THE CUCUMBER-BEETLE. 125 



numbers of these little beetles may be obtained in the autumn 

 from the flowers of squash and pumpkin vines, the pollen and 

 germs of wliich they are very fond of. 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 

 flower ; and, when they want to make their escape, they are 

 obliged to gnaw a hole through the side of their temporary 

 prison. The females lay their eggs in the ground, and the 

 larvae probably feed on the roots of plants, but they have 

 hitherto escaped my researches. 



Various means have been suggested and tried to prevent 

 the ravages of these striped cucumber- beetles, which have 

 become notorious throughout the country for their attacks 

 upon the leaves of the cucumber and squash. Dr. B. S. 

 Barton, of Philadelphia, recommended sprinkling the vines 

 with a mixture of tobacco and red pepper, which he stated 

 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 infusion of elder, of walnut-leaves, 

 or of hops, has been highly recommended. Mr. Gourgas, of 

 Weston, has found no application so useful as ground plaster 

 of Paris ; and a writer in the " American Farmer " extols the 

 use of charcoal dust. Deane recommended sifting 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, burning splinters 

 of pine knots or of staves of tar-barrels, stuck into the 

 ground during the night, around the plants, have been found 

 useful in destroying these beetles. The most effectual pre- 

 servative, both against these insects and the equally destruc- 

 tive 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, 

 X II., has described a method for making these frames 

 expeditiously and economically, and his directions may be 



