The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1918-06-22


sert&n hard to believe q
first, but Il is nevertheless strict.
true, for the cinch bug Is pro-Germal
In our present war, the Hessian fly Il
still Hessian, and the army worm Il
an ally of the German army. Ou
duty of helping to feed our fighting
friends being paramount, that Of pro
tecting and defending the food sup
plies we produce IS as essential as
their production.
AS matter Of fact, mourning the ex
pense of producing crops and then let
ting them fall q prey to our insect en-.
emles is worse than not producing
them at all, and the official entomolo.
glsts 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
cient 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 well 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
70 It'll
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 its borders. The other
is unprotected. The unprotected corn
Is entered by the insects without hind
rance as the ripening Of the wheat
cnnrives 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 hill
of corn is hurt. The road oil poured
upon the ground In a line between
II and the infested wheat catches the
bugs which seek to pass.
Millions Lost In Small Area.
By a somewhat general use Of such
methods and similar materials In
twenty-five southwestern counties of
a middle Western state where, during
q cinch bug uprising last summer,
more than 800 miles. OF barrier were |
laid down between corn and infested |
wheat, $1,0O0,00O worth Of corn was
saved from destruction at a 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 $13,OOO.OOO more were
lost during the same period for lack of
general and thoroughgoing
action.
Owing to a consequent scarcity Of
feed many farmers were unable to
keep up their stock, and In four in
Tested counties, selected as q sample
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,
lis per cent; hogs, Is per cent and
horses, q per cent. The total sum
If this reduction In numbers of the
i've stock Of the four sample counties,
lue solely to the presence Of the cinch
rug, was $1,053,31S. Trade, banking.
professional incomes and
very kind Of business and civic inter. ,
'st naturally suffered from this stag
'ering blow 20 the agriculture of the
egion.
Greatest Damage 70 Corn. II
The cinch bug does greatest damage {
o corn. The adult or fulLgrown bug ,
black and about one-eighth Of an 6