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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 1907)
0 5tzz. h7?rtAT Work HKN you visit "Washington next time you may chance to wander v v through the shaded, park-like grounds In which the buildings occupied by the Department of Agriculture are lo cated, and you may run across a curious, cage-like structure, ten or 12 feet square and eight or nine feet high. Its frame is made of light wooden stuff and Us walls of close meshed wire net ting, through which the rain can beat, the wind can blow and the sunshine, fall the same as anywhere else. Inside you will see divers Jars and flower pots, some on shelves close to the oltside of the wire net cage, some sunken In the ground and some otherwise disposed. In the jars nd pots you will notice that plants and euttings of various sorts are growing, and that on each growing thing there is some evidence that it is being attacked by a destructive insect. If you hunt up some attache of the de partment and ask a few questions you will learn that it is the Entomological Bureau's "breeding cage" for the study of the Insects which damage and destroy deciduous fruits of all sorts. This inexpensive structure, then, which cannot have cost more, than $50 in the building and which most visitors proba bly would pass by unnoticed, plays a highly Important part In the really great work of the best organized and most efficient machine for fighting man's in ect enemies in the whole world. It is In charge of A. L. Qualntance, one of the bureau experts. Near by you will see a little peak roofed house with solid wooden walls, painted white. Through little apertures in the walls close to the ground 'bees are entering and departing. Tou may enter It yourself If you like, and are not afraid of bees, through an Ordinary door, for the little white building Is not full of bees, as' you might imagine. They are kept In hives built inside the structure so that the outer wall of it forms one wall of each hive. The bureau gives attention to the Insects which help man kind, as well as to those which damage crops. Bees, V! course, stand at the head of beneficial insects; silkworms come next. Not far away stands the modest red brick building which houses the main of fices of the bureau, In charge of L. O. Howard, entomologist, with C. L. Mar latt second In command. Each of these men does his full share of original In vestigation in addition to his superviso ry work. Mr. Howard has given much 'attention to such pests as the brown tall and gypsy moths for a long time, and was in Europe looking for ways to kill them off when the writer called the other day. Mr. Marlatt has given special 'attention to the insect enemies of wheat and other grains, which cost the coun try more than any other group of !n- 1 sects. I speak of them as a. "group" because they attack similar crops; sci entifically they belong to many different groups. Green Bug's Work Dwarfed. 1 Only those who have looked up the figures have any notion how expensive to the Nation the insects of this coun try are. Mr. Marlatt says that Buch pests impose a 'heavier tax on the farmers Of no other country. He places the average yearly loss at 1795,100,000, an almost unthinkable sum. Of this loss $420,000,000 falls upon crops and farm forests, $175,000. '000 upon animal products, $100,000,000 upon natural forests and forest products and $100,000,0000 upon prod ucts In storage. The Iobs to the cereals, wheat, oats, barley, rye and other grains. Is about $200,000,000 annually, year In and year out. whether there is any special visi tation like that of the green bug, which made such a sensation In the South wast this year or .not. It is estimated tliat it did about $9,000,000 damage last Spring. This Is bad enough, but It ?s a million dollars less than S per cent of the total average shrinkage of the grain crops yearly. The corn rot worm, the boll worm (or earn worm), the chinch bug and the Hessian fly average $20,000,000 dam age each year right along to the corn crop alone, more than double the dam age done to the wheat by the green bug this year. Besides, there are a lot of minor pests which damage corn that the public rarely hears of and of which many farmers are Ignorant, such as bill bugs, wire worms, cut worms, army worms, stalk borers, grasshop pers, corn plant lice 50 important species all told. Mr. Marlatt says, that do a total yearly damage of more than $80,000,000 in all, or nearly nine times as much as that done this year by the green bug. Wheat suffers more from bugs and worms of various kinds, both actually and relatively, than any other crop. Corn Is the biggest crop of the country, its value slmetimes reaching and even ex ceeding a billion dollars, with an average 8 per cent Insect loss. The average loss from insects in wheat Is about SO per cent. On a crop worth $500,000,000 this would be $100,000,000, more than 11 times the damage done this year by the green bug. The Hessian fly and the chinch bug are more partial to a wheat than a corn diet even. Sometimes the Hessian ,fly fairly exterminates a large -part of the growing wheat. ' Seven years ago It destroyed 40 per cent of the wheat In Ohio and 60 per cent in Indiana, the destruction being so com plete that these percentages of the area planted to these grains were plowed under in the two states. Twenty per cent of the Michigan wheat area was aban doned also that year, and the decrease In the wheat crop of the whole country for 1900 from the Hessian fly alone amounted to not less than a hundred million of dol lars. It is rare that this fly does any such great damage, however. It Is a little thing, although twice as large as the green bug, being about an eighth of an .urn on Corn inch long. It looks somewhat like an un dersized mosquito. As its name indicates. It is of European origin and It landed on American soil in 1776, coming here In the straw brought over by the Hessian troops. It first did serious damage to American wheat three years later. It has been on the wing ever since, and it reached New Zealand in 1S8S. It is at tacked by several parasites, but about the only thing to do when the fly once gets well at w,ork in wheat Is to plow the crop under. After a bad year burning the stubble In the Kali Is recommended In order to destroy the eggs, and so pre vent the fly from getting a good start the next year. It Is a good thing also says Mr. Marlatt, to sow Winter wheat very late when the season appears to be favorable to the fly. Still another and a most' ingenious scheme is to plant a "decoy" crop of wheat, early, in a narrow strip. The flies are attracted to this early wheat and gather upon Its spires from the remainder of the field. At the proper time the strip, young wheat, Hessian fly and all, is plowed under as deep as possible, after which the ground is thoroughly rolled, on the theory that a compact surface will prevent the ma turing flies from escaping. The chinch bug'is a native of this country; it works on wheat until af ter that grain is harvested, when it mi grates to the corn fields, for which rea son the bureau recommends that the two yrops should not be planted near together. In addition to this fly and this bug. wheat is attacked by midgets, plant lice, straw worm, joint worms, bulb worms, army worms and saw flies. 'The army worm is a native America, and when It really gets a start travels In great masses, whence its name, destroying everything before It. Like the grasshopper and the po tato bug, the army worm seems to have been got under pretty fair control, and it is years since any of these pests has done any great damage. . The Terrible Green Bug. I asked for some details about the green bug. Mr. Marlatt reached to the back of his roll-top desk and brought forth a pasteboard box, from which he took a handful of dried wheat spires, cut when they were green, each of which bore hundreds of what looked more like little brown wartlike lumps at first than anything else. "There are a few thousands of him, from Kansas," said he. "Also a few thousands of the parasites that kill him," referring to what seemed like tiny, sootlike dots on the bottom of the box. On close examination the little brown' warts showed their Insect character clearly. Each was about a sixteenth of an inch In length, and a small round hole was found In the back of nearly every specimen in the collection. "In every case," said Mr. Marlatt, "the fiolu means that a parasite -has laid its egg in the body of the bug and killed it. That Is what happened to all but a very small proportion In deed of the bugs last SprhBg. Not one in many thousands of them lived long enough after the parasite got to work to perpetuate their kind, although long before that they, had destroyed great areus of growing wheat. "The green bug is supposed not to be a native American insect. It was first reported in this country in 1882. It was found in abundance two years later in the wheat near Cabin John, Maryland, and that same year it ap peared in Indiana, where F. M. Webster, the bureau's expert in the study of in sects that destroy cereals and grasses, was carrying on his Investigations. The bug did little damage that year, however, but in 1S9J they destroyed a large part of the wheat and oats In Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Il linois, Kentucky and Tennessee. There was another visitation in 1900, but it was confined to Texas mainly. "The green bug probably is a perma nency in this country," went on Mr. Marlatt, "but it has never done seri ous damage expect when there has been a warm, wet Winter, followed by a wet, cold Spring. .Last January W. X. Hunter, of this bureau, predicted the outbreak of last Spring, for wheat and oats were then being destroyed by the bug in Texas, but, although the insect has been studied thoroughly, there was no way to prevent the damage. Noth ing will kill it but its various 'para sitic' and "predatory" enemies. There are several varieties of the parasites, all of which seem to be native, and present In sufficient numbers every year to insure the checking of the bug L3 X I T - 'w. - 'vjei mT re v) THE SUNDAY .TfTeaaaafcBMMfcjnajajaaEaaj 1 Sj Sort ...?.. ...- m 4t RE - v i ' by the time the warm weather really sets in, but not early enough to save the crop after an open Winter and a late Spring, "This Is because the bug which the bu reau knows as the Spring 'grain aphis is able to work all through an open Winter while the parasKes are not. Thus when the weather conditions are favorable the bug gets a big start on Its enemies; when the Winter and Spring are normal the parasites go to work on the bug as early, practically, as it goes to work on the crops, and there is no trouble. "It is lucky that while nature has given the bug great powers of survival and re production, she has provided an unusual number of ways of checking It. By May and June a certain species of ladybugs and their larvae begin to devour green bugs in great numbers. The ladybugs were not needed in Kansas this year, however; the parasites did the work ef fectually before It was time for the lady bugs to get to work. "I can't say that I believe the efforts of the bureau or any one else did much to check the green bug ravages this year, much as I should like to, although every thing was done that could be done. The bureau sent three men into the infested district. Finding that tfle parasite was busy wherever the green bug was found, these men sent quantities of young wheat covered with dead green bugs and live parasites from Texas and Oklahoma to Kansas In barrels, for the farmers there to scatter in their Infested fields, where both bugs and parasites got to work later than In Texas. S. J. Hunter, of the Kan sas State University, sent out 'boxes of parasite Infested wheat also, but our ex perts are agreed that millions on the back of millions of green bugs were doing busi ness in the Kansas wheat fields before It was possible to set parasites from Texas at work. "It Is not likely that the green bug ever will do great damage in the North ern wheat regions. Even in the open Winters there are too cold to allow it to breed all through the season, as it can In Texas. Judging from the past, we shall not have another green bug pest 11 a k- , ' rt -v .'J , V ; s ; 'St. - - , , - t I I i fVyi & v.. ' : -"w i "'Jy 'I' 111 1 1 ...Mm Z. I I iiiiiiiii i ijinmiim IIWIP ijiniiiiiiViiV-""' :;" .:';: : : . ." : - ..-..J ff yfc ' ...wnw .m.-,- . mm -i ,,vm ,r..i . , , t,, , " ' IT!! OREGONIAX, PORTLAND, Efc$ijflWWiiW -" xii-- V KNOCK INGTHE PLCrf fc, i 4" until there is another open Winter fol lowed by a backward Spring. The bug will survive, of course, and will begin work on the wheat in the Southwest next year and every normal year, but its ene mies will be ready to begin on It quite as promptly. The green bug was first described by an Italian scientist in 1852. In June of that year it was so numerous in the city of Bologna as to cause great annoyance. A grain field infested with green bugs speedily turns brown? In health the bugs are bright green, as their popular name shows, but when attacked by the parasites they change color speed ily." Protecting Fruits From Moths. The importance of Mr. Marlatt's special work is apparent from the wide distribu tion of the grain crops of the country and the equally widespread work of destruc tion done by the Insect enemies of grain. Mr. Howard's special work in fighting the gypsy and the brown tail moths is not less important, although as yet these pests have not got west of New England, where they were first known in America. It Is Mr. Howard's business to see that they never leave New England, as It Is that of the bureau to confine the cotton boll weevil to the Southwest, and he is orosecutlng his task with intelligence, vigor and enthusiasm. The estimated damage' done to fruit by insects in this country is $27,000,000 annually, the total fruit crop being fig ured as worth $125,000,000. Thus the percentage of damage is much less than the damage to wheat. Should the destructive moths ever get a foot hold tn the great fruit regions of the Middle West, in the orange groves ot Florida, the vineyards and groves of California and the -apple orchards in the West the damage would be incal culable. This is no exaggeration. These moths feed on practically all trees and shrubs as well as on fruit trees; the gypsy moth attacks pine, hemlock, spruce, cedar and all other coniferous besides deciduous forest trees. Fifty-acre patches of forest. JULY 2i, 1907. . '' v - CCS&ClLfO FTZOrt THE 5 every tree on which has been killed by moths, are found in some places. Both these moths came to Massa chusetts first; the gypsy moth in 1869, brought by a Harvard professor, who wished to study It. The insect got away . from him before he had been studying It long, and he notified every body at ence. Tet it was not nbtlced in large . numbers until 1889. The brown-tail moth probably was brought here In 1890 on rose plants, but it did not become a nuisance until 18V- Now both are found in many parts of New England; the brown-tall has gone as far as New Brunswick. The State of Massachusetts appropriated money to fight the gypsy moth soon after its dangerous character, was realized, but in 1899 all work was stopped, not to be resumed until five years later, in 1904. Mr. Howard is enabled to give the help of the bureau and himself because of appropriations for that purpose, first made by Congress in 1905. The bureau Is employing a large number of la borers to destroy moth nests in New England this Summer. Both these moths are the prey of birds and para sites, but the native American insect eating birds are not so numerous in New England as formerly, having been killed off by pot hunters, and driven away by the rapidly multiplying Eng lish sparrow, another importation. The sparrow does not ,eat the gypsy moth to any extent, although it does attack the Drowm-tail. Both moths are attacked .by several different parasites In Europe, over which they are spread very generally, and Mr. Howard's trip abroad this year has to do with their importation. Sev eral Importations, aggregating hund reds of thousands of parasites, were made in 1905 and 1906, but as yet it Is too early to know how effective they will prove In this country. Many thousands of dollars have been spent in spraying trees and otherwise poison ing the moths and in burning their nests. These methods of fighting them . - f, , vt, ' iS ; i t i vs- ' Enormous Damage Done to Cereals , Fruits and Other Crops by All Sorts of Bugs and Worms. A T. rj?ClT must be used if the moths are ever, to be checked, but they are so ex pensive that individual use of them can never check the pests effectually For several years Oeneral S. C. Law rence of Massachusetts -spent more money each year fighting the gypsy moth on his own and adjoining lands than the lands were worth. The brown tail spreads more - rapidly than the gypsy moth, -making long flights, which the latter does not. The Deadly Boll Worm. Until the cotton boll weevil came to the United States from Mexico. the boll worm was the most seTious insect enemy of the cotton crop. It is quite as bad today as e'ver, but it has been overshadowed of late by the weevil. ' It works quite differently in corn and cotton, and it attacks tomatoes, tobacco, peaches, peas, beans and okra. It Is found In almost every land in the world, as far south as New Zealand and as far north as Denmark. It works at the sea level, and Is met in Africa 6,000 feet above sea level and In the Mexican mountains at an altitude of 5900 feet. It Is supposed to be native American, but It has spread to China and South America. It has not been reported in Japan. It was not reported as an enemy of cotton until 1820.. It did not attack corn, so far as known until 1842. . It Is not nearly so destructive elsewhere as in this country; it does more damage to sweet corn than to field corn, and it does more damage to field corn South than North. Sometimes when the plant grows rapidly the worm . is squeezed to death between the rows of kernels as it Is feeding on the ears. It has many ene mies, including certain ants, beetles, wasps, spiders and flies which eat it. Woodpeckers and other birds also devour. It. Half a dozen or more varieties -ot parasites help destroy it, too, both in the egg and in the larvae. It has been fought with poisoned sprays and poisoned sweets, but unsuccessfully by the latter. As it likes corn better than i 71 KQFSK ON COTTON cotton, strips of corn are often planted cotton fields for the protection of the lat ter, generally with success. Peas Jir planted in cotton fields for the same rea son, and as successfully. The worn sticks, to the corn and peas and leaves the cotton alone. Mr) Quaintance has done much good fighting the boll worm, and has also fought the plum curculio most effectively. The work of the Agricultural Depart ment's Entomological Bureau is carriedl on in complete harmony with the T8nto mologists of the various stats experi mental stations. Not a little is being done by their Inspectors In fruit tree nur series. All fruit stock found In then which is Infected with any injurious In sect is destroyed Invariably. Every year new ways of fighting noxious insects ara discovered, and, undoubtedly, the dam age done by them now Is much less than) It would be yearly were it not for the In telligent, never-ending fight against them, that the National and state governments are keening up. Only the barest idea of the complets scope of this fight can be given here, how ever: it would require a thick volume to cover the ground In outline even. It in cludes the fighting of mosquitoes, house flies and cattle ticks; a warfare against many Insects injurious to forest trees. In, co-operating with Gifford Plnchot, chief of the Forestry Bureau, and many other things, all of which were briefly alluded to by Mr. Marlatt In his talk with th writer the other day. The work of the bureau with bees and silkworms Is as in teresting as Its Insect war. Incidentally, at the end of the talk Mr. Marlatt said that certain varieties of trees, plants 'and vines are immune to certain Insect pests. Thus the Le Conta pear, a rather coarse variety, is Immune to the San Jose scale, which attacks practically every other sort of fruit tree. The reason for this lmmunjty no one has been able to find as yet. Incidentally, too, Mr. Marlatt drew at tention to the fact that while many of our worst insect pests are imported, many equally destructive ones have been sent from this sountry to attack the crops and plague the farmers of the world. The phylloxera, which has sohedeltved Frencli, and other European grapegrowers. Is ona of these. Although natfve to this coun try and found in nearly all American grapes. It does not damage them material ly, but it destroys eveYy European grapo root or cutting It fastens on, even when planted In America. The salvation of the European vineyards was brought about by planting them with roots and cuttings from this country. By grafting they are made to bear the European ;varleties of grapes, and today the European vineyards are almost as free from the phylloxera pest as they were before If was Intro duced ir. Europe. (Copyright, 1907, by Dexter Marshall.) The Wrong Paper. Kansas City Star. "I have been engaged In the practice of law a good many years," said 3. S. Urmy, police judge of Topeka, Kan., "and about the most humorous imng I ever saw in a courtroom was in Topeka. "One day an old negro man was being tried in the Justice Court that was be fore the office of police judge was created and he demanded a trial by a Jury of his peers. He could neither read nor write, and the lawyer insisted that the jury, to be his peers, as required by law, must be usable to read or write, too. To avoid dispute I agreed to it, but wa had a time finding 12 men in Topeka who could neither read nor write. But we did find them and the case went to trial. "Before the jury retired I took two pieces of paper and wrote 'guilty' on one piece and 'not guilty' on the other, and Instructed the foreman of the Jury to destroy the one he did not wish used and to return the other to me when the Jury reached a verdict. The Jury was out only a few minutes when it came in. The foreman handed me a piece of paper witli tse word 'guilty' written on it. " 'Weil, gentlemen, you find him guilty, do ytou?' I asked. " 'No. sah, jedge. no sah, we dons found him not guilty,' spoke up one of the Jurymen. Then he added with dis gust; 'I tole that fool nigger he tu tearin' up the wrong piece of paper.' " His t'se for a Fort. Denver Post. A Denver man had a friend from a Kansas ranch in the city Saturday on a business deal, and at noon they went to a downtown restaurant and had lunch together. The Kansas ranchman ate his entire meal with his knife. When he wa nearing the end he discovered some thing. He discovered that he had no fork. "Say," he. said to Jhe Denver man, "that waiter didn't give me a fork." ' "Well, you didn't need one," replied the Denver man seriously. "The deuce I don't," came from the Kansan. "What am I going to stir my uoffee with?" VV -X;V5
