CHINCH BUG WEST OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER. . 39 



taken with the flame in order to use it safely and effectively. The 

 flame must be in motion all of the time while on the plant, and gen- 

 erally one blast will cause all the bugs to fall to the ground, where 

 they can be burned. 



There are several spraying materials which can be used effectively 

 against the bugs after they have congregated on the young corn, 

 but, unfortunately, most of these are injurious to the plants. Kero- 

 sene emulsion of 5 per cent strength will generally kill the bugs and 

 will not always injure the corn. The stock solution is made by 

 boiling 1 pound of good lye soap in 1 gallon of water, adding this to 

 2 gallons of kerosene and stirring the mixture with a paddle for five 

 to ten minutes. A better way to stir the mixture is to put the 

 nozzle of the spray in the vessel and pump the liquid back into the 

 vessel for five minutes. Dilute the mixture to a 4 or 5 per cent 

 solution by adding soft water. Some of the proprietary spraying 

 materials and cattle dips have been used to kill the bugs where they 

 have become alarmingly abundant. One serious objection to these 

 materials is that they are very injurious to the plants. However, it 

 is sometimes better to sacrifice the first few rows and save the field 

 than to let the bugs have their way. 



UNSATISFACTORY REMEDIAL MEASURES. 



GREEN-CORN BARRIERS. 



Cutting the first half dozen or dozen rows of green corn and making 

 a continuous pile along the last row cut is a method of creating a 

 barrier very often employed. The green-corn barrier is made about 

 the time the chinch bugs begin to enter the corn. The bugs are 

 checked an hour or two by the corn pile, but readily pass on to the 

 fresh, living plants. 



The piles of corn plants afford shelter for the bugs, and often a 

 quart of cast skins can be found in a heap under these piles. These 

 cast skins have often been misleading to farmers, inducing them to 

 believe that the bugs died from eating the sour juices of the cut 

 corn or having died from disease. A barrier of this Tcind is not to be 

 recommended. 



PLOWING UNDER INFESTED CROPS. 



As the chinch bugs in the Southwest do not hibernate in cornfields, 

 plowing under of stalks and stubble in such localities will be of no 

 advantage. It has been repeatedly shown that plowing under a crop 

 of wheat, rye, or barley badly infested with young bugs is not effective 

 unless the plowing is deep and very thoroughly done and the field 

 is immediately afterwards harrowed and rolled. 



