INJURY DONE STAPLE CROPS BY INSFCT PESTS. 3 



ceded to he destroyed by this pest every year, and in 

 certain sections the loss often amounts to from 30 to 50 

 per cent. If the loss to rye and barley be put at one- 

 fourth the loss of wheat, it amounts to about 11,000,000. 

 From various estimates made at different times during 

 that period. Prof. F. M. Webster states that 1^330,000.000 

 represents the loss from the depredations of the Chinch- 

 bug since 1850, or 17,000,000 per annum, which has been 

 largely confined to the States of the Mississippi Valley. 

 Corn has a host of insect enemies. Frequently the Corn 

 Root-worm has damaged the crop to the extent of 10 to 

 20 per cent in many of the largest corn-growing States. 

 The annual loss on this crop due to insects is certainly 

 not under 5 per cent, or $37,000,000. Thus with only 

 the above figures we see an annual loss of 185,000,000 

 upon growing cereals. 



Stored Grain. — But stored grain has its insect pests also, 

 which are especially injurious in the South. Mr. F. H. 

 Chittenden, of the IT. S. Department of Agriculture, places 

 the loss on stored corn in the seven Gulf States at 

 $20,000,000, or 20 per cent of their crop. If only one- 

 fourth of this amount, or 5 per cent, of the rest of the 

 country's stored corn were thus lost, it would amount to 

 $40,000,000. Twenty million dollars, or 3 per cent of the 

 value of all other stored grain, certainly no more than 

 cover the loss sustained upon it and other stored products 

 subject to insect pests, which gives an approximate total 

 of 160,000,000 damage to stored products. 



Grass and Hay. — A host of grass and clover insects 

 damage the hay crop. Half a million dollars have fre- 

 quently been given as the loss sustained from the Army- 

 worm alone in individual States. Five per cent of the 



