February, ’24] 
parks: corn borer clean-up 
143 
through helpful suggestions made by the Canadian and the U. S. Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture entomologists. These methods are chosen with 
special reference to the practicability of their application in Ohio and 
are passed upon by all of the entomologists working in Ohio. They were 
then offered to the county agents in the affected area and approved by 
them. They are as follows: 
1. Use of the silo for taking care of as much of the crop as possible. 
2. Cutting the corn close to the ground, preferably with a binder. 
In the case of sweet corn, using a short type of hand cutter to cut the 
stalk close to the ground. 
3. Shredding the corn stalks to be fed. This kills the borers. 
4. Feeding sweet corn fodder green as soon as ears are marketed. 
5. Plowing (preferably late fall) of stubble where corn is to be 
followed by oats or other spring crop. 
6. Burning surplus corn stalks, about the last week in April to destroy 
the borers before the summer brood of moths appears. 
The correct understanding of how these remedies may function, can 
only be had after we have analyzed the present method of handling the 
corn crop in northern Ohio. 
Ohio Farm Methods 
The infested area may be divided into two parts with five counties in 
each part. In northeastern Ohio, the five counties which are now infested 
have fairly well developed dairy interests. Practically no beef cattle 
are fed, silos are present on many farms, and approximately one acre 
out of every three planted to corn, is planted for silage purposes. This 
is usually harvested with a corn binder, only a small proportion of the 
crop being cut by hand. Since one third of the acreage is put into the 
silo, fall plowing would be applicable on this silage land, but for other 
reasons is rarely done. In all of this area the com is cut fairly low except 
where it is done by hand. 
The five northwestern Ohio counties which are now infested, have 
relatively few dairy farms. The most of this coin is grown for feeding 
to beef cattle or hogs. Silos are present on a small percentage of the 
farms. For every acre of silage corn planted, there are seventeen acres 
which are cut for grain and husked on the stalk or in the shock. By 
far the largest part of this corn is cut and shocked on the ground, the 
cutting being done by hand, using the straight knife type of cutter, the 
stubs being left from eight to twenty-four inches long. We have seen 
many fields in this area where perhaps one fourth of all the corn stalks 
