﻿H7 
  

  

  The 
  great 
  importance 
  of 
  making 
  widely 
  known 
  to 
  farmers 
  the 
  as- 
  

   certained 
  facts 
  concerning 
  the 
  utility 
  of 
  this 
  most 
  valuable 
  and 
  re- 
  

   liable 
  of 
  all 
  known 
  measures 
  of 
  contest 
  with 
  the 
  chinch-bug, 
  and 
  of 
  

   substantiating 
  the 
  statements 
  concerning 
  it 
  by 
  detailed 
  accounts 
  of 
  

   practical 
  experiments, 
  will 
  justify 
  still 
  further 
  discussion 
  of 
  it 
  in 
  the 
  

   light 
  of 
  our 
  latest 
  experience. 
  

  

  M)^ 
  experiments 
  in 
  1894, 
  although 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  field, 
  were 
  on 
  too 
  

   small 
  a 
  scale 
  to 
  afford 
  convincing 
  evidence 
  to 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  usefulness 
  of 
  

   this 
  method 
  as 
  applied 
  on 
  the 
  scale 
  of 
  ordinary 
  farming 
  operations. 
  

   To 
  find 
  opportunities 
  for 
  a 
  more 
  extensive 
  procedure 
  it 
  was 
  necessary 
  

   to 
  go 
  some 
  distance 
  from 
  Urbana, 
  since 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  chinch-bug 
  

   injury 
  there 
  was 
  insufficient 
  to 
  permit 
  a 
  convincing 
  test 
  of 
  measures 
  

   for 
  their 
  destruction. 
  On 
  this 
  account 
  an 
  Assistant 
  of 
  the 
  office, 
  Mr. 
  

   W. 
  G. 
  Johnson, 
  was 
  sent 
  in 
  July, 
  1895, 
  to 
  Effingham 
  (county, 
  Illinois, 
  

   with 
  instructions 
  to 
  select 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  worst 
  infested 
  fields 
  of 
  wheat 
  in 
  

   that 
  badly 
  infested 
  region, 
  and 
  to 
  carry 
  on 
  a 
  continuous 
  and 
  ener- 
  

   getic 
  contest 
  with 
  the 
  chinch-bug 
  around 
  the 
  borders 
  of 
  this 
  field 
  by 
  

   the 
  trap 
  and 
  barrier 
  method 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  kerosene 
  emulsion 
  to 
  

   destroy 
  such 
  of 
  the 
  chinch-bugs 
  as 
  might 
  escape 
  to 
  adjoining 
  fields 
  of 
  

   corn. 
  The 
  barriers 
  used 
  were 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  dusty 
  furrow, 
  with 
  post-holes 
  

   dug 
  at 
  intervals 
  as 
  traps, 
  and 
  a 
  coal-tar 
  strip, 
  similarly 
  reinforced 
  

   with 
  post-holes. 
  

  

  After 
  considerable 
  search 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Edgewood. 
  a 
  field 
  was 
  

   chosen 
  June 
  4 
  which 
  answered 
  the 
  conditions 
  admirably, 
  and 
  ar- 
  

   rangements 
  were 
  made 
  for 
  a 
  commencement 
  of 
  operations. 
  A 
  

   twenty-acre 
  field 
  of 
  winter 
  wheat 
  on 
  the 
  farm 
  of 
  William 
  Quade, 
  

   three 
  miles 
  northwest 
  of 
  Edgewood, 
  had 
  been 
  so 
  badly 
  attacked 
  by 
  

   chinch-bugs 
  that 
  the 
  wheat 
  was 
  already 
  largely 
  killed. 
  South 
  of 
  it 
  lay 
  

   a 
  field 
  of 
  corn 
  four 
  to 
  six 
  inches 
  high, 
  extending 
  its 
  whole 
  length, 
  

   but 
  separated 
  from 
  it 
  by 
  a 
  bare 
  strip 
  of 
  mellow 
  earth 
  about 
  two 
  rods 
  

   wide, 
  on 
  which 
  Hungarian 
  grass 
  had 
  failed 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  drouth. 
  

   North 
  of 
  the 
  chosen 
  field 
  of 
  wheat 
  was 
  a 
  field 
  of 
  oats, 
  east 
  of 
  it 
  were 
  

   oats 
  and 
  meadow 
  grass, 
  and 
  west 
  of 
  it 
  a 
  country 
  road. 
  Both 
  wheat 
  

   and 
  corn 
  were 
  free 
  from 
  grass 
  and 
  weeds. 
  

  

  The 
  chinch-bugs 
  in 
  the 
  wheat 
  were 
  nearly 
  all 
  young, 
  in 
  stages 
  one 
  

   to 
  three. 
  A 
  few 
  adults 
  of 
  the 
  hibernating 
  brood 
  remained, 
  and 
  some 
  

   of 
  these 
  were 
  even 
  yet 
  engaged 
  in 
  laying 
  their 
  eggs, 
  but 
  most 
  of 
  

   them 
  had 
  perished, 
  multitudes 
  of 
  their 
  dead 
  bodies 
  being 
  profusely 
  

   covered 
  with 
  the 
  so-called 
  white 
  muscardine 
  fungus, 
  Sporotrichum 
  

   (jlohiiliferum. 
  

  

  Experimental 
  operations 
  were 
  carried 
  on 
  here 
  continuously 
  from 
  

   June 
  5— 
  when 
  the 
  first 
  furrows 
  were 
  made 
  — 
  until 
  June 
  15. 
  The 
  

   weather 
  of 
  the 
  season 
  was 
  extremely 
  hot 
  but 
  somewhat 
  variable, 
  

   running 
  June 
  3 
  to 
  104" 
  Fahr. 
  in 
  the 
  shade; 
  and 
  June 
  8, 
  to 
  96° 
  in 
  

   the 
  open 
  air 
  and 
  116° 
  in 
  dust 
  exposed 
  to 
  the 
  sun. 
  On 
  the 
  10th 
  a 
  

   temperature 
  of 
  99 
  Fahr. 
  in 
  the 
  shade 
  was 
  noted 
  at 
  four 
  o'clock 
  p. 
  m.; 
  

   and 
  on 
  the 
  11th, 
  92 
  at 
  three 
  o'clock 
  p. 
  m. 
  Light 
  rain 
  fell 
  June 
  4, 
  

   and 
  a 
  heavy 
  rain 
  on 
  the 
  11th, 
  the 
  latter 
  wetting 
  the 
  earth 
  about 
  two 
  

   inches 
  deep. 
  On 
  the 
  afternoon 
  of 
  the 
  12th 
  a 
  very 
  heavy, 
  dashing 
  

   rain 
  fell 
  for 
  three 
  quarters 
  of 
  an 
  hour, 
  filling 
  the 
  field 
  ditches, 
  and 
  

  

  