14 
BULLETIN 1476, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGBICULTUBE 
Parts of these importations were received at broom factories 
located at Everett, Mass., near the apparent center of the original 
New England infestation, and at Amsterdam, X. Y., near the ap- 
parent center of the eastern New York infestation. The remainder 
of these importations were traced to many different parts of the 
United States, but subsequent extensive scouting in localities where 
they were known to have been received has failed to reveal any 
additional infestations. 
Raw hemp was formerly believed to be the most likely medium 
through which the European corn borer gained entrance to this 
country, but in the light of our present knowledge this theory appears 
untenable, and broomcorn appears 
to have been the probable vehicle in 
which it entered America. 
The supposition that P. nubilalis 
was originally imported in broom- 
corn received an apparent con- 
firmation during February and 
March, 1920, in April, 1922, and 
again in March, 1923, when com- 
mercial shipments of broomcorn 
from Hungary and Italy were in- 
tercepted by inspectors of the Fed- 
eral Horticultural Board at the 
port of Xew York and were found 
to contain many living larvae of the 
pest. This broomcorn was in the 
raw. or unmanufactured state, and 
consisted of about 30 inches of the 
upper part of the broomcorn plant, 
including the " hurls " or that por- 
tion usually incorporated in ordi- 
nary house brooms and the upper 
part of the stalk or " butt." Corn- 
borer larvae were found throughout 
the length of the " butt " proper, 
and also within the extreme upper 
tip of the terminal internode be- 
yond the point where the " hurls " 
or broom splints are attached. 
(Fig. 2.) During March, 1923, the 
inspectors also intercepted living 
larvae of P. nubilalis in stalks of 
broomcorn in passengers' baggage arriving at New York from Italy 
and Germany. 
An investigation of the broom industry indicated that the custo- 
mary methods of handling raw broomcorn afforded an opportunity 
for the dispersion of the insect if contained within the material. 
The fact was determined that the foreign broomcorn, previously men- 
tioned as having been received at Everett, Mass., was kept in storage 
for several years before being used, thus giving every opportunity 
for any larvae contained therein to complete their development and 
emerge as moths. During the process of manufacture a section sev- 
Fig. 2. — Broomcorn butts sectioned to 
show typical injury by European 
corn borer and borefs in position at 
base of burls. Medford, Mass.. No- 
vember, 1921. Broomcorn infested 
in a similar manner, originating in 
Hungary and Italy, has been inter- 
cepted at the port of New York by 
inspectors of the Federal Horticul- 
tural Board 
