Potato Culture. 



one parasitic insect are known to prey 

 upon the larva of the Colorado pota- 

 to-bug, and the eggs in vast numbers 

 are eaten by several species of lady- 

 birds and their larva. 



GENERAL REMARKS ON INSECTS. 



The time is not far distant when 

 the American farmer will be obliged 

 to put forth greater efforts to destroy 

 noxious insects than he has hitherto. 

 It is a well-known fact that noxious 

 insects are increasing in a rapid rate 

 throughout every part of our land. 

 The country is becoming so " buggy " 

 that eternal vigilance is the price of 

 every thing produced from the soil. 



Close observers calculate that more 

 fruits of various kinds and varieties 

 are annually destroyed or rendered 

 worthless by insects than are gathered 

 and used by man. The cotton-worm, 

 the wheat-midge, the canker-worms, 

 the potato-bugs, are each every year 

 increasing in numbers and destruc- 

 tiveness. 



The " curculio " alone destroys 

 millions of dollars' worth of fruit an- 

 nually. 



It is a safe estimate, all things con- 

 sidered, that, if noxious insects of all 

 descriptions could at once be anni- 

 hilated throughout our country, and 

 mildews of various classes be effectu- 

 ally held in check, the cost of living 

 to our people would, in a short time, 

 be reduced to one third of its present 

 amount. It is disheartening to see 

 what a vast amount of grains, fruits, 

 and vegetables is annually eaten up 

 by the larvae, or appropriated by the 

 perfect insects of various classes, mere- 

 ly for the sake of propagating their 

 abominable species. Yet, in view of 

 all the devastation, but feeble effort 

 is made to abate the evil. Birds, 

 many species of which nature seem- 

 ingly designed on purpose to keep 

 insects in check, are wantonly shot 

 by lazy boys and indolent men, who 



range the fields and forests, killing all, 

 from the humming-bird to the crow. 

 Legislative enactments made express- 

 ly to protect the insectivorous song- 

 sters are every day violated with im- 

 punity. One man plants an orchard 

 and does all he can to destroy nox- 

 ious insects ; another man near him 

 also has an orchard, but his orchard 

 serves no purpose but to propagate 

 " curculios," " canker-worms," " bark- 

 lice," " tent caterpillars," " codling 

 moths," etc., for his neighbors, and, 

 as a matter of course, the whole 

 neighborhood swarms with noxious 

 insects. If all cultivators would act 

 in concert and with a will, insects 

 might be reduced in numbers very 

 rapidly. Most moths of night-flying 

 insects are attracted to and destroyed 

 by small bonfires kindled in still eve- 

 nings during the summer months. 



Bottles half-filled with sweetened 

 water, hung here and there, will trap 

 countless bugs. Strong soap-suds ap- 

 plied immediately after they hatch is 

 a sure remedy for plant lice. Molas- 

 ses and water, to which a little arsenic 

 has been added, placed in shallow 

 dishes among the vines, is good medi- 

 cine for potato-bugs, and all bugs in 

 general. A lighted lamp pla.ced in 

 the centre of a common milk-pan, 

 partly filled with water, the whole 

 elevated a few feet from the ground, 

 will, on a still evening, attract and 

 destroy the wheat-midge and similar 

 insects in great numbers. The calcu- 

 lations of the " curculio " and " cod- 

 ling moth " are brought to naught by 

 turning hogs into the orchard to eat 

 the stung fruit as it falls, and the 

 larva that depastures upon the leaves 

 of the current and gooseberry is de- 

 stroyed by syringing the plants with 

 a mixture of soap, salt, and water. 



VALUE OF THE POTATO AS CATTLE 

 FOOD. 



The constituents of the potato are r 



