OCR Text |
Show ENEMY TO QRA88 AND CORN. the So-Called Grass Web Worm, nu How It May Be Combated. dross web worms, it will bo remembered, remem-bered, wero somewhat destructive last year in portions of Rensselaer, Columbia Colum-bia nnd Albany counties, Now York, ays tho Country Gentleman. Tho injuries in-juries wero in most cases confined to Brass lands, particularly tho drier knolls, and tho damage was ompha-slzcd ompha-slzcd by tho prevailing dry weather. Tho largo amount of rain tho present season has prevented depredations of this character from being noticeable, though grass web worms appear to bo abundant In somo fields, slnco a report re-port has Just como to us of rathor so-vero so-vero Injury In Columbia county to corn planted on recently plowed eod land. Grass web worms, sometimes known ns corn web worms, como from ml-nuto ml-nuto whlto eggs deposited by tho light-brown, white-marked moths so frequently observed (lying in largo numbers In lato afternoon and early evening in grass fields and Invariably alighting with tho wings wrappod closely nbout tho body, tho latter parallel par-allel with the grass stem upon which tho Insect rests, Tho web worms themselves aro dull-colored, sparsely-haired, sparsely-haired, brown-headed caterpillars nbout half an Inch long. They Hvo in wob-lincd rctreatB nt or Just beneath tho surface of tho soil, and a llttlo Investigation In-vestigation Jn Infested grass lands or about hills of corn troubled by this Insect should result In uncovorlng tho depredators. They work on corn In various ways, sometimes tunneling tho stalks, occasionally eating holes in tho sides of tho stems or feeding to somo extent on tho leaves. Thero wero somo injuries of this kind last year, and ns n rule trouble of this nnturo may bo prevented by early fall plowing, bIiico this deprives de-prives tho web worms of their accustomed accus-tomed provender boforo they hfivo an opportunity to go into hibernation, and we should expect n considerable number num-ber of them to perish beforo any green food such ns young corn is avallablo In tho spring. Anothor preventive pre-ventive measuro would bo to delay planting as lato ns possible, in tho hope that a considerable, number of tho web worms would succumb beforo tho corn como up. Another precaution precau-tion which might bo taken in planting plant-ing sod lands would bo to put in nbout twice the usual amount of seed. In tho hopo that a fair stand would bo secured, In splto of web-worm injuries. inju-ries. This would necessitate somo thinning on areas where wob worms wero not abundant, but in any ovent this would be proferablo to replanting. Thero Is no practical method of checking check-ing outbreaks of this character In cultivated cul-tivated fields, owing to tho expenso Involved. In-volved. About tho only thing that can bo dono following severe Injury1 Is to replant. |