﻿6o 
  

  

  MIDSUMMER 
  MEASURES 
  AGAINST 
  THE 
  CHINCH-BUG. 
  

  

  Well-considered 
  and 
  successful 
  artificial 
  measures 
  for 
  the 
  destruc- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  injurious 
  insects 
  are 
  most 
  commonly 
  based 
  upon 
  an 
  exact 
  

   knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  life 
  history 
  and 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  insects 
  themselves. 
  

   The 
  case 
  is 
  rare 
  indeed 
  in 
  which 
  such 
  knowledge 
  does 
  not 
  reveal 
  a 
  

   weak 
  point 
  during 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  which 
  puts 
  the 
  insect 
  

   enemy 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  completely 
  at 
  our 
  mercy. 
  Such 
  a 
  weak 
  point 
  in 
  

   the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  chinch-bug 
  is 
  its 
  preference 
  in 
  spring 
  for 
  growing 
  

   wheat, 
  rye, 
  and 
  barley 
  as 
  food 
  plants, 
  and 
  the 
  consequent 
  concentra- 
  

   tion, 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  complete, 
  of 
  the 
  new 
  generation 
  in 
  such 
  fields 
  of 
  

   grain 
  at 
  harvest 
  time. 
  Few 
  of 
  the 
  bugs 
  having 
  by 
  this 
  time 
  devel- 
  

   oped 
  wings, 
  the 
  mass 
  of 
  them 
  are 
  unable 
  to 
  fly, 
  and 
  are 
  comiDelled, 
  

   with 
  the 
  ripening 
  of 
  the 
  grain, 
  to 
  leave 
  the 
  fields 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  were 
  

   bred, 
  traveling 
  on 
  foot 
  in 
  search 
  of 
  food 
  elsewhere, 
  and 
  making 
  their 
  

   way 
  most 
  commonly 
  into 
  oats 
  or 
  corn 
  adjacent. 
  These 
  facts 
  long 
  ago 
  

   suggested 
  to 
  farmers 
  what 
  indeed 
  is 
  the 
  oldest 
  of 
  all 
  methods 
  of 
  

   attack 
  upon 
  the 
  chinch-bug 
  — 
  the 
  making 
  of 
  dusty 
  furrows, 
  impas- 
  

   sable 
  by 
  small 
  insects 
  on 
  foot, 
  around 
  the 
  infested 
  field 
  of 
  wheat, 
  

   rye, 
  or 
  barley, 
  or 
  at 
  least 
  between 
  such 
  fields 
  and 
  threatened 
  fields 
  

   of 
  corn 
  l)eside 
  them. 
  The 
  common 
  method 
  has 
  always 
  been 
  essen- 
  

   tially 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  one 
  often 
  used 
  against 
  the 
  army 
  worm 
  — 
  the 
  mak- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  a 
  shallow 
  ditch 
  or 
  furrow 
  in 
  the 
  dusty 
  earth 
  by 
  dragging 
  back 
  

   and 
  forth 
  a 
  log 
  through 
  the 
  plowed 
  ground, 
  continuing 
  this 
  pro- 
  

   cedure 
  to 
  arrest 
  and 
  destroy 
  the 
  bugs 
  as 
  they 
  seek 
  to 
  escape 
  from 
  the 
  

   small 
  grain. 
  They 
  are 
  commonly 
  killed 
  in 
  such 
  furrows 
  by 
  exposure 
  

   to 
  the 
  heat 
  and 
  dust, 
  or 
  are 
  mechanically 
  crushed 
  by 
  the 
  log, 
  and. 
  at 
  

   any 
  rate, 
  are 
  prevented 
  from 
  entering 
  the 
  field, 
  because 
  they 
  are 
  

   unable 
  to 
  climb 
  the 
  dusty 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  furrow 
  into 
  which 
  they 
  have 
  

   fallen. 
  This 
  method 
  requires, 
  however, 
  the 
  constant 
  service 
  of 
  a 
  man 
  

   and 
  horse, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  rendered 
  useless 
  by 
  even 
  so 
  much 
  as 
  a 
  gentle 
  

   shower 
  of 
  rain, 
  which, 
  by 
  packing 
  the 
  dusty 
  surface, 
  permits 
  the 
  bugs 
  

   to 
  cross 
  the 
  furrow 
  freely. 
  

  

  A 
  modification 
  of 
  this 
  method, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  dusty 
  furrow 
  is 
  re- 
  

   placed 
  by 
  coal-tar 
  poured 
  in 
  a 
  slender 
  line 
  along 
  the 
  ground 
  or 
  

   smeared 
  upon 
  fence 
  boards 
  set 
  upon 
  edge, 
  was 
  introduced 
  many 
  years 
  

   ago, 
  first 
  in 
  McLean 
  county, 
  in 
  this 
  State,* 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  

   able 
  to 
  learn. 
  In 
  this 
  method 
  the 
  bugs 
  are 
  trapped 
  by 
  digging 
  post- 
  

   holes 
  at 
  intervals 
  along 
  the 
  belt 
  of 
  coal-tar, 
  into 
  which 
  they 
  fall 
  as 
  

  

  * 
  See 
  Second 
  Report 
  of 
  Dr. 
  LcBaron 
  as 
  State 
  Entomoloyrist 
  of 
  Illinois, 
  pp. 
  A46 
  and 
  147. 
  

  

  