REPORT OF THE DIYISION OF ENTOMOLOGY AND BOTANY 53 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



kills the beetle practically wholesale. I am much obliged, indeed, for your suggestion, 

 as yesterday when I saw the results of our other experiments and the beetle covering 

 such a large area, I was in despair. I think the remedy is just in time to save things. 

 I have discovered that the beetles are not confined to the yard, having found a number 

 in the wood adjoining and also on nettles and other plants nearby. — H. C. Akroyd.' 



Mr. Akroyd was written to on May 9 as follows : — ' I sincerely hope that the good 

 effects of the whale-oil soap spraying continues. I am sorry I did not ask you to add 

 to this wash 3 lbs. of arsenate of lead to each 40 gallons of wash. I cannot believe 

 that this beetle is immune from the effects of that poison. I am really much inter- 

 ested in this experiment and am determined that we will control this beetle. The 

 chief difficulty, I feel, is the occurrence of the beetle in the wood, which will mean 

 frequent relays of the pest from that source. I believe the whale-oil soap will kill 

 all the beetles it touches. The strength I advised of 1 lb. in 5 gallons of water (not 

 10 as you say in your letter), but if 1 in 10 answers so much the better because it 

 reduces both the cost and the risk of injury to the plants. — James Fletcher.' 



1 Vancouver, B.C., May 19. — At the present time the beetles have completely 

 devastated the whole of our yard with the exception of some 20 acres which we are 

 spraying daily. The spray suggested by you proves a great success, but it appears to 

 us we are unable to keep pace with the beetles, for the vines are covered with new 

 insects inside of 24 hours. We experimented in several ways with the whale-oil soap, 

 but found your suggestion of 1 lb. to 5 gallons of water the best. We have not, how- 

 ever, found so far the arsenate of lead to be advantageous. We have been using it 

 in the proportion of 1 lb. to 10. gallons of water. We have also been experimenting 

 with a bucket of kerosene to 80 gallons of wash, but this also does not seem to have 

 made any difference. The whale-oil soap we are using is made by the Royal Soap 

 Company of this city, and guaranteed to be 80 per cent whale-oil. We have five 

 sprayers — three of 45 gallons each and two of 90 gallons each — now in use on the 

 yard, and we have been endeavouring to save a portion of the yard, which was badly 

 damaged when we first commenced spraying. The only way I can see of saving the 

 yard this year would have been by spraying with your solution every 24 hours when the 

 shoots first appeared. Of course this would mean a very large outlay in horses and 

 sprayers. Mr. Wilson has written me this morning stating that the Horst Company 

 have abandoned all hope of any crop this year. I personally went over their yards 

 about a week ago and found them practically devastated. I think I wrote you in my 

 last letter that the beetle had completely eaten up all tomato plants in the district — 

 H. C. Akroyd.' 



In a letter written early in July, Mr. Akroyd stated that the constant spraying 

 of the vines with whale-oil soap and water had the effect of curling up the leaves and 

 making them very brittle and tender. Spraying was tried with a slightly less propor- 

 tion of the whale-oil soap than recommended, but it was found that with less strength 

 it would not destroy the beetle. About the middle of July the beetles were reported 

 to have gradually diminished in numbers and that very few were seen on the vines. 

 Towards the end of the month the beetles had practically disappeared. In early 

 September, Mr. Akroyd visited the hop yards, and reported that more beetles were then 

 present but not in very large numbers. At that time coal-oil pans and tarred boards 

 were being used to keep the beetle in check. The vines which were sprayed most 

 extensively were reported by Mr. Akroyd, on September 4, to be bearing well, but the 

 crop as a whole would be small. 



Writing under date of May 28, Mr. Hulbert, of Sardis, B.C., reported that the 

 Hop Flea-beetle was doing great damage in the hop yards in his district. He stated 

 that he had been keeping his under control for several years by catching them on 

 tarred sheets, which are placed under the vines, and as these are jarred lightly with a 

 branch or light stick, the beetles fall off and adhere to the tar. 



In a recent bulletin by Br. F. H. Chittenden on this insect (Bulletin 66, part VI., 

 Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D.C.), valuable information is given on its 



