248 TOBACCO LEAF. 



bacco plants when first set out, and before they have 

 become established in the ground. One part of Paris 

 green mixed with twenty parts of wheat flour and a 

 small quantity dusted on the plants while the dew is on 

 them, will destroy these pests. Frequent workings of 

 the land will also drive them from the field. All weeds 

 and other unnecessary growth likely to harbor these 

 pests during the early part of the season, should be de- 

 stroyed as a precaution against late summer injury. 



Several species of grasshoppers are likely to be so 

 starved for forage that in July or early in August they 

 are often forced to attack tobacco, but in Kentucky the 

 greater part of the holes gnawed in leaves (Fig. 64) is 

 the work of the red-legged grasshopper, shown in 

 Fig. 65. 



To kill the grasshoppers, the mixture of Paris green 

 above mentioned is put in a bag made of thin cloth, 

 which is tied to the end of a pole four or five feet long. 

 Walking between the rows when the dew is on the 

 plants, the bag is held over each and a slight tap given 

 to the stick. A portion of the mixture falls upon each 

 plant, and adheres to the surface of the leaves. This 

 application is said to destroy the grasshoppers com- 

 pletely. Too much of this mixture should not be put 

 on a plant, not enough to make it whitish. 



Sucking Bugs. In Pennsylvania, and other seed- 

 leaf growing districts of the North, there is a class of 

 hemipterous insects that puncture the leaves of the 

 tobacco plant and suck out the juices. One of these is 

 a small, gray insect or bug, about a quarter of an inch 

 long, known among entomologists as Phytocoris linearis. 

 In Tennessee, and other southern States, this species 

 feeds upon the parsnip, the tomato and the cabbage 

 plant, but rarely on the tobacco plant. A larger insect, 

 belonging to the family Scutelleridce, known as the 

 Euschistus pimcticeps, preys upon mullens. thistles and 



