18 farmers' bulletin- 856. 



usually after the plants have made about one-third growth, and they 

 continue until late in the season. 



Control. — Lead arsenate applied at the very outset of attack is the 

 best remedy. In some portions of the Southwest lines of men and 

 boys go through fields driving beetles before them until they reach 

 windrows of hay, straw, or other dry vegetable matter previously 

 prepared along the leeward side of the field. The windrow is then 

 fired and the beetles burned. Hand picking is somewhat dangerous, 

 as the blister beetles are likely to form blisters on a delicate skin. 

 It is, moreover, somewhat difficult to collect the beetles, as they are 

 extremely active compared to the sluggish Colorado potato beetle. 



GRASSHOPPERS. 



Grasshoppers, while more important pests in fields of grain and 

 forage, are often troublesome to vegetables in the dry regions of the 

 Middle West. 



Control. — Poisoned baits especially adapted to grasshoppers are 

 generally used, of which the best formula is as follows : 



Bran pounds__ 25 



White arsenic or Paris green pound 1 



Oranges or lemons fruits 6 



Cheap sirup or molasses quarts 2 



Water__ gallons— 3 or 4 



This should be scattered thinl}' over infested ground or on plants 

 attacked. 



Where it is possible to turn turkeys into gardens without injury 

 to the plants, they will make short work of the grasshoppers. When 

 the fields are plowed, disked, or harrowed, this also destroys the 

 grasshopper eggs. See Farmers' Bulletin 691, " Grasshoppers and 

 Their Control on Sugar Beets and Truck Crops." 



PLANT-LICE. 



Practically all vegetables, especialW cucumbers, cabbages, and peas, 

 suffer considerable damage from attack by small, soft-bodied insects 

 commonly called " lice " or " aphis," but better known as plant-lice. 

 (See fig. 39, p. 35, and fig. 50, p. 45.) These work for the most part 

 on the lower sides of the leaves, which become curled or otherwise 

 destroyed by loss of their vital juices. They give off a sweet mixture 

 called honeydew, which attracts ants, flies, and other insects. Plant 

 lice increase with great rapidity by the female giving birth to living 

 young. The different kinds vary in color from light to dark green 

 or nearly black, grayish, brown, yellow, and red. They have com 

 paratively long legs and have feelers attached to the head. Some 

 forms have two pairs of transparent or clear wings. They feed by 

 sucking juices of the plants through a beak. Familiar examples are 

 the melon aphis, pea aphis, and cabbage plant-lice. 



