ravages, except by burning the field or rolling with a heavv roller.