COLEOPTEEA OE BEETLES. 133 



of farmers find this plan very beneficial. When we see the fly 

 commencing to destroy we can also keep them ofi' by broadcast- 

 ing over the young plants, early in tlie morning when the deio is 

 on the leaf, soot, lime, and road-dust mixed in equal quantities. 

 This compound sticks to the young leaves and drives the fly off 

 for some time ; a dressing of superphosphate at the same time 

 would push the growth on, and so get the plant out of the 

 young and vulnerable stage. Those who have a " strawsoniser " 

 cannot do better than run the machine over the young plants as 

 soon as they are up, spraying them with pure paraffin at the 

 rate of 1} to 2 gallons to the acre. The destruction of all 

 winter shelter should also be paid attention to. 



The Hop-flea (Haltica concinna). 



Very often in the early part of the year the hop-shoots are 

 much eaten away by this iiea-beetle, which also goes to the 

 turnips. The hop-flea does most damage in warm days when 

 the nights have been cold, checking the growth of bine. 

 It also eats the leaves in the same way as the turnip - flea, 

 and occasionally even attacks the cones themselves, when the 

 damage of course is irreparable. The larvse are found in the 

 hop-leaf and the pupte in the hills, the life-history being similar 

 to H. nernorum. Great numbers of H. concinna hibernate in 

 broken pieces of bine, in the bine-stumps left in the ground, and, 

 like the turnip-flea, in hedgerows and other shelter. H. concinna 

 is a brassy-coloured flea-beetle. Spraying the young bine with 

 paraffin emulsion keeps the flea-beetles off, whilst a good dress- 

 ing of soot and lime over the hills in the early morning before 

 the flies are about will keep the pest well in check. 



An allied beetle, Psijlliocle.<i affenuatus, sometimes quite ruins 

 hops in an advanced state in Kent by riddling the cones and 

 leaves, when the former are beginning to ripen. 



