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  23. 
  Are 
  the\^ 
  capable 
  of 
  artificial 
  cultivation 
  on 
  inanimate 
  sub- 
  

   stances 
  and 
  under 
  conditions 
  which 
  make 
  artificial 
  cultures 
  economic- 
  

   ally 
  available 
  for 
  their 
  distribution 
  to 
  insects? 
  

  

  24. 
  Does 
  repeated 
  artificial 
  cultivation 
  in 
  any 
  way 
  diminish 
  their 
  

   virulence 
  as 
  parasites? 
  

  

  25. 
  Are 
  all 
  stages 
  of 
  the 
  insect 
  equally 
  suljject 
  to 
  their 
  action, 
  

   particularly, 
  may 
  they 
  infest 
  the 
  egg? 
  

  

  26. 
  What 
  are 
  the 
  conditions, 
  favorable 
  and 
  unfavorable 
  (maxi- 
  

   mum, 
  minimum 
  and 
  optimum 
  temperatures, 
  and 
  the 
  like) 
  to 
  their 
  

   propagation 
  and 
  continuance 
  among 
  chinch-bugs? 
  

  

  27. 
  How 
  are 
  they 
  propagated 
  in 
  nature, 
  and 
  how 
  and 
  where 
  are 
  

   they 
  preserved 
  under 
  unfavorable 
  external 
  conditions, 
  or 
  during 
  

   intervals 
  of 
  quiescence 
  of 
  the 
  disease? 
  

  

  28. 
  Is 
  it 
  possible 
  that 
  the 
  spread 
  of 
  these 
  diseases 
  in 
  the 
  field 
  

   may 
  be 
  arrested 
  by 
  heavy 
  tlooding 
  rains 
  which 
  may 
  have 
  the 
  effect 
  

   to 
  carry 
  away 
  the 
  spores 
  and 
  to 
  bury 
  dead 
  and 
  fungus-covered 
  bugs 
  

   in 
  the 
  earth? 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  an 
  illustrative, 
  but 
  not 
  by 
  any 
  means 
  exhaustive 
  list 
  of 
  

   the 
  questions 
  which 
  press 
  upon 
  the 
  attention 
  of 
  the 
  serious 
  student 
  

   of 
  the 
  relations 
  of 
  this 
  insect 
  pest 
  to 
  the 
  agriculture 
  of 
  interior 
  

   North 
  America, 
  answers 
  to 
  most 
  or 
  all 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  necessary 
  before 
  

   we 
  can 
  say 
  finally 
  and 
  with 
  the 
  authority 
  of 
  positive 
  knowledge 
  

   what 
  can 
  or 
  can 
  not 
  be 
  done 
  by 
  way 
  of 
  relief. 
  

  

  A 
  number 
  of 
  these 
  questions 
  have 
  been 
  answered 
  partially 
  or 
  fully 
  

   in 
  my 
  earlier 
  Reports, 
  beginning 
  with 
  the 
  first 
  (the 
  Twelfth 
  from 
  

   this 
  office, 
  published 
  for 
  1882). 
  In 
  the 
  various 
  articles 
  of 
  these 
  Re- 
  

   ports 
  information 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  showing 
  the 
  unequal 
  effect 
  of 
  wet 
  

   weather 
  ujion 
  chinch-bugs 
  of 
  various 
  stages, 
  including 
  the 
  egg; 
  the 
  

   effect 
  of 
  violent 
  and 
  flooding 
  rains 
  to 
  scatter 
  and 
  disperse 
  these 
  in- 
  

   sects; 
  the 
  effect 
  of 
  rains 
  to 
  promote 
  contagious 
  diseases, 
  especially 
  

   those 
  due 
  to 
  Entomophthora 
  and 
  Sporotrichum; 
  the 
  injurious 
  effect 
  

   of 
  intense 
  and 
  protracted 
  summer 
  heat 
  on 
  bugs 
  of 
  all 
  ages; 
  the 
  occa- 
  

   sional 
  injurious 
  effect 
  of 
  long 
  protracted 
  midsummer 
  drouth; 
  the 
  

   effect 
  upon 
  the 
  numl)ers 
  of 
  these 
  insects 
  of 
  various 
  schemes 
  of 
  crop- 
  

   ping 
  and 
  methods 
  of 
  agricultural 
  management; 
  together 
  with 
  a 
  con- 
  

   siderable 
  mass 
  of 
  matter 
  relating 
  to 
  all 
  known 
  contagious 
  diseases 
  of 
  

   the 
  chinch-bug 
  and 
  their 
  practical 
  application 
  in 
  the 
  field. 
  It 
  must 
  

   be 
  said, 
  however, 
  that 
  the 
  data 
  for 
  complete 
  and 
  conclusive 
  answers 
  

   to 
  scarcely 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  foregoing 
  questions 
  as 
  yet 
  exist. 
  Field 
  ob- 
  

   servations 
  of 
  a 
  close, 
  continuous, 
  and 
  thoroughly 
  intelligent 
  char- 
  

   acter, 
  and 
  field 
  experiments 
  likewise, 
  carried 
  out 
  by 
  the 
  precise 
  and 
  

   persistent 
  methods 
  of 
  our 
  best 
  agricultural 
  experiment 
  stations, 
  are 
  

   especially 
  to 
  be 
  desired, 
  and 
  can 
  hardly 
  fail 
  to 
  contribute 
  to 
  knowl- 
  

   edge 
  in 
  whatever 
  direction 
  they 
  may 
  be 
  made. 
  

  

  The 
  field 
  observations 
  of 
  1896 
  here 
  reported 
  and 
  discussed 
  were 
  

   made 
  by 
  three 
  regular 
  Assistants 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  Laboratory 
  of 
  Natural 
  

   History, 
  B. 
  M. 
  Duggar, 
  W. 
  G. 
  Johnson, 
  and 
  W. 
  A. 
  Snow, 
  and 
  by 
  H. 
  

   O. 
  Woodworth, 
  temporarily 
  engaged 
  for 
  the 
  purpose. 
  The 
  labora- 
  

  

  