Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-09
BY HARDEN COLFAX.

The corn belt is flgntlnS Tor It's eco
nomic life. It's attention is conferred
much less upon the perennial contest
over price sterilization legislation
| than external appearances indicate,
| for an enemy is at it's doors which
threatens to remove the familiar sur
plus by the drastic method of reduc-
| ing the corn crop to a pitiable mini
| mum.
| When the Mexican boil weevil in
vaded the cotton fields of the South
| a few years ago and caused wide
spread loss that continues to this day
the sympathy of the entire country
was aroused. But cotton cannot be
grown save in the southern tier of
States. The threat now looming be-
| fore the corn belt in the form of the
| European corn borer will arouse much
! more than imperSonal sympathy in
! the other parts of the country, for
! corn is grown in every State.
! Although the corn borer was dis
covered in the United States in 1917
| having been imported from Italy or
| France in broomcorn, it was only in
| 1920 that the Department of Agricul
ture began to sound warnings against
! this pest. These have been louder
| each year. Loss, however, was not
| heavy until 1926.
Marked Spread Reported.
The spread of the borer last season
and the increasingly heavy infestation
| in fields it had invaded, has brought
| about a situation of real national con-
| Germ. Three developments occurred
this week:
| The Senate agreed to an item in the
agricultural appropriation bill, previ
| ously passed by the House. setting
aside $685. 900 to combat the corn
borer. an increase of 5000, 900 over the
current appropriation and with $780,
| 600 available Immediately
A bin authorizing the appropria-
| ton of Sf0,000,000 for an intensive
battle against the pest was reported
favorably by the House committee on
agriculture.
Meeting with department experts,
delegates representing II States and
Canada laid down a program of great
! fight that will involve cooperation
between Federal and State govern
ments and the cooperation of thou
sands of farmers.
The corn borer is known to exist in
Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Maine. Vermont. Rhode Island, New
York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan,
Indiana and West Virginia. 1t now
covers 100,0 900 square miles, double it's
1925 area. 1t is spreading westward,
knocking at the very doors of the
great corn producing States of Illi-
nois Snd Iowa, and it is spreading
southwark.
Whereas heretofore the loss from
the borer has been confined principally
to the consumer of sweet corn, who
found poor ears among his purchase,
the loss in newly-infested territory
will be thrown upon the farmer who
raises field corn. In some sections
of Ohio last season the loss in produc-
ton was 20 per cent. In Canada, over
an area of more than 1000 square
miles, just across the border, there
was 100 per cent loss last season.
Carried by Wind.
The march of the corn borer. made
in the moth stage. has been about 80
miles year. But new infestations
occur through transportation of stalks
or infested ears. If a windstorm were
to come from the wrong direction at
the wrong time, the pest might be
scattered 800 miles or more in a
single day, just as the boil weevil
ives sent 400 to 500 miles on the
wings of the Galveston hurricane.
Immediate steps are close quaran-
tine of infested areas, to prevent
export of stalks or cobs; constant