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Some Insects Injurious to Vegetables 



Arthur Gibson, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa 



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AT the time the seed leaves of turnips, 

 radishes and other cruciferous 

 plants first appear above ground 

 they are often attacked and the phints 

 completely destroyed by the so-called 

 "turnip fly," which is a small, very act- 

 ive, shiningf, black beetle, about one- 

 eighth of an inch lon<r, wit ha yellowish 

 stripe on each side of the winq:-covers. 



As soon as the beetles are noticed, the 

 plants should be dusted with Paris green 

 and land piaster, one pound of the former 

 to twenty of the latter. This is best done 

 when the plants are covered with dew. 

 If turnips are not sown until the third 

 week in June, injury from this insect will 

 be avoided, as by that time the swarms of 

 beetles from the first brood have, as a 

 rule, disappeared. 



THE SQUASn BUG 



Although the squash bug is seldom 

 abundant enough as far east as Ottawa to 

 do any serious harm, still it is one which 

 should be familiar to ail growers of cu- 

 curbits. In western Ontario the squash 

 bug is usually abundant enough to be 

 decidedly injurious. It is dark brown in 

 color, about three-fifths of an inch long, 

 and, being a true bug, gets its food by 

 suction. The winter is passed under rub- 

 bish, etc., and as soon as the yoi-ng 

 plants are up in spring they immediately 

 begin their depredations. The sexes pair 

 t once and soon the clusters of eggs may 

 le found on the under side of the leaves, 

 here are two broods in the season. 

 In the earlier part of the season the 

 old bugs may be trapped by placing 

 shingles or short pieces of boards among 

 the plants. The bugs hide under such 

 shelters at night and the next morning 

 when the boards are examined can be eas- 

 ily destroyed. When the bugs are young 

 they can be killed by spraying the vines 

 with kerosene emulsion, or whale oil 

 soap. As soon as the crop is gathered 

 if the vines are burned at once many of 

 the.se insects "in all stages will be des- 

 troyed. It has been found a good plan 

 in districts where the squash bug is pre- 

 valent, to plant a few hills of the ordin- 

 ary squash among melons, cucumbers, 

 etc., so that they will appear above the 

 ground a week or so before the other 

 plants. The bugs are particularly fond of 

 squash and will at once collect upon 

 them, where they can then be killed. 



THE STRIPED CUCUMBER BEETLE 



The striped cucumber beetle passes the 

 winter in the perfect state and as soon 

 as the young cucumbers, squashes and 

 melons appear above ground, it at once 

 begins to attack them. The beetle is 

 yellow with three black stripes down the 

 back and is about two-fifths of an inch in 

 length. The larvae are slender, white, 

 worm-like grubs with dark heads; they 

 ive in the ground, feeding on the roots 



of the plants, sometimes even burrow- 

 ing up into the stems. 



If frames of cheese cloth are put over 

 the young plants, these will be protected 

 from the attacks of this insect. When 

 the plants have grown large enough to 

 require the removal of the frames, these 

 of course can be dispensed with, and by 

 that time most of the first brood of the 

 beetles will have disappeared. If the 

 young plants are sprayed with the pois- 

 oned Bordeaux mixture, they will also 

 be protected largely from the attacks of 

 this beetle. The beetles of the second 

 brood are very active and fly freely from 

 plant to plant. Paris green and land plas- 

 ter (one of the former to fiftv of the lat- 



For cabbages and cauliflowers, the tar- 

 red paper disks which are made from or- 

 dinary tarred building paper, cut three 

 inches in diameter, with a slit running 

 to the centre, so as to allow of their 

 being put round the plants, have proved 

 very useful. The disks, of course, should 

 be pressed down close to the ground. The 

 flies do not lay their eggs to such an 

 extent on plants thus protected. 



The Cook carbolic wash which is made 

 with one quart of soft soap, or one pound 

 of hard soap, half a pint of crude car- 

 bolic acid, and one gallon of water, has 

 proved very useful for radishes. This mix- 

 ture after it has been boiled together for 

 a few minutes is the stock solution, and, 



Tomatoes Grown in a School Garden hj the Children 



The school gardening idea is rapidly gaining ground and should be encouraged in every way. 

 Ihe tomatoes illustrated were exhibited at the Niagara District Horticultural Exhibition two 

 years ago by the Rittenhouse School at Jordan Rarbor. Ont. 



ter) if dusted over the plants at short 

 intervals will kill large numbers of the 

 beetles. 



ROOT MAGfJOTS 



These well known small white mag- 

 gots which bore into the roots of rad- 

 ishes, cabbages, cauliflowers and so on, 

 and into the bulbs of onions, may be 

 treated of. from a practical standpoint, 

 as the same species. The perfect flies 

 are similar in appearance to the ordinary 

 housefly, but are smaller and more slend- 

 er. They appear in gardens as soon as 

 the young plants are above ground and 

 lay their white eggs on the stems close 

 to the earth. The maggots hatch in a 

 few days and work their way down be- 

 neath the soil and into the roots, or bulbs, 

 which are eventually destroyed. Unfor- 

 tunately, no good practical remedy is 

 known for these insects. In our experi- 

 ments we have found that where white 

 hellebore had been dusted along the rows 

 of onions once a week, from the time the 

 young plants first . appeared above 

 groimd, good results were obtained dur- 

 ing some years. 



before using, one part by measure is add- 

 ed to fifty of water. It should be applied 

 first just as the plants appear above the 

 ground, and afterwards once a week un- 

 til the radishes are a marketable size. 



During the last two years we have 

 been experimenting with sulphate of iron 

 as a remedy for root maggots. This 

 was highly recommended to us. From re- 

 sults obtained, the late Dr. Fletcher 

 thought it wise to' advi.se its use in the 

 proportion of two ounces to every gallon 

 of water, the application to be the same 

 as in the case of the Cook carbolic wash. 



In many Saskatchewan homes it is 

 thought that no fruit can be grown. Trv 

 it once, and give the bushes as good a 

 rliance as you would give a cabbage 

 plant. 



"Be up-to-date!" is the feeling among 

 Ihe best orchardists in Nova Scotia. Old 

 lines of hose, old pumps, old methods are 

 l)e'ing thrown aside and the best taking 

 their places. 



