CHAPTER IX. 

 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER. 



Both for its value as forage and as . a fertilizer, clover 

 holds a peculiar place among our crops. In the Mississippi 

 Valley and the Eastern States we have nothing to occupy 

 its place, and without it the farmer would be at a loss to 

 make a suitable rotation of crops. 



Some eighty-two insects have been noted as doing more 

 or less injury to the clover-plant, but hardly a dozen of 

 these can be considered as serious pests. The insects 

 doing the most injury to clover have so far not become 

 widely spread and are largely confined to certain States 

 and latitudes. Bat in these sections they have often been 

 exceedingly destructive, and they seem to be constantly 

 spreading. 



INJURIN^G THE ROOT. 



The Clover Root-borer [Hylastes obsciirus Marsh). 



This is the only serious pest preying upon the roots, but 

 on account of the difficulty with which it is fought makes 

 a formidable opposition to the successful growth of the 

 crop. Thus in the southern part of Michigan hardly one- 

 half a crop was secured in 1894 on account of its ravages. 

 Though the l^eetles have been well known in Europe for 

 over a century, their habits there seem to be but little 



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