82 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 13 
apparently attracted the insect from the surrounding weeds and thus 
become worse infested. Clean culture, therefore, may prevent much 
of this loss. 
The fourth helpful factor is the effective work on the second brood 
in Massachusetts in the season just passed of the egg parasite, Tricho- 
gramma minutum. It is possible that this parasite cannot always be 
relied upon, but with respect to the second brood in 1919, this egg 
parasite, on the authority of Mr. Caffrey, destroyed some 43 per cent 
of the egg masses as a whole, and in some fields parasitism reached 75 
per cent. 
As decidedly hopeful factors, therefore, we have (1) for the northern 
areas of corn culture, single-broodedness with accompanying negligible 
damage indicated; (2) possibility of cultural control by the elimination 
» 
of weeds; (3) the immunity now indicated for ordinary field corn, and 
(4) the possibility of effective egg parasitism. All these factors should 
be taken into consideration in estimating the future importance of 
this insect as a basis for determining what appropriations we should 
ask of Congress for control work, also the other factors of distribution, 
food plants and cost, as affecting any program looking to possible 
extermination. 
Before discussing what can be done in the way of control work, 
including prevention of distribution, I wish to refer again for a 
moment to the subject of extermination. I hope we have all given 
up the idea of extermination, at least with the exception, perhaps, of 
Dr. Felt. No one would like to see the corn borer exterminated more 
than the speaker, but suppose I do not give you my opinion at all 
(laughter), but instead let you have the judgment of the experts who 
have been working with the corn borer longest and know most about 
it. I have here a statement made by Mr. Caffrey, who has been study¬ 
ing this insect intensively for some three years and perhaps knows it 
better than any other person. At the hearing in Boston last August 
he was asked whether the corn borer could be exterminated. He 
replied “I think the statement was made that if we had unlimited 
funds and unlimited authority it could be done. I think that covers 
the ground.” He goes on “I cannot imagine any condition under our 
democratic system of government in the United States where we could ’ 
realize these conditions. It would amount to giving us authority to 
go into any man's property and if we found a few in his celery, or a 
few in his weeds, or corn, to dig up everything and keep everything 
out that year and possibly the next.” He was asked “ How would you 
get distribution?” He replied “That would depend upon your funds. 
If you had unlimited funds you could, if necessary, put a couple of 
million men in the field to examine every stalk.” In the same connec- 
