178 



INJURIOUS INSECTS AND FUNGI. 



[S*;pt, 1895. 



Remedies, 



Dressings of soot are frequently of good service when beetles 

 are thick upon the plants. Soot and lime, mixed in the propor- 

 tion of two bushels of lime to one bushel of soot, form a very 

 useful dressing. These dressings should be applied when dew 

 is on the plants. Wood ashes, and peat moss, finely powdered, 

 moistened with paraffin at the rate of 4 or 5 pints per cwt. 

 have been used with some advantage. 



A mixture, consisting of one bushel of lime, one bushel of 

 gas lime, and 10 lbs. of sulphur mixed well together, is also 

 recommended. 



Yery finely powdered lime alone is also of considerable 

 service if put on when there is dew. 



Dry substances like those cited above can be put on by horse 

 distributors evenly and in small quantities without waste. 

 Paraffin oil and carbolic acid may be distributed in the same 

 way in very small quantities, so that each leaf is sprinkled and 

 made distasteful to the beetles. 



Extract of quassia chips mixed with soft soap and water has 

 been tried and proved to be of some service. This mixture 

 could be put on by horse distributors. 



Rolling infested plants with a light roller frequently proves 

 to be serviceable, especially if the soil is cloddy. It disturbs 

 the beetles and presses the soil around the plants, keeping in the 

 moisture. 



Pushing a light wide framework upon wheels with well 

 tarred boards fastened upon it, so as to come just over the turnip 

 plants, has been found to catch many beetles, which, being 

 disturbed, jump into the tar. Many acres can be got over in a 

 day by a man pushing this machine, which should be made very 

 light. The tar requires to be renewed as it gets dry, and the 

 beetles, which accumulate in masses, must be scraped off. 



Club Root, or Finger and Toe. 



A full history of this disease affecting turnips was pub- 

 lished by the Board of Agriculture in 1893."^ Club root was 

 very prevalent in 1894, particularly in Scotland, and caused 

 serious injury in several districts. It appears that there has 

 been during the last 25 years a decided increase of this disease, 

 which, as is now well known, is caused by an organism defined 

 by Mr. Carruthers as a " fungus-animal " termed Plasmodio- 

 phora brassicce. In consequence of this increase, an inquiry 

 was instituted by the Royal Agricultural Society, with special 

 reference to the relation between the composition of the soil and 

 the liability of the crop to attacks of the Flasmodiophora. 



* Report 011 Insects and Fungi injurious to Crops, 1892, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 

 East Harding Street, E.G. 



