299 



g^ermination test of 500 peas of ten sorts with the result that but one- 

 fourth gerniinated, and the partial destruction of the cotyledons rendered 

 the further growth of these doubtful. A check lot of the same number 

 of sound peas gave a germination of 97 per cent. An examination of 

 27r) injured peas showed but <)0 in which the germ was not wholly or 

 partially destroyed. Moreover, Prof. Popenoe further states : 



In a field test, of the growth of sound as compared witb weeviled peas, the results 

 "were more decisive from a practical standpoint. In this test 23 varieties were rep- 

 resented, each by 100 sound and 100 weeviled peas, tak(in as they came, without fur- 

 ther selection. The seeds were planted in the garden in i»arallel rows, the sound and 

 weeviled peas of each sort side by side, the rows 18 inches apart. The planting was 

 <lone on the 5th of June, and the dryness of the season hindered the perfect germina- 

 tion and growth to a noticeable degree. Of the sound peas 68 per cent came up, and 

 '64 per cent made strong plants. In 10 varieties of the weeviled peas no seeds ger- 

 minated; the remaining 13 varieties were represented in all by 58 plants, or 4.4 per 

 cent, in germination, of which but 49, or 3.8 per cent, grew to average size and 

 strength. 



This evidence practically settles the long mooted question, and it is 

 safe to say definitely that weeviled or '^ buggy" peas should not be 

 planted. 



THE BEAN WEEVIL {Bruchus fabcB Eiley). 



This congeneric insect resembles the species we have just treated, in 

 general appearance. It appears to be a native American insect, and 

 probably fed originally upon some wild bean. 

 It is said to have been first noticed upon 

 cultivated beans about 18G0 in Rhode Island, 

 is now generally distributed throughout the 

 United States, and has been carried by com- 

 merce to different parts of the world. The 

 adult beetle is shown at Fig. 42, and it will 

 he noticed that the main points of difference p-ig. 42.-Bean\yeevii: «, aduit;\ 



are the absence of the white markings. The damaged bean— enlarged (after ri- 



general color is tawny gray with more or less ^^^ 



dull yellowish, and it is somewhat smaller than the Pea Weevil. In its 

 life-history this species differs from Bruchus ^nsi in two inqjortant 

 points. Largely on account of its smaller size and the greater size of 

 the seed which it infests, a number of individuals ^ill develop in a 

 single bean. As many as 28 have thus been found feeding at once. 

 A second point of difference, and one of great economic importance, 

 is that the insects will continue breeding indefinitely in stored beans. 

 We showed this to be the case in 1882, but recent writers have, for the 

 most part, ignored this interesting fact. The eggs are primarily laid 

 upon the bean pod in the field, and the larva enters the seed in the 

 same manner as does the Pea Weevil. The rate of growth is similar, 

 and some individuals, as ^vith the other species, may issue the same fall, 

 others hibernating within the beans and issuing in the spring. If easy 

 means of exit are not present, the females will soon begin to lay their 



