578 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



turnip, Curtis says, "tliat tbc rapid growth of the plant is the best remedy; 

 sowing plenty of seed is requisite ; that burning is benefif ial ; lime and soot arc 

 doubtful, but probably good in Avet weather; watering with weak brine is bene- 

 ficial." He also advises the use of a bag-net, and says "that the sowing of 

 quicklime, coal ashes, and soot has been attended with various success, gene- 

 rally with beneficial results. Brushing the fields with elder is sometimes 

 useful." 



The larvce and perfect insects of the steel-blue grape-vine beetle are some- 

 times very injurious to the grape. They also attack the plum, elm, and other 

 trees. Hams says " the careful and systematic use of lime will obviate in a 

 great degree the danger which has been experienced from this insect;" also, 

 that lime, if dusted over the plants when wet, (others say when dry,) or water- 

 ing them with an alkaline solution of one pound of hard soap to ten gallons of 

 soapsuds, is beneficial. Kollar says an infusion of the tea of wormwood or a 

 decoction of walnut leaves (perhaps strong quassia tea might answer) will pre- 

 vent the beetles from touching the leaves. Others advise the use of the sweep 

 bag-net, already mentioned, or syringing the plants with whale-oil soap and 

 water. 



A beetle very destructive to asparagus has made its appearance on Long 

 island, and, if not checked, will ultimately spread over the country. A similar 

 insect is found in Europe. Kollar recommends hand-picking ; and it has been 

 stated that a hen and chickens will exteraiinate them if placed in a coop near 

 the beds. The larvae of the-elm-tree beetle destroy the foliage of the elm, more 

 especially of the European. The eggs are deposited in clusters under the leaf 

 in May and June ; the larvse or grubs eat the soft inner substance of the foliage, 

 causing it to assume a scorched appearance, as if the tree had been subjected 

 to fire ; these larvae then descend by the trunk and form pupae on the ground 

 near the trunk. The perfect beetle appears in July, and lays eggs for a second 

 brood, to destroy a second crop of foliage. A correspondent of the American 

 Agriculturist for 1863 states that an English elm tree that had holes bored in 

 the trunk, and the holes then filled with powdered corrosive sublimate, and 

 plugged with wax, was untouched by the beetle for six or seven years ; but the 

 editor is sceptical as to the benefit, and we ourselves very much doubt the 

 utility of any such remedy. In Washington, D. C, tobacco-water has been 

 used to syringe the trees, (some say with good effect;) but it does not appear 

 to save them, as many trees have been cut down on account of this insect. 

 We have observed, however, that when the larvae of the first crop descend, 

 they almost invariably come down by the trunk, and in a day or two change 

 into motionless, yellowish pupae on the ground, very near the trunk of the tree, 

 where they remain for several days in a quiet and helpless condition. This is 

 the time to attack them, when they lie in heaps like gi-ains of wheat within a 

 circumference of three or four feet immediately surrounding the main body of 

 the tree ; haudfuls of them may be picked up near the root of any large in- 

 fested elm. A tight enclosure of boards, about one foot in height, with tar on 

 the top of it to prevent the larvae from crawling out, might be put around the 

 trees, say one or two feet from the trunk, the ground well consolidated within 

 this enclosure, and every morning during the season of their metamorphosis 

 thousands of motionless pupae might be destroyed by lime, hot water, or other 

 similar means. It is of no use, however, to do this to a single tree if there 

 are other infested elms near, as the perfect beetles are able to fly to a consid- 

 erable distance. 



A leaf-eating beetle, commonly known by the name of the ten-striped spear- 

 man, has done considerable damage to the foliage of the potato in Iowa and 

 other parts of the west. Mr. B. D. Walsh states that the female deposits her 

 eggs early in the summer ; their larvae feed voraciously for several weeks on 

 the green leaves. The pupa is formed under ground ; two broods appear in 



