REMEDIES. 18 
from recurrence of beetle-attack to the seed,—is thorough examination 
of the Broad or Tick Bean-seed before purchase. If the seed has been 
infested (which is shown by the holes), the farmer sows a damaged 
article which will not yield him a full return; if he sows Beans with 
a few little pits of transparent skin about as big as would cover a 
common shot-hole, he at the same time (unless he has had the trouble 
and expense of killing the pest in the seed) sows a coming crop of Bean- 
seed Beetles! If the buyer has a doubt as to the state of the seeds, 
just splitting some open with his knife will show him exactly what 
their state is. Autumn-sown Beans are much more likely to contain 
infestation than the spring-sown, as many of the beetles will still be 
within. 
There is often a little black spot on Beans which have been 
attacked, caused apparently by the original passage of the maggot into 
the young seed. This spot, when seen under a magnifier, looks much 
as if a small hot needle had been driven into the Bean, and the edge 
of the little round hole, and just a little way round it, had been burnt 
black. On opening the seed just below the black spot, I have usually 
found the commencement of a larval gallery, or a little chamber, as if 
the young maggot had fed there for a while before travelling onwards. 
But the spot is so indistinguishable without a magnifier, that prac- 
tically it is little use in showing infestation. 
A safe and easily practicable method of dressing infested Beans so 
as to kill the contained infestation is that (recommended by Mr. Geo. 
Street, of Maulden, Ampthill, in 1888) of application of blue vitriol 
and McDougall’s Sewage Carbolic. On May 10th in that year Mr. 
Street wrote me (with regard to whether the Beans would be injured 
thereby) that they had made wonderful progress, and the result, so far 
as he could see, was perfectly satisfactory. ‘The dressing applied to 
the Beans was used in a similar way to that used for seed-wheat. 
Formerly we used blue vitriol only, but the addition of McDougall’s 
Sewage Carbolic leaves a smell, which to some extent prevents birds 
eating the seed-corn. I am inclined to think the carbolic alone would 
be sufficient, if a larger quantity was used. We used 6 bushels of 
Beans, 6 quarts of water, 1 lb. of blue vitriol, and a pint of Sewage 
Carbolic. I am inclined to think that Beans should be dressed some 
few days before they are sown (as the skin is thick), and turned over 
with a shovel every day. Those which escaped the liquid dressing 
might be killed by the strong dust which would be formed when the 
Beans were again dry.” 
Another correspondent in the same year mentioned that he had 
‘dressed all the seed with Calvert’s Sewage Carbolic Acid, of such 
strength as to kill all the insects in the Beans without damaging the 
seed.” —(See ‘ Twelfth Report on Injurious Insects,’ by Ed., p. 28.) 
