182 [Januai-j-, 



are, " especially during the moiitlis of August aud September, to look for and destroy 

 " any beetle answering the description given, which they might find on board vessels, 

 " or on wharves, quays, sheds, or packages landed from vessels, and they are to 

 " encourage other persons to do the same." 



That this is a step in the right direction, and not taken without reasonable 

 apprehension of the importation of the beetles that have proved extensively de- 

 structive to the potato-crops in America, is evident, from the following extract from 

 a letter from Colonel Mason C. Weld, a well-known American agricultm-ist, which 

 has recently appeared in the " Agricultiu-al Gazette :" — " We are indebted to the 

 " Old World for much that we are or ought to be thankful for, and for evils in the 

 " sliape of weeds almost without number. I heartily hope we may never repay that 

 " debt. Nevertheless, we are about to make a small return in the shape of the 

 " Colorado potato beetle. I have no doubt whatever that you will have them in 

 " abundance within two or three years. Every ship which sails during the summer 

 " months from our entire Atlantic coast is liable to carry out living ones. When 

 " the wind blows favourably, that is, directly towards New York from either of the 

 " great potato-regions in the vicinity, the beetles are found abundantly in the streets ; 

 " of course, they are liable to get upon the ships, to be stowed with the cargo, and to 

 " be unloaded alive and well at your ports. They certainly will live long enough 

 " without food to cross the Atlantic ; whether they will be active enough to lay their 

 " eggs after the fatigues of the voyage is another question. I have had them in 

 " close-stoppered pliials upon my table for several weeks, and found them lively at 

 " the end of that time. So much for your consolation." The immigration of these 

 beetles thus seems certain ; it is a moot-point whether they will live in Britain, for, 

 as Col. Weld goes on to say, " as the creatures do not seem to enjoy life in wet 

 " weather, they may be so discouraged by your moist climate and grey skies, that 

 " that they will not thrive in England. Who knows ? " If they do effect a settle- 

 ment, it appears that hand-picking of the perfect insects off the growing potatoes, 

 and watering the plants with " Paris Green," in solution, when they are attacked by 

 the larva;, are the most effectual preventive means yet discovered. Mr. Weld 

 finishes by saying : — " The beetles do not depend upon being hidden in a barrel 

 " of potatoes in order to reach your shores alive, and if they did, every ship tliat 

 " sails from one of our Atlantic ports offers them the opportunity in the ship's 

 "stores." — J. W. Douglas, Lee : 9^/t December, 1876. 



[The following observations, bearing on the improbability of the importation of 

 this beetle, appeared in " The Field " of 18th November last, appended to a reprint 

 of the notice above referred to : — " The common-sense precautions suggested in tlie 

 " above memorandum are especially applicable to the Canadian dominions, which, 

 " however different in temperature and physical conditions from the original home of 

 " the beetle, are still on the same continent, and capable of being attacked by it in 

 " the course of years, during which successive broods may become acclimatised 

 " on the way. But it may not be out of place (and without in the least degree 

 " suggesting an avoidance of the safeguards above mentioned) to allay the fears of 

 " English agriculturists by pointing out : (1) That not a single American injurious 

 " insect has ever obtained a footing here, although many European insect-plagues 

 " have tliriven only too well on the Americaii continent. (2) That the protracted 



