38 PAPERS ON CEREAL AND FORAGE INSECTS. 
attention to the tar line. Preparations for the barrier should be begun 
in all cases where the bugs are found abundant in ripening grain. 
Frequently the soil is quite compact along the margins of wheat 
fields and if it is, a smooth path can be readily fixed at the edge of the 
field next to the corn. If the soil is not compact it is well to throw two 
furrows together, making a ridge, and with a heavy block make the 
top of it very smooth and compact. Along this smooth path, post 
holes 12 to 18 inches deep should be dug about every 20 or 30 feet. 
Get a supply of coal tar, or if it is more convenient, pine tar or crude 
oil, ready to use as soon as the bugs begin to travel. An old coffee 
pot with the spout pinched so as to allow a small stream to flow is 
convenient for putting the line of tar on the patch. By holding the 
vessel near the ground a narrow line no wider than a pencil can be 
made, and this is all that is necessary. The tar line should strike 
the post holes near the middle extending directly around the edge of 
the hole on the side next to the corn, leaving the edge of the hole 
next to the wheat free. When the chinch bugs reach the tar line 
they will not cross it but will turn aside and run or crowd each other 
into one of the post holes. As soon as the holes are partially filled 
with bugs a small amount of kerosene poured in them will kill them. 
Care must be taken in putting the line around the post hole so that 
the assembling mass of bugs does not crowd over it. When first ap- 
plied the material will soak into the ground, but a hardened crust 
will readily form which will hold it until it- te dries out. The line 
must be closely watched and renewed as often as the bugs begin to 
break over it. Wherever the soil is sandy and very loose a slight wind- 
storm will cover the tar, making passageways for the bugs, and under 
such conditions the line must be renewed quite often. A man or boy 
can care for from 80 to 100 rods of the barrier, but he must stay with 
it from early till late. Ordinarily the bugs will have finished their mi- 
gration from wheat in 10 days. This method is apparently costly and 
troublesome, but the actual expenditure of labor and money is insig- 
nificant as compared with the loss of the corn crop which may thus 
be prevented. 
REMEDIAL MEASURES. 
DESTROYING BUGS WHICH ENTER CORNFIELDS. 
After the bugs enter the cornfields they will at first collect in 
masses on the plants of the first two or three rows and should be 
killed before they proceed farther. This can be done in two ways, 
by applying a gasoline torch and by spraying them with specially 
prepared solutions. 
The flaming torch is not altogether satisfactory on account of the 
liability of damaging the plants. Great care must therefore be 
