ENTOMOLOGY 251 



known. There is some evidence that these beetles sometimes eat 

 into a square, but if so, the injury is rare and inconsequential. 



The Cpwpea-pod Weevil. This is commonly an enemy of cow- 

 peas, working in the pods and seeds of the developing peas, but has 

 been observed eating into the stems of young cotton plants and some- 

 times attacking the young squares in Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia, 

 the injury being more severe in the latter State, where cowpeas are 

 more commonly raised. It is frequently mistaken for the boll weevil. 

 (F. B. 223.) 



INSECT ENEMIES OF TOBACCO IN THE UNITED STATES. 



For convenience of treatment, the insects are divided into two 

 classes, (1) insects of primary importance; (2) insects of secondary 

 importance. 



Loss Caused By Tobaceo Insects, In 1907 the tobacco flea- 

 beetle was exceptionally injurious in Kentucky and Tennessee and 

 caused a loss of approximately $2,000,000. In Florida, in 1908, 

 the tobacco splitworm caused a loss of $12,000 upon one plantation, 

 an average of $150 per acre. The tobacco thrips injures wrapper 

 tobacco seriously in Florida every year, frequently necessitating a 

 regrading of from 10 per cent to 20 per cent of the crop and a 

 consequent reduction in value of from 50 cents to $1.20 per pound. 

 In years of severity the cost of fighting this pest may be as high as 

 $20 per acre. The tobacco budworms have to be fought constantly 

 in the shade-tobacco districts in Georgia and Florida. Although 

 very little tobacco is ruined by these pests, it is estimated that the 

 cost of fighting them ranges from $12 to $15 per acre, a tax of 

 from $60,000 to $75,000 upon the growers for the 5,000 acres of 

 shade tobacco. Tobacco hornworms are found in all tobacco fields 

 and are the most serious pests of the industry. Their injuries vary 

 from 2 per cent to 3 per cent in localities where they are scarce, and 

 from 10 per cent to 15 per cent in localities where they are plentiful. 

 The cigarette beetle, wihch infests cured and manufactured tobaccos, 

 also levies a yearly toll of many thousands of dollars upon the tobacco 

 industry. The total yearly loss to the tobacco industry from insect 

 pests probably never falls below 5 per cent a monetary loss of ap- 

 proximately $5,000,000, and it may be as high as 8 per cent to 10 

 per cent, entailing a loss of from $8,000,000 to $10,000,000. 



The Tobaeco Flea-Beetle. The tobacco flea-beetle attacks plant 

 beds and young plants in the field, and frequently injures tobacco 

 until it is carried to the barn. The most serious outbreak on record 

 occurred in the spring of 1907 in the dark-tobacco belt of Kentucky 

 and Tennessee. Many plant beds were destroyed, and in many in- 

 stances all plants upon resowed beds were destroyed. Frequently the 

 flea-beetle seriously injures young tobacco in the field. The leaves 

 are riddled with holes and new foliage was devoured as fast as it 

 appeared. 



Use only whole strong canvas in canvasing seed beds, witli 

 straight boards or logs for the sides; bank up the earth three or 

 four inches against the sides, so that no holes are left beneath, and 



