36 
THE CHINCH BUG. 
Trapping.— We quote again from Professor Eiley : 
Much good winter work may be done also in the way of trapping the bugs. In 
seeking winter quarters they show a decided partiality for any flat substance, such as 
old boards, that do not rest too closely upon the ground. If all old boards that can 
be obtained are laid around the field in the fall in such manner that the larger part 
of the lower surface will not quite rest on the ground — which of course it will not do 
if the ground is in the least uneven or covered with grass — the bugs will collect under 
such traps and during the cold weather of winter may be scraped from them on to 
dry straw and burned. 
He has also suggested that shocks of corn- stalks should be made 
at intervals throughout the field before winter sets in so as to attract 
the bugs, which will congregate in the shocks, where they can be burned 
at leisure. Almost any inflammable rubbish could be used for this pur- 
pose. In the neighborhood of sorghum mills bagasse has been used 
with good effect. The piles should not be too large or too compact. 
They should be placed during September and should be burned in De- 
cember. 
Trampling . — The following paragraph is from Professor Eiley : 
Where the custom of allowing cattle to range during the winter in the husked 
corn-fields, even the few Chinch Bugs which secrete in the stalks are apt to get killed 
by the feeding and trampling. 
Direct Summer Remedies before Migration . 
As is the case with so many other destructive insects, it is not until 
they are under full headway and in the act of doing their greatest 
damage that an appeal is made to the entomologist for relief, and at 
such times it is usually by far the most difficult thing to give any ad- 
vice. A wheat field full of Chinch Bugs is as disagreeable a sight to 
the economic entomologist as it is to the farmer who owns it, for 
nothing can be done to save it. If the hand of Providence should in- 
terpose with a long-continued drenching rain relief would be gained, 
but in almost no other way are the crops to be saved. 
Irrigation , — It was the fact just mentioned which led Professor Eiley, 
in his 7th Eeport on tbe Insects of Missouri, to strongly recommend 
irrigation where it can be practiced. He says : 
Irrigation, where it can be applied, and it can be in much of the territory in the 
vicinity of the Rocky Mountains, where the insect commits sad havoc, and with a 
little effort in many regions in the heart of the Mississippi Valley, is the only really 
available, practicable remedy, after the bugs have commenced multiplying in the 
spring. I wish to lay particular stress on this matter of irrigation, believing, as I do, 
that it is an effectual antidote against this pest, and that by overflowing a grain 
field for a couple of days, or by saturating the ground for as many more in the month 
of May, we may effectually prevent its subsequent injuries. * * * We can Dot, at 
the critical moment, expect much aid from its natural enemies, for these are few 
and attack it mostly in the winter time. We must, therefore, in our warfare with 
this pest, depend mainly on preventive measures where irrigation is impossible. 
Later (Amer. Agriculturist, Dec., 1881, also Ann. Eept. as Entomolo- 
gist Dept. Agr. for 1881-’82, pages 88-89) he expressed himself even 
more explicitly upon this subject: 
