568 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



tfiinin^ a little water, or putting sliccts under the trees and then shaking them 

 down, afterwards taking care, when they arc thus collected, to burn or other- 

 wise destroy them. Some persons have attempted to drive them away by 

 emoking the bushes with scraps of burning leather or watering the plant with 

 whale-oil soap. These have ali'cady been tried and found to be comparatively 

 of no value, the smoke only lasting just as long as the leather is burning; and 

 if the solution of whale-oil soap be made strong enough to injure the insect, it 

 also serves the twofold purpose of injuring the young foliage and shoots of 

 the plant or tree. Others recommend ashes or lime to be dusted on the plants 

 when wet with dow or rain ; but this has likewise proved of very little service. 

 Whale-oil soap mixed with turpentine was also tried by ourselves, and it is 

 true that at first the rose beetles appeared to be somewhat sickened by the 

 application, but they very soon revived and commenced to eat with renewed 

 vigor and relish the very roses which had been dipped in the mixture. The 

 Gishurst compound, an English preparation for destroying insects, composed 

 of soap and other materials at present unknoAvn to us, certainly did kill all 

 the rose beetles almost instantaneously on some rose bushes we were experi- 

 menting upon, the drenched and dying beetles being put into a box to assure 

 ourselves that they would not revive like the others treated with whale-oil soap 

 *and turpentine. One experiment like this, however, does not satisfy us, and 

 it must be repeated before recommending it to others. Hand-picking tried last 

 season resulted thus : the first and second time an immc^nse number Avas col 

 lected ; the third and fourth days the numbers decreased, and continued to do 

 so each succeeding day, until at length the rose bushes and a few flowers were 

 saved. It remains yet to be seen whether they will come again in such num- 

 bers the present year. 



The rose beetles appeared to prefer the lighter colored or blush roses, and, 

 perhaps, if roses of common varitities, that bloom profusely at the time the 

 vine blossoms, were planted as decoys or baits near grape-vines, the insects, pre- 

 ferring them as food, might more readily be captured and destroyed ; the only 

 objection being that the roses might also attract rose beetles from othtr quar- 

 ters which otherwise would not come. The common ox-eye daisy and various 

 other flowers appear to attract immense numbers of them, and even the com- 

 mon elder, which is said to* be generally ofteusive to insects, when in flower 

 is frequently covered with these noxious pests. Harris states that rose beetles 

 are eaten greedily by domesticated fowls, but after a short time we have ob- 

 served our fowls appeared to be either surfeited or else disgusted Avith their 

 long, spiney, and sharp legs, and refused to eat them altogether. Moles arc also 

 said to destroy them. At present, however, the only remedy appears to be 

 either hand-picking or shaking the perfect insects into a cloth or a pan partially 

 filled with water. For every perfect female destroyed, supposing her eggs to 

 Latch and complete their transformation,' we may calculate that thirty are 

 killed for another season. This should be done by the horticulturists simul- 

 taneously in a neighborhood, as it is of very little consequence to kill the rose 

 beetles in a single small garden, whilst kind neighbors are breeding tens of 

 thousands to replace those you have so diligently sought for and de- 

 stroyed. 



The Indian cetonia, a beetle a little more than half an inch in length, of a 

 dirty yellow color, spattered over wilh numerous black spots and covered 

 with hairs, is frequently seen, especially in spring, flying about near the ground, 

 and making a humming noise like the humble bee, for which it might be mis- 

 taken by a casual observer, and does considerable injury in certain localities by 

 eating and burrowing into ripe peaches and other fruits. As they also feed 

 upon the sweet sap of trees, it might be advisable to hang wide-mouthed bot- 

 tles in the trees filled with sweetened Avater, sugar, and vinegar, into which 

 they would be decoyed and drowned. This is merely mentioned as a sugges- 



