The Colorado Potato-Beetle. 
367 
eaten, not much damage was clone. During the present season 
the beetle has become much more general and abundant along 
the eastern seaboard, and I am informed by Mr. Riley (now on a 
visit to England) that it swarms at the present time (June) in 
the neighbourhood of New York. 
From the foregoing summary it will be seen that in its dis- 
semination eastward from its original home in Colorado, this 
extraordinary beetle has kept pretty closely to the same parallels 
of latitude as the region where it was first observed, that is, 
between 35^ and 44°, with the exception of its isolated descent 
on the northern shores of Lake Superior in 48^. At the com- 
mencement of its progress, according to Mr. Walsh, it seemed to 
march through the Western States in many separate columns, 
but the southern columns lagged behind the northern, and we 
are told by Mr. Riley that it has not spread south of 37°. With 
regard to its northern limits, we are assured by Professor G. 
Lawson that it is quite unknown in Nova Scotia (lat. 44°-46°), 
where the summer climate is believed to be too cold and moist 
for the species. 
The effect on the cultivation of the potato, and on the price of 
this indispensable article of food, in those States which have been 
subject to the ravages of the beetle, has been very serious ; but 
the consequences have not been so disastrous as they would 
probably be in a country of less resources than the United 
States. Mr. Riley estimated the loss to cultivators occasioned 
by the pest in one year (1871) in Missouri to be nearly 
$500,000, although a great part of that State is situated to the 
south of the belt of country ravaged by the insect. The pro- 
duction in that year, as compared with 1870, had fallen off 
fully 20 per cent, in Missouri, 35 per cent, in Illinois, and 
34 per cent, in Michigan. But a more vivid idea of the 
damage than can be conveyed by statistics is imparted by 
the general remarks contained in his Report for 1873. He 
says : " A great many persons in the States to the north of us 
must either have become discouraged, or have failed in the cul- 
tivation of potatoes, which have reached as high as two dollars a 
bushel, wholesale, in the St. Louis market. Indeed, the present 
scarcity and consequent high price of potatoes all over the 
country has very generally been attributed to the fact that the 
beetle discouraged so many from planting. There was a time, 
and that but a few years since, when the potato was one of the 
cheapest and surest products of the farm, and furnished not only 
the most wholesome and palatable article of human food, but 
entered largely into the feed of all kinds of stock. At the 
ordinary restaurant one could always depend on a good mealy 
potato, if nothing else invited to satisfy hunger. To-day the 
