614 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OP PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



Sucks juices, causing plants to wither and 

 often carries disease from side plants to 

 others. 



Burn all rubbish in spring if this was 

 omitted in fall. Spray young bugs with 

 kerosene emulsion diluted with 12 to 15 

 parts of water. Collect old bugs by 

 sweeping plants with cheese cloth or mus- 

 lin net when insects are stupid in early 

 morning or when it is cold. 



H. A. GOSSABD, 

 Woostor, Obio 

 Spinach of Beet Leaf Maggot. See un- 

 der Spinach. 



Western Army Morm 



Chorizagrotis agrestis Grote 



Family Noctuidae 



General Appearance 



The adult moth is about one inch long 



and dark brown with gray markings. The 



caterpillars or army worms attain a 



length of two inches and vary from pale 



green to dark brown. 



Life History 



The general life history is practically 

 the same as that of the variegated cut 

 worm {Peridroma margaritosa var. saucia 

 Hubn.). 



Food Plants 



This is a rather serious vegetable pest, 

 attacking beets, cabbage, horse-radish, 

 radish, mustard, turnip, peas, tomatoes, 

 potatoes, onions, celery, rhubarb, corn, 

 grasses, clover, alfalfa and forest and 

 fruit trees. 



Poisoned bait, composed of a pound of 

 Paris green to 40 or 50 pounds of bran 

 and sweetened either with cheap sugar 

 or molasses with sufficient water added to 

 make a stiff mash, placed in the infested 

 areas, will kill countless numbers of the 



^°™^- E. O. EssiG 



Beneficial Insects 



The California State Insectary Proi)agat- 



inff and Distribntinjr Beno- 



flcial Insects 



The California State Insectary is a de- 

 partment of the state commission of hor- 

 ticulture, equipped and maintained for the 

 purpose of reducing the cost of produc- 

 tion of horticultural and agricultural 



products through the control of injurious 

 insect pests. 



The primary object of this institution 

 is to import, collect, propagate and dis- 

 tribute beneficial insects that will prey 

 upon insects destructive to our fruit, vine 

 and grain products. Information is also 

 disseminated as to the best artificial 

 means of control, where the natural 

 methods are not available, both for insect 

 pests and plant diseases. 



The state of California leads the hor- 

 ticultural world in the science of con- 

 trolling destructive insects by natural and 

 artificial methods. 



The main purpose of this article is to 

 give the reading public a general idea of 

 the various methods employed by the Cal- 

 ifornia State Insectary, in propagating, 

 collecting, holding in cold storage and 

 distributing the tons of live beneficial in- 

 sects that are annually distributed free, 

 upon application, express or postage paid, 

 to resident growers of California. 



This great practical work and its com- 

 mercial application had its inception in 

 California. The history of its inaugura- 

 tion is so well known and understood 

 that, for the purpose of the present article, 

 it may be passed wW;h the brief statement 

 that, early in the horticultural history of 

 the state, the known means of artificial 

 control or eradication proved inadequate 

 to cope with the invasion of a very serious 

 insect pest of citrus and other trees, 

 known as the "cottony cushion scale" 

 (Icerya purchasi) which reduced the 

 citrus output from 8,000 cars to GOO in a 

 single year. 



The idea of searching the world for a 

 beneficial insect that would prey upon 

 and control this pest originated in Cali- 

 fornia. The idea was put into practical 

 operation by the introduction of a species 

 of Coccinellidae (Ladybird family) from 

 Australia, known as Novius (Vedalia) 

 cardinalis, with the result that the then 

 doomed citrus industry of California was 

 saved and the same pest which is always 

 present in limited numbers, was commer- 

 cially and continually controlled all these 

 years at no expense to the grower, except 

 a two-cent stamp on the letter to the In- 



