﻿— 
  50 
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  of 
  its 
  insect 
  enemies. 
  Doubtless, 
  also, 
  many 
  beet 
  insects 
  which 
  in 
  the 
  

   short 
  period 
  since 
  beet 
  culture 
  began 
  in 
  America 
  have 
  been 
  present 
  in 
  

   small 
  or 
  moderate 
  numbers 
  only, 
  will 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  time 
  exhibit 
  that 
  

   tendency 
  to 
  extraordinary 
  and 
  alarming 
  multiplication 
  common 
  among 
  

   the 
  injurious 
  species 
  generally. 
  

  

  It 
  must 
  not 
  be 
  inferred, 
  however, 
  that 
  the 
  beet 
  plant 
  is 
  especially 
  

   liable 
  to 
  insect 
  injury. 
  On 
  the 
  contrary, 
  taking 
  the 
  country 
  at 
  large, 
  

   it 
  is 
  at 
  present 
  less 
  subject 
  to 
  such 
  damage 
  than 
  corn 
  or 
  wheat, 
  cabbage 
  

   or 
  potatoes. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  fact 
  particularly 
  favorable 
  to 
  this 
  crop 
  that 
  the 
  

   marketable 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  plant 
  is 
  but 
  little 
  subject 
  to 
  injury 
  by 
  insects, 
  by 
  

   far 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  which 
  feed 
  on 
  it 
  infesting 
  only 
  the 
  

   leaf, 
  and 
  relatively 
  few 
  injuring 
  the 
  root. 
  

  

  The 
  critical 
  period 
  of 
  insect 
  injury 
  to 
  the 
  beet 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  beginning 
  

   of 
  the 
  season, 
  while 
  the 
  plants 
  are 
  still 
  small 
  and 
  slow 
  of 
  growth. 
  There 
  

   is 
  at 
  this 
  time 
  so 
  little 
  vegetation 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  that 
  a 
  comparatively 
  

   small 
  number 
  of 
  insects 
  may 
  serve 
  to 
  lay 
  the 
  field 
  completely 
  bare; 
  

   and 
  poisons 
  are 
  often 
  not 
  available 
  since 
  a 
  leaf-feeding 
  insect 
  may 
  com- 
  

   pletely 
  devour 
  the 
  little 
  beet 
  while 
  getting 
  a 
  fatal 
  dose 
  of 
  poison 
  for 
  itself. 
  

  

  The 
  principal 
  injurious 
  groups 
  are 
  the 
  leaf-miners, 
  the 
  web-worms, 
  

   the 
  cutworms, 
  the 
  woolly 
  bears 
  and 
  several 
  other 
  leaf-eating 
  caterpillars, 
  

   the 
  wireworms, 
  the 
  white 
  grubs, 
  the 
  flea-beetles, 
  the 
  blister-beetles, 
  the 
  

   plant-bugs, 
  the 
  leaf-hoppers, 
  the 
  plant-lice, 
  and 
  the 
  grasshoppers. 
  The 
  

   web-worms, 
  the 
  cutworms, 
  the 
  flea-beetles, 
  the 
  blister-beetles, 
  the 
  leaf- 
  

   miners, 
  and 
  the 
  root-lice 
  have 
  done 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  mischief 
  in 
  

   the 
  states 
  beyond 
  the 
  Mississippi, 
  but 
  in 
  Illinois 
  the 
  only 
  considerable 
  

   injury 
  seen 
  by 
  us 
  in 
  1898 
  and 
  1899 
  was 
  that 
  done 
  by 
  the 
  pale 
  striped 
  

   flea-beetles, 
  the 
  grasshoppers, 
  and 
  the 
  blister-beetles. 
  

  

  Insect 
  injuries 
  to 
  the 
  underground 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  beet 
  commonly 
  take 
  

   the 
  form 
  either 
  of 
  a 
  cutting 
  of 
  the 
  tap-root, 
  an 
  eating 
  away 
  of 
  the 
  

   smaller 
  roots, 
  or 
  a 
  burrowing 
  or 
  excavation 
  of 
  the 
  mass 
  of 
  the 
  beet 
  

   itself. 
  They 
  are 
  commonly 
  due 
  either 
  to 
  wireworms, 
  to 
  white 
  grubs, 
  or 
  

   ■ 
  to 
  the 
  beetles 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  muck-worms 
  {Ligyrus 
  gibbosiis^. 
  More 
  

   rarely 
  root-lice 
  seriously 
  damage 
  the 
  plant 
  in 
  summer 
  by 
  sucking 
  the 
  

   sap 
  from 
  the 
  roots. 
  It 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  larvffi 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  flea-beetles 
  

   will 
  also 
  be 
  found 
  to 
  infest 
  the 
  plant 
  under 
  ground. 
  

  

  Injuries 
  to 
  the 
  leaf 
  may 
  be 
  done 
  either 
  by 
  bugs 
  with 
  a 
  sucking 
  beak, 
  

   or 
  by 
  beetles, 
  grasshoppers, 
  or 
  insect 
  larvre, 
  with 
  biting 
  mouths. 
  The 
  

   former 
  abstract 
  the 
  sap 
  from 
  the 
  stem 
  or 
  the 
  blade 
  of 
  the 
  leaf, 
  often 
  

   making 
  discolored 
  spots, 
  dwarfing 
  the 
  growth 
  and 
  causing 
  the 
  leaf 
  to 
  

   curl, 
  or 
  even 
  killing 
  it 
  completely. 
  Beetles 
  and 
  their 
  larvae, 
  caterpillars, 
  

   grasshoppers, 
  and 
  the 
  like, 
  commonly 
  make 
  holes 
  in 
  the 
  leaf, 
  the 
  smaller 
  

   insects 
  small 
  circular 
  holes 
  as 
  a 
  rule, 
  and 
  the 
  larger 
  ones 
  either 
  gnawing 
  

   away 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  the 
  leaf, 
  eating 
  out 
  irregular 
  holes, 
  or, 
  if 
  cutworms, 
  

   cutting 
  off 
  the 
  stalk 
  near 
  the 
  ground. 
  Small 
  holes 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  young 
  

  

  