20 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



ination of the seed, and plow in the fall to secure an earlier start. 

 It is impossible in a chinch bug year to secure a crop from late 

 sown seed, and in many cases fair, and even good crops have been 

 raised from early sowing in such seasons. In all years the chance3 

 are greatly in favor of the early sowing. In most cases the same 

 conditions that favor the development of plant and fruit bring 

 forward the foe that preys on them, but here it is different. 

 After germination of the seed, cool, wet weather develops strength 

 and vigor of root in the cereals, which leads to rapid and early 

 maturity soon after the hot, dry weather comes, so favorable, in 

 fact essential, to the development of this its enemy. Therefore it 

 would seem to be wise policy to sow early, and especially in the 

 seasons when the conditions are such as to indicate trouble from 

 the chinch bug. 



The application of salt is said by some to be of great benefit 

 in hastening the maturity of the grain, and holding the bugs in 

 check. Others, and scientific men too, say it is of no use what- 

 ever. Both doubtless judge from actual experience, either their 

 own or that of others. While we know of no instances where it 

 has been tried and did not prove beneficial, we do know of cases 

 where great good resulted from its application. At the winter 

 convention at Madison, two years since, Mr. Porter, of Waukesha 

 county, gave the result of an experiment he tried in sowing 

 refuse salt on a portion of a field of wheat on his 

 farm. Where the salt had been sowed the growth of straw 

 was much larger, the wheat ripened earlier, was plump and 

 a very good yield, while the rest of the field was a very light 

 crop and was badly shrunken. On running the reaper from one 

 piece to the other, the table was black with bugs in the part 

 unsalted, while very few were seen in the other. The conditions 

 of the experiment were such as clearly to prove that the result 

 was due to the salt applied, but whether it was produced by the 

 stimulus to growth and early maturity, or to its causing unfavor- 

 able conditions in the soil for the breeding of the bugs, or to both, 

 is a question which further experiments will only determine, but 

 the probabilities are that the first is the real cause. 



It is undoubtedly possible to do much to check their numbers 



