The Asparagus Beetle. 



199 



deal with them, though at this period they do considerable 

 harm by making the heads brown and spotty. It is desirable 

 to leave a few heads uncut in every bed where there is infes- 

 tation as traps for the beetles, which get up the feathery 

 shoots and branches during the day for pairing and the de- 

 position of eggs. In the course of eight or nine days these 

 plants should be cut off close to the ground, and burnt. 

 Other heads should be allowed to run to shoots, which should 

 also be cut off and burnt. 



Beds of young asparagus plants are most liable to this 

 attack before cutting begins or when only the strongest 

 heads are cut, as the beetles like the succulent shoots of 

 young plants. It would seriously injure the stock in newly- 

 made beds to cut off their shoots, even though badly infested. 

 In such cases, it would be better to brush the feathery shoots 

 smartly with sticks, and to tread heavily round the plants to 

 crush the larvae. Very finely powdered lime dusted on 

 infested plants would also be efficacious, as it would adhere 

 to the slimy bodies of the larvae. The lime should be applied 

 as soon as larvae are noticed, and the application repeated at 

 intervals. In small beds, and in beds of young plants, hand- 

 picking, both of beetles and larvae, would be useful, but this 

 operation is too costly where asparagus is largely culti- 

 vated. In extensive beds the remedies to be employed are 

 the liming, and beating of infested plants, and trapping, as 

 indicated above, by letting some heads grow into plants. 

 Syringing can be adopted in gardens where asparagus is 

 grown upon a large scale ; this process is more difficult, as 

 the plants are not set in rows, but it may be effected by 

 means of knapsack-spraying machines. Kerosene emulsion, 

 consisting of two gallons of kerosene oil and half a pound of 

 soft soap dissolved in a gallon of soft water, may be used for 

 spraying purposes. The soap should be boiled, and while 

 boiling the kerosene should be poured into it and churned up 

 with the soap until it is thoroughly incorporated. The mix- 

 ture should then be diluted with ten gallons of water. 



Paris green is also a valuable remedy against these and 

 other insects which feed upon foliage. It may be used at the 

 rate of one pound of Paris green to 200 gallons of water. It 



