April, '19] HAWLEY: PHORBIA FUSCICEPS 205 



coat will be shed with it as the bean swells and the plant is again 

 unprotected. At germination the bean is very sensitive to most 

 insecticides and many things applied proved harmful to the growth. 

 For these reasons and because it is usually impossible to predict an 

 outbreak of maggots for experimental work, nothing of material value 

 had developed up to the present time. 



Professor Pettit as the result of work in Michigan believes that 

 clover or alfalfa sod, fertilized with fresh manure and turned under 

 just before planting to beans, makes the most favorable condition for 

 serious injury, and advises the use of old manure or other fertilizer and 

 that the ground be allowed to lie idle for awhile before planting. 

 As the common rotation in western New York is to follow clover with 

 beans and wheat, clover roots are often present for maggots to work 

 on before entering the beans. If, as seems to be the case, eggs are laid 

 at plowing or fitting time, and the ground is left fallow for about 

 two weeks until the maggots present have pupated, beans may then be 

 planted with safety. If the first seeding is destroyed, it is wise to 

 delay replanting for a week or two until the maggots have pupated. 

 In late seasons this may be impossible, and in that case it is better to 

 substitute some other crop. Buckwheat is often used for this purpose 

 in New York. Plowing the preceding fall or early in the spring before 

 most of the flies appear should also tend to cut down the infestation. 



In 1917 it was often observed that shallow planted beans were less 

 damaged than those planted deeper. One grower started planting 

 with a bean planter which placed the seed just beneath the surface of 

 the ground, and then fearing that he was not putting them in deep 

 enough he used a grain drill which buried the beans to a depth of 

 three or four inches. At harvest time he had a good stand on the 

 part where the planter was used, but the rest of his field was a total 

 loss. The bean planter is now coming into greater favor because it is 

 lighter and does not sink in so far in wet spots and so it is more easy to 

 regulate the planting depth. Many growers are now putting the beans 

 in so shallow that a boy is sent along to cover those left on the surface. 



If a bean gets above the ground quickly, the chance of escaping the 

 attack of Phorbia fusciceps is much better. Shallow planting, a judi- 

 cious use of a quick acting fertilizer with an excess of seed will tend to 

 increase the yield in wet seasons. Drilling beans deep in wet soil will 

 surely result in a loss. 



