30 Farmers’ Bulletin 1223. 
more difficult than to destroy them by spraying in the wheat field. 
On the completion of the wheat harvest, corn usually is of such 
size that it is difficult to get. over the field with the sprayer. If they 
have been allowed to enter the field, the bugs will be sheltered beneath 
the leaf sheaths and in the ground about the roots, some being 
entirely inaccessible. Thus, to insure hitting most of the bugs it is 
necessary to soak the plants at high pressure. The excessive amount 
of spray material necessary to reach the interior of the leaf sheaths 
is very likely severely to injure the plants. While the corn is under 
3 feet in height, much good may be done by spraying all of the area 
where the bugs are numerous, even if that should be the whole field. 
At that time the bugs.are less securely sheltered and much less liquid 
is required to cover them. Nevertheless, injury to the corn may be 
expected, although it may not be as severe as would be inflicted by 
the bugs. The precaution should be taken to spray only in the morn- 
ings and evenings or on cool, cloudy days, in order to avoid excessive 
injury to the plants. Some injury will probably result anyway, 
but the plants usually will recover inside of a week or two. 
SUBSTITUTING NONSUSCEPTIBLE CROPS FOR CORN AND SORGHUM. 
Before starting to plant corn or sorghum the farmer should know 
if any substantial infestation exists in near-by wheat, and if so he 
should be adequately prepared to defend his crops from the bugs or 
else substitute nonsusceptible crops for corn and sorghum. A non- 
susceptible crop, such as those listed below, even if not as profitable 
as a crop of corn, may be far more profitable than a chinch-bug- 
damaged crop of corn. 
The chinch bug depends entirely upon grasses and grass-like 
plants, including corn and small grains, for food. The spring brood 
must have wheat and other small grains or grasses to live upon from 
the time of emergence from hibernation until corn or similar row- 
crops are of a size to meet its needs. If the growing of corn and 
sorghum could be stopped in the semiarid regions of the West, bugs 
of the summer generation would be practically starved out and 
unable to attain serious numbers, and wheat would accordingly cease 
to be injured appreciably. Likewise, if the growing of wheat could 
be stopped, bugs of the spring generation would not have sufficient 
food on which to develop and would consequently do no great damage 
to corn. Such measures, however, are usually impracticable. 
A threatened outbreak may be avoided by substituting for corn a 
leguminous crop on which the bugs will not feed. As early as 1785 
some districts in North Carolina suffered such losses in wheat by 
chinch bugs that wheat production was abandoned. In 1809 the 
farmers of Orange County, N. C., cooperatively resorted to the 
