Sept. 1895.] INJURIOUS INSECTS AND FUNGI. 



177 



season," or a fine tilth or seed-bed, whereas fresh-ploughed land 

 does not usually work down well, but is unkind and cloddy. 

 Moisture also evaporates more quickly from land that is cloddy, 

 or rough, than from well comminuted soil. The beetles object to 

 moisture, and moisture naturally helps the young plants to 

 grow away from their foes. 



If it is inconvenient to provide stale-ploughed land, and if it 

 is found necessary to move stale-ploughed land that may have 

 been beaten down by rain, it is better to work it with cultivators 

 than to plough up sticky unkind soil difficult to pulverize, from 

 which moisture would soon evaporate. 



Rolling down the land after the drill should be adopted, as 

 this keeps in the moisture and levels the earth, enabling the 

 plants to come away as quickly as possible. Artificial manure 

 mixed with well-powdered ashes, or mould, should be drilled in 

 with the seed so that it may be close to the plants to help them 

 to grow as quickly as possible away from the onslaughts of the 

 beetles. The ashes and mould should be moistened. Putting 

 in turni]3 seed with a water drill has certain advantages on some 

 soils where the beetles are known to be particularly trouble- 

 some. An objection to the water drill is that the moisture soon 

 evaporates in a dry season, and though it stc1.rts the germination 

 of the seed rapidly, this is liable to be checked and the vitality 

 of the seed injured unless rain soon comes. 



Plenty of seed of the preceding year's harvest should be used — 

 examined, or guaranteed, as to its germinating powers, and as to 

 its freedom from other seeds. The importance of having seed 

 of good germinating power can hardly be insisted upon too 

 strongly. 



It has been stated that steeping turnip seed in paraffin oil 

 before it is sown will prevent this attack. A careful experi- 

 ment has been recently made with seed soaked in paraffin oil, 

 but without any good results. The plants from this steeped 

 seed were as much riddled as those close by whose seed was 

 not steeped. 



Cruciferous weeds, such as charlock, encourage the beetles and 

 furnish them with food until the turpiip plants are ready for 

 them. It has been often noticed that land on which charlock 

 has been allowed to flourish is especially subject to the attacks 

 of the flea beetles. It is desirable, therefore, that charlock should 

 be kept down, as it harbours and feeds various injuiious insects. 



In some seasons, sowing mustard seed with turnip seed pre- 

 serves turnip plants from serious injury, as it germinates and 

 forms plants more quickly than turnip seed, but in very dry 

 times, when the attack is virulent and generations of beetles 

 follow rapidly, this has been found of little value. The 

 beetles do not take to mustard plants in preference to turnip 

 plants, but being ravenous, they attack the mustard plants, 

 which come up first, 



