63 
No visible injury to the corn resulted from the use of any of 
these preparations, except in a single instance, where the emulsion 
diluted with soapsuds was poured on the leaves of a young hill of 
corn. Settling in the bases of the leaves where they were rolled 
together, the water evaporated, leaving the soap in a very strong 
solution, and this wilted the leaves and killed the top of the stalk. 
“ 
As a general result of these various experiments with kerosene 
mixtures upon the chinch-bug, it may be said that a simple 
mechanical mixture of water and three per cent. of kerosene, is 
deadly to bugs of all ages, and does not injure half-grown corn if 
the fluid is kept well shaken up. It is possible that on more tender 
vegetation it might be necessary to protect the plant by first making 
an emulsion of the oil with milk or soapsuds, which can then be 
diluted freely with water or suds to any desired extent. The soap 
in the suds emulsion seems, however, partly to mask the kerosene. 
at least when common hard soap is used. Soapsuds in the propor- 
tion of one pound of soap to twenty gallons of water was found a 
better diluent for the emulsion than water, but should not be appled 
to plants which will catch and hold a portion of it for any length 
of time. The evaporation of the water will so increase the streneth 
of the suds as to injure the plant. 
When applied by pouring or sprinkling, about one-half pint of 
fluid to each hill of corn was needed to destroy the bugs, from the 
eround to a height of about two feet. If some device for throwing 
a& spray was used, a much smaller quantity would doubtless suffice. 
As refined petroleum sells for about twelve cents per gallon when 
bought by the barrel, the cost of an effective mixture would be 
about four mills per gallon, or not far from $8 for a quantity suffi- 
cient to treat an acre of corn. By using cheaper grades of petro- 
leum and more. effective modes of application, the cost per acre 
could doubtless be reduced to about $5, exclusive of the labor of 
distribution. The average value of an acre of corn atthe time when it 
is usually attacked by the bugs is estimated by intelligent farmers at 
$15, and it therefore seems likely that it will sometimes pay to 
fight the bugs in the corn-field with kerosene,—at any rate where 
water is abundant and convenient, and the necessary labor can 
be had. 
Further experiments are needed to determine the best apparatus 
of distribution and the cost of actual application. A sprinkler to 
be drawn by one horse between the rows could easily be devised 
which would answer a very good purpose, going over the field at 
least as fast as a one-horse plow; but spraying machines similar 
to those used in southern cotton-fields would probably be more 
effective. 
{t is also not impossible that this fluid could be made useful in 
fields of small grain, especially as the chinch-bug appears first in 
patches here and there, spreading from these gradually through the 
field. 
