﻿OBSERVATIONS 
  OF 
  1888. 
  

  

  Although 
  this 
  report 
  is 
  primarily 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  my 
  observations 
  and 
  ex- 
  

   periments 
  of 
  1891, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  of 
  advantage 
  to 
  offer 
  a 
  brief 
  resume 
  of 
  my 
  work 
  

   since 
  the 
  epidemic 
  diseases 
  of 
  the 
  chinch-bug 
  first 
  attracted 
  my 
  attention. 
  

  

  Having 
  paid 
  especial 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  ravages 
  of 
  the 
  chinch-bug 
  in 
  Kan- 
  

   sas 
  for 
  several 
  years, 
  I 
  called 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  facts 
  relating 
  

   to 
  this 
  pest 
  in 
  an 
  article 
  in 
  the 
  Fifth 
  Biennial 
  Report 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  Board 
  of 
  

   Agriculture 
  (1885-'86), 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  second 
  article 
  in 
  the 
  quarterly 
  report 
  of 
  the 
  

   board 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  quarter 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  1888. 
  In 
  the 
  second 
  article 
  I 
  ventured 
  

   the 
  opinion, 
  based 
  on 
  meteorological 
  data, 
  that 
  the 
  season 
  of 
  1888 
  would 
  wit- 
  

   ness 
  a 
  marked 
  reduction 
  in 
  the 
  destruction 
  accomplished 
  by 
  the 
  chinch-bug. 
  

   This 
  opinion 
  was 
  founded 
  upon 
  the 
  expectation 
  that 
  the 
  rainfall 
  would 
  be 
  

   more 
  abundant 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  two 
  jn'eceding 
  years, 
  and 
  drown 
  out 
  the 
  bugs. 
  

   There 
  was, 
  indeed, 
  in 
  1888, 
  a 
  remarkable 
  destruction 
  of 
  chinch-bugs, 
  but 
  my 
  

   ultimate 
  opinion 
  concerning 
  the 
  cause 
  of 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  that 
  expressed 
  in 
  my 
  pre- 
  

   diction. 
  In 
  a 
  third 
  article 
  on 
  the 
  chinch-bug, 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  Sixth 
  Biennial 
  

   Report 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  Board 
  of 
  Agriculture 
  (1887-88), 
  I 
  first 
  expressed 
  my 
  

   belief 
  that 
  an 
  epidemic 
  contagious 
  disease 
  was 
  prevalent 
  among 
  Kansas 
  

   chinch-bugs. 
  Referring 
  to 
  my 
  prediction 
  in 
  the 
  second 
  article, 
  and 
  to 
  my 
  ob- 
  

   servations 
  in 
  1888, 
  1 
  said 
  in 
  this 
  third 
  article 
  on 
  the 
  chinch-bug 
  (p. 
  205): 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  observed 
  all 
  through 
  the 
  eastern 
  counties 
  that 
  from 
  some 
  unknown 
  cause 
  

   there 
  was 
  a 
  sudden 
  and 
  almost 
  complete 
  disappearance 
  of 
  the 
  hordes 
  of 
  chinch-bugs 
  

   while 
  the 
  dry 
  weather 
  of 
  April 
  and 
  May 
  was 
  still 
  at 
  its 
  height. 
  Fields 
  of 
  wheat 
  and 
  

   oats 
  were 
  so 
  disastrously 
  attacked 
  that 
  their 
  owners 
  were 
  already 
  beginning 
  to 
  plow 
  

   them 
  under, 
  when 
  there 
  was 
  an 
  apparently 
  mysterious 
  annihilation 
  of 
  the 
  ravaging 
  

   hosts 
  — 
  the 
  grain 
  began 
  to 
  revive, 
  and 
  the 
  farmers 
  were 
  able 
  to 
  reap 
  bountiful 
  crops 
  

   where 
  their 
  anticipations 
  had 
  foreboded 
  an 
  almost 
  total 
  loss. 
  An 
  investigation 
  of 
  

   the 
  unknown 
  cause 
  of 
  the 
  disappearance 
  of 
  the 
  chinch-bug 
  over 
  so 
  large 
  an 
  area 
  

   has 
  led 
  me 
  to 
  the 
  conviction 
  that 
  there 
  was 
  really 
  no 
  mystery 
  connected 
  with 
  this 
  

   most 
  fortunate 
  occurrence. 
  Insects 
  do 
  not 
  die 
  before 
  their 
  time 
  unless 
  cut 
  off 
  by 
  

   causes 
  which 
  may 
  be 
  made 
  known. 
  The 
  cause 
  which 
  so 
  opportunely 
  removed 
  our 
  

   malodorous 
  enemies 
  in 
  May 
  and 
  June, 
  1888, 
  was 
  without 
  doubt 
  an 
  epidemic 
  conta- 
  

   gious 
  disease, 
  which 
  operated 
  with 
  even 
  greater 
  destructiveness 
  upon 
  these 
  liliputian 
  

   insects 
  than 
  did 
  the 
  " 
  black 
  plague 
  " 
  upon 
  the 
  human 
  race 
  in 
  the 
  seventeenth 
  and 
  

   eighteenth 
  centuries, 
  before 
  its 
  cause 
  had 
  been 
  discovered, 
  and 
  the 
  modern 
  methods 
  

   of 
  prevention 
  and 
  restriction 
  had 
  been 
  inaugurated. 
  

  

  I 
  referred 
  in 
  this 
  paper 
  to 
  the 
  observations 
  of 
  Doctor 
  Shimer, 
  Professor 
  

   Forbes, 
  and 
  Doctor 
  Lugger. 
  (See 
  "History 
  of 
  Microphytous 
  Diseases 
  among 
  

   Chinch-bugs 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States," 
  this 
  report.) 
  

  

  I 
  concluded 
  my 
  remarks 
  by 
  expressing 
  the 
  opinion 
  that, 
  "in 
  the 
  warfare 
  

   of 
  man 
  against 
  his 
  insect 
  foes, 
  a 
  most 
  valuable 
  ally 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  bac- 
  

   terial 
  and 
  fungoid 
  diseases 
  which 
  may 
  be 
  artificially 
  introduced 
  when 
  nature 
  

   fails 
  to 
  come 
  to 
  our 
  aid." 
  

  

  (7) 
  

  

  