The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1919-07-25
prepared by the United States Depart
ment Of Agriculture.)

prepared by the United states Depart
ment Of Agriculture.)
The farmers life sometimes seems
to be just n 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 en~tomologists Of the
United States department Of agricul-
ture in Farmers Bulletin 1046. I'm
less immediate and effective measures
are taken to exterminate this pest 1T
seriously threatens the future Of Amer
ica's greatest cereal crop. Already it
is known to exist in an area of 500
square miles In Massachusetts and 400
square miles in New York. It's 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 fibrOus 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
tassel, and tunnel upwards for q short
distance before tunneling down the
stalk. The tassel 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 t~assels, with
~outpourings of ~sawdust-like material
at the breaks, are sure signs that the
European corn borer is getting in it's
deadly work.
Many times the borers enter near
the junction Of the leaf and stalk.
Any small hole with sawdust-like ma
terial coming out of it indicates the
presence of borerS. Several bOrerS
frequently work in 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 a 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
noxious 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 activi-
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. To 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
tons 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
he borers. Burn all Of the previous
ears cornstalks. corn stubble, crop
cmnants, stalks of garden plants