192 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



as a first class pest. As the name implies, the insect under discussion 

 is an aphid or plant-louse of a bright green color. It is of good size, 

 some being winged and some wingless. The winter is passed on clover, 

 preferably crimson-clover, and the winged females migrate to the peas 

 early in the spring. Here they multiply, sometimes to an amazing de- 

 gree. The loss from a bad invasion of this insect has been as much as 

 half the crop, further south. 



REMEDIES. 



The methods of combating this insect in other states are two in 

 number — first, the brush and cultivator method, recommended by Prof. 

 W. G. Johnson, formerly State Entomologist of Maryland. When this 

 is used the peas are sown in rows from 24 to 30 inches apart, instead of 

 in drills as is ordinarily done. When the peas become infested and at 

 intervals as required, the lice are brushed in between the rows from 

 the vines and covered by a cultivator before they can get back on the 

 vines. In order to do this, two boys walk in the open spaces between 

 the rows, leaving one space between them, into this middle space they 

 brush the lice with brooms made of fresh-cut pine branches. Just be- 

 hind them in the middle space follows the cultivator, which buries the 

 lice. If a hot day be selected a large proportion of the lice will be killed. 



The other method is that of spraying. Prof. Sanderson, of the Dela- 

 ware Station, describes* in detail the apparatus used by Messrs. Brakeley 

 of Bordentown, N. J. The machine described sprays four rows at once, 

 and has a device for lifting the vines and spraying from underneath as 

 well as from above. Whale-oil soap is the killing agent used. It is 

 dissolved in water at the rate of one pound of soap to six gallons of 

 water. In hogshead lots, whale-oil soap can be obtained for three to 

 five cents per pound, making the mixture cost less than one cent a gallon. 



Experience has shown that this louse works worse on late peas than 

 on early ones. In some places it has been found profitable to select 

 early varieties for growing so far as possible. While the method of 

 growing peas in rows is apt to cut down the yield in bushels, it allows 

 of cultivation, which has many advantages when quality is an object. 



Another item that must not be overlooked is the benefit derived from 

 careful fertilizing. It is a general principle that a crop will withstand 

 attacks by insects much better if in a vigorous, healthy condition. The 

 sap does not seem to agree nearly so well with the insect constitution 

 when the plant is strong as it does under other conditions. Especially 

 is this true with plant-lice and scale-insects. Therefore fertilize well, 

 cultivate well and be prepared to fight on the first appearance of the 

 lice. 



INSECTS AFFECTING TUE SEEDS. 



Pea-weevil (Bruclius pisorum). 



Buggy peas, like buggy beans, are seeds scooped out by small beetles. 

 The beetles working on these two plants being closely related, but quite 

 distinct in their habits. The pea-weevil is larger than its relative of 

 the beau, and what is more important, the pea-weevils do not continue 



♦Twelfth Annual Report Delaware College Agr. Exp. Sta. for 1900, p. 175. 



