128 — How to Make the Garden Pay. 



and premature death of the vine. The affected vines should be 

 promptly pulled up and burned, and all vines of an infested 

 field after harvest had better be gathered up and burned. 



Potato Stalk Borer {Gortyna nitela). — This is the larva 

 of a brown moth, and attacks a number of plants, especially pota- 

 toes, tomatoes, corn, dahlias, rhubarb, spinach, also the twigs of 

 trees and bush fruits. Destroy the larvae wherever found. The 

 insect is propagated largely upon weeds, and clean culture should 

 be given to all crops subject to its attacks. 



Twelve-spotted Diabrotica, or Cucumber Beetle {Dia- 

 brotica 12-punctatd) — The slender white larva of this insect at- 

 tacks the roots of the corn plant in the more Southern States, 

 and is there known as the Southern corn-root worm. The adult 

 beetle feeds upon the leaves of melons, cucumbers, squashes, and 

 a great number of other plants. Paris green, applied as for the 

 potato beetle and brood, is probably the surest protection to 

 such plants against the enemy. 



Boreal Ladybird {Epilachne borealis). — This seems to be 

 the black sheep of the ladybird family, and the only one of its 

 members which feeds on vegetable crops, especially on pumpkin 

 and squash leaves. In some localities along the Atlantic coast 

 it has already become a serious pest. I made its acquaintance 

 in New Jersey years ago. The beetles average nearly three- 

 eighths of an inch in length, are almost as broad as long, and 

 nearly convex. In color they are bright yellow, or yellowish 

 brown, with four black spots on the thorax and seven on each 

 wing cover. The eggs are deposited in patches on the under- 

 side of the leaf, and easily recognized by their bright yellow 

 color. The larvae are yellow with black branching spines. The 

 beetles are easily found eating in broad daylight on the upper 

 leaf surface, and spraying with Paris green water can be recom- 

 mended. Destroying the eggs and larvae early in the season 

 should not be neglected. 



Rhubarb Curculio {Lixus concavus). — The parent beetle 

 is of a dull, grayish-brown color, and usually covered with a 

 yellowish powder. They often gnaw and tunnel holes in the 

 stalks of rhubarb, doing much injury. Its young are raised 

 chiefly on the stalks of yellow and other docks. Keep your 

 fields clean of dock, also pick off the beetles by hand when found 

 on rhubarb, and destroy them. 



Grasshoppers. — The three most destructive and most 

 widely distributed species are the Rocky Mountain locust or 

 Western grasshopper {Melanoplus spretus), the bird grasshopper 

 or American locust (^Acridmin Americanuin), and the red-legged 

 grasshopper {Melanoplus femur rubrmti). In some years the 



