- 
THE CLOVER ROOT BORER oO 
that, on July 6, 1880, the clover root borer had taken all the clover 
in portions of Genesee County, N. Y. Lintner (27, 28) published 
notes on the species in 1880 and 1881. White (40) reported 
“incalculable damage’ to clover fields near Edmonton, Ontario, 
June 9,1888. Fletcher (11) reported damage to clover in Harwich 
Township, Ontario, in August, 1891. The clover root borer was 
first observed in Michigan in 1889, near the west end of Lake Erie, 
and became destructive in southern Michigan in 1893. Davis (9) 
made a study of the species in Michigan in 1893-94, and published 
original observations on its life history and control experiments. 
The insect was injurious in Ohio by 1890 and was recognized as a 
serious pest in the northwestern part of that State in 1893. Webster 
(46) made original observations on the species in Ohio, which were 
ublished in 1899, together with a report on control experiments. 
His account is probably the best that has been published on the 
species. Cordley (S) reported the occurrence of the clover root borer 
in Oregon in 1896. Folsom (12) made some original observations on 
the species in Illinois, which were published in 1909. 
Unpublished records of the destructive work of the species, taken 
from the files of the Bureau of Entomology, are here noted. A. J. 
Porter, of Bern, Ind., reported September 24, 1905, that a whole 
field of clover had been destroyed since the last of June. W. J. 
Phillips, of the Bureau of Entomology, reported root borers in de- 
structive numbers at Wellsburg, W. Va., in November, 1905, stating 
that the farmers complained of short clover crops for several preced- 
ing years. The same observer noted such severe injury at Defiance, 
Ohio, on August 22, 1908, as to lead a number of farmers to plow up 
their fields. The late E. J. Vosler, formerly of the Bureau of Ento- 
mology, reported serious injury to red clover near Murray, Utah, in 
August, 1911. A. F. Satterthwait, of the Bureau of Entomology, 
reported serious injury by root borers near Van Wert, Ohio, on June 
17, 1915, but in this case a fungous disease and possibly other factors 
were also involved in the failure of the clover crop. Virgin Brown- 
.ing, of McClure, Ohio, June 25, 1915, reported the clover-hay crop 
ruined by clover root borers. The description of the injury in this 
case also indicates that fungous disease may have been an important 
factor in the damage. H. L. Parker and W. E. Pennington, of the 
Bureau of Entomology, reported serious damage to clover in western 
Maryland in 1915 and 1916. 
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 
Red clover was not generally grown in the Willamette Valley of 
Oregon until the eighties and early nineties (24, p. 3), when decreas- 
ing yields of cereal crops under continuous cropping or occasional 
summer-fallowing led many farmers to rotation of crops with red 
clover included in the rotation as the best-paying legume. The red- 
clover crop became very profitable to western Oregon farmers as, 
. besides its other advantages, excellent seed yields were obtained (23, 
p. 4). Until recent years clover stands remained productive for sev- 
eral seasons, but at present it is not usually profitable to maintain a 
clover stand for more than one crop year. The clover root borer is 
largely responsible for this failure of clover to withstand more than 
one cropping in western Oregon and Washington. There have also 
