20 



sprayed with Paris green, as the blossoms appear in advance of the 

 leaves and would be easily reached by the poison. 



Tlie Sweep-net. — Capturing the beetles with a sweep-net has been sug- 

 gested, but in my experience they are not readily captured, on account 

 of the low growth of the vines and tbe babit of the beetles of dropping 

 to the ground or of adhering to the plants when disturbed. It would 

 be necessary to use the net almost daily and in the heat of the day, to 

 produce much effect. 



Busting Plants ivith Lime, Ashes, etc. — Some of our correspondents 

 tried dusting the plants with lime, ashes, and similar substances as 

 repellants, but in the fields thus treated the insects were not present 

 in sufficient abundance for satisfactory tests. As others will continue 

 such experiments in the future it may be well to quote the experience 

 of Mr. W. A. Hale, as reported by Mr. Fletcher. He says: ''I tried 

 equal parts of air-slaked lime and sifted hardwood ashes ; also ammonia 

 in the form of fermenting hen manure put on between the rows, power- 

 ful enough to wither the foliage, but with little or no effect." He also 

 tried dissolved bone, which "checked, to a certain extent, the depreda- 

 tions, but left upon the hulls its pungent smell." Mr. E. S. Cole writes 

 that he "used a mixture of tobacco dust, lime, Paris green, and coal 

 oil" quite plentifully on the vines, but with little effect on the in- 

 sects. 



Other remedies were tried with negative success. Pyretnrum had 

 little or no effect when dusted on the plants in the open field. This 

 species, as well as the other snout-beetles, is extremely hardy, and 

 undoubtedly revives soon after treatment. Mr. Sprankle had placed a 

 brood of young chickens in that portion of his fields which was badly 

 infested, and at the time of my visit the little creatures were closely 

 watched, but though the weevils could be seen in numbers on every 

 side they seemed to utterly escape the eyes of the chickens, which 

 were engaged chietly in devouring larval grasshoppers and other 

 larger insects. 



Arsenical Spraying. — The arsenites have been suggested as a rem- 

 edy, but their value was considered doubtful for the reason that the 

 adult insects do not feed on the foliage, and can only be reached when 

 they feed on the open blossoms or cut through the corolla of the bud 

 for oviposition. The larva can not be affected at all by this or any 

 other spray now in use, as they are entirely protected within the buds. 

 Then, the arsenites do not commend themselves to the average grower 

 because of the fear of poisoning the consumer. In fact, one writer on 

 this subject expressly disaj)proves of their use on this ground, but 

 there is not the slightest possibility of poisoning the fruit, since the 

 arsenical to have any effect on the weevil must be applied while the 

 plants are in bud or blossom, the last application being made at least 

 three weeks before the first berries ripen. 



This is not mere theory. The matter has been recently tested at 



