308 ANNUAL KEruirrs of T»i-pAirr.MiiNT of agriculture. 



that the earlier idea, that the insect had been imported in hemp, 

 was siirel}' erroneous. The i'(»ttin<j: of the liemj) before ba]in<j:, accord- 

 ing to tlie methods used in Italy, woukl ^Yithout doubt destroy all 

 insect life. 



The extension of the infestation as described above vastly com- 

 plicated the i)ro!)lem and, of course, necessitated a greatly increased 

 expenditure for scouting and quarantine pur])oses. In vievs^ of this 

 more serious aspect of atfairs the Secretary submitted on December 

 12, 1919, a supplemental estimate calling for an appropriation of 

 $500,000, tlie entire amount of which was to be immediately avail- 

 able, but Congress did not respond and the original appropriation of 

 $250,000 became exhausted by the spring of 1920. This suspended 

 the control work until June 7, 1920, when a new appropriation be- 

 came available. By this time the adult insects had begun to issue, 

 thus causing the abandonment of an extensive control experiment 

 which was being conducted over an area of some 60 square miles in 

 eastern Massachusetts. The delay in granting the appropriation 

 also prevented extensive efforts at control in western New York, 

 which had been planned by Federal and State forces. An appro- 

 priation of $400,000 became available June 7 of the present year, and 

 a large force of workers was at once thrown into the field, principally 

 for the purpose of scouting for possible new infestations and for the 

 enforcement of the quarantine regulations. 



As a result of the research work conducted during the year it has 

 become apparent that the European corn borer has but one genera- 

 tion annually in New York, in contrast with the two generations 

 occurring in New England. This fact indicates that the pest in all 

 probability will prove less injurious in New York than in Massa- 

 chusetts. In fact, the injuries inflicted by the insect in its New 

 York environment as yet are comparativelj^ slight. The chief danger 

 to be feared from this situation is the possibility of spread to the 

 great corn-growing States immediately to the westward of the pres- 

 ent westward limit of infestation, and also to the southern half of 

 the corn belt, and every effort is being made to prevent the artificial 

 transportation of the pest to these areas. Flight experiments con- 

 ducted for the purpose of determining the possible rate of natural 

 spread of the insect have shown a maximum flight of 3,900 feet. 

 This distance may, of course, be increased by subsequent observations 

 on the second generation of adults. It has been shown that the 

 adults are capable of emerging through 10 inches of loose soil and 

 through 4 inches of tightly packed soil, thus indicating the useless- 

 ness of plowing under infested material as a means of destroying 

 the larvse. 



A rather surprising development regarding the habits of the 

 insect was the discovery this spring of the egg clusters in large num- 

 bers on several garden crops other than corn, such as beets, rhubarb, 

 and less numerously on celery, lettuce, romaine, rye, plantain, sorrel, 

 wild mustard, witch grass, morning glory, and snapdragon, all of 

 which are new host records for the eggs. The larvae have been found 

 quite numerously in the leaf stems of beets as well as in the vines 

 and pods of garden beans. These discoveries have necessitated a 

 more stringent application of the quarantine regulations as regards 

 garden crops other than corn. In the experimental work conducted 

 in eastern Massachusetts the larvae of the pest have been found to 



