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Show FARM NOTES ! j BY HYRUM STEFFEN I I Heaver t'ountv Agent ii j Cutworms, wriich caused so much damage to fall grain last ' ar. are already making their appearance appear-ance in fields on the bench lands near Beaver. In favorable years these instcts increase rapidly V ' damaging proportions and control measures, to be effective, must be carried out promptly. According to the county agent. Hyrum Steffen, there are two possible methods of control. One is through a heavy irrigation, but heavy irrigation this time of the year may retard the crops by chilling the soil, which is already saturated with moisture, and by , leaching out plant foods. The other is by means of a poison bait mixed according to the following fol-lowing formula: : Dry bran or alfalfa meal, 25 pounds. White arsenic or paris green, 1 j pound. i Water, 2 to 4 gallons. J Two quarts of cheap molasses ; ' may be added to the above mixture mix-ture but it is not essential. In' preparing the bait just enough , i water should be added to make a j i crumbly mixture that will not! "ball" in the hand. j Cutworms feed at night and j late evening or during cloudy ! weather. To prevent the bait , from drying out it should be broadcast in the evening when ; the worms start feeding, at the rate of 10 to 15 pounds per acre. Two to three applications, at two-day two-day intervals, may be necessary to get rid of .them. "Birds will destroy the worms in many fields if they are not molested", mo-lested", Mr. Steffen said, adding, "Last Saturday I observed a flock of from 10 to 15 thousand ravens feeding on the worms southeast of Beaver. These birds annually destroy numerous insects, in-sects, especially cutworms ' and j grasshoppers, besides killing ; many rodents". |