No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 501 



becomes importaut to avoid placing fresh stable cleanings in hills 

 where plants are to grow. Use either well rotted manure or plow 

 the fresh cleanings down well beneath the surface of the soil. 



* * * More visible damage is done to rose bushes by the Rose 

 Beetle and more inquiries are asked concerning its destruction than 

 an}- other coleopterous insect found in this State. This may be be 

 cause of the wide range of food plants for this pest, and also becaus'e 

 there is no good remedy for its immediate suppression, and it often 

 feeds unchecked for some time. AvS we commonly see it, this insect 

 is only in the adult or fourth stage. The life history should be under- 

 stood, and is as follows: "It passes its early stages in grass on 

 meadow land, especially if sand}- — the larvae feeding on the roots of 

 grasses a few inches below the surface of the ground like the white 

 grub, which they closely resemble except in size. The eggs are laid 

 in the ground in June and July and the larvae becomes full grown 

 by autumn and transform to puj)ae the following spring, from two 

 to four weeks prior to the emergency of the beetles." (Year Book 

 of the Department of Agriculture for 1895.) 



This familiar insect is commonly known as the Rose Chafer, Rose 

 Bug, Rose Beetle, and Cherry Bug. It attacks not only roses, but 

 fruit trees and fruits of many kinds, especially cherries and grapes. 

 It eats irregular ragged holes in the leaves, and eats the young 

 grapes from the bunches or stems on which they grow. It is familiar 

 as a common and destructive pest. 



The remedies for it are not always successful, and no sim])le and 

 satisfactory remedy is known. It is generally not killed by spraying 

 with arsenites for the reason that it takes nearly two days to kill it 

 by poisons. They poison so slowly that the beetles which have 

 eaten the poison may die and disappear only after recruits have ap 

 peared, and thus the operator will be led to think that the spraying 

 has not been sufficiently efficient against them. It is recommended 

 to spray them with a wash made by diluting one gallon of Crude Car 

 bolic Acid with one hundred gallons of water. Fairly strong soap 

 solutions and kerosene emulsion will also kill them. One of the 

 best means of treating this pest is to shake it over cloths well soaked 

 with kerosene oil and spread beneath the infested plants to cause 

 the insects to come in contact with oil. If an insect once falls on an 

 oil-soaked blanket it Avill be killed, even though not entirely covered 

 with oil. Picking by hand is also recommended, and where the in 

 fested plants are but few in number it is advisable to pick or shake 

 the beetles from the plants into pans of water carrying oil floating 

 on the surface. Where other means fail it is advisable to resort to 

 bagging grapes, or placing paper bags over them, to pcotect them 

 and also protect plants with netting. As those insects ])refer leaves 

 of spirea and white rose it may be found advisable to plant some of 

 these near the grape vines to entice the insects to them, when ar- 

 rangement could be made for spraying the infested bait plants or 

 otherwise destroying the pests on them, and thus preventing the 

 injury to the grape, cherry and other fruits. 



As the larvae feed on the roots of grasses, bushes, and other vege 

 tation, it is practically important in subduing the Rose Chafer that 



