Report of the Dean xxi 



mulated information at the College placed at their disposal. During the 

 summer months the investigation has been conducted at a temporary 

 field laboratory located in a bean field at Perry, New York. Records 

 and observations have been made in all the important bean-producing 

 sections of western New York. Considering the very unfavorable season 

 for bean production, the experts have made notable progress in their 

 work. There has been the closest possible cooperation in all the work, 

 and the whole project has been pushed forward with the idea of finding 

 methods of improving the conditions for producing beans. 



During the past few years snails have been one of the most serious 

 pests of beans and have evidently caused considerable loss. These were 

 therefore among the first pests to which attention was given. The first 

 step in this work was to learn something of the habits and mode of life 

 of snails, since nothing was known regarding them. Mr. I. M. Hawley 

 has succeeded in finding the eggs and in determining where they are 

 deposited, how long it takes them to hatch, and the number of generations 

 produced in a season. He has obtained many other valuable data con- 

 cerning the life history, habits, and distribution of snails throughout the 

 bean districts. He has also been able to determine something regarding 

 the losses caused by these mollusks. Many different substances were 

 tested in attempts to control the snails and prevent their ravages. Spray- 

 ing experiments with arsenate of lead alone, with arsenate of lead sweet- 

 ened with molasses and sugar, with Black-leaf-40 tobacco extract, and 

 with sweetened sodium arsenate, and dusting experiments with tobacco, 

 tobacco and lime, and powdered arsenate of lead, were made with a view 

 of repelling or killing the snails. Fortunately this work can be carried 

 on in the greenhouse during the winter, and some promising mixtures 

 for the control of snails are now being tested. 



Many valuable, data have been accumulated on the distribution, injuries, 

 habits, and life history of the seed-corn maggot, which proved the most 

 serious pest on beans in New York State during the season of 19 17. At 

 Brockport a grower planted half of his 12 -acre field three times when beans 

 were worth $10 a bushel, and then failed to get a stand. Other similar, 

 instances occurred here and there throughout the bean-growing districts. 

 Extensive experiments in control were tested during the season. Seed 

 beans were treated with over a dozen different materials with the idea of 

 repelling the maggots and preventing their attacks on the beans in the 

 soil. The most promising method of control is shallow planting of the 

 seed. This fact was learned accidentally, but is none the less valuable 

 and needs careful investigation and trial for two or three seasons. 



Other pests that have been investigated to some extent are millipedes, 

 leaf -hoppers, and June bugs. 



