13 



cality make use of the silo, and how does the number compare 

 with ten years ago ? 



106. What crops other than corn are used for ensilage, 

 and to what extent ? 



Returns were received from 128 correspondents, from 

 which the following summary has been compiled : — 



Insects. 



In a way the report on insect damage to crops was sur- 

 prising. Of the most injurious insects the reports were as 

 follows: potato beetle, T5, fairly evenly distributed over the 

 State, but showing more plainly in the western half ; elm-leaf 

 beetle, 20, reported mostly from "Worcester and Middlesex 

 counties, and slightly in all others except Berkshire, Barn- 

 stable, Dukes and K"antucket; plant lice, 11, — 4 from Mid- 

 dlesex, 3 each from Worcester and Bristol, 2 from Barn- 

 stable, and 1 each from JSTorfolk and Hampden counties; 

 squash bug, 9, from Hampshire, Hampden and Worcester 

 counties ; brown-tail and gypsy moths, 9, from the eastern 

 counties ; squash borer, 6 ; cutworms, 5 ; and scattering re- 

 ports of damage by other insects. 



That the potato beetle is reported by so many as proving 

 the most troublesome is due, first, to the facts that potatoes 

 are grown by nearly every farmer, and the insect is as widely 

 distributed, and, second, to the fact that farmers do not spray 

 early and often enough. An ounce of prevention in this 

 case is worth a pound of cure. The first spraying should be 

 done before or as soon as the adult beetles lay their first set 

 of eggs, surely before the eggs have hatched ; the second and 

 third sprayings, when necessary, should follow at intervals 

 of a week. The second brood is easily controlled in the same 

 way. 



Indian Corn. 



While a few correspondents report Indian corn as about 

 normal in condition, by far the greater number report it as 

 being two weeks or even more behind the average. Many 

 express the opinion that it will be necessary to put all the 



