386 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



though many fields would be cut to the ground in a few days. The attack 

 was quite general all over the celery-growing portions of the state, but not 

 so severe as at Tecumseh and vicinity. The fields at Jackson suffered 

 slightly, and one field at Kalamazoo was quite badly injured. The bugs 

 appeared on the college celery but did no harm. 



On the 22d of July letters from Tecumseh and vicinity began coming 

 in, asking for information and help. The following may be taken as a 

 sample of those received. 



"Deae Sir — I mail you a box containing some bugs. Millions on 

 millions have commenced work upon our celery, from twenty-five to fifty 

 collecting about one leaf and in an hour or two it is gone. * * * They 

 are doing great damage and if they last many days, will do many thousand 

 dollars' worth of damage. Please state if there is any remedy and how 

 long they will last and what you know about their habits. Please answer 

 at once. Tours truly, 



E. L. EUSSELL." 



Several similar letters being received the same day made it imperative 

 that something be done, and before Mr. Russell's reply reached him, I was 

 in his field of bugs and celery. 



METHOD OF ATTACK. 



The attack was very sudden and severe and Mr. Russell's statement was 

 found to be no exaggeration. They had not acquired possession of the 

 entire field, but were extending their domain daily. The first thing that 

 would be noticed in the attack upon a plant was a knot of little black bugs 

 around the node where the three top leaflets met, and here they would suck 

 the sap till the leaflets wilted and drooped, when they would go down to 

 the next joint below and so repeat the operation till the leaf was drained 

 of its sap; then they would pass to another leaf and attack that in the same 

 way. They always went in bunches of usually from fifteen to thirty when 

 feeding. With so many little beaks drawing the sap from the leaves, it is 

 no wonder the destruction was so rapid and alarming. 



The attack was almost invariably made on the highest leaves. When 

 one of them was cut down to the denser part of the foliage, the leaf would 

 be left and others reduced to the same level. When they came to the 

 plume (central white leaves), it suffered the same and then the plant was 

 spoiled for market. This habit of taking the highest leaves first is no 

 doubt due to their love for heat and sunlight which they could not have 

 when below the crowded central leaves. In looking over a field after the 

 bugs have worked in it a few days, it has the appearance of having been 

 clipped off about half way down and the dead leaves left just where they 

 had been cut off. The plant would be in a much better condition 

 after recovering from a clipping than from an attack of this kind, as the 

 dead leaves are still attached, which in itself is harmful, and then they 

 so completely cover the living part that it is almost entirely shaded. 



In their attack the bugs showed a great preference for the older celery 

 that had commenced to grow stalky and was nearly ready to blanch or was 

 blanching. The younger celery, where the leaves were spread out and the 

 center exposed, was injured comparatively little. Where the bug did work 

 on such plants, they were found sometimes on some of the higher leaves 

 as described before and sometimes in little groups around the heart stalks. 



