The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1919-07-24

states DEPART
ment Of Agriculture.)
The farmers life sometimes seems
to be just one insect pest after an
other. Just about the time he has
learned how to combat all the insect
pests in the United States and leans
back to take things easy for a spell,
somebody manages to import a few
new varieties of crop trouble from for
eign shores. This time it is the Euro
pean corn borer that is going to cause
the farmer to lose sleep.
The European corn borer probably
is the most injurious insect pest that
has yet been introduced into this coun-
try, according to entomOlogists of the
United States department OF agricul-
ture in Farmers Bulletin 1O46. Un-
less immediate and effective measures
are taken to exterminate this pest it
seriously threatens the future of Amer
ica's greatest cereal crop. Already it
is known to exist II ali area Of SOC
square miles in Massachusetts, and 400
square miles in New York Its rapid
spread to the entire country is pos
sible. It frequently destroys from one
fourth to one-half OF the corn crop In
infested fields in Massachusetts.
How Borer Injuries Corn.
All parts of the corn plant, except
the fbrOus roots, are tunneled by the
larvae or bOrers. Their most damag-
ing work is done in the stalks and
ears, which they partially or totally
destroy. They usually enter the upper
end of the stalk, near the base OF the
asset and fT707oJ 171xx-ord- for a cI,o-+
distance before tunneling down the
stalk. The tasseI is so weakened by
this damage that it breaks over before
maturing. Much pollen is thus lost,
and grains fail to form normally on
the ears. These broken tasseis, with
OutpOurings of sawdust-like material
at the breaks, are sure signs that the
European corn borer is getting in its
deadly work.
Many times the borers enter near
the junction of the leaf and stalk.
Any small hole with sawdust-like ma
teria1 coming out of it indicates the
presence of borerS. Several borers
frequently work III one stalk, reducing
it to a mere shell. The nutriment to
the developing ear is cut off by this
injury. The stalk is weakened, and
eventually breaks.
Some of the borers leave the stalk
and enter the ears through the husk
and also through the stem and cob.
Here they feed upon the immature
grain and tunnel the cob. The injury
to the ears and stalks is further in
creased by soft rot which often fol-
lows the work OF the borers and re-
duces the interior OF infested plants to
a decaying, putrid mass with an OBJ
nodous odor.
TWO Generations Each Year.
There are two generations of the
European corn borer each year. They
are continuously damaging the corn
in infested fields from before tasseling
time until winter stops their actfvi-
ties. They remain as nearly full
grown borers within their tunnels
throughout the winter and resume
feeding in the spring.
The chief danger to the nations
corn crop lies in the possibility of
bOrer-infested plants being transported
into sections where the borer does not
already exist. 70 prevent this all
plant quarantine laws must be strictly
enforced with regard to plants likely
to be infested.
Quarantine measures must be sup
plemented by careful cleanup opera
tions in infested areas. Destroy all
plant material likely TO harbor borers.
Burning Most Effective.
In infested areas burning has proved
the most effective means OF destroying
the bOrers. Burn all OF the previous
years cornstaIks, corn stubble, crop
remnants, stalks OF garden plants,