herrick] SOME ENEMIES OF THE GARDEN 119 



cells where they remain all winter. Injury is greatest to the Hub- 

 bard and other late varieties. 



In the first place, gardens which are troubled with this insect 

 should be harrowed thoroughly in the fall to break up the pupal 

 cells and bring the pupae up to the surface where they will be 

 winter killed. Early in the spring the garden should be plowed 

 deeply in order to bury any pupae that may have lived through 

 the winter. 



If infestation is anticipated, the stems of the squash plants 

 should be covered here and there with dirt as they begin to run. 

 The stems will send out, at the points where they are covered, 

 secondary roots which will support the plants in case the main 

 stem near the base of the plant is killed by the borers. 



Finally the borers may be cut out by hand. They can be located 

 by the small heaps of sawdust-like borings on the soil just under 

 the stems where each borer is working. The vine should be slit 

 lengthwise and the borer killed. 



The Melon Aphid: Sometimes we find our melon vine covered 

 with enormous numbers of plant lice and we know that there is 

 no use in trying to feed them poison by spraying it on the leaves. 

 But luckily for us their bodies are very soft and sensitive and their 

 numbers may be controlled by thorough and careful sprayings 

 with nicotine sulphate at the rate of one teaspoonful to one gallon 

 of water with an ounce of soap added to increase the sticking 

 and spreading powers of the liquid. An angle nozzle should be 

 used so that the undersides of the leaves may be reached with the 

 spray. 



Enemies of the Irish Potato 



The Colorado Potato Beetle: This is another little pest whose 

 stripes suggest a prison garb. It is brownish-yellow in color with 

 ten black stripes along the back. It is the most important insect 

 enemy of the potato ; it passes the winter usually deeply buried be- 

 low the surface of the soil but sometimes simply beneath rubbish. 

 The beetles appear early in the spring by the time the plants are 

 up and after feeding for a few days begin to deposit their orange 

 red eggs on the undersides of the leaves in groups of 25 to 50. 

 The eggs hatch into soft, reddish grubs that devour the foliage; 

 often leaving nothing but the bare stems. In from two to three 

 weeks the grubs mature and then go into the soil where each one 

 changes to a pupa. In about two weeks more the beetles emerge 

 for a second generation. 



