15 
ERADICATION OF WEEDS AND COOPERATION. 
It is always wisdom on the part of the agriculturist to keep down 
the weeds on the farm, and in the treatment of the present insect if 
those weeds which are known to furnish it with food, such as sand- 
bur and Jamestown weed, were cut just before seeding, it would pre- 
vent the overdevelopment of the pest and of other insects which feed 
on the weeds, as well as the weeds themselves. The farmer should 
familiarize himself with the wild food plants of this pest. 
Keeping the potato patch and, in fact, the entire farm as free as 
possible from solanaceous weeds should be practiced by all farmers of 
a neighborhood, and if the potato grower could secure the cooperation 
of his neighbors in the use of an arsenical spray, and would also de- 
stroy the insects by spraying infested wild food plants, the effect 
would soon be noticeable, as there can be no doubt that the species 
would soon be reduced to small numbers, at least in limited areas, if 
this cooperation were thorough and persistent. This statement is 
based on the fact that the beetles are seldom if ever seen migrating 
nowadays in any such numbers as in earlier years, and there is not 
therefore the constant danger of reinfestation from a distance as was 
formerly the case. There may, of course, be occasional exceptions. 
Finally, as a general proposition, the potato grower should keep 
his potatoes free from diseases, such as wilt and scab, and spray 
for flea-beetles and any other insects which may be found in addition 
to the Colorado beetle. He should also pay particular attention to 
the methods of growing best adapted for his location. Information 
in regard to the methods of potato culture is furnished in Farmers’ 
Bulletin No. 35, U. S. Department of Agriculture, and potato dis- 
eases and their treatment are considered in Farmers’ Bulletin No, 91. 
Both of these publications can be had on application to the Secretary 
of Agriculture. 
Approved: 
JAMES WILSON, 
Secretary of Agriculture. 
Wasuinerton, D.C., April 10, 1907. 
[Cir. 87] 
O 
