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ECONOMIC STATUS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



As shown on page 17, the food plants of the bollworm in the United 

 States comprise a veiy long list. It is best known, however, as a pest 

 of corn, cotton, tomatoes, and tobacco, its injuries to the other men- 

 tioned food plants being as yet of comparatively little importance. 



INJURY TO CORN. 



Corn is without doubt the preferred food of the bollworm, and it is 

 subject to attack from the time the plants are 12 to 18 inches high in 

 the spring until late in the summer and fall, when the yellowing leaves 

 and stalks and ripening ears are no longer attractive. Of the different 

 types, sweet corn is most generally infested, which may be taken as 

 evidence of its partiality for the sweet varieties. In the South gen- 

 erall}^ the culture of sweet corn for market or home use is usually 

 ver}^ unsatisfactory by reason of the depredations of this insect; and 

 it is not attempted so generally as farther north. Early-planted sweet 

 corn is just coming into tassel and silk as moths from hibernating 

 pupae make their appearance. The plants are thus stocked with eggs, 

 the leaves, stalk, tassel, ears, and silks often being literally covered with 

 them, numbering, for a single plant, not infrequently from 300 to 500. 

 The tender central roll of leaves, or "bud," the unfolding tassel, and 

 the milky kernels of the ear are attacked by the larvae, and the plant 

 soon presents a sorry sight. Scarcely an uninfested ear may be found. 

 The injury may be confined to the destruction of the terminal portion, 

 or large irregular cavities may be eaten quite the length of the ear. 

 This injury, together with the quantities of filthy excrement voided by 

 the larvae in their rapid growth, practically renders the product unfit 

 for market purposes, though more or less injured ears are often found 

 for sale. The citizens of the South are, therefore, largely deprived 

 of this favorite vegetable on account of the presence of this pest. 



The species has much the same character in the more northern 

 States, but the severity of attack and the completeness of destruction 

 are much less pronounced, except during occasional years. In New 

 Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and bordering 

 States, where the cultivation of sweet corn for market and for can- 

 ning purposes has attained considerable proportions, the ravages of 

 the insect one year with another bring about a considerable financial 

 loss. Frequent mention is made in the literature of economic ento- 

 mology of the depredations of the bollworm on sweet corn, the loss 

 being variously estimated at from 10 to 50 per cent of the crop. 

 Extreme cases have been recorded where the injury has been so severe 

 that no attempt was made to even utilize the crop. Actual losses suf- 

 fered by growers of sweet corn for commercial purposes may be only 

 approximately indicated. Statistics are not at hand bearing on the 



