112 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



DISCUSSION ON INSECT PESTS. 



Q. I want to know something of a bug that gets in the potatoes. 

 It is a worm that gets in the stem. They got into some very fine ones 

 I had and destroyed about half of them. It is about one-half inch 

 long and has a white stripe down its back. 



Mr. Stedman — That is by no means a new insect. My attention 

 was called to it by someone writing me a letter. It has occurred in 

 the east in great quantities in certain years and has done great damage, 

 but it is easy to fight. We cannot reach it by spraying, as it does its 

 work entirely inside. If you will cut off the stems early and not allow 

 them to die down and wilt, and if you will cut them off and burn them 

 you will get rid of them. They have done that in the east and have 

 had no further trouble whatever. Yoa wait until the tops would die 

 and the potato is ripe and pull them up and burn them and you kill 

 every one that is in the field. Right the present time you can do noth- 

 ing, but you can prevent them from coming another year? 



While I am up I will speak of this twig some gentleman handed 

 me with a row of eggs upon it. That is a very common thing. They 

 are sent to me at least three a week by parties wanting to know what 

 they are. In the winter some people took them for the San Jose scale, 

 and they have taken them for everything. Those are the egga of the 

 katydid. You will find them upon the twigs during the winter. Do 

 not be afraid of these; they will not do you any injury — not beause 

 they are not capable of doing injury, but because there are parasites 

 that hold them in check. 



Mr. Van Houten — We live in a potato growing country, and two 

 or three years ago those bugs were so prevalent we began to hear that 

 one of the chief industries was ruined, but the fact that we have been 

 shipping potatoes this year at 6 cents a bushel shows that our industry 

 along that line is not ruined by any means, and the trouble from them 

 with us was very short. 



Mr. Murray — I want to make a statement so that Prof. St'^dman 

 can give us some information in regard to the canker worm. Tiiis 

 spring a year ago it appeared in several orchards, mostly in old orchards, 

 one orchard of about thirty acres was entirely denuded of fruit within 

 a few days ; a good many of us sprayed ; there were a few canker worms 

 appeared in our own orchards. This year while we are not seriously 

 troubled with canker worms, they reappeared in that same orchard 

 and in a good many orchards, and I know it was on account of canker 

 worms that a good many resorted to spraying; I advised that and kept 

 posted as well as I could, and got information from Prof. Stedman, for 



