250 AGRONOMY 



carbon disulphide injected into their burrows with a small oil 

 can, and the opening afterwards plugged up, is effective. 



Elm-leaf beetle. The elm-leaf beetle is a small beetle that 

 destroys the leaves on elm trees. It is very destructive, but 

 at present is practically confined to the New England States. 

 It may be controlled by sprays. 



Cucumber beetle. The cucumber beetle is a small yellow- 

 and black-striped insect that is very destructive to cucumbers, 

 melons, and allied plants by eating the leaves of the seedlings. 

 The young plants are sometimes protected by frames covered 

 with screen, or they may be sprayed with poisons or dusted 

 with white hellebore. 



Blister beetles. The blister beetles are long-necked, black 

 or gray insects that feed on the foliage and flowers of many 

 species. They very frequently injure the flowers of composite 

 plants, such as asters, by eating the ray flowers. Hand picking 

 and spraying with poisons are the only remedies. 



Potato beetle. The potato beetle is more commonly known 

 as the potato bug. The mature insect is a nearly hemispheri- 

 cal creature with pale yellow and black stripes, 

 and the larvae are repulsive-looking red objects 

 with black markings. This insect is usually 

 most abundant on potato plants, the foliage 

 of which is eaten by both the larvae and the 

 mature insects. Usually the plants are soon 



killed if they are not protected. Hand pick- 

 A potato beetle J 



ing and spraying with Paris green or other 



poisons will keep the pest within bounds. 



May beetles. The larvae of the May beetle or June bug are 

 the whitish grubs common in grasslands and not infrequently 

 found in cultivated fields as well. They feed underground 

 and often do much damage by eating the roots of plants. The 

 mature insect is a brownish beetle familiar to all by its habit 

 of buzzing around the lights in spring. 



