260 



AGRICULTURE 



few years (Fig. 169). The best treatment is to spray the 

 trees thoroughly just before the leaves start in the spring 

 with a solution made by boiling lime and sul- 

 fur together. This is known as the lime- 

 sulfur wash. (See Appendix.) 



The potato beetle. This insect occurs so 

 commonly that it is probably well known to 

 all of you. The adult beetle is marked with 

 ten light and dark stripes. The young are 

 thick-bodied, soft, red grubs. They eat the 

 vines of the Irish potato and the mature 

 beetles do likewise. The beetle lives over 

 winter and lays its eggs upon the potato 

 plants early in the season. The eggs hatch 

 into small reddish grubs and in a few weeks 

 jj^*4Jjft the vines may be eaten bare. The remedy 

 \ "' * for this pest is Paris green, sprayed or dusted 

 on the leaves. Lime should generally be 

 used with Paris green to prevent its injuring 

 the leaves. 



The plum curculio. This is another beetle 

 that does great damage to the plum and 

 peach crops. The adult is one of the snout 

 beetles, or weevils. After the fruit has set, 

 ^ e mot ^ er weevil lays her eggs in it and 

 Jos SCALES, then eats a crescent-shaped cut half around 

 each egg in order that the growth of the 

 fruit may not crush the egg before it hatches. This al- 

 ways marks the location of the egg. The larva eats its 

 way into the fruit and around the stone. When fully 



rJs 



Fro 160 SAN 



