224 
VEGETABLE GARDENING 
fields, and many growers prefer to destroy the old plants 
when they are io to 12 years of age. The field should be 
devoted to other crops for a year or two before replanting 
in asparagus. 
285. The common asparagus beetle (Crioceris asparagi) 
is by far the most troublesome of the insect enemies of 
asparagus. Both the larvie and the beetles feed on the 
shoots, which are thus lowered in market value or ren- 
dered unfit for commercial purposes. They also feed on 
stems and leaves of old and young plants, which they 
defoliate and greatly reduce in vitality. 
The beetles winter under any convenient shelter and 
lay eggs for the first brood in April or May. The eggs 
are deposited in groups of two or more, upon leaves or 
stems. The larvie emerge in three to eight days, begin to 
feed at once and attain full growth in 10 to 14 days. Chit- 
tenden (“Insects Injurious to Vegetables”) describes the 
beetle as “a most beautiful creature, slender and graceful 
in form, blue-black in color, with red thorax, and lemon 
yellow and dark-blue elytra or wing covers, with reddish 
border. Its length is a trifle less than Y inch.” Two and 
frequently three broods are produced in a season. 
Various methods are employed to control this insect. 
Arsenate of lead is effective in destroying both slugs and 
beetles. It may be used with safety on young plants, in 
old plantations after the cutting season, and on lure 
plants. When shoots are cut every day, and there are no 
other plants in close proximity, all the eggs are destroyed 
when the stalks are cut and sent to market. Coops of 
chickens are sometimes kept in the fields to feed on the 
beetles and slugs. The plan is considered excellent when 
properly managed. Fresh air-slaked lime kills the larvie, 
and when they are brushed to the ground in hot weather 
they die before they can get back on the plants. 
286. Other insect enemies. — The 12-spotted asparagus 
beetle (Crioceris 12-punctata) is a serious enemy some- 
