SIXTEENTH ANNUiAL EEPORT OF STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 33 



known to be a favorite food plant and in view of its great power 

 of multiplying it would not be surprising if the false chinch bug 

 were to become a serious pest of the sugar beet in Montana. 



The control methods are much the same as for the true chinch 

 bug, and were brought to the attention of those who inquired. 



ALFALFA WEEVIL QUARANTINE 



An effort was made last December (1917) by growers of salt 

 grass hay in Utah to induce us to suspend or modify our quarantine 

 of hays in force because of the alfalfa weevil, and allow salt grass 

 hay to be shipped in for use as packing in place of excelsior. It 

 became evident in the course of the correspondence that we did not 

 possess sufficient information to deal intelligently with the situation 

 and that what we needed was first-hand facts. Accordingly a con- 

 ference of representatives from the various interested western States 

 was called by Governor Bamberger of Utah. Representatives were 

 present from Colorado, Idaho, California, and Montana. We met 

 at Salt Lake on June 20th and 21st and were welcomed by Governor 

 Bamberger in the Senate Chamber of the Utah State Capitol, fol- 

 lowing which a chairman and secretary were elected. In the after- 

 noon of the first day we were taken on a tour of inspection into the 

 territory where salt grass is grown and the method of handling it 

 was explained. It had been represented to us previously that no 

 alfalfa was grown in the flats where this salt grass abounds, but in 

 the course of the afternoon's trip it was found that on the drier 

 spots alfalfa was being grown and this in close proximity to where 

 salt grass was cut and stacked. Alfalfa weevils were here in abun- 

 dance in and near the alfalfa fields. It was very evident that the 

 weevils could easily make their way to the neighborhood of the 

 stacks where, as the salt grass is baled like ordinary hay, the weevils 

 could easily be included in the bales. The delegates agreed, there- 

 fore, that it was not safe to allow the importation of this material 

 and it appearaed for a time that nothing could be done to relieve the 

 situation for Utah. It is quite possible that much of the salt grass 

 hay is cut in localities remote from where alfalfa is grown, and 

 conceivably from such localities the hay could be packed with safety 

 to our interests, but there was no way to distinguish in a regulation 

 between safe and dangerous localities. 



During the discussion at the Senate Chamber the next day it 



