34 The Bulletin. 



The furrow may be made still more effective by digging holes with 

 regular post-hole digger every 15 to 20 feet in the bottom of the furrow. 

 The bugs falling in the furrow will run along trying to find an outlet, 

 and presently falling in the holes, will be quite unable to escape.^ 



Infested stubble can be burned over, if thick and dry enough, or 

 plowed deeply and rolled or dragged to finely pulverize the surface. 



If a strip several yards wide be plowed around the infested oats or 

 wheat and this be finely pulverized, the bugs will have difficulty in cross- 

 ing it so long as the surface remains dry and dusty ; rain will hinder its 

 usefulness. 



The use of a strip or line of tar around a field serves the same 

 general purpose.^ Two such strips a yard or two apart will be even more 

 effective. The earth may be scraped clean along the line where the tar 

 is to be placed, so that sticks, grass or weeds shall not seiwe as bridges 

 for the insects to cross. 



Where a part of the cornfield has become infested, the same methods 

 may be employed, separating the infested from the uninfested parts of 

 the field, so as to check their advance. 



Of course, the best protection will be secured by the employment of 

 several of these methods together. 



The success of these methods is based upon the fact that the adults 

 which mature in June crawl rather than jiy, even though they do have 

 wings. And as their legs are short and their bodies comparatively in- 

 elastic, they find it difficult to overcome obstacles such as have been 

 mentioned ; furrows, strips of tar, or finely pulverized soil making very 

 effectual barriers to their progress. Of course, a sudden dash of rain 

 may destroy the barriers, which must be replaced at once. 



Spraying. — "We are not advocating the spraying of whole cornfields 

 to protect them from Chinch Bug. This spraying method is available 

 chiefly while the bugs are only in restricted areas of the corn. 



Kerosene eniulsion has been recommended for this purpose by Pro- 

 fessor Webster (1907), to be prepared as follows: Dissolve i/o lb. of 

 hard soap in 1 gal. water, bring to a boil, then pour in 2 gals, kerosene 

 and churn together vigorously until it becomes cream-like. To each gal- 

 lon of this add 15 gallons of water, mixing thoroughly. He states that 

 it is best to spray the corn with this before 8 a. m. or after 5 p. m., as 

 it will then be less likely to hurt the plants. 



But in the writer's personal experience with plant-lice he finds that 

 ordinary grades of laundry soap dissolved in warm water is an excellent 

 substitute for the more complicated (and more dangerous to plants) oil 



iHeadlee and McColloch, in Kansas, found a blast-torch preferable for destroying the 

 bugs along the barrier. 



=In Illinois, Dr. Forbes had excellent results from "Road Oil No. 7," a grade costing 

 about $3.50 per barrel and especially prepared for Chinch Bug work. (Standard Oil Re- 

 finery, Whiting. Ind. ) In this State tar would perhaps be more available. 



