112 



Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 



Vol. 27, Art. 2 



the next several decades, it was said of 

 many a farm boy who had risen to a 

 prominent position, "He made his first 

 dime collecting potato bugs on his grand- 

 father's farm" — not his father's farm, for 

 there, in accord with the tradition of the 



The value of predators and parasites 

 was not overlooked, and at times differ- 

 ent kinds of poultry, particularly turkeys, 

 were noted as effective control agents. 

 Hellebore, London purple, and calcium 

 arsenate were later added to the list of 



Spraying equipment developed in recent years by entomologists of the Illinois Natural 

 History Survey for the control of the corn earworrn and the European corn borer on sweet 

 corn and field corn. 



day, he performed the task without com- 

 pensation as a member of the family. 



Many potato growers experimented 

 with Paris green applied in several ways, 

 and by 1870 dusting plants with a mix- 

 ture of Paris green and flour or lime was 

 quite generally accepted as the most ef- 

 fective remedy available. However, there 

 were many growers who were fearful of 

 the poisonous properties of the arsenical 

 compounds and they continued to place 

 their trust in hand picking. Some grow- 

 ers went so far as to design rather elab- 

 orate mechanical devices which they 

 mounted on skids and dragged up and 

 down the rows to beat the beetles from 

 the plants and collect them in pans, trays, 

 or boxes, where the beetles could be de- 

 stroved. 



insecticides recommended for control of 

 the Colorado potato beetle. As the potato 

 leafhopper, aphids, blight, and other pests 

 attracted increased attention, a variety of 

 insecticide and fungicide combinations 

 came into common use. Research pro- 

 duced minor improvements in formula- 

 tions and methods of application that en- 

 hanced the efifectiveness or economy of 

 control measures, but there was no sub- 

 stantial or basic change in control pro- 

 cedures or practices until the advent of 

 DDT in 1946. While potato growers 

 and entomologists alike had been inclined 

 to feel that the control measures in use 

 in the early 1940's left little to be de- 

 sired, they apparently overlooked or gross- 

 ly underestimated the damage inflicted by 

 the insects, for within 2 years after 



