THE SUNFLOWER AS A SILAGE CROP. 31 



individuals which appeared interesting from an agricultural stand- 

 point. Sazyperov concludes, therefore, that it is possible to obtain 

 an agricultural variety resistant to the rust. 



INSECTS ATTACKING SUNFLOWERS. 



In the warmer and drier parts of the United States insects do 

 considerable damage to sunflowers. At both Amarillo and Chilli- 

 cothe, Tex., the stalks of the sunflowers were girdled by a larva or 

 white grub which resembled very closely the larva of the June bug. 

 This larva worked at or just below the surface of the soil and usually 

 killed the plant completely or injured it so badly that all growth 

 ceased. Another insect, also at Chillicothe. girdled the stalk just 

 beneath the head, causing the head to drop over. 



Besides the above insects several forms of beetles and grasshoppers 

 infest the heads of sunflowers at blooming time and do considerable 

 damage to the seed crop. In 1918 and 1919 grasshoppers very much 

 reduced the yield of sunflowers at Scottsbluff, Nebr., by eating out 

 the terminal bud before the plants headed. Thrips are often abun- 

 dant on the heads, and aphides, or plant lice, occur in quantity on 

 the leaves. Sunflowers are, however, less injured by chinch bugs 

 than corn, and in some localities where these insects are trouble- 

 some sunflowers may prove valuable in replacing corn as a silage 

 crop. 



Strangely enough, these insects are all less abundant on sun- 

 flowers in the regions of low summer temperature where the plant 

 promises to be most important. Cockerell (6) presents a partial 

 list of the insects which are known to visit sunflowers in Colorado, 

 but in most cases he does not indicate the damage caused. 



LITERATURE CITED. 



Anonymous. 



(1) 1920. Manitoba: — Sunflower ensilage for milli production. In Agr. 



Gaz. Canada, v. 7, no. 10, p. 818-819. 



(2) 1921. Silage for fattening steers. (Summary of report by A. A. 



Dowell and G. L. Flack, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Can- 

 ada). In Nor'-West Farmer, v. 40, no. 11, p. 627. 



(3) Anthony, Ernest L., and Hendeeson; H. O. 



1920. Sunflowers vs. corn for silage. West Va. Agr. Exp. Sta. Circ. 

 32, 8 p., 1. fig. 



(4) Atkinson, Alfred, Nelson, J. B., Arnett, C. N., Joseph, W. E., and 



Tretsven, Oscar. 

 1919. Growing and feeding sunflowers in Montana. Mont. Agr. Exp. 

 Sta. Bui. 131, 29 p., 4 fig. 



(5) Bracken, John. 



1919. Saskatchewan : — Sunflower silage. In Agr. Gaz. Canada, v. 6, 

 no. 6, p. 542-543. 



