Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-07-22
INTERESTS FARMERS FIGHTING INSECTS
wapello County Farmers are Often
Troubled by the Pests.
SOME REMEDIES ARE SUGGESTED

oUME REMEDIES AXE oUGGESlED
Methods for Getting Rid of Trouble.
some Insects Were Recently Offered
by Prof. Slingerland Before Meeting
of New York horticultural Society.
Though at the present time the
Wapello county farmers may not be
troubled with the insect pest as dur
ing previous summers, yet it is pro-
bable that he well remembers the
time when the chinch bug has en-
tered his wheat field and has used it's
destructive powers to the best of it's
ability and has succeeded in practically
destroying the prospects of crop.
There are also other pests that are
well known to the practical farmer
and it is one of his great desires to in
some way free himself from these
pestilences.
Fighting Pests.
Some most interesting and pertinent
reflections we're recently made in re-
gard to fighting insect pests on the
farm by Prof Slingerlandin, in a
paper read before the New York
horticultural society. Mr.. Singer
lands observations are:
The methods which the individual
may use in endeayoring to control his
insect enemies are many and varied.
The old adage that IAN ounce of pre-
vention is worth pound of cure" is
often applicable in our warfare against
insects. In fact the general farmer
who grows field crops mostly must de-
pend largely upon improved methods
of growing his crops, or what are call
ed farm practices" to prevent the
ravages of insects.
Frequent Cultivation.
Thorough and frequent cultivation
discourages wire worms and white
grubs more than anything yet devised,
and one rarely sees well cultivated
orchard seriously infested with canker
worms. A frequent rotation of crops
over the methods of controlling the
most effective methods of controlling
the pests which attack field crops.
Growers of wheat, rye and barley must
depend entirely upon the early sown
trap strips and the late sowing of the
main crop to circumvent the Hessian
fly. The application of little quick
acting fertilizer will sometimes stimu-
late a plant to overcome or outgrow
the onslaught of it's insect enemies.
Washes may be applied to trees to pre-
vent berors from getting in. Much
may be done to prevent the ravages of
the plum cu.aulio by not settinget the
trees near wocd-lot and by removing
all old stone walls. hedges, rail fences
and other favorite ALTERNATING places
of the beetles. Encourage the native
birds, especially those which stay all
winter, by feeding them and furnishing
them nesting places. Certain varieties
of plants seem to resist insect attack
better than others; the resistance OF
certain American native grape roots to
the phylloxera louise is proving to be
the salvation of the grape industry in
many parts of Europe. 1t is an allur-
ing thought that some day we may
have insect-resisting varieties of all
kinds of plants to help in this warfare
against insects, but we fear this dream
will not be realized in the near future.
But by properly starting, cultivating
and feeding a plant, we can give bet
ter health and vigor, and such a plant
will often survive where one receiving
ordinary care will quickly succumb to
the hungry jaws or beaks of insect
pests. s.,
Methods of Fighting Bugs.
while there are thus many ways of
preventing to large extent the raw
ages of insect pests, they are so rarely
needed that usually the immediate
death Of the insect is necessary, and
one has to resort to destructive meth
DDS. Nearly all of the. insect enemies
nave one or more vulnerable points in
their life cycle. 1t is the duty of en-
tomologists to discover those vulner.
able points. if possible, and to give
practical directions how and when to
strike the fatal blow. Some insects,
like the squash stinkbug and the apple.
tree borer, are the most successfully
controlled by hand picking and this
method is not SO difficult, expensive
and impracticable as 1t may seem al
first thought. Our main reliance, how
ever, in this insect welfare is how the
spray pump through which. millions OF
gallons Of deadly doses OF Bordeaux
mixture, poisons and soaps or oils are
yearly sprayed upon crops of all kinds
Each year more deadly doses are be
! ing concocted, pumps and MOBILES bet
ter adapted to the work are being de
vised, and We are learning more about
the insects themselves. 1t looks now
as though the spray pump and fumiga
ton outfits had come to stay, but
think that when improved farm meth
DDS are more generally practiced, wher
the cultivator is never idle, when the
more difficult crops are grown by spec
ialists only, when field crops are more
rapidly rotated or changed, when the
needs and characteristics of the
plants are better understood, when ths
native birds receive all possible en-
courag all these preventa
tive methods are gradually permeatint
and leavening the whole lump of Amer
lean agriculture-than in spite of tn,
increase in the different kinds of insec
/ enemies, 1t will not be necessary t,
resort constantly to the present prac
tice of wholesale killing of these enc
miles with disagreeable and expen.
1 ILL., -.