Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 October 1874 — How a Crop Was Saved and the Army Worm Beaten. [ARTICLE]

How a Crop Was Saved and the Army Worm Beaten.

The army worm has in California met an actual "defeat. These creatures appeared in vast numbers on the beet fields near Sacramento, and opposition was utterly powerless by trenches or by fire, but the experiment of setting turkeys against them proved completely successful. The birds rushed at them, and for several days lived upon no other food, supnlying"themselves almost to surfeit with this delicious treat For awhile it was uncertain which party wpuld prevail, but latest accounts report a complete triumph for the birds. The turkey crop has disposed of the worm and saveff the beet crop—and inasmuch as the beets, were in hundreds of acres, cultivated for sugar, the victory saves an important industry that was threatened with entire destruction. Some of the birds suffered. One. indeed, died, and being dissected was found to contain 1,432 worms, many of which were still alive. There were about 3.000 turkeys engaged, and the total number of worms eaten may be cal culated at leisure. A repentant bride recently wrote to her parents from across the seas: “The motion of a screw steamer is like riding a gigantic camel* that has the heart disease. and you do not miss a single throb. I know of nothing to compare with it for boredom, unless it be your honeymoon when you have married for money."