﻿HISTORY 
  OF 
  THE 
  DISEASES 
  IN 
  THE 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  199 
  

  

  In 
  a 
  paper 
  in 
  Psyche, 
  September-October, 
  1888, 
  Vol. 
  v, 
  p. 
  110, 
  Professor 
  

   Forbes 
  announces 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  a 
  new 
  fungus 
  disease 
  due 
  to 
  a 
  Botrytis 
  

   [Sporotrichurri], 
  which 
  disease 
  has 
  "not 
  hitherto 
  been 
  recognized." 
  He 
  re- 
  

   ports 
  the 
  chinch-bugs 
  in 
  southern 
  Illinois 
  being 
  rapidly 
  destroyed 
  by 
  this 
  

   new 
  disease. 
  "Both 
  the 
  Botrytis 
  [Sporotrichuni] 
  and 
  Entomophthora 
  finally 
  

   imbed 
  the 
  insect 
  in 
  a 
  white 
  fungus. 
  The 
  former 
  has 
  been 
  much 
  the 
  more 
  

   abundant 
  and 
  destructive 
  in 
  Illinois, 
  though 
  apparently 
  less 
  so 
  at 
  present 
  

   than 
  the 
  bacterial 
  form. 
  It 
  seems 
  likely 
  that 
  the 
  disease 
  will 
  soon 
  suppress 
  

   an 
  outbreak 
  which, 
  in 
  view 
  of 
  its 
  certainty 
  and 
  destructiveness, 
  probably 
  has 
  

   no 
  parallel 
  in 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  this 
  insect." 
  In 
  notes 
  in 
  Prairie 
  Farmer, 
  Octo- 
  

   ber 
  6, 
  1888, 
  Vol. 
  lx, 
  p. 
  650, 
  Professor 
  Forbes 
  states 
  that 
  chinch-bugs 
  are 
  

   being 
  rapidly 
  carried 
  away, 
  in 
  every 
  place 
  lately 
  visited 
  in 
  southern 
  Illinois, 
  

   by 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  diseases, 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  those 
  which 
  heralded 
  the 
  disappearance 
  

   of 
  the 
  chinch-bug 
  in 
  central 
  Illinois 
  in 
  1882. 
  One 
  imbeds 
  the 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  

   insect 
  in 
  a 
  white 
  fungus, 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  these 
  "mouldy" 
  chinch-bugs 
  being 
  

   so 
  great 
  in 
  some 
  fields 
  that 
  the 
  ground 
  is 
  whitened 
  as 
  if 
  by 
  a 
  flurry 
  of 
  snow. 
  

   The 
  other 
  disease 
  is 
  recognizable 
  only 
  by 
  experts, 
  but 
  more 
  general 
  and 
  de- 
  

   structive, 
  characterized 
  by 
  bacteria 
  in 
  alimentary 
  canal, 
  and 
  has 
  produced 
  a 
  

   very 
  great 
  diminution 
  in 
  numbers 
  of 
  chinch-bugs 
  where 
  it 
  prevails. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  same 
  year 
  (1888), 
  in 
  the 
  Farmers' 
  Review, 
  October 
  31, 
  Vol. 
  xix, 
  

   p. 
  692, 
  in 
  reply 
  to 
  a 
  letter 
  of 
  inquiry 
  from 
  the 
  editor, 
  Professor 
  Forbes 
  repeated 
  

   subtantially 
  his 
  remarks 
  printed 
  in 
  Psyche, 
  and 
  added 
  that 
  the 
  Botrytis 
  and 
  

   Entomophthora 
  diseases 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  propagate 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  minute 
  dust-like 
  

   spores 
  (growing 
  on 
  the 
  bodies 
  of 
  the 
  dead 
  insects), 
  which 
  are 
  communicated 
  

   to 
  healthy 
  bugs 
  through 
  their 
  air 
  tubes 
  or 
  by 
  falling 
  on 
  their 
  bodies. 
  He 
  

   said: 
  

  

  Nothing 
  very 
  positive 
  can 
  be 
  said 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  usefulness 
  of 
  these 
  diseases; 
  but 
  in 
  

   1865, 
  in 
  northern 
  Illinois, 
  a 
  chinch-bug 
  army 
  disappeared 
  with 
  a 
  disorder 
  that 
  may 
  

   have 
  been 
  identical 
  with 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  fungus 
  diseases 
  lately 
  observed, 
  and 
  in 
  1882 
  the 
  

   bacterial 
  affection 
  noticed 
  this 
  year 
  prevailed 
  generally 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Blooming- 
  

   ton 
  and 
  Champaign 
  ( 
  HI.), 
  the 
  chinch-bugs 
  the 
  following 
  year 
  being 
  reduced 
  to 
  insig- 
  

   nificance 
  in 
  those 
  regions. 
  No 
  traces 
  of 
  disease 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  extreme 
  southern 
  

   part 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  and 
  no 
  reports 
  of 
  their 
  appearance 
  have 
  come 
  from 
  northern 
  

   Illinois. 
  Entomological 
  observers 
  report 
  the 
  diseases 
  in 
  Minnesota, 
  Iowa, 
  and 
  Ohio. 
  

  

  An 
  important 
  conti'ibution 
  to 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  chinch-bug 
  diseases 
  is 
  the 
  brief 
  

   account 
  given 
  in 
  Bulletin 
  No. 
  4 
  of 
  the 
  University 
  of 
  Minnesota 
  Agricultural 
  

   Experiment 
  Station, 
  October, 
  1888, 
  of 
  the 
  observations 
  and 
  experiments 
  of 
  

   Dr. 
  Otto 
  Lugger. 
  The 
  fields 
  of 
  the 
  experiment 
  station 
  were 
  badly 
  infested 
  

   with 
  chinch-bugs. 
  To 
  quote 
  from 
  Dr. 
  Lugger's 
  paper: 
  

  

  Oats, 
  rye, 
  wheat 
  and 
  some 
  grass 
  were 
  utterly 
  destroyed 
  by 
  them, 
  and 
  the 
  young 
  and 
  

   promising 
  corn 
  formed 
  now 
  a 
  standing 
  invitation 
  to 
  the 
  hungry 
  hordes. 
  To 
  prevent 
  

   their 
  inroads, 
  all 
  the 
  infested 
  fields 
  and 
  experimental 
  plots 
  were 
  surrounded 
  by 
  a 
  low 
  

   board 
  fence 
  six 
  inches 
  high, 
  and 
  snugly 
  fitted 
  to 
  the 
  ground, 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  prevent 
  the 
  in- 
  

   sects 
  from 
  crossing 
  under 
  this 
  fence. 
  The 
  upper 
  edges 
  of 
  the 
  boards 
  were 
  painted 
  

   from 
  time 
  to 
  time 
  with 
  tar, 
  which 
  prevented 
  the 
  bugs 
  from 
  crossing. 
  The 
  insects 
  were 
  

   at 
  this 
  time 
  of 
  all 
  sizes 
  and 
  ages; 
  adults 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  brood, 
  eggs, 
  young 
  hatched 
  bugs, 
  

  

  