The Bulletin. 33 



would devour them. Although a large number of birds doubtless eat 

 them to a greater or less extent, the quail or common "Bobwhite" stands 

 at the head of the list, and the blackbirds, bobolinks and sparrows 

 follow. 



But by far the most prevalent natural enemies of the Chinch Bug are 

 certain diseases, particularly those of a fungous nature, which not in- 

 frequently save many thousands of dollars to the farmers by destroying 

 the bugs. One of these fungous diseases, kno^Ti as the Muscardine fun- 

 gus, has been considerably experimented with in Kansas and some 

 other states, to see if it could not be artificially introduced into fields 

 where the bugs were doing injury ; but it is so sIoav to get started, and so 

 uncertain in its results, that it has never come into general use. 



REMEDIES. 



Out of all the mass of recommendations for the control of chinch 

 bugs, three methods stand out as available and useful as conditions exist 

 in this State: (1) Destruction of the bugs in their winter quarters; 

 (2) preventing them from spreading from Avheat or oats to corn by 

 means of barriers to their progress, and (3) killing them (the young 

 ones, at least) by spraying while they are in restricted areas, before they 

 have spread throughout the cornfield. 



Destruction of Bugs in Winter.— In Kansas, where the bugs seem to 

 hibernate largely in bunch-grass, they have been successfully destroyed 

 by burning over closely so as to reach those that are close down between 

 the bases of the stems. In North Carolina we at present know of no 

 one place in which the bugs especially congregate for winter, but have 

 found them under rubbish in grassy places near cornfields. Hence the 

 cleaning and burning over of such waste places, fence-rows, ditch-banks, 

 etc., adjacent to cornfields which were infested in summer will seem 

 likely to destroy many of the over-wintering bugs. But as the bugs are 

 not usually serious with us two years in succession, farmers may neglect 

 this after-measure, and may be more inclined to depend on the next 

 method discussed, namely: 



Preventing the Spread into Corn, hy Barriers. — For this purpose, a 

 deep furrow, a strip of plowed and finely pulverized soil, a narrow 

 strip of tar laid in a furrow or even simply on the ground — these all 

 serve to check the insects in their march from one field to another. If 

 a furrow is to be used it should be deep and so run that the earth 

 shall be thrown toward where the bugs are already congregated, so 

 that they will have to climh the steep side of the furrow. If the insects 

 are found in the oat stubble, for example, one or two such furrows should 

 at once be plowed around the field to prevent their escape. Two furrows 

 a few feet apart will of course be more effective than one. 



