330 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



squashes, such as cymblins or crooknecks, as early as possi- 

 ble, before the main crop, and between the rows which they 

 are to occupy. Such trap plants attract most of the borers, 

 which leave the later varieties comparatively unmolested. 

 Of course as soon as the crop from these trap plants has 

 been gathered, or when the ground they occupy is needed 

 (if later than the last of July), the vines should be raked up 

 and burned, to destroy any eggs or caterpillars they may 

 contain. 



When the borers have once attacked a vine, nothing better 

 than cutting them out is available. If the vines be watched 

 during July, the presence of borers is soon shown by the 

 presence of the yellowish, powdery excrement of the cater- 

 pillars, which is forced out from the stem to the ground 

 beneath. When such traces of the presence of borers are 

 found, the stem of the plant should be split lengthwise and 

 the borers be taken out and killed, after which the split 

 should be covered with dirt to aid in healing. If the plants 

 have been induced to throw out roots at different points 

 along the stems, by covering them with a little earth at in- 

 tervals as they grow, the injury caused by splitting the 

 stems to get out the borers is greatly lessened. 



Catching and destroying the moths as they fly about the 

 plants has also been practised in some places, with good 

 success. 



Besides the squash, the pumpkin, gourd, muskmelon and 

 cucumber are sometimes attacked by this insect. 



Striped Cucumber Beetle (D iabro f ica vittata Fah.). 



This insect is a general nuisance over the greater part of 

 the United States. The black and yellow stripes along its 

 back make it very noticeable, while the injury it causes 

 is frequently so great as to almost prevent the raising of 

 cucumbers at all. 



About the time the young cucumber plants are just ap- 

 pearing above ground, and frequently even earlier, the beetles 

 leave the hiding-places in which they have passed the winter, 

 and gather about the plants. Not satisfied to wait for these 

 to reach the surface, they often burrow into the ground to 

 meet them, and begin feeding, while as soon as the leaves 



