Show 1 LL iii o os s j 7 rr r f of millions of dollars of tribute are tobe to tobe tobe be levied le by enemies I-i I within our midst Just when we looked confidently confidently dently forward to the restoration of peace pence It ItIs Itis r Is brought home to us that we have got to do battle with other kinds of foes that cannot he be halted by threat or the parade pa pa- parade rade of armed forces Our antagonists this time are hordes of the boll bol w weevil and the he army worm From Washington comes the news that the army worm has appeared again In Texas and that It has started f to to work its way northward right through the regions where our wheat wheatfields wheatfields fields flourish It isn't a problem of L I guarding against the vast swarms which may have ha their origin In the far South for those particular worms will really h have ve but a n circumscribed z zone h of aggressive movement the task Is Isto z to watch atch for them everywhere c The mildness of the past winter has hns far favored favored fa fa- r the survival of man many insects that otherwise would ha have been killed Therefore extra millions millions of these insects Insects Insects In In- sects are alive all and multiplying their kindi kind t t F i The army worm Is particularly destructive det destructive de de- f to wheat corn and other ther f cereals grasses and kindred forage forager r plants It is known to attack corn In Jn ina R a manner similar to the well known T ear corn-ear worm The young oung larvae d dei devour de de- r. r Tour the tender tender- folded leaves and as the worms Increase In size they frequent fre fre- f quent burrow right Into the heart I of th the growing ear and destroy It i S' S As far back as 1797 mention mention Is made I t in a natural history of the army armyworms armyworm's it worms worm's hurtful ways as During the summer summer summer sum sum- mer and fall of 1845 the army worm i r busied itself In Florida and ten years 4 later laJer It aroused apprehension 1 t According to the e entomologists there 4 may be from two to three generations x j of the army worm during a single l t summer And the same experts assure as as- assure sure us that each succeeding generation genera genera- 4 Iou Ion usually becomes more destructive than that which preceded d it The authorities au nu- authorities au- au are commonly agreed that the t army worm especially the fall fail army armyworm worm Is of southern origin and this to fact helps to explain why It does not appear yearly In conspicuously In Ini Injurious In- In i jurious numbers Its instinct prompts It to strive continually to obtain as n a s 5 foothold farther north than Its natural range and here Is where weather cont conditions con con- 7 t play an important part in Its life history and Its propagation In higher latitudes Ordinarily If It the season is against them they are killed off in great numbers during the fall falland and winter and therefore comparatively i few are left to multiply their F J kind the following spring and summer The early appearance of the arm army armyworm i worm in Texas may Justify the fear th that t states considerably to the north have become restocked by the flight of oft t k t the parent moths from the southern f breeding grounds In the warm warn swamp 2 lands The mot mot mot- which produces the thew w fall army worm Is a member of ot the thu t night flying variety and Is of the same family which Includes the parents of the baneful cut worm an Importation from the old world with long years of ot American acclimatization It Is the habit of these nocturnal moths to develop their eggs In clusters on grasses but when these insects occur occur oc oc- iri cur in very cry large numbers they do dor y r this on leaves and twigs of ot trees as aswell aswell well as on on the outer walls of ot build build- c ings The eggs are laid in lots of 1 from fifty to sixty The Time larvae at nt first is are lire frequently so 80 dark ns as to escape observation except when moving In 1 numbers and their whereabouts nrc me further concealed by the normal habit of ot hiding in n the deep ep grass during the day clay time and feeding mostly at nt night This explains why one may go to bed with his field garden or or lawn unmarred un min marred only to arise nt at dawn to find the place The mature jinny array worm ran ranges es from an inch to an nn Inch and moll in length and Is about a aan ul of an m Inch through Thc The life history of the army worm I not is la- la not a u long one The first of the larvae oe or worms are from eggs deposited dej de dl I di j posited the time fall before Their manner f rare tm a errs a i 4 W rl rr K of wintering is of ot Interest When full grown the time larvae lanae work their way Into the ground to a depth ranging from froma a quarter of an Inch to an Inch and a quarter In the spring the worms appear ap ap- appear pear work their havoc and after II a i brief while re-enter re the earth They remain In the cocoon state for several weeks at time tile conclusion of which the they emerge as moths which In their theft turn lay eggs and start again the life of ot the army worm worn In the period of or Its active career the army woi in can do a deal deul of ot damage and to eradicate the pest It is essential to kill the parent moths as well as to destroy the worms themselves Luckily LucIdly the army army armory worm has some natural enemies and among these the sparrow Is probably the most effective because of Its numbers The comes next and then follow the tachina fly and a certain variety of ot beetle These foes will not suffice to keep the time army worm within bounds when their name is legion n and It is needful then to resort to man made expedients Trenching the fields a generous use of kerosene and ample spreading of ar arsenical powders will aid In a crisis but clean cultural methods will do much more toward eradicating the or nests nests- This Is to say keep the edges of ot the fields and the hedges of the gardens free from long grass and weeds weds where the larvae lurk fall plowing will kill 1111 those that have already entered the time ground for wintering Of course these efforts will not avail If It the parent moths come from the time South In the springtime We cannot expect to detect detect detect de de- the eggs and to destroy them before before be be- fore for the worms are hatched out Just when the spindles of the world are arc preparing to resume their prewar activities just when so many of ot the nations arc are anxious to obtain more cotton cotton cotton cot cot- ton ton fabrics comes the unwelcome news I that the time cotton boll weevil Is up and and doing with Increased energy Again we have the past mild winter to thank 1 In large part for this disturbing state of affairs a very considerable percentage percentage percentage per per- of ot the hibernating weevils weevil having survived sur when with colder weather wather they would have been In great measure exterminated The experts tell us that the boll bol weevil we In a single le year may occasion a cotton loss of more than hales bales and at prewar pre prewar prices this chats would represent a money sacrifice of pf quite Today nt Jit the present price of t cotton the toll levied by the these e Insects would be equivalent to fully S No wonder the United t States department of agriculture has pronounced the boll weevil to he be the worst cotton pest In this country and probably the most destructive cotton Insect In the u world orld This ra a ravaging creature apparently will not feed upon any other plant plant plant-It It Just Insl Insists ts upon eating the precious cotton boll holl Like many others of or the conspicuously ou b Injurious Insects Insect present In this tills country the cotton boll weevil Is nota not liCIt I Ia a native of the United States State Its i place of origin so the time entomologists declare was beyond question In the high plateau region of ot Mexico or Central Central Central Cen Cen- America The records Indicate that tha t the insect In n all likelihood occasioned oc- oc oc occasioned the abandonment abandonment of cotton cotton- growing In parts of Mexico and CenI Central Central Cen Cen- America I Our agricultural authorities Inform us that since 1804 1894 the boll weevil has extended Its range from 40 to 70 10 0 miles mites having made Its first filSt appearance near Brownsville Browns Texas In 1892 During the first ten years Jears after Its a advent Into this country the annual rate of ot spread was square miles Since 1901 the time annual infested territory has hns averaged averaged averaged aver aver- aged square miles In 1904 an nn exceptional season square miles became infested The Time weevil has a perl periodic thirst and apparently there Is just one liquid that appeals overwhelmingly to Its palate On the underside of cotton leaves len on the midrib or principal vein and sometimes sometimes some some- times on on two other veins can be found a little lIttie elongated depression which usually looks sticky and frequently holds a drop of liquid On the time outside of the squares at the base of ot each bract or leaflet are other oilier little cups and between the bract and the bud itself are three more cups At the bottom of ot the time flower cup still more of ot these tiny vessels are found They are called nectar cups because they exude a sweet liquid This Is the tipple tipple tipple tip tip- that the boll weevil Is drawn rawn to The adult boll boil weevil Is about one- one fourth of an nn Inch Jn In length but Its size depends upon the amount of food tl that at it contains while In the larvae stage The boll weevil passes the winter win winter ter In the adult condition In the spring and throughout the fruiting season of cotton the eggs are deposited by the females in cavities formed by eating Into the time fruit of the plant An Ane e egg g hatches hatches' under normal conditions In about three days das and the grub Im im- immediately Immediately mediately begins to feed In from I seven se to twelve days the time grub passes Into Its stage stae corresponding to the cocoon of ot butterflies and moths moth This stage lasts from three to five days Then th time the adult Issues sues and In about five days das begins the production of another generation Males Ial's and females are produced In about equal numbers The males feed tEed upon the squares and the bolls w without hout moving until the food begins to deteriorate The females refrain from depositing eg eggs s In squares visited by other females As many tunny as as fifteen larvae have been found In a n single le boll A conservative conser estimate of the progeny of a mm single pair pall of weevils during a n season beginning on June 20 and extending to November 4 4 Is Government O authorities have shown that the boll holl weevil can an he be held greatly r in check heck by proper cultural processes and also by hy the use of Insecticides which can he be prayed ell upon the plants at nt certain stages I of their growth th By Bythe Bythe Bythe the latter process the weevils weevil's drink c nin mm be hp poisoned pol and a ns It t shakes Its t thirst at nt I least Ill I'll t once every ery Ila day Its doom can nn he be sealed |