246 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOaiST. 



every larva that it touched. The lime may be conveniently applied 

 by using an old broom for a duster, or a Paris green sifter. With a 

 pail full of dry lime, a man could in a short time dust an acre of as- 

 paragus. " The lime is best applied in the morning while the dew is 

 on, for then a portion will adhere to tlie plants as well as the grubs, 

 and during the day or days following it will be constantly dropping 

 down or blowing about among the leaves and branches, thereby mak- 

 ing the escape of any of the larvaj all the more uncertain . * * * 



* * * Por the past sixteen years, I have used lime as described, 

 upon my asparagus beds, to keep the insect in question in check, and 

 it has done it so cffectuaUij that about one applicatio7i every alternate 

 season has teen sufficient " (Fuller). Not only is lime cheap and readily 

 procurable everywhere, but it is also of benefit to the asparagus roots. 

 It has also the additional merit as an insecticide, that it can be used 

 upon the young plants while they are being cut for market, for the 

 destruction of the first brood of larvae, while Paris green or London 

 purple may not safely be used. 



Cutting aioay the yoking seedlings. — The Long Island gardeners have 

 found great relief from the excessive ravages of this insect by cutting 

 down in the spring at the time when the beetle is ready to deposit its 

 eggs, all the young seedlings which are usually selected foroviposition 

 as well as for food, and thus forcing the beetles to deposit their eggs 

 upon the new shoots. These being cut for market almost daily do not 

 permit the eggs to hatch, and by this means, the greater portion of 

 what would be the second brood is destroyed. 



Removing the seed-stems. — It has also been recommended to cut 

 down all the seed-stems as soon as the asparagus season is oyer, and to 

 repeat the process once or twice during the season, leaving the beds 

 bare and smooth. It is difficult to see how this entire destruction of the 

 leaves of the plant can fail of proving injurious to it, the action of leaves 

 being deemed essential to the proper development ; yet Mr. H. H. 

 Sargent, in a communication to tlio Gardeners' Monthly, states that 

 the earliest, best, and largest asparagus in his neighborhood was grown 

 by this method of treatment, which had been continued for five suc- 

 cessive years {Country Gentleman, Aug. 15, 1872). 



As, however, the asjjaragus plant occurs in a wild state along the 

 roadsides and in fields and woods upon Long Island, and presumably 

 in New Jersey and other localities where it has been for some time 

 cultivated, the above method could only serve to alleviate the evil, for 

 a sufficient supply of food would thus be furnished the insect for its 

 propagation and subsequent colonization upon cultivated tracts. 



