64 



EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE. 



Cbilo saccharalis : Its Injury to Corn in Virginia, and to Cane and Sorghum 



in Louisiana. 



I send you by this mail a small package containing some worms, which are proving 

 very destructive to the corn crop around here. Some farmers report their crops totally 

 ruined and many others much injured. Ours is very much damaged. The way the 

 worms attack the stalk is unlike anything of the kind I have ever seen. Tliey at- 

 tack anywhere from the the tip end of the tassel down to the root in the ground. 

 Above the ground they just eat off the hard coating and nibble the blades; below 

 the ground and just on a level with the surface they bore through and through the 

 stalk, generally in several places. The stalk does not die for some time, and remains 

 green, but the blades soon drop and hang down from the stalk. The worms vary 

 greatly in size, color, and shape, but have all the same habits. I send four in the 

 package in different stages of development. The beetle or fly that lays the egg I 

 have been unable, so far, to find. 



Please write me what you know about this destructive insect. It is now too late 

 to save this crop, as they have already done much mischief, but I would like to know 

 if there could be anything done to keep them off in the future. My description of 

 them has been written in great haste, and is not very full. If you would like more 

 information, I shall be glad to answer any questions. — [W. J. Morton, Nottingham 

 Farm, nearFredericksburgh, Va., July 8, ld90. 



Reply. — I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 8th instant, and of the 

 accompanying specimens of corn-stalks which have been bored by some worms. The 

 matter proves to be a very interesting one, for the reason that the insect which is do- 

 ing the damage is the Tropical Sugar-cane Boier (Chilo sacc/fttraZis), which damages 

 sugar-cane in Guiana, the West Indies, and Louisiana. In 1881 it was found to dam- 

 age corn in Mississippi, Georgia, and as far north as South Carolina. It has never 

 hitherto been recorded further north than Columbia in the last-named State. The 

 insect is referred to in the Annual Report of this Department for 1880, pages 243 to.245. 

 As there stated, the borers hibernate in the larval state in the old corn-stalks ; and 

 the custom which prevails in many parts of the South, of leaving the old stalks stand- 

 ing in the fields after harvest, renders this hibernation easy and the consequent multi- 

 plication of the insect possible. The most satisfactory remedy, therefore, will be to put 

 the stalks out to fodder early, and have the uneaten portion burned before early spring. 

 The stubble should be plowed up and burned, or plowed under very deeply. The egga 

 are laid by a straw-colored moth. It is of course too late to attempt any remedial 

 measures this year.— [July 10th, 1890.] 



Another Letter. — I have about forty-five (45) experimental field-plots of small 

 size in, tropical cane and sorghum. It is desired to protect these, at all hazards, 

 against the tropical cane-borers, which were very numerous and damaging here last 

 year, and which I anticipate will do yet more harm the present season as a result of an 

 open winter. Will you kindly suggest means for their protection? The whole area 

 in these experiments does not exceed one (1) acre. As I am unfamiliar with such 

 matters, it may be necessary to describe the method of application, as well as to 

 name the remedy. For example, if Paris green will do the work, kindly mention 

 best apparatus for its use, and where obtainable, period best for application, quan- 

 tity to be distributed, etc. Such would be highly appreciated, I assure you. Sor- 

 ghum appears to be far more viciously attacked than tropical cane. — [W. J. Thomp- 

 son, Calumet Plantation, Bas'ou Teche, La., April 9, 1890. 



Reply. — Yours of the 9th has just come to hand. Unfortunately we know very 

 little about the exact periods of development of the tropical cane-borer in your part of 



