EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS. 225 



are numerous one should renew the lime every three or four days or 

 oftener as the case may demand. 



DUST MULCH CONTROL OF CHINCH BUG. 



"The dust mulch barrier is a complete barrier to the migrating chinch- 

 bug where the soil is sandy. If there is any great amount of clay with 

 the sand, it forms clods and will not break down fine enough to be of 

 use. 



'^Select the location where you are to construct the mulch barrier, 

 figuring on a path six or seven feet in width. 



"When the time of migration approaches, plow a deep furrow down 

 the center of the path, throwing the earth toward the insects. Plow 

 back in the same furrow, throwing the earth away from the insects. 

 Procure a log about twelve or sixteen inches in diameter and about 

 five or six feet long. Hook a team to the log and drag it back and 

 forth in the furrow. This rubs up the lumps and keeps the sand loose 

 and soft. The bugs will fall into the trench but can not crawl out. 



"Where the soil is well dried out and easy to pulverize it will require 

 dragging only about twice daily. This daily dragging will kill any bugs 

 in the trench." 



Destruction of the hibernating adults in their winter quarters, in 

 permanent control work, can be accomplished most easily by fire. The 

 bugs hide away in grass tussocks, under fallen leaves, in brush piles, 

 under shocks of corn, and in fact in any place where shelter from too 

 sudden freezing and thawing may be had. 



GRASSHOPPERS. 



The grasshopper situation is improving steadily in the parts of the 

 state first attacked. The hoppers spread slowly around the edges but 

 natural enemies are multiplying at such a rate that we look for a re- 

 turn to normal in the older infested areas with a gradual dying out of 

 tlie pests on the border. 



This will naturally be succeeded in time by a new outbreak after a 

 few years, since the large areas of cut-over land, and land not under 

 cultivation, offers very favorable conditions for grasshoppers, whenever 

 there are dry seasons. 



The Upper Peninsula is still badly infested, the natural control has 

 not progressed so far as in the upper half of the Lower Peninsula. One 

 must still feed the pests on poisoned baits in order to help restore 

 normal conditions. 



THE BEAN-WEEVIL. 



For several years the number of bean weevils, Bruolius ohtectus, sent 

 in to this office has been increasing. An inquiry into the matter leads 

 one to believe that the beetle is not uniformly distributed over our state 

 but that it is quite local in its distribution. It is also a fact that 

 Michigan easily leads all other states in the production of white beans. 



It was, therefore, deemed worth while to carry on something of a cam- 

 paign against this pest which is beginning to make itself felt in the 

 8 



