THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



267 



trough and the barrel can be put by, and need 

 not monopolize a wheel carriage lor this pariiculiir 

 use. 



In going over the ground, the cart should be 

 driven right up and down hill ; as i( it goes side- 

 ways or across the hill, the water will not flow 

 equally from the holes, but will be in one end of 

 the trough ; and the track of the wheel points 

 out to the driver where he is to go next turn. 

 The effect with me has been the manifest green- 

 ness which is now apparent on all the watered 

 parts, which show a much superior color to the 

 adjacent spois which have not been watered, and 

 I am satisfied that this is the most profitable way 

 ol'applying that which usually goes to waste. 



Jakuarius. 



DESTRUCTIVE IR'SECTS. 



From Dr. T. W. Harris's Report on the Insects of Masaa- 

 chusetts. 



Cucumber bug. — The pupa state of some spe- 

 cies occurs on the leaves — ol others, in the ground ; \ 

 and some of the larvae live also in the ground on 

 the roots of plants. This is probably the case 

 with those ol the cucumber beetle. This destruc- 

 tive insect is the Galeruca vittata, or striped gale- 

 ruca, generally known here by itie names ol striped 

 bug and cucumber bug. It is of a light yellow 



color, above, with a black head, and a broad black rax is short, nearly or quite as wide as the wing, 

 stripe on each wing-cover, the inner edge or suture covers behind, and narrowed belbre ; the head is 



been highly recommended. Mr. Gourgas of Wes- 

 ton, has lound no application so useful as ground 

 plaster of Paris ; and a writer in the American 

 Farmer, extols the use of charcoal dust. Deane 

 recommended eiftini); powdered soot upon the 

 plants when they are wet with the morning dew, 

 and others have advised sulphur and Scotch snuff 

 to be applied in the same way. As these insects 

 fly by night as well as by day, and are attracted by 

 lights, lighted splinters of pine knots or of staves 

 or tar barrels, stuck into the ground during the 

 night, around the plants, have been found useful 

 in destroying these beetles. The most effectual 

 preservative both against these insects and the 

 equally destructive black flea-beetles which infest 

 the vines in the spring, consists in covering the 

 young vines with millinet stretched over small 

 wooden frames. Mr. Levi Bartlett, of Warner, 

 N. H., has described a method for making these 

 frames expeditiously and economically, and his 

 directions may be found in the second volume of 

 the New England Farmer, page 305, and in Fes- 

 senden's New American Gardener, under the 

 article Cucumber. 



The cucumber flea-beetle, above mentioned, a 

 little, black, jumping insect, well known for the in- 

 jury done by it, in the spring, to young cucumber 

 plants, belonijs to another family of the Chrysome- 

 lian tribe, called Haltkadce. The following are 

 the chief peculiarities of the beetles of this family. 

 The bod)' is oval and very convex above ; the tho- 



ol' which is also black, Ibrming a third narrower 

 stripe down the middle olthe back ; the abdomen, 

 the greater part of the lore-legs, and the knees and 

 leet of the other legs are black. It is rather less 

 than one fifth of an inch long. Early in the spring 

 it devours the tender leaves of various plants. 1 

 have Ibund it often on those of our Aronias, Ame- 

 lanchier boiryapium and ovalis, and Pyrus arbu- 

 tifolia, towaids the end of April. It makes its first 

 appearance, on cucutnber, squash, and melon vines 

 about the last ol May and first ol June, or as soon 

 as the leaves begin to expand ; and, as several 

 broods are produced in the course of the summer, 

 it may be (bund at various times on these plants, 

 till the latter are destroyed by frost. Great num- 

 bers of these little beetles may be obtained in the 

 autumn from the flowers of squash and pumpkin 

 vines, of the pollen and germs of which they are 

 very Ibnd. They get into the blossoms as soon as 

 the latter are opened, and are often caught there 

 by the twisting and closing of the top of the flow- 

 er ; and, when they want to make their escape, 

 they are obliged to gnaw a hole through the side 

 of their temporary prison. The lemales lay their 

 eggs in the ground, and the larvae probably leed on 

 the roots of plants, but they have hitherto escaped 

 nay researches. 



Various means have been suggested and tried 

 to prevent the ravages of these striped cucumbur 

 beetles, which have become notorious throughout 

 the country for their attacks upon the leaves uf the 

 cucumber and squash. Dr. B. S. Barton, ol Phila- 

 delphia, recommended sprinkling the vines with a 

 mixture ol tobacco.and red pepper, which he sta;ed 

 to be attended with great benefit. Watering the 

 vines with a solution of one ounce of Glauber's 

 salts in a quart of water, or with tobacco water, an 

 Jofueion of elder, of walnut leaves, or of hops, has 



pretty broad ; the antennee are slender, about half 

 the length of the body, and are implanted nearly 

 on the middle of the (brehcad ; the hindmost thighs 

 are very thick, being Ibrmed for leaping ; hence 

 these insects have been called flea-beetles, and the 

 scientific name Holtica, derived from a word signi- 

 fying to leap, has been applied to them. The sur- 

 face ofthe body is smooth, generally polished, and 

 often prettily or brilliantly colored. The claws 

 are very thick at one end, are deeply notched to- 

 wards the other, and terminate with a long curved 

 and sharp point, which enables the insect to lay 

 hold firmly upon the leaves ofthe plants on which 

 they live. These beetles eat the leaves of vege- 

 tables, preferring especially plants ol the cabbage, 

 turnip, mustard, cress, radish, and horse-radish 

 kind, or those, which, in botanical language, are 

 called cruciferous plants, to which they are olfen 

 exceedingly injurious. The turnip fly, or more 

 properly turnip flea-beetle, is one oi {hese Halticas, 

 which lays waste the turnip fields in Europe, de- 

 vouring the seed leaves of the plants as soon as 

 (hey appear above the ground, and continuing their 

 ravages upon new crops throughout the summer. 

 It is stated in Young's Annals of Agriculture, that 

 the loss in Devonshire, England, in one season, 

 from the destruction of the turnip crops by this 

 little insect, was estimated at one hundred thou- 

 sand pounds sterlinir. Another small flea-beetle 

 is often very injurious to the grape vines in Europe, 

 and a larger species attacks the sume plant in this 

 country. The flea-beetles conceal themselves dur- 

 ing the w^ter, in dry places, under stones, in tufta 

 ol withered grass, and in chinks of walls. They 

 lay their esgs in the spring, upon the leaves of th« 

 plants upon which they feed. The larvae or young 

 of the smaller kinds, burrow into the leaves, and 

 eat the solt pulpy substaDce uuder the skiD, form- 



