Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-25

| stubble. in spite of the fact that the
! Government and States offered to pay
| them a certain reward per acre for
cleaning up. Appeals to the courts to
| compel such a cleanup were IN vain.
The Federal Government has no sucn
police power and it could not be ruled
that the flying of the borer moth over
State lines constituted interstate COM
merce." The moth lays its eggs inside
the pith of the stalk or the inside or
the cob, and there the eggs hatch for
the next years campaign. The de-
nartment will ask for another huge APP
propriation this Winter. but again IL
will come after Winter wheat occupies
the stubble fields.
The region now seriously infested
Is around Lake Erie, extending south
to the middle of Ohio, east to the mid
die of New York, and in another spread
covering the Hudson River Valley and
New England and Long Island. North
of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, It Is
seriously in possession of the Canada
corn region, and has completely de-
stroyed corn in the region between
Lakes Erie and st. Clair. 1t has spread
over half the distance across Mlcnl-
gan and is now touching Lake Mlcni-
gan; it covers the north half OF Inol-
| ana. All western Pennsylvania IS with
in the infested belt
Bv the time next years corn is ma
turing, the spread of the pest may
capture Illinois and possibly Iowa.
| Nothing is able to stop it-not even
| the efforts to purchase cooperation
from all farmers through their clean
ing UP all corn stubble and stalks; the
Government paying them for the extra
effort seems to be unsuccessful. In
regions not yet devastated. farmers
cannot conceive the seriousness OF the
danger.
In Canada. the central government
| has police power to compel obedience
| to mandates to clean up the fields. but
| in the United States there remain
state rights" more sacred than the
whole corn crop and more to be desired
| than agricultural prosperity. The
| farmers are ready to demand from the
Federal Government liberal relief"
but no centralizing of police power in
the Federal Government is to be toler-
ated. though its lack jeopardizss agri-
culture like a spreading prairie fire.
| x X x
A department bulletin telling of the
| pest SAYS: There is no successful way
| of fighting ccrn-borer moths. The
| fully studied They fly during the eve
ming or early morning and therefore
| are seen only rarely. In daylight they
remain concealed underneath the leaves
of various plants or in thick growths
of weeds and grasses. In the moth
stage the European corn bNrer cannot
be successfully destroyed. Various trap
lights and poisoned bats have been
thoroughly tested and found to be USE
less under ordinary conditions
THE moths fly strongly. 1t has been
determined that the moths can fly for
a distance of at least 20 miles. During
windy periods the direction of flights
is with the wind. Large bodies OF
water do not check their flight. as the
moths have been seen to alight on the
surface of the water and again take
flight"
So while the politicians are worried
over farm relief through the Mary
Hooligan bill" with Its equality" clause
or something which will put more gov
eminent into business Of farming than
was ever known. all of that measure
has to do with marketing the surplus
abroad at sacrifice. price. so as ia
maintain high cost of living ut home
But the European corn borer is going ia
take care that there will be no surplu!
to bother about, when it spreads cvel
the rest of the corn-grOwing region
Why worry over the equalization fee
when there will be no surplus for 1t tc
apply to? The corn borer is a greater
bore than any statesman.
We are appalled, at the estimate oil
the hurricane destruction of property
to the value perhaps -of Sl00.000. 900
but we hear little of the calamity We
are facing of a European invasion
which may equal in economic destruc.
ton three thousand such hurricanes
and may be repeated annually for many
years.
tCopyrgnt 1878 hv Paul V. CollinsO