304 



THE ESSENTIALS OF AGRICULTURE 



391. Methods of controlling the chinch bug. There are two 

 times in the year when the chinch bugs can be successfully com- 

 bated. The first occurs during the summer when the bugs migrate 

 from the small grain to corn, and the other occurs in the fall 

 after the bugs are firmly established in winter quarters. The 

 problem of summer destruction involves the necessity of con- 

 structing dry-weather 

 and wet-weather bar- 

 riers. During dry 

 weather a deep furrow 

 should be plowed around 

 the infested field just 



before harvest - The 



sides and bottom of 

 this furrow should be 



X reduced to a fine dust 



J^\(l\ Li by dragging a heavy log 



S ^K- V I / llfc\ '/s back and forth in the 



furrow. This furrow 



should be dragged every 

 day during the migra- 

 tion and the bugs de- 

 stroyed in it by burning 

 them with a gasoline 

 torch. In wet weather, 



FIG. 151. Stages in the development of the 

 chinch bug 



it is necessary to run 

 a barrier of coal tar or 

 crude oil around the 



infested field. Post holes are dug at intervals of twenty feet 

 along the inside of this barrier, and the bugs on being trapped 

 in these holes are destroyed by kerosene. 



Winter destruction involves thorough fall burning of clump- 

 forming grasses where these grasses are the principal cover. 

 When bugs are found hibernating in corn shocks and under 

 leaves and rubbish, these places should be renovated during 

 the fall so as to prevent the next spring's crop of insects. 



