Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / April 6, 1989, edition 1 / Page 8
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Farm and garden Worms, worms , worms Forest Tent Caterpillars are camping here again By: Stanley J. Winslow County Extension Director Just when you thought you were safe from our perennial pests ? The Forest Tent caterpillars ? they attack again. Samples sub mitted to our office indicate that they are already beginning to hatch. The caterpillars I have seen are currently one-eighth inch long S AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE with the diameter of a straight pin. They will grow rapidly, doubling in size in approximately one week's time. All eggs will not hatch at the same time; therefore, expect to see these creatures for the next four to six weeks. Let me give you a brief life his tory of this insect so you will under stand it better. The Forest Tent Caterpillar is a serious defoliator of many forest and shade trees. As you well know it migrates by the millions searching for new food plants and will climb any obstacle in its path. It prefers sweet gum and tupelo gum but will also feed on poplar, maple, oak, ash, elm, fruit trees ana many ornamental trees and shrubs. It is a close rela tive to the Eastern Tent Caterpillar which you see spinning webs in the forks of fruit tree branches. The main difference is that the Forest Tent Caterpillar does not spin these webs. This insect spends the winter as a dark brown collar-like mass of eggs securely attached to, and of ten encircling, small twigs. Egg masses are about % inch long by % inch in diameter and contain seve ral hundred eggs. Hatch out corre sponds with emergence of new leaves. These newly natched cater pillars will feed on their "parent" plant until that food source is ex hausted; then their great migra tion begins. If you begin now, you can control them while in their early stages of growth. Chemicals such as Dipel, Thuricide, Sevin, Malathion and Orthene do a good job on them while they are small. When they reach full size, IV2 inches long, and begin to migrate they are much more difficult to control. Plan your management strategy for these pests now. Scout your fruit, shade and ornamental trees for egg masses and small worms. If you find small worms - spray them and then watch carefully to see that no more hatch out. Keep in mind that these pests will migrate to you from joining wood land and neighboring property. When mi gration begins consider using a product called tangle foot or a strip of duct tape wrapped around the tree trunk and covered with vase line to prevent caterpillars from climbing. These pests are a true nuisance but indications are that they will not be quite as bad as last year. This remains to be seen - please call if you have questions. A kite exhibit has been on display at Hertford Grammar School during the past month. The posters are on loan to Brenda Hollowell, "art instructor, from The Museum of the Albemarle. The museum acquired the exhibit from the Smithsonian. Rodents are bother to county hog farms by: Jeff Copeland Area Specialized Agent, Livestock Mice and rats are a nuisance at some time on most every hog farm. Adequate shelter, hiding places, food and water are readily avail able to make these pests feel right at home. Left unchecked, they are quite impressive with their repro duction capabilities. For example, a female house mouse may have 5 AGRICULTURAL I EXTENSION , SERVICE 10 litters per year of five to six young each which equals to 60 more mice annually. Mice have a '.i 19-21 day gestation and reach sex .. ual maturity in 6-10 weeks so the ; mouse in our example becomes a ' great grandmother rather quickly. And all the time, she and all subse quent offspring are soiling feed with their feces, gnawing insula tion and wires, spreading diseases and the like. Mice are often harder to control than rats because of the difference in their eating habits. Mice like to -eat and run; eat and run. This makes baiting difficult at best. One good idea that should work on your farm is to place two foot sections of flexible, black plastic tile on top of your insulation in the roof, or nail the plastic tile on top of the support ? beams or along aisle ways, in feed ; rooms etc. Space one every 20 to 30 feet. The grooves in the tile help prevent spillage of the rat and mice bait This concept works on the principles that mice and rats like to hide while feeding, and a mouse loves to run through a tun ? nel. ? When purchasing rat and mice ' poison, remember, some bait is considered single dose and others ; require more than one feeding, i Also bear in mind that some rats ; have become resistant to warfarin. If your old standby doesn't seem to . work any longer, buy another bait .with a chemical other than warfa ;rin in it. ? ; Thimet and Counter are not only ? very dangerous to use, but are also \ expensive rat baits. Baits like Con ;trac or Havoc are far more sensi ble and cheaper choices providing '.good control. ? I' ' * A good strategy to use on rats is ; outlined. For single dose baits - ?first determine the number of ac ? tive burrows; place bait in active .burrows; bait one-two days; close ?all burrows for five-seven days; ?and then bait all active burrows for '.one-two days. Finally doee all bur ;rows and monitor for activity. For -multi -dose baits; bait active bur Jrows for 10-14 days or until it's no longer taken and then close and -monitor for activity. The easiest way to determine ac tive burrows is to walk around your hog facilities and either stuff news paper in rat holes, or kick dirt in them. The next day any active bur rows will be reopened, and these are the ones to bait. The reason for the five-seven day waiting period for the single dose baits is rats who have eaten a lethal dose may still eat more bait even though they will soon die. (There's no reason to try and kill a rat twice even though they are aggravating.) Besides, single dose baits tend to be more expensive and the short waiting pe riod will save you money. Mother Nature is farm boss Farmers rely on many factors to produce their final product. There's the price of inputs, like seed, fertilizer, fuel and labor. And there's the price of the end prod uct, which ultimately determines their profit. There are also other factors af fecting agriculture. For example, government regulatory agencies can tell farmers just about any thing?from what type of pesti cides they can use to what to feed livestock. Lending institutions can extend credit or not; and the inter est rates charged can impact heav ily on agriculture. Big labor can re fuse to load agricultural products for shipment and it can tell some Farm workers not to pick a crop and let it rot in the field. Actually, agriculture is greatly affected by all of these things, but they don't really control agricul ture. The real controlling force is the weather. Nearly every year in some parts of the country, the weather takes its toll. What better example than the drought in parts of North Caro lina for the past several years? In fact, last year much of the country suffered from unseaso nably hot and dry conditions. Add to that the fires on federal lands that wiped out crops and livestock on adjacent land and it's easy to understand that Mother Nature is in charge. Very few businesses depend on such an uncertain factor to sur vive. But the farmer has an eternal battle with the weather. However, he accepts the weather's unpre dictability as part of the gamble in volved in his chosen profession. It's just Mother Nature's way of letting us know that she's the boss. Electrolux Carpet Cleaning Service *29.95 per room *49.95 i KEN HARRIS 426-5161 1-800-221-0309 1 Electronic Touch Controls with visual and audible response. ' POTSCRUBBER cycle provides extra washing action for pots, pans and casseroles. > Temperature Sensor System automatically heats the water, if needed, during the main wash cycle to get your dishes sparkling dean, using inlet water temperatures as low as 120*F. > Powerful 3-level wash action with Multi-Orbit? wash arm. > Delay Mart ? allows you to start the dishwasher when it is convenient SUNDAY SPECIAL (April 9th) BAKED CHICKEN, MAY PEAS, YAMS, HOT ROLLS, TEA OR COFFEE $3.95 Good Country Style Cooking! Delicious Home Baked Desserts! , Come By and Taste the Difference! Yearning for Yarriu At 106 E. King St.,Edenton Come In And See... Beautiful Summer Yarns Hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays Wesley de Camp Prop. Shop: 482-2977 Home: 482-8139 , ' ' Vr Yarn - Needles - Patterns - Kits - Lessons The instant someone starts to show signs of a heart attack, getting to the right hospital right away can he a matter of life and death. And with a heart attack, the hest hospital is the ' ^ nearest hospital with proper cardiac care facilities. In this area, that's Alhemarle. ; With a hoard certified cardiok>gist on staff, Alhemarle Hospital offers everything from ?" EKG's and nuclear cardiology to echocardiograms and 24 hour Holter monitoring Alhemarle was the first hospital in the region to offer Activase. a life-saving drug that can actually dissolve ? hloodckrts and stop heart attacks in progress, if administered soon enough. And Alhemarle continues to pioneer cardiac care with the latest medications and healthcare technok>gies. -? So now you know the secret to living longer In the event of a heart attack, travel the -r"' shortest distance to the r^ht hospital. Alhemarle. *** >?! Il?h??v r V?h - H-aMh (41 v M. .'"W) ? (W) mmm ll|-| fl 81 ij mm mmospaoi CARDIAC CARE UNIT ?I aii 1 1 ? i i i ? 1 1 1 ? AK>evnane .?ui ?i. ?> ,3-j s 3
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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April 6, 1989, edition 1
8
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