PROGRESS REPORT ON" THE EUROPEAN CORN BORER 123 
Lakes, because either one or both of these methods of dispersion may 
have been in a large measure responsible for this spread, and each 
may have a very important bearing on the future dispersion of this 
insect in the United States. 
The spread of this insect in the Lake region of the United States, 
which is believed to have had as a center the large infestation in 
south-central Ontario, Canada, was found by scouting records to 
have been as follows: The earliest discovered infestation in this 
area was a section southwest of Buffalo, N. Y., embracing 13 town- 
ships, and the township of Girard, Pa., found to be infested in 1919. 
In 1920 13 additional townships in the vicinity of the larger infesta- 
tion near Buffalo were added, and during the same season a large 
infestation was found in south-central Ontario, bordering Lake Erie, 
together with a small strip bordering the lake just west of Buffalo 
(fig. 50). In 1921 a most important infestation was found compris- 
ing a narrow strip of territory almost completely surrounding the 
southern shore of Lake Erie and including the islands situated near 
Sandusky, Ohio. The spread of the insect in this area since 1921 
has been largely an advance inland from the southern shore of Lake 
Erie, a great spread northward in eastern Michigan, and a spread 
to the shores of the western half of Lake Ontario (fig. 1). 
If there is any possibility in the water-drift theory, it is important 
that it should be discussed at the present time (1921) when the spread 
of the insect in Ohio has in some localities already crossed the 
crest of the watershed toward the south. In this direction lie great 
chains of rivers, large and small, emptying into the Ohio Eiver, 
and it, joining the Mississippi, opens up the great valleys of these 
waterways, containing some of the richest, most valuable, and im- 
portant agricultural lands in this country, to possible infestation 
by this dangerous insect. It is not difficult to picture infested corn- 
stalks being carried, first into the smaller streams by means of the 
spring thaws, thence into larger streams, eventually into the Ohio 
or the Mississippi, and finally being cast on the bank of one of these 
rivers, possibly hundreds of miles from the place of origin, there to 
dry in the spring sunshine, the insect developing, finding food plenti- 
ful, multiplying, and perhaps eventually causing a large and im- 
portant infestation before being discovered, too late to undertake 
measures for complete eradication. 
At present there seem to be five important points where water 
drift in relation to dispersion in the near future may prove of great 
importance: (1) Through the tributaries and head waters of the 
Ohio to the great river valleys already mentioned; (2) through the 
Michigan streams flowing into Lake Michigan, thence to the shores 
of Wisconsin and Illinois; (3) from Lake Erie or Lake Ontario into 
the St. Lawrence; (4) from the isolated infestation about Albany, 
N. Y., down the Hudson, and not only menacing the banks of the 
Hudson, but also threatening the shore of New Jersey, should infested 
material be finally thrown into the ocean; and (5) in New England, 
where the infestation in Massachusetts and New Hampshire is spread- 
ing toward the Connecticut Valley, cornstalks may be carried down 
the Connecticut River, endangering the lower Connecticut Valley, in 
Massachusetts and Connecticut, an important farming section. 
A further reason for apprehension concerning the possibilities of 
this means of spread lies in the increase in the intensity of the infesta- 
