36 THE CURLY-TOP OF BEETS. 



the first few weeks would capture a large number of theru. The females, before 

 the eggs are laid, are quite heavy and do not jump or fly as readily as the 

 males and would be easily caught. A modified form of this machine, consist- 

 ing of a couple of tarred wings to be drawn along on each side of a row of 

 beets, while a drag agitated the tops and caused the insects to fly, would 

 probably capture more than the simpler tar pan. 



If the insects appeared while the beets were quite small, they could be 

 largely destroyed by rolling when the weather was cold or damp and the in- 

 sects sluggish. 



A number of preventive measures may be used to assist the beets in with- 

 standing the attack of the leafhoppers. In some sections early planting will 

 produce beets large enough to shade the ground by the time the beet leaf- 

 hoppers appear, and thus reduce the temperature below the danger line. In 

 a few places, like the Grand Junction district in Colorado and Sevier County 

 in Utah, early planting alone would not avail, as the insects appear soon after 

 the earliest beets come through the ground. For such sections early and 

 frequent irrigations would assist in keeping the ground cool until the beets 

 grew large enough to shade it and thus take care of themselves. 



All preventive measures will depend for success upon some method of con- 

 trolling the temperature in the field so that the ground may not be hot and 

 dry at the time the leafhoppers appear. 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 



Undoubtedly some of the remedies advised against the hop flea- 

 beetle, an entirely different insect and one which also affects sugar 

 beets, in Bulletin 66, Part VI, of the Bureau of Entomology, pages 

 83-91, and a supplementary article, Bulletin 82, Part III, on the 

 same species, will be found useful. Particular attention is called to 

 the latter publication, by Mr. W. B. Parker, collaborator of the 

 Bureau of Entomology, as the experiments have been very carefully 

 carried out with the hop flea -beetle, which from its habit of flying 

 quickly and hopping resembles leafhoppers, in that the beetles can 

 be reached in somewhat the same way. 



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