| Show A MENACE TO THE ALFALFA The Dangerous Alfalfa By E. G. Utah At the present time there are about acres of alfalfa in Salt Lake Approximately nine-tenths of and perhaps is now being injured by the alfalfa The leaf-weevil NATIVE is a European which has caused more or less damage to the alfalfa crop in Europe over considerable periods of In some places the injury has been so severe that it has practically stopped the growing of alfalfa for a number of So far as we at present know it occurs is no part of the United States except Salt Lake Its advent into our state is of the utmost since it is a pest which not only feeds upon but upon yellow-clover and Though red-clover is not at present largely grown in the it is used in a number of and thus would serve as a place for the weevil to the alfalfa The earliest report of damage by this insect in the state of was in the spring of 1904 on a farm on the east side of Salt Lake Several acres in one field were at that time seriously the first crop being about half lost and the second crop practically this was evi- dently the first serious it should be considered that it must have taken several years for the insect to multiply in numbers to cause such an injury to the SPREADING Since the first report in the insect has RAPIDLY Dut slowly until Last year there were a very large number of the weevils and they spread the past over a large and extensive new The principal means of distribution of the insect is in the weevil or full-grown when they pass from field to field by and at certain times in the fall and DISTRIBUTION distribute themselves to a considerable distance by Large bers of the larvae or young of the insect are carried on hay from the fields to the stacks and This will count for a small amount of since some of these are so nearly full grown that they do not need to feed longer f changing to the weevil Life History and The greatest amount of injury is caused during the younger stages of the The eggs are laid by the full grown weevils early in the principally in April and The eggs are placed in various parts of the i but principally in the from which the younger leaves- and buds are growing They hatch in from six to nine the young worm being pale yel- lowish in They at first feed concealed in the developing j- buds and even as grow older they work the larger leaves and completely dp INJURY foliate the The early injury the H Serious injury LARVAE m the field appears at a distance like but a closer examination will show thousands of the young worms feeding upon the When the worm is full grown it is about the color of the alfalfa leaves hut has a white stripe down its It is over a quarter of an inch This full grown larva drops to the ground and spins a loose lace-like cocoon in which it later turns Tl From two three weeks after ADULT coon is the fully developed insect a WEEVIL its way crawls up the stem tie and begins The weevil is at brown with several lighter lines running on its It has hard a distinct vided with biting The adult darkens with and in the spring some of the males appear jS almost The males are smaller than the largest females not measuring one-fourth of inch in kM The weevils do little damage at this time of tEe and the late Early in the fall the begin leaving the fields and spreading to 8 WINTER flying or crawling in QUARTERS Before frost they seek either in the crowns of the alfalfa close to the surface of the ground under in rubbish along ditch in hay or straw or'S well-sheltered The weevil lives over winter thus w coming out early in the spring to lay the eggs for aV Where the infestation is at all especially true after the second year of the presence weevil in the the first crop of alfalfa is injured one-half to and this year there J LOSS many fields where there are not pounds of 9 hay to the The fact that the worms are full grown when the first crop is causes the loss to J second The young worms are jolted off the work their way back to the stubble and feed on every sigS bud and leaf that thus keeping the second starting until they are fully and have stopped At the present time we know of no means of the full grown during the hibernating stage in 4 our efforts must be devoted to controlling the Where a field is heavily it is cut the first crop very in fact when it is not Under no circumstances should an injured allowed to stand without since WHY ply mean the coming to maturity of CUT bers of the Immediately after the rera of the and this should not be allowed t. the ground any longer than necessary for 9 should be heavily and then gone over immediately with a leveller- have no eem young worms are very make their way but slowly back to the we will knock off practically all of those that have crush large numbers of bury many in M and suffocate The object in using the lev e JM create sufficient dust mulch to cause LEVELLER of the All insects openings on the side of their anything Which will cover these openings will su in a short The rough treatment the and will be sufficient to kill a verJ-lS m m The field should then be thing possible done to stimulate rapid growth for M in It is even if but a few larvae are seen to carry out this same treatment after CLEAN of the second There are a M up minor means which should be used m with this Clean cultivation M edges of the on the ditch and bu and rubbish after the weevils have g M aid considerably in controlling J x teller yellow-clover which is often allowed to grow k along the fence should be cut and such places f cleaned of weeds and other P The older seriously infested to good L may be plowed in late May or early 4 SaLFA the of at jr this time will kill practically all the larvae and W present in the besides being good farm arid cultivation experiments with reno-i are now being carried on for the purpose the best means of control throughout the Mf No hay should shipped from any of the in- The danger the alfalfa in- in this state cannot be l il t He alfalfa an introduced European insect is now 4 great damage to in Salt Lake The insect m Life rapidly in the weevil or adult but causes the most to wlm in younger stages by feeding on the buds and ara on alfalfa in April and the larvae worms coming full grown in the latter part of June and throughout a lace-like from which later issues the small brown This weevil hibernates through the winter in sheltered ditch alfalfa i The first crop should be cut as early as The ground H and as- soon as the bay is off and then gone over 1 Ui a leveller in the same These operations will kill a largo of the young Then force the second crop as rap- 1 as and repeat the and Clean up all ditch fence old stack grounds and rub- st early in the fall by no hay out of infested July |
