February, '16] ENTOMOLOGISTS' DISCUSSIONS 119 



take them down into the burrow. I wonder if there would not be a 

 time when it would be possible to destroy the larvie of these grass 

 web-worms. I am trying to find some place to try that out. 



Mr. H. a. Gossard: A few years ago, there was quite an out- 

 break in Paulding County, Ohio. Several fields of corn and oats were 

 practically destroyed in a very short time. 



I carried on a few experiments but I did not find any satisfactory 

 means of control. The experiments made were not on very large 

 tracts, but some were on half-acre or quarter-acre plots. The corn 

 maggot was also present. In the same fields we tried out some of the 

 Cooper's Apatite or soil fumigant, some iron refuse that had been 

 used for cleansing artificial gas and tobacco dust, thinking the latter 

 could be distributed like fertilizer when the corn was planted. 



Neither the web-worms nor the seed-corn maggots were repelled 

 from the hills, and growth of the plants was interfered with in case of 

 all the materials except the tobacco dust. The web-worm concerned 

 w^as Cramhus frisedus. 



Mr. Herbert Osborn: The web-worm was troublesome here 

 in Ohio last year, but not especially in the vicinity of Columbus. 



My first acquaintance with these insects w^as nearly thirty years ago 

 in Iowa and some of my observations were recorded in the Report of 

 the Department of Agriculture for 1887. The moths were so abundant 

 at that time that they caused much annoyance by flying around 

 lights in houses. 



I do not think Mr. Ainslie has exaggerated at all the damage they 

 may do. 



One point that seemed to come out distinctly was the possibility 

 of controlhng the insect where sod was to be turned into corn. Eggs 

 were laid on grass land and with corn planted later on the same ground 

 much injury occurred. A difference in ten days in plowing deter- 

 mined whether the corn was destroyed or not. 



President Glenn W. Herrick: I was very much interested in Mr. 

 Ainslie's methods of breeding the insects. 



It agrees with some experiences we have had in rearing the clover 

 leaf weevil. They seemed to deposit eggs and get along better when 

 kept in the small salve boxes than when we put them in a large cage 

 "with clover plants. 



I think this is a very interesting piece of work and I hope Mr. Ainslie 

 will keep it up. 



If there is no more discussion of this paper we will pass to the next 

 one by Mr. Wm. P. Hayes. 



