69 
informed me that whilst plowing about the first of May his clothing 
and his horses were thickly sprinkled over with them, and that the 
horses were seriously annoyed in breathing by the bugs flying into 
their nostrils. These insects deposit their eggs at the roots of our 
cultivated cereals, and some of the grasses which most neaily resem¬ 
ble them. As the Chinch-bug isanative insect it must have subsist¬ 
ed originallv upon the native grasses, before the cultivated cereals 
were introduced. The Chinch-bug was then a rare insect, only occa¬ 
sionally met with by collectors. Mr. Thomas Say, who spent twenty 
years in collecting and describing insects, in many parts of the L nit- 
,ed States and their Territories, first described the Chinch-bug, from a 
single specimen, and the only one he had ever seen, and which i\as 
oaptured in the eastern part of Virginia. But there is no difficulty 
in obtaining specimens now. We have, ourselves, been the means of 
their excessive multiplication, by furnishing them with a.superabun- 
dance of congenial food in the shape of our cultivated grains. 
“But the question now before us is, upon which of these grains do 
they thrive best, and will they thrive sufficiently. upon all of them 
to multiply to a serious extent, or are they restricted m their food 
plants to such a degree that we have it in our power to get rid of them 
at any time by abandoning the cultivation of some one or more ot 
these grains. 
“It seems remarkable that these insects should make a selection be¬ 
tween plants so similar, both in nature and appearance, as are severa 
species of what are known as the small grains. Yet abundant experi¬ 
ence has taught us that they do make a very decided selection. It is 
known that they always give a strong preference to spring wheat and 
barley, where these are at hand. Where these two grains are not 
available, they will oviposit upon either of the others, and perhaps 
to about an equal extent. We know this from the fact that all of 
these grains are sometimes considerably injured where Chinch-bugs 
abound, and the chief reason, probably, why winter wheat does not 
■suffer as much as spring wheat, is that this crop gets nearly matured 
before the new brood of bugs makes its appearance; and accordingly 
we sometimes see late pieces of winter wheat, almost as much damaged 
by them as the spring wheat. But the main question is, whether 1 
no spring wheat or barley be raised, the Chinch-bugs will continue to 
thrive and multiply to excess upon any other kinds of gram. I lie 
general opinion is that they will not. And yet a sufficient number 
of exceptional cases occur to throw some doubt upon the matter, and 
to induce some farmers to hold the opposite opinion. Chinch-bugs 
are, in some years, found inconsiderable numbers m the southern part 
■of this State, where the winter grains exclusively are raised. A num¬ 
ber of cases, also, like the following, have come to my knowledge : 
Mr. D. Veatch, of Livingston county, stated tome that winter wheat, 
oats and corn, were all seriously damaged in his neighborhood, though 
but little spring wheat was raised; and on his own farm, a iie.d ot 
thirty-six acres of oats was not worth harvesting, though no spnng 
wheat had been raised in its vicinity for the last five years. And a 
somewhat similar case was related to me bv a Mr. \ ai o azewe ^ 
county. More definite testimony is needed upon this subject. My 
opinion, from my present knowledge, is that such eases ait mic an 
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