420 THE WHEAT CTJLTURIST. 



called " Mormon lice." See Dr. A. Fitch on Insects, 

 and Klippart's Wheat Plant. 



Dr. Sherman, of Waukegan, Illinois, after a patient 

 series of microscopical observations, made a discovery 

 which will snrely interest wheat-growers who have been 

 troubled by the chinch-bug pest. His investigations 

 have shown that the seed wheat or kernel was used as 

 a sort of " foster-mother " by the bug ; and that in all 

 wheat grown upon land where there are bugs, there is 

 deposited, in the fuzzy end of the kernel, a large quan- 

 tity of eggs, which produce the bugs next season. It 

 follows that, if the kernel of seed wheat is the general 

 depository of the eggs of the chinch bug, our farmers 

 have been sowing the pest each year, as regularly as 

 they have their wheat ; and if such is the case, the erad- 

 ication of the bug will be easily accomplished either 

 by sowing no wheat that has been in contact with the 

 bug, or by steeping the seed in some solution before 

 sowing, which will destroy the larva. If this remedy 

 fails, when the seed has been selected for a few years, 

 according to directions in Chapter III., the wheat crop 

 must fall a prey to these devouring insects. 



It will be an interesting exercise to read all that 

 may be said about the numerous insects injurious to 

 growing wheat, in the books alluded to above. But, 

 after all that can be said, the practical consideration is, 

 What can ~be done to prevent or escape their ravages f 

 I answer, for the third and last time, Save your seed 

 with care ; select varieties that are insect-proof, if pos- 

 sible ; sow the seed at the most auspicious period ; and 

 fatten the soil with rich manure. Let wheat culture 

 receive the same attention that breeders of choice ani- 

 mals give to rearing improved stock. 



