208 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



days, while the beetle itself may live, including the winter, from 

 ten to fourteen months." Webster. 



Inasmuch as literally millions of the beetles have been gath- 

 ered by machines from a single acre, and as the beetles have been 

 found in considerable numbers on freight and passenger trains, 

 it is highly probable that the pest will be spread by the several 

 trunk-lines of railroad which pass through the infested region, as 

 in many places alfalfa has escaped from fields and grows as a weed 

 along the railway tracks. It is, therefore, highly important that 

 alfalfa growers be on their guard against this pest and take prompt 

 measures for its destruction wherever it may gain a foothold. 

 The weevils also spread rapidly by flying in spring and summer, 

 which migration is aided by the winds. They may also be spread 

 in articles shipped from an infested region and on wagons or auto- 

 mobiles. 



Control. The methods of control have not, as yet, been satis- 

 factorily determined, though the entomologist of the Utah Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station, E. G. Titus, has made extensile 

 experiments with various methods, from whose report the following 

 summary is taken. 



Old alfalfa fields are always worst injured, and fields should 

 not be left down in alfalfa over about seven years. Thorough 

 disking in the early spring has proved to be one of the essential 

 factors in securing a good crop, as it increases the stand and stimu- 

 lates a quick growth which enables the plants to better withstand 

 the weevil injury. The use of a brush drag with which a spike- 

 tooth harrow is combined has been found an excellent means of 

 killing the larvae, as they are knocked to the ground and large 

 numbers killed by the fine dust. If the field is very hard it is 

 advisable to disk it before using the drag. After the use of the drag, 

 the fields should be watered where there is irrigation. Several 

 machines have been constructed for gathering the weevils and 

 have proven quite satisfactory. These are being perfected and 

 promise to be of considerable value for the collection of the weevils, 

 particularly when used in conjunction with the brush drags. In 

 summarizing the methods of control, Professor Titus recommends: 



