08 



THE CEREALS IN AMERICA 



(2) Blue stone or copper sulphate: Immerse for ten minutes in a solution of 

 copper sulphate at the rate of one pound to five gallons of water. Allow to stand 

 for ten minutes in bag or basket to drain ; then spread and dry. Or the seed may 

 be sprinkled at the rate of one gallon of the solution to four bushels of the grain 

 sprinkling and stirring until thoroughly wet. A t the end of an hour dry. 



(3) Formalin: Treat seed by sprinkling 01 

 immersion fcr thirty minutes vsith a solution oi 

 one pound of.' formalin (forty per cent solution of 

 formaldehyde) to fifty gallons of water. 



In all treatments it is desirable first to stir seed 

 into a tub of cold water and skim off the smut balls 

 which rise to the surface. After treatment, the 

 drying may be hastened by using slaked lime, but 

 the lime is not essential. 



150. Insect Enemies of Growing 

 "Wheat. — More than one hundred spe- 

 cies of insects are known to feed upon 

 the growing wheat plant, but very- 

 few are sufficiently injurious to be 

 of economic importance. These few, 

 however, do enormous damage. 



The chinch bug has been estimated 

 to cause a loss of over a hundred 

 million dollars to wheat alone in the 

 United States in a single year.^ 



The five most important insect enemies of wheat are as 

 follows : 



(i) The chinch bug {Bliss? is leucopterus Say.) 



The Hessian fly {Cecidomyia destructor Say.) 

 The wheat bulb-worm {Meromyza americana Fitch.) 

 The wheat midge {Diplosis tritici Kirby.) 

 The wheat plant-louse {Nectarophora cerealis Kalt.) 

 Of the above, the chinch bug and the Hessian fly are by far 

 the most destructive, although the others frequently do consider- 

 able damage. Among the wheat insects of secondary importance 



1 C. L, Marlatt: The Prin:ipal Insect Enemies of Growing Wheat. U. S. Dept. 

 •f Agr., Farmers' Bui. 132, p, 6. 



Stinking smut. Single grain 

 much enlaiged on the right. 

 (After Kelierman.) 



(3) 

 (4) 

 (5) 



