THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 141 



are dead as door nails, not " playing possum." The crop is now safe 

 until the second crop of beetles appears, which will be nearly a month. 

 The second crop consists of those few that escaped the first poisoning, 

 and others which are contributed by neighbours who do not poison. 

 They are much yellower than the spring brood ; these lay their eggs, 

 which hatch in a few days, and the second brood is come. (I have 

 observed, by the way, that when the plants are well poisoned, by far 

 the greater portion of the eggs is laid not on the potato but on weeds 

 and 'even on the ground. Many of these probably come to nothing, 

 the young grub finding no food close by.) I watch until these are 

 beginning their work in the heart of the plant, and then go over and 

 poison a second time, choosing as before a dry spell. This operation 

 requires rather more time and material than the former, because the 

 plants have tillered out and have several heads. It is economy of 

 time and labor, however, to dust them all, and the labor may be lessened 

 by using a larger dusting tin. It is cheering to go over a patch forty- 

 eight hours afterwards and see it almost cleared of the "thieves;" 

 only a solitary one here and there surviving. This is enough for 

 most potatoes. Only the very late kinds require a third dressing, 

 while for the very early ones a single dressing is sometimes sufficient. 

 This is by far the easiest method of protecting the potato that I have 

 been able to hear of or devise, and it is not expensive, two or three 

 pounds of London purple being enough for an acre of ground. The 

 price of this substance varies greatly in different localities, from 25c. 

 per pound down to lOc, or even less, being asked. 



The contrast between my plants and those of my neighbors who 

 try to sprinkle with water, but find it too laborious, is ample testimony 

 to the eflticacy of the method I have described. The only point to 

 which I wish to call attention as very important, is the choice of the 

 time for dusting the plants. Choose a dry spell if possible, but always 

 choose the time when the eggs are beginning to hatch, otherwise much 

 of the labor may be thrown away, either by a rain which will wash off 

 the poison, or by the new growth of the plant, which will supply the 

 grubs with food in the earlier stages, and enable them to pass safely 

 the " dangers of infancy." 



The apple crop this year is light, and our readers would do well to 

 exercise caution in disposing of their surplus stock of winter fruit. 



