25 



beetle, which is so injurious to it immediately after the 

 expansion of its seed-leaves, the well-known cucumber- 

 fly,'^ a little beede, striped with black and yellow, 

 devours its leaves in the spring and summer, but is 

 pardcularly obnoxious in the early part of the season. 

 The metamorphoses of this insect have not yet been 

 traced, but I have reason for beheving that they take 

 place in the earth. Various means have been tried to 

 protect the vines, and to destroy the insects upon them. 

 Dr. Barton f says, that " nothing has been found so 

 beneficial as a mixture of tobacco and red pepper 

 sprinkled over the vines." Some have advised water- 

 ing them with a solution of one ounce of Glauber's 

 salts in a quart of water. One writer, in " The New- 

 England Farmer," applies ground plaster ; a second, 

 slacked lime ; and a third extols the use of charcoal 

 dust. Some protect their young vines with millinet 

 stretched upon small frames ; and others sdck in the 

 ground at night torches of pine knots, or splinters of 

 tar-barrels, to attract and consume the insects. 



The squash, pumpkin, and melon vines are occa- 

 sionally attacked by these insects, but not to so great 

 an extent as the cucumber. They are, however, more 

 infested by some other noxious insects. Among these 

 the most redoubtable is the large squash-hug already 

 noticed. X This insect conceals itself on the approach 

 of winter in any crevice which will afford it shelter, 

 and remains torpid until the ensuing spring, when it 

 issues from its winter-quarters, and deposits its eggs 



* Galeruca vitlata. F. 



f Fragments of the Natural History of Pennsylvania. Part I. Tables, 

 p. 4. \ Page 12. 



4 



