SHUCK PROTECTION FOR EAR CORN. | 13 
therefore, that the long shuck extension effected a saving of 19 per. 
cent in the field. This saving could not have been effected by earlier 
harvesting and fumigation, because the corn was taken from the field 
as soon as it was sufficiently dry to permit storage. 
ADVANTAGES IN STORAGE. 
There is some conflict of opinion regarding the matter of storing 
corn in the shuck. Some believe that corn stored in the shuck is 
more or less protected from weevils because of the shucks. Others 
reason that these insects enter the shucks in the field and then, being 
carried with the ears put in storage, they are able to continue their 
work of destruction. They further reason that if the shucks were 
removed in the field many of the insects would be left behind, and to 
that extent the damage would be lessened. The facts presented on 
the foregoing pages have shown that the right kind of shuck covering 
is not entered by weevils, but that poor or defective shucks may be en- 
tered. It is evident, therefore, that so far as weevil damage is con- 
cerned, the advantage or disadvantage of the method of storing corn 
in the shuck is determined by the kind of shuck covering on the 
corn stored. A certain number of ears in all varieties are exposed in 
the field. Tostore such ears in their shucks after the grain has become 
infested is to make conditions most favorable for the insects. To 
shuck them in the field is to leave a part of the insects behind, but 
as these ears still contain adults, larve, and eggs, destruction will 
continue, and they will remain a source from which uninfested and 
exposed corn may become infested. 
On the other hand, there are usually some ears in varieties 
native to weevil-infested sections that because of their effective shuck 
coverings do not become infested with weevils. To store such ears 
in their unopened shucks 1s to afford them continued protection. To 
shuck such ears is to expose them to the attacks of insects, including 
the Angoumois grain moth, unless they are protected by other means. 
The average farmer does not use other effective means of protection, 
because they involve additional cost and, in the case of fumigation 
with carbon bisulphid, extra fire risk. Shuck protection involves no 
additional cost and no extra fire risk. It seems, therefore, that a 
storage method that utilizes shuck protection will very greatly in- 
crease the practice of holding and feeding corn on farms in weevil- 
infested areas. Such a method is outlined as follows: Grow the best 
shuck-protected corn, store the shuck-protected ears in their shucks, 
and feed or sell the unprotected ears as early as possible. 
If there is a considerable percentage of unprotected ears, as is 
always the case at present, and these ears are known to be infested, 
they should be shucked as early as possible and kept away from 
- uninfested corn. The shucking should be done in such a way that 
the dislodged insects may be swept together and burned. 
