THE FRENCHING OF CORN. 15 



White, from whose farm they were taken, as were also those handed to 

 you in Albany, had been over the field and Paris-greened it as he would 

 have done for potatoes. He had found as many as twenty-five beetles 

 upon a single hill, and he thinks had he not used the Paris green, not a 

 leaf would have been left. The poison did its work effectually and at 

 this time but few of the beetles are to be found. The bean field was 

 adjoining a field of clover which was plowed under, and the beetles did 

 not show themselves on the beans until after the plowing. Many other 

 fields of beans are reported as infested, although the one of Mr. White 

 is the only one that I have visited. 



The plants sent to me gave evidence of the possible injuries of the 

 weevil when its attack is made in force, for almost every leaf had been 

 entirely consumed. Much of the feeding had in all probability been 

 done by the larvae. 



W^ishing to see the method of eating in the beetles received, some 

 fresh leaves of bean and some pods procured in the market were given 

 them. They declined to eat the leaves, even when confined with them 

 alone for several days, but they fed greedily upon the pods, excavating 

 holes in different portions, of perhaps a tenth of an inch in di- 

 ameter. 



The " Frenching " of Corn. 



A correspondent from Rock Hall, Md., sends a specimen of what, 

 in his vicinity, is known as " frenchy corn," and asks if it is the result 

 of an insect attack, or of conditions existing in the soil. It sometimes 

 prevails to such an extent as to destroy an entire crop. 



JV/iaf is understood by '''frenchy." — The term " frenchy " is one used 

 in many localities in the Southern States in quite a general way, and is 

 indifferently applied to diseases (aggravated form of measles, small-pox 

 and other contagions), to various insect injuries to vegetation, and to 

 diseased conditions of animal or vegetable life not understood. It is, 

 however, more frequently used in connection with corn than any other 

 plant. According to newspaper reports, thousands of acres of corn 

 are annually destroyed in the Southern States through " frenching." 



'' Frenching'' resulting from insect attack. — The young corn-plants 

 sent to me, having a growth of two feet in height, had lost their tap- 

 root, and showed clearly in their slenderness and other conditions, an 

 impaired growth. Throughout their entire length were numerous punc- 

 tures, many of which were of the size and shape of pin-holes, while 

 others were larger and of an oval form, and had evidently increased in 

 size and changed in form through the process of growth of the leaves. 

 A careful examination left no room for doubt that these punctures had 

 been made in the unfolded leaves of the plant by the beak of one of 

 the snout beetles — CurcuIionidcB. 



