Till'. CHINCH BUG. 183 



Although the damage for this year had ceased, the bugs were 

 easily found ; in one case clustering in large numbers under the 

 dead leaves, stems and other debris among the clover immedi- 

 ately bordering a spot on which the timothy had been killed ; in 

 another case crowding among and about the clumps of beard 

 grass and sedge grass bordering a strip of hungarian grass. In 

 such places as these and under dead grass and weeds about fence 

 corners and fields; under manure spread in the fall and not 

 plowed under ; in masses of dead leaves, bark or brush heaps, and 

 rubbish of all sorts, the bugs pass the late fall and winter months, 

 lying apparently dead during cold weather, but quickly coming 

 into activity during the warm days of late spring. 



As the amount of injury next year will depend largely on the 

 number of bugs which winter over safely, it is important that 

 pains be taken to destroy as many as possible before the ground 

 is covered with snow. The following methods are probably the 

 best for the State of Maine. 



1 st. Burning. Where there is considerable clover mixed with 

 the hungarian or timothy, the bugs are very likely to winter over 

 beneath the clover which borders for a few feet or yards immedi- 

 ately upon the spot where they have stopped injuring the grass, 

 if such a strip be mowed closely by hand and allowed to dry for 

 a few days it may be burned over and quantities of the bugs will 

 be killed. If this burning be done after the ground has frozen, 

 little, if any, injury will be done to the crop. All rubbish such 

 as dried grass and weeds along the edges of fields, brush heaps, 

 dead leaves, bark and chips, clumps of wild grasses, sedge 

 grasses etc., in near by fields should be burned as completely as 

 possible. 



2d. Spraying. Chinch bugs are quickly killed by kerosene 

 or kerosene emulsion, but it is essential that it be thoroughly 

 applied. The bugs are so protected by the clover and grass that 

 it is almost impossible to reach them by ordinary spraying. 

 Sprinkling freely over the infested spots will usually be effectual 

 but will probably kill the grass also. Clumps of sedge or wild 

 grass in which careful examination shows the bugs to be abun- 

 dant might be sprinkled thoroughly with kerosene and then 

 burned, thus killing bugs which had crowded deep down among 



