24 CEREAL AND FORAGE INSECTS. 



OUTBREAKS IN KANSAS. 



Prof. F. M. Webster states that in. 1906 Prof. E. A. Popenoe, of 

 Manhattan, Kans., called his attention to two instances where very 

 serious injury had been done in cornfields in the southeastern part of 

 the State, specimens having been sent with each report. Professor 

 Webster stated also that there were numerous complaints in Kansas 

 during that year of corn not germinating and of failures to get a 

 stand on low, swampy land. The greater part of this injury was 

 probably caused by the ground-beetle. 



A great many reports of injury are never investigated, it usually 

 being taken for granted that the depredations are caused by wire- 

 worms or some other well-known pest, while a large part of the injury 

 is probably due to the ground-beetle. 



REPELLENTS APPLIED TO SEED. 



As it is a well-known fact that some odors are offensive to insects, 

 a series of experiments was conducted in order to learn if the seed 

 could be treated with some odorous preparation that would repel 

 the attacks of this pest, and, at the same time, be cheap and easily 

 applied. It was decided to use a liquid, as any form of powder or 

 paste would increase the size of the kernel appreciably so that it would 

 not readily pass through a planter. Several heavy oils having odors 

 more or less repellent to insects were selected, as it was believed that 

 these latter would remain longer in the soil after the treated seed 

 was planted. Oils of lemon, cajeput, citronella, wormseed, and 

 mustard, and carbolic acid were used. The oils were diluted to 

 10 per cent solutions in wood alcohol and applied at the rate of 

 3 ounces to a gallon of corn. Carbolic acid was diluted in water to a 

 3 per cent solution and applied at the same rate. The liquids were 

 poured over the corn, which was then stirred vigorously so that 

 each kernel would be completely coated. In planting the checks, all 

 the corn was removed from the planter and the latter filled again 

 with fresh, untreated seed. 



EXPERIMENTS IN 1908. 



' Mr. Wm. G. Baker, near New Paris, Ohio, whose fields had been so 

 badly affected, consented to have the experiments on his farm. Each 

 plat consisted of four rows across his field in the worst infested area. 

 The beetles were very abundant, as many as 30 to the square yard 

 often being found. The numbers of the several plats and the oils 

 with which the seed in each was treated are as follows: 



Plat 1, oil of lemon; plat 2, oil of cajeput; plat 2a, check (not 

 treated); plat 3, oil of citronella; plat 4, oil of wormseed; plat 4a, 



<*Cir. 78, Bur. Ent., U. S. Dept, Agr., 1906, p. 5. 



