140 THE CANADIAN IIORTICULTUiaST. 



The dry weather makes it much easier to deal with the potato 

 beetle, though they are more abundant in dry than in wet seasons ; 

 the poison is not washed off by the rain, and consequently it is far 

 more effective. 



After numerous experiments on this head I have adopted the fol- 

 lowing plan. Most of my neighbors either knock off the beetles, or 

 pick them off, or sprinkle the plants with poisoned water. The first' 

 two modes are objectionable on account of the number of times they 

 have to be repeated. If you pick your plants clean to-day you must 

 go over them again next week, for others will be hatched. Moreover, 

 the repeated tramping hardens the ground, and makes the labour of 

 raising the potatoes, either with plough, fork or hook, very much 

 greater. The third mode involves the carrying of too much water. 

 I always now use the London purple. It is very much cheaper than 

 Paris green, and being lighter, there is more in a pound. JVIixing it 

 with 60 or 80 parts of ashes or fine road dust, by passing it two or 

 three times through a sieve of wire gauze containing about ten meshes 

 in an inch, I can carry enough in a large bucket to poison half an 

 acre of potatoes. I fit a handle to an old pint tin and fill it with tlie 

 poison ; then walking along a row I sprinkle the plant by jarring the 

 handle with a light stick. In this way I can go over an acre in a day. 

 I have grown this year about, two acres. The dust should be put on 

 when the air is perfectly still, so that the lighter pdirts of the mixture 

 which contain most purple shall fall on the leaves. Dew or no dew 

 is of no consequence ; when once dusted the leaf will retain the poison 

 until it is washed off by rain. A little flour is said to be effectual in 

 preventing this, but my experience has not confirmed it, and I see 

 little or no use in adding it to the mixture. In the early spring, when 

 the plants are just coming up, it is a good. plan to' poison slices of 

 potatoes and lay them among the rows. It helps to save the very 

 young plants when they are so small that it is difficult effectually to 

 poison them. Later on, as sooii as the young plants appear, I choose 

 a time when the barometer and the sky indicate dry weather for at 

 least a few days, and get the plants thoroughly dusted. This is easy 

 if the potatoes were cut small, because there is only one head. If 

 this is well done, and no rain follows for forty-eight hours, the whole 

 ground will be clear of grubs, and hundreds of beetles will be also 

 found lying about with their legs spread out — a sure sign that they 



