FALSE CHINCH BUG. 3 
about $18, should be employed for this purpose. The ordinary 
plumber’s torches are not satisfactory for field work, as they are 
almost certain to become overheated so that the operator can not 
use them, and in a short time the heat destroys their usefulness. 
The value of hand torches for insecticidal purposes is extremely 
limited, and growers are apt to expect too much from their use. 
They are applicable to only a few forms of insects, of which the 
present species is one. 
DESTRUCTION BY CONTACT POISONS. 
Adults which attack cabbages or sugar beets are readily killed by 
a spray of about 1 pound of fish-oil soap or strong laundry soap to 
5 gallons of water. On turnips and radishes such a solution is too 
strong, and a solution of 1 pound of soap in 10 gallons of water with 1 
part of nicotine sulphate in 1,000 parts of water should be used. 
Other crops whose resistance to strong soap solutions is not known 
should be treated with the latter solution. Those insects that survive 
the first treatment soon collect on other plants, where they may be 
destroyed by another spraying. 
To spray an infested plant successfully it must be approached 
without disturbing the bugs and the nozzle held high enough above 
it to allow the cone of spray to surround the plant. The spray 
should then be turned on and the nozzle gradually lowered in order 
to wet the bugs on the ground, after which it should be directed 
among the leaves to wet those which are sheltered. It is best to 
attach the nozzle to the end of a 4-foot rod and to set it at right 
angles to the rod by means of an elbow. 
CAPTURING THE BUGS ON STICKY SHIELDS. 
A sticky shield for capturing the false chinch bug on plants that 
can not be sprayed has been developed by Mr. H. O. Marsh, of the 
Bureau of Entomology, and Mr. W. W. Tracy, jr., Bureau of Plant 
Industry, working at Rocky Ford, Colo. This shield consists of 
burlap, or gunny, stretched over a back of thin boards and protected 
by poultry netting which is tacked to end pieces 1 by 4 inches. Crude 
petroleum is spread on the burlap and sprinkled with kerosene to 
soften it. The shield is then held alongside the infested plant and 
the bugs driven onto it by striking the other side of the plant with 
a beater made of a piece of canvas tacked to a flat handle. The 
netting prevents the plant from brushing the oil off of the shield, 
but does not interfere with the bugs darting against it and sticking 
in the oil, or at least becoming sufficiently smeared to insure their 
-death. The diagram (fig. 2) illustrates the construction of a shield 
and beater. 
