SQUASH AND POTATO PESTS 307 



from insects, while another grower who had several acres near by had to 

 replant more than one-half of his ground. 



These pests can also be checked by thoroughly dusting the 

 plants with arsenate of lead powder, already described in this chap- 

 ter ; or with Paris green thoroughly mixed with flour at the rate of 

 one ounce to the pound. 



Squash Bugs. These are the disagreeable black insects which 

 take to the squash family and are commonly known as "stink bugs." 

 They cannot be poisoned because they suck juices and do not eat 

 the leaf surface on which the poison is spread. The young insects 

 can be killed by spraying with kerosene emulsion, but the old ones 

 are hard to get by any process except hand-picking and smashing. 

 One should always be on the lookout for this pest and pounce 

 quickly on the first appearance and the masses of dark brown eggs 

 which they deposit on the leaves and stems of the plants they infest, 

 and stamp out the trouble by hand-picking. Various growers have 

 reported some success with a spray of creolin (a tablespoonful to a 

 gallon of water) also with powdering the vine and nearby ground 

 with tobacco dust, also with a powder made by stirring enough 

 kerosene oil into air-slaked lime as already noted for diabroticas. 

 They can be trapped under pieces of board, etc., placed near to the 

 plants and can be crushed early in the morning. Unless one starts 

 in very early the pest is very hard to control but it is fortunately 

 not very abundant. All garden rubbish should be cleaned up in the 

 fall for it is in such shelter that the insects hibernate. Such clean- 

 ing up and springtime watchfulness are the most promising re- 

 courses. 



Hills of plants can be protected from early attack by stink bugs 

 by covering with cloth, paper, etc. One way is thus : Make arches 

 of baling wire big enough so that by the time a paper laid over the 

 arch would be in the way of the growing vines, the vines would be 

 big enough to escape damage. Put such an arch over each hill and 

 cover it with a square of thin, tough wrapping paper which you will 

 have dipped into high grade distillate or heavy kerosene. Lay the 

 paper cornerwise on the arch and fasten the corners down with 

 dirt. It will allow light to pass through and will keep off any mi- 

 grating bugs. 



The Potato Worm. This serious pest is mentioned on page 

 246 as the third of the great potato destroyers. It is commonly 

 first noticed by the burrows in the tuber which separate from the 

 flesh after cooking in black strings. Their work also inpairs the 

 external appearance of the fresh tubers. The worm is the offspring 

 of a small gray moth which lays its eggs in early and again in late 

 summer on potato foliage or stems or on the stems of other plants, 

 mostly of the potato family, or on exposed tubers in the field or in 

 the storeroom. As the eggs hatch, the caterpillars either mine the 

 stems and leaves, rarely pushing down in case of loose soil several 



