Sept. 1895.] 



INJURIOUS INSECTS AND t'UNGI. 



107 



Remedies and Methods of Prevention. 



There are obviously no remedies. After " buggy " peas have 

 been sown there is nothing to be done bub to await the result. 

 Manuring and cultivation will be of benefit to plants whose 

 constitution has been radically weakened. In bad cases it 

 would be better to plough the land deeply at once in order that 

 the beetles may be buried. 



There would be some difficulty for seed-pea buyers to 

 ascertain the exact per-centage of " buggy " peas in a sample 

 until the winter had passed. At least this would depend upon 

 the climate of the country from which the peas came. Careful 

 examination should be made of all seed peas, and if tiny black 

 specks are seen in them the whole bulk shovild be distrusted, 

 and not issued for seed purposes. Cultivators should also care- 

 fully examine samples of peas offered for seed, and ascertain the 

 number of peas having black specks ou them in a given 

 quantity, as well as of those having large holes in which 

 beetles are still ensconced, or from which they have escaped 

 (Fig. 8). In either of these cases, the germination of peas thus 

 spotted, or having holes in them, should be considered as being 

 seriously injured, and such peas regarded as unfit for seed. 



Professor Riley suggests that suspected peas should be put 

 into water, when the " buggy " ones will flout. These should 

 be removed and destroyed, sound ones only being planted. 



Where there is a small proportion of seed peas in which there 

 are beetles and larvae evidently turning to beetles, the peas may 

 be kept for two years in a close bin or receptacle, at which time 

 the beetles will be all dead, and there will be no risk of spread- 

 ing infestation by sowing the seed. 



Steeping the infested seed peas in the various compounds 

 used for seed wheat kills the beetles within them if the 

 operation is performed carefully and thoroughly. Ordinary 

 brine which is very frequently used for seed wheat would be 

 even better for infested peas than sulphate of copper solutions 

 and composite steeps sold for wheat. 



Bisulphide of carbon is used in Canada and America with 

 beneficial results when the beetles are in the peas, though it is 

 not effective against the larvae while sealed up within them. 

 Mr. Fletcher reports that nearly every large pea-grower treats, 

 peas with bisulphide of carbt^n. If the apparatus used in 

 applying this treatment is properly made it works well. He 

 quotes a correspondent who says : "It must be perfectly tight 

 to be of any use. Some use tin, others cement and paint and 

 paper lining with a double floor, with tarred paper between. 

 Tiie pan in which we put the carbon is about 3 feet across and 

 only about 4 inches deep. The chemical is thus exposed to 

 more air than it would have in a deep dish, from which it would 

 no' evaporate quickly enough to do good service. I put my pan 

 up close to the ceiling above the peas because, the vapour being 



