The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1918-05-03
By ROBERT II. MoULToN.

sertion hard to believe a
FIRST, but it Is nevertheless strict.
true. for the cinch bug is pro-GermaI
in our present war, the Hessian fly Ii
Still Hessian, and the army worm !:
an ally of the German army. Oul
duty of helping TO feed our fighting
friends being paramount, that of pro
.tecting and defending the food sup
plies we produce is hs essential al
their production.
As matter Of fact, mourning the ex
pense of producing crops and then let
ting them fall prey to our insect en-
emieS is worse than not producing
them at all, and the official entomolo
gists of the different states are being
modified for special service in crop
protection. These men are but hand
ful, however-not enough for an eff
Client patrol-and so they are calling
upon the people for such assistance
as they can easily give by keeping
watch for the common enemy and re.
porting the first traces of his appear
ance in numbers sufficient to threat
en- serious injury.
What these field insects are capable
of in the way Of crop destruction is
fairly we'll known, and what the farm
er may do for the protection Of his
crops can best be intrusted to the
hands of various state entomologists,
whose business 1t Is by bomb, gas and
other means to kill these allies of the
foe.
Consider two fields of corn, both ly-
Ing next to heavily infested fields of
wheat. One is protected by a circle
of oil about It's borders. The other
is unprotected. The unprotected corn
Is entered by the insects without hind
rance as the ripening Of the wheat
deprives them of food, and large part
OF the corn is destroyed. as shown by
the part Of the field laid bare next to
the wheat. In the other field not a hill
or corn is hurt. The road oil poured
upon the ground In a line between
1t and the infested wheat catches the
bugs which seek to pass.
Millions Lost In Small Area. B.
By somewhat general use Of such
methods and similar materials in
twenty-five southwestern counties of
middle Western state where. during
a cinch bug uprising last summer,
more than 1,500 miles of barrier were
laid down between corn and infested
wheat, 100000 worth of corn was
saved from destruction at total cost
to the owners of less than $4,000 and
of some $4,000 to the state. On the
other hand, wheat, oats and corn
worth at least $4,000, 900 more were
lost during the same period for lack of
sufficiently general and thoroughgoing
action.
OWING to consequent scarcity of
feed many farmers were unable TO
keep up their stock, and In four in
rested counties, selected as a samnle
district for study in comparison with
another group of counties not infested.
the number of dairy cows fell off in
four years IA per cent: beef cattle
21.5 per cent; hogs, Is per cent: and
horses, q per cent. The total sim
or this reduction i'm numbers of tbe
live stock Of the four sample counties
due solely to the presence of the ciucb
bug, was S1,O53,31S. Trade, banking,
education, professional incomes and
every kind of business and civic inter-
est naturally suffered from this stag
gering blow to the agriculture of the
region.
Greatest Damage to Corn.
Inc cinch bug does greatest damage
to corn. The adult or full-grown bug
Is black and about one-eighth of an