February, '19] caffrey: European corn borer 101 



claims that he has been severely injured by the pest in the last two or 

 three years. If that is so, there must have been a considerable number 

 of larvae present during that time, and they must have gained entrance 

 to his fields quite a few years previous to that. The outside limits ex- 

 tend about four miles beyond his farm now. 



President E. D. Ball: It seems to me that if this insect is any- 

 where nearly as important as it has been represented to be, that even a 

 minute of delay, to say nothing of a year, is serious, very serious, that 

 while it may be spreading but a few miles a year, it has already spread 

 over several hundred square miles and may spread in one big jump at 

 any time, into the heart of the corn area. 



We have several records of waiting too long before starting. The 

 gipsy moth and the boll-weevil are good examples of this kind of folly. 

 Here is a chance for the entomological fraternity to assert itself and 

 with one voice, say that we are going after this insect and that we are 

 going after it now. Suppose we fail — it is nothing. If we attack four 

 insects and fail on three, but win on the fourth, we have won tremen- 

 dously. 



Corn is the biggest crop in America, and I think that the corn growers 

 of the Mississippi Valley have a right to demand protection from this 

 pest, and that every possible source of protection should be used at 

 once. We have learned in this last year what it means to go into a 

 thing and do it — not to wait and talk about it and say that it is impos- 

 sible, but to do it. It seems to me that that should be our slogan to- 

 day; let us go in and do it. 



Secretary A. F. Burgess: I want to say one word in regard to 

 spread. The corn borer is in the same region where the gipsy moth was 

 originally introduced. The gipsy moth was introduced in 1868 or 1869, 

 and it did not become a pest in the region where it was introduced until 

 about 1890. During the time from 1890 to 1900, when work was car- 

 ried on by the state of Massachusetts to clean out the gipsy moth, the 

 largest area that it occupied was approximately the area that the corn 

 borer occupies at the time. We did not know at that time — and we 

 have only known for a few years — the principal method of spread of the 

 gypsy moth. 



The female moth does not fly; the principal method of spread is by 

 the small caterpillars being blown by the wind innnediately after 

 hatching. The trend of spread is toward the north or northeast, but 

 it took the gipsy moth, even with the small caterpillars being capable 

 of blowing twenty miles, approxnnatcly twenty-five years to occupy 

 the territory that is now occupied by the corn borer. If the statements 

 made are correct in regard to the time of introduction, in all i)robability 

 the corn borer has not ijocn in this country more than live or six vcars. 



