4S THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF 



lias only to eat its way through the thin piece of the hull which the 

 larva had left covering the hole. It has been proved that the beetle 

 would die if it had not during its larval life prepared this passage way, 

 for Ernest Menault asserts* that the beetle dies when the hole is 

 pasted over with a piece of paper even thinner than the hull itself. 



REMEDIES AND PREVENTIVES. 



Sometimes, and especially when the summer has been hot and 

 prolonged, many of the beetles will issue from the peas in the fall of 

 the same year that they were born, but as a more general rule they 

 remain in the peas during the winter and do not issue till new vines 

 are growing. Thus many yet remain in the seed peas until they are 

 planted and especially is this apt to be the case with such as are 

 planted early. We see, therefore, how easily this insect may be in- 

 troduced into districts previously free from it by the careless planting 

 of buggy peas, for it has been demonstrated that the beetle issues as 

 readily from peas planted in the earth as it does from those stored 

 away in the bin. All peas intended for seed should be examined and 

 it can very soon be determined whether or not they are infested. The 

 thin covering over the hole of the peas that contain weevils, and 

 which may be called the eye-spot, is generally somewhat discolored, 

 and by this eye-spot those peas which ought not to be planted can 

 soon be distinguished. Where this covering is off and the pea pre- 

 sents the appearance of Figure 15, 5, there is little danger, for in that 

 case the weevil has either left, or, if still within the pea, is usually 

 dead. It would of course be tedious to carefully examine a large lot 

 of peas, one by one, in order to separate those that are buggy, and 

 the most expeditious way of separating the sound from the unsound, 

 is to throw them into water, when the sound ones will mostly sink 

 and the unsound swim. 



There are, however, other and more certain means of preventing 

 the injuries of this insect, and whenever agriculture shall have pro- 

 gressed to that point where by proper and thorough organization all 

 the farmers of a county or of a district can, by vote, mutually agree 

 to carry out a measure with determination and in unison, then this 

 insect can soon be exterminated ; for it is easy to perceive that such 

 a result would be accomplished by combinedly ceasing to cultivate 

 any peas at all for one single year! Until some such united action 

 can be brought about, we shall never become entirely exempt from 

 this insect's depredations, for no matter how sound the peas may be 

 that I plant, my vines are sure to be more or less visited by the 

 beetles as long as I have slovenly neighbors. Yet comparatively, my 

 peas will always be enough better to well pay for the trouble, even 

 under these circumstances. 



*ln$cctc$ NuUibltt a l* Agriculture, 



