This is from a 1961 edition of "How to Grow Vegetables and Fruits by the Organic Method" by J.I. Rodale:
Make a bait of the following:
Hardwood sawdust . . . . . 25% Molasses . . . . . . . 50%
Wheat bran . . . . . . . . . . . 25% Water . . . . . . . . . . enough to saturate the mixture
It says pine sawdust should not be used because it repels cutworms. Scatter a handful of this mixture around each plant at dusk. The sweet molasses will attract the cutworms. As they crawl around in the bait, it will cling to their bodies and harden by morning, rendering them helpless. Since they will be unable to burrow back into the ground to hide from the birds, wind and sun, they will soon be destroyed. Page 334.
The book says it's not 100% effective but will eliminate an amazingly large number of worms each night.
Margo
Cutworm remedy?
That's very interesting! I say any way is a way to try!