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78 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
- appeal is made to the entomologist for relief, and at such times it ix’ ‘ 
usually by far the most difficult thing to giveany advice. A wheat- 
field full of Chinch Bugs is as disagreeable a sight to the economic 
entomologist as it is to the farmer who owns it, for nothing can be 
done to save it. If the hand of Providence should interpose with a 
long-continued drenching rain, relief would be gained, but in almost_ 
no other way can the crops be saved. 
Trrigation.—\t was the fact just mentioned which led Professor 
Riley, in his Seventh Rept. Ins. Mo., to strongly recommend irri- 
gation where it can be practiced. He says: “Irrigation, where .it 
ean be applied—and it can be in much of the territory in the vicinity _ 
of the Rocky Mountains, where the insect commits sad havoc, and 
with a little effort in many regions in the heart of the Mississippi 
Valley—is the only really available, practicable remedy after the bugs 
have commenced multiplying in the spring. Iwish to lay particular 
stress on this matter of irrigation, believing as I do, that itis an 
effectual antidote against this pest, and that by overflowing a grain- 
field for a couple of days, or by saturating the ground for as many 
more in the month of May, we may effectually prevent its subsequent 
injuries. * * * Wecan not, at the critical moment, expect much 
aid from its natural enemies, for these are few, and attack it mostly 
in the winter time. We must, therefore, in our warfare with this 
pest, depend mainly on preventive measures where irrigation is im- 
possible.” 
Later (Amer. Agriculturist, Dec., 1881, also Ann. Rept. as Ento- 
mologist, Dept. Agr., for 1881-82, pp. 88, 59) he expressed himself 
even more explicitly upon this subject: 
‘‘T have found no occasion to change my opinion as to the value 
and potency of irrigation as a remedy for Chinch-bug injuries, a 
remedy, too, that is within the reach of most farmers; for there are 
few who might not, with the aid of proper windmills, obtain the water 
requisite for irrigating their fields at the needed time, while many 
have natural irrigating facilities. I have repeatedly laid stress in 
my writings on the importance of irrigation in combatting several 
of our worst insect enemies, and, aside trom its benefits in this direc- 
tion, every recurrence of a droughty year, such as the present, in 
large portions of the United States, convinces me of its importance as 
a means of guarding against failure of crops from excessive drought. 
Iam glad to know that many farmers, and especially small fruit- 
growers in the vicinity of New York, are preparing in one way or an- 
other for irrigation whenever it becomes necessary, and I was pleased 
to hear Dr. Hexamer, at the late meeting of the American Pomo- 
logical Society, urge a general system of irrigation as the most profit- 
able investment the cultivator can make in a climate subject to such 
periods of drought as ours is known to be.” 
Burning.—In addition to winter burning the remedy can be used 
to good effect in other cases. For instance, where the attack of the 
bugs appears to be confined to a definite portion of the field, that por- 
tion should be overlaid with straw and burned, if not toolarge. An- 
other pertinent suggestion is made by Dr. Thomas in Bulletin 5, U.S. 
E. C., and this hasthe indorsement of practical use by certain Illinois 
farmers. ‘If itis found at the time wheat is harvested that the bugs 
havenot taken their departure, as is the case in the winter-wheat sec- 
tion, this fact may be taken advantage of to destroy avery large portion 
of them. Ifthe wheat is at once threshed and the straw scattered 
over the stubble and burned, it will destroy all or most of those that 
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