202 THE POTATO 



of the potato, and to avoid this it is well to add 

 the milk from two pounds of slaked lime to each 

 hundred gallons of water used. While spraying 

 either of these poisons the contents of the spraying 

 machine should be kept well agitated. Sometimes 

 the pest is confined to small areas. In such cases 

 the insects are often controlled by the use of dust 

 sprayers, which either blow the Paris green out in 

 fine clouds, or dust out the same poison when it has 

 been mixed with flour or carefully screened air- 

 slaked lime. " 



THE POTATO FLEA BEETLE 



The facts about this insect (Epitrix cucumeris) 

 which follow were written by S. Arthur Johnson 

 for Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 "Bulletin No. 175": 



"When tomatoes are first set out or potatoes 

 first come up there may often be found on them 

 tiny black beetles which jump when alarmed. 

 They are called the flea beetles because of this 

 habit, though they are not closely related to the 

 flea. 



"The adult insects live over winter and appear 

 during the latter part of May and first of June. 

 They get their living by eating tiny holes in the 

 surface of the leaves of plants of the potato family, 

 and often attack cucumbers and beans. The in- 

 sects often congregate in such numbers that the 

 leaves of the plants appear almost black with them. 

 Newly set tomato plants and young potatoes fre- 

 quently have their leaves so badly eaten that they 

 shrivel and the tomatoes may die. Ordinarily, the 

 stand of the potato crop is not seriously injured in 



