The St. Johns herald., 1895-11-09
FIGHTING CHINCH BUGS.
Prairie Farmers Adopt Unique
 Tactics Against the Pests.
old Grasshopper Times Brought Forci- bIy to Mind AgaIn-The Trouble some Insects Captured by
 the Bushel.


 The dry weather which succeeded the early rains has brought out the prairie farmers enemy, the chinch bug, in full force again. As the wheat has been cut, the bugs have gone into the corn fields, and in many sections of central Kansas are doing damage again. The schemes evolved by the settlers for the destruction of the tiny insects which are SO harmful, says the St. Louis Globe Democrat, are alike ingenious and effective-the only difficulty being the overwhelming numbers of the pests. When millions on millions in- fest every square rod, there is little hope for effecaual extermiaation.
 The farmers are, among other things, reviving the plans Of the old Grasshop- per days, and are using coal oil or lzero- sene with more or less success. The scheme includes long trench, reach ing across the edge of the field which it is proposed to protect. At intervals are sunken cans, covered by cone shaped piles of dirt with a hole at the top. The bugs follow the trench and pour in a stream into the cans. At the bottom of the cans is coal oil, which serves both to kill the creatures and make them infammable. A torch touched to each produces a mimic vol cano for time, but leaves the trap empty and ready for another collection of bugs. One farmer in northern Kan sas piled up eight bushels of dead bugs in one day, and did not work hard either. This system can at best be but temporary one to bridge over a short spell of dry weather, as the expense is too great to allow of protecting any large territory.
 The larger portion of the farmers continue to have faith in the bacilli of Chancellor Shows discovery, and thou sands of boxes of bugs are being sent to the state university to exchange for infected insects that may spread dis ease and dea tn among the fields. Some counties have established stations, in charge of experienced men, at a cost of s60 to s1O0 month, to propagate the disease and furnish the bugs to the farmers at home.
 During the past few months 5000 packages of infection have been sent out to the individual farmers of Kan sas. Missouri and Oklahoma. In addi- tion, fifty auxiliary distributing sta tions were established in Kansas and Missouri, thirty-eight in Kansas and twelve in Missouri. The demand for infection from southern Kansas has materially decreased recently, which is said to be the result of the disappear ance of bugs in the sections where in- lection was used extensively soon after its discovery. In 1893 there were 1,S03 applications from individual farm CTS and last year only 194, figure not likely to be exceeded this season. The northeastern coun ties also show fall ing off from 1 1,123 to 4G2, while the cen- tral and western counties keep up their demands. The fifty substations sup piled an average of 800 farmers, giving total of 15,000, with 5000 more from the central station, or 20, 900 altogether About 5000 made written reports of last years work and 55 per cent were favorable, showing an immense saving to crops by the use of the infection.
 A field near the laboratory gave the station an opportunity to gather 1000 boxes of sporotrichum as reserve stock for early distribution for use in the wheat fields this spring and sum- mer. Most of these came into central Kansas and did good work. Experi- ments made last fall in infecting chinch bugs with artificial culture of sporo- tichum showed equal results with the ordinary method of injecting bugs, and it is a great advantage in supplying farmers early in the spring with the necessary amount of infected bugs. Ex- periments are being tried of spreading infection by the spraying of sprouting spores, aud if successful it is possible that infection may prove successful in dry weather. This has been the great est impediment to complete success in experiments up to the present time.
 The corn crop is one on which the farmers place the most reliance, and it is at present in condition to promise magnificent yield. But if the bugs are to be allowed to roam from the fields of wheat in to those of corn and lop off a half dozen or more rows on each side, it means tremendous loss in the az gregate. The little creatures work with an army-lilse regularity and ac- complish devastation as extensive as it is serious. The fight to save the fields is important as well as interesting.
 Great People Shrink.
 What fortunate thing it is that