OTHER ENEMIES OF LUCERNE. 53 



i Another method we know to have been tried with success is to 

 cut the lucerne when badly infected with caterpillar and turn it 

 into ensilage. 



If the caterpillars are troublesome in small patches of lucerne 

 only, they may be effectively dealt with by spraying. The spraying 

 solution, with which the greatest success has been obtained, con- 

 sists of Paris Green, at the rate of 1 Ib. of Paris Green, and from 

 150 to 200 gallons of water, with the addition of 2 Ibs. of freshly- 

 slaked lime. This mixture is sprayed directly upon the plants, 

 .and must be renewed if washed off by rains. These chemicals are 

 very cheap. 



MITES. A correspondent wrote to the Agricultural Journal in 

 '-Sept., 1907, as follows : 



Under separate cover I am sending you a bottle containing a 

 number of very minute insects. This little pest has attacked a 

 patch of about seven morgen of lucerne, and every square inch of 

 .ground seems to be alive with them. They suck all the juice out 

 of the leaves and retard the growth. Can you suggest any simple 

 remedy for getting rid of the n ? Do you think irrigating at short 

 intervals will remedy the evil ? ' 



Mr. C. B. Lounsbury, Government Entomologist, supplied the 

 following memo : 



The specimens were all dead and somewhat decomposed when 

 they reached me, but I am unable to distinguish them from the 

 common Bryobia Mite, Bryobia pratensis. Information in regard to 

 this insect as a fruit tree past was given in the Agricultural Journal 

 for August, 1903. We hive noticed it in small numbers in lucerne 

 near Capetown, and last year a report of serious injury to a small 

 patch reached us from Steynsburg. In America the creature is 

 called the " Clover Mite," and doubtless it is found there on 

 lucerne, as it is known practically all over the country ; lucerne 

 and clover, be it understood., are allied plants. But it is not 

 recorded as a pest of any importance to lucerne, and last year an 

 enquiry to the entomologist of Colorado, in which State lucerne is 

 extensively grown, brought a reply t) the effect that it was not 

 known to affect lucerne in his area. The fact is mentioned because, 

 from the Cape experience alone, the creature appears capable of 

 giving a g >od deal of trouble. That it does not in Colorado is 

 hopeful. The climate of the State is dry, lucerne requiring irriga- 

 tion always, and dryness seems very favourable to the rapid multi- 

 plication of the mite. Though to be found in almost every garden 

 around Capatown, where the climate is a relatively moist one, it 

 never does much injury. It may be inferred from this that irriga- 

 tion a f , short intervals, as suggested, will tend to keep down the 

 numbers. 



