THE CHINCH BUG. 17 
The writer has thoroughly tested this method in a case where the 
bugs, young and old, had taken possession of a plat of neglected 
ground overrun with panic grass which was mown and promptly 
removed and the ground plowed, harrowed, and rolled before the 
bugs could escape, thus burying them beneath several inches of soil, 
out of which they were unable to make their way. As a consequence 
they were almost totally annihilated, hardly 1 per cent making their 
escape to an adjoining cornfield. 
WATCHFULNESS DURING PROTRACTED PERIODS OF DROUGHT. 
It has always appeared to the writer as though a little watchful- 
ness on the part of farmers during periods of drought might enable 
them to determine whether or not chinch bugs were present in any 
considerable numbers in their fields in time to interpose a strip of 
millet between the wheat and corn, to be utilized later as previously 
indicated. Instances have come under cbservation where, in wheat 
fields overgrown with panic grass and meadow foxtail, the bugs 
transferred their attention to these grasses as soon as the wheat was 
harvested. In such cases a prompt plowing of the ground would 
have placed the depredators beyond the possibility of doing any 
serious injury. If the weather at the time is hot and dry, a mower 
may be run over the stubble fields or along the borders, cutting off 
grass, weeds, and stubble, as the case may be, leaving them to dry 
in the hot sun, when, in a few hours, they will burn sufficiently to 
roast all bugs among them, and, while not destroying every individ- 
ual, this will reduce their numbers to such an extent that they will 
be unable to work any serious injury. 
DIFFICULTY OF REACHING CHINCH BUGS IN MEADOWS. 
There is, however, some doubt in regard to the practicability of 
applying these measures in timothy meadows. Meadow lands can 
be burned over with perfect safety to either the grass or clover, if 
done while the ground is frozen, but there is danger of injury if 
burned over in spring, and it is somewhat doubtful if the hibernating 
chinch bugs would be killed unless the surface of the ground was 
heated to a degree that the grass and clover plants would hardly be 
able to withstand. 
Infested areas of meadow land could be plowed, it is true, but the 
work would have to be done very carefully, else the grass and stubble 
would be left to protrude above ground along each furrow and con- 
stitute so many ladders by which the chinch bugs could easily crawl 
out and make their escape. Where the ground will admit of sub- 
soiling, or where a “‘jointer”’ plow can be used, this latter difficulty 
can be easily overcome. Usually, however, the chinch bugs work 
too irregularly in a field to permit of plowing under infested areas 
