28 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF 



kites of old experienced at the hands of avenging Israel. He will 

 then know that, even if he is himself powerless to make head against 

 a host of minute foes, as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and 

 as destructive and irresistible as the w r aves of the great ocean itself, 

 Providence has provided a check upon the unlimited increase of his 

 enemies; and that a Power which is above us all and provides for us 

 all, and which alloweth not even a sparrow to fall to the ground un- 

 less by His especial permission, has said to every vegetable-feeding 

 insect, through the mouths of the various Cannibal and Parasitic spe- 

 cies which He has appointed to do His work : " Thus far shalt thou go, 

 and no farther ; and here shall thy proud hosts be stayed." 



The common Quail of the Middle and Western States (Orf//,v 

 Yirginiana) otherwise known as the Partridge in the Northern States 

 has long since been known as a most efficient destroyer of Chinch 

 Bugs, and the fact was some time ago published by myself in the 

 Prairie f armer, and by others in various Agricultural Journals and 

 .Reports. We also have the corroborative testimony of Dr Shimer, 

 who is a good ornithologist. In the winter time, when hard pushed 

 for food, this bird must devour immense numbers of the little pests 

 which winter in just such situations as are frequented by the Quail; 

 and this bird should be protected from the gun of the sportsman in 

 every State where the Chinch Bug is known to run riot. 



AMOUNT OP DAMAGE DONE BY THE CHINCH BUG. 



According to Dr. Shimer's estimate, which may be considered a 

 reasonable one, in the year 1864 " three-fourths of the wheat and one- 

 half of the corn crop were destroyed by the Chinch Bug throughout 

 many extensive districts, comprising almost the entire Northwest." 

 At the average annual rate of increase, according to the United 

 States Census, in the State of Illinois, the wheat crop of 1864 ought 

 to have been about thirty millions of bushels, and the corn-crop about 

 one hundred and thirty-eight million bushels. Putting the cash 

 value of wheat at $1.25 and that of corn at 50 cents, the cash value 

 of the corn and wheat destroyed by this insignificant little bug, no 

 bigger than a grain of rice, in one single State and in one single year, 

 will therefore, according to the above figures, foot up to the astound- 

 ing total Of OVER SEVENTY-THREE MILLIONS OP DOLLARS ! Put it as low as 



we choose, it is still a " big thing; " and it is unnecessary to argue a 

 question any further, when facts and figures speak so plainly. 



REMEDIES AGAINST THE CHINCH BUG. 



It has long been noticed that the Chinch Bug commences its rav- 

 ages in the spring from the edges of a piece of grain, or occasionally 

 from one or more small patches, scattered at random in the more cen- 

 tral portions of it, and usually drier than the rest of the field. From 

 these particular parts it subsequently spreads by degrees over the 

 whole field, multiplying as it goes and finally taking the entire crop 

 unless checked up by seasonable rains. In newly-broken land, 



