New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 569 



Methods of Treatment. 



For convenience, this topic may be considered under two heads, 

 namely, preventive and remedial measures. 



Preventive Measures. 



The safest way to prevent the attacks of the cucumber beetle 

 upon the very young vines, when they are grown in the field, is to 

 cover the hills with some form of protector. Concerning this 

 method Dr. Eiley, in his second Missouri Report, page %Q, says : 

 ^'Of all the multiferous remedies proposed against the attacks of 

 this insect there are none so effectual or so cheap in the end as 

 inclosing the young vine in boxes which are open at the bottom 

 and covered with millinet on top. Such boxes are made at a trivial 

 cost and if properly stored away each season after use will last 

 many years." 



There are other forms of plant protectors which do not have the 

 objectionable feature of shading the young vines while in use. A 

 very simple one of this kind is described and illustrated by Mr. L. 

 D. Snook in the American Agriculturalist for June 29, page 895, 

 as follows : " For a garden where less than two dozen hills are 

 planted, the safest and cheapest way to protect the vines is by a 

 covering of mosquito netting or cheese cloth cut into pieces 18 or 

 20 inches square. These, to add to their durability, should be first 

 dipped in oil and wrung as dry as possible. Now take a piece of 

 No. 12 or 14 wire, galvanized if possible, cut into 2t)-inch lengths, 

 bend five inches of each end at right angles, and set them two inches 

 into the ground at the corner of each hill, as seen at a a in the 

 engraving. Fig. 7. The netting is now spread over this frame, 

 and the edges are covered with a little soil to keep it in place. 

 This thin covering, while admitting plenty of light and rain as it 

 falls, also keeps out the little striped beetle. Cucumbers can thus 

 be protected until they send out laterals, and even if the vines press 

 against the sides and top it does not injure them. Put on the pro- 

 tectors just as the plants are breaking through the ground, remov- 

 ing in about three weeks. Kept in a dry place when not in use, 

 they will do service eight or ten years." 



Dr. C. M. Weed in his book on " Insects and Insecticides," edition 

 of 1891, describes three forms of these protectors. He also states 

 that the cloth may be simply placed over the plants without any 



