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tions, prices, cultural directions, and lists of special collections 
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The Garden Magazine, March, 1921 
COMBATING THE FLEA 
BEETLE 
HP HE little black insect variously called the tl 
* Flea Beetle or the Turnip Fly, particularly I 
destructive to young Radish, Sweet Potato, and j 
Turnip plants is generally considered by Ameri- 1 
can gardeners as very difficult to combat in any I 
practical way. There is, however, a simple method 
of trapping the pests that is followed in England, 
which would be in general use here I am sure, if 
it were known. It consists of a home-made at- 
tachment to the cultivators, constructed of hoop- 
iron, a thin board, a strip of burlap and some 
warm tar. It can be attached to any cultivator 
that I have ever seen. 
\ 
D 
To make this flea beetle trap take two strips 
of inch-wide hoop iron twenty-four to thirty 
inches long, heat in a fire and bend, or hammer, 
into the shape shown in accompanying drawing. 
Next drill a hole in the end of each strip at A 
(see drawing) so that the irons may be fastened 
to the cultivator frame. These are called the 
“carrying irons.” The horizontal length at the 
other end (C) must be long enough to take a 
board of the width it is desired to use — not less 
than ten inches for efficient work and twelve 
inches is better, an English friend assures me. 
The length of the oblique section (B) may vary, 
but it must be long enough to have the lower 
horizontal (C) three to six inches forward of the 
cultivator wheel; and the pitch of this oblique 
section should be such as to bring the forward hor- 
izontal section (C) not more than six inches above 
the ground surface when the cultivator is being 
operated. Turn back § inch of the fqrward ends 
of the carrying irons as at E to serve as a holding 
clasp on the board, and drill a small hole at D 
to insert a holding spike. These spikes go 
through the edge of the board as well as the hold- 
ing irons. The carrying irons arc now ready to 
attach to the cultivator. 
With single-wheel cultivators fit the irons out- 
side the wheel, but with the two-wheel kinds it is 
better to place them between the wheels though 
as wide apart as possible. Having fastened the 
carrying irons in place, take a board — the thinner 
the better, provided it is strong — of sufficient 
length to reach across three rows of the crop that 
is to be treated (About 3 feet 6 inches where 
the rows are one foot apart is a good size). Tack 
along the back edge of this board a burlap curtain 
of such depth (or width) that it will come to 
within a half-inch of the ground when the board 
is in place on the carrying irons. The curtain 
must be slit-up where the board rests on the carry- 
ing irons so that it may drop to its full depth 
on either side. This completes the construction 
of the device (which, by the way, is not so much 
of a job as seems from these instructions), except 
for the last operation. 
When the time has come for it to be used, heat 
a pot of common tar and smear what is to be the 
under side of the board with the tar, slip the 
board into place on the carrying irons, and start 
(< Continued on page 64) 
