AND RURAL ECONOMIST. l59 



Insects and Diseases. . The Massachusetts Agricnltural Re- 

 pository, for June, 1822, contains some remarks of the Hon. 

 T. Pickering, relative to a bug or fly, {bruchus pisi,) which 

 preys on the pea, in which he observes, that an effectual 

 remedy for this evil is late sowiiig ; but the hot sun of June 

 will so pinch the vines of the late sown peas, that the crop 

 will be small, unless the land be moist as well as rich. He 

 then details some experiments, by which he concludes that 

 this insect is limited to a certain period for depositing its 

 eggs ; and if the tender pods are not found till that period 

 has passed, the peas will be free from bugs. Colonel Wor- 

 thington, of Rensellaer county, Mew York, ' sowed his peas 

 on the 10th of June, six years in succession, and a bug has 

 never been seen in his peas ; whereas his neighbors, who 

 have not adopted this practice, have scarcely a pea without 

 a bug in it. He supposes the season for depositing the Qgg 

 of the pea-bug is passed before the peas are in flower.' — 

 Memoirs of New York Board of Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 23. 

 ' The only insect that commonly injures our peas is a small 

 brown bug or fly, the egg [or larva] of which is deposited in 

 them when they are young, and the pods easily perforated. 

 The insect does not come out of its nest till he is furnished 

 v.'ith short wings. They diminish the peas in which they 

 lodge nearly one-half, and their leavings are fit only for the 

 food of swine. The bugs, however, will be all gone out if 

 you keep them to the following autumn. But they who eat 

 buggy peas the winter after they are raised, must run the 

 venture of eating the insects.' — Deane's Neio England Far- 

 mer. 



The same writer recommends, when seed peas are known 

 or suspected to contain insects, to scald them a quarter of a 

 minute in boiling water, spread them about, and sow them 

 without delay. If any of the bugs should be in the peas, this 

 scalding will destroy them ; and the peas, instead of being 

 hurt, will come up the sooner, and grow the faster. 



Mildew is another evil attending peas, especially such as 

 are sown late in the season. This disorder is supposed by 

 Knight to be caused by ' a want of a sufficient supply of 

 moisture from the soil, with excess of humidity in the air, 

 particularly if the plants be exposed to a temperature below 

 that to which they have been accustomed.' The remedy 

 which he recommends is, to ' give water rather profusely 

 once a week, or nine days, even if the weather proves show- 

 ery.' — See Nciv England Farmer, vol. i. p. 414. 



