362 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September. 
Insects Within the Potato Stalks. 
The injuries inflicted by the Colorado Potato- 
beetle, by general consent regarded as “ The Potato- 
bug,” are so extensive and thorough, that those 
due to other insects are in a great measure over¬ 
looked. There are several insects that, in the 
absence of the Colorado-beetle, would cause pota¬ 
to-growers much anxiety for the safety of their 
crops. Among these are two which confine them¬ 
selves to the interior of the stalk or vine of the 
Potato; here they live and make their growth, and 
by the time this is completed, the stalk is dead. 
Both these stalk-infesting insects are more abun¬ 
dant in the Western and Southern than in the 
Northern and Eastern States, but we have an ex¬ 
ample in the one from Colorado, of what a potato- 
insect can do if it undertakes to travel, and no 
locality can be regarded as safe from insect inva¬ 
sion, unless climatic conditions prevent. 
The Potato-Stalk Borer 
is the larva of a moth (Gortyna nitela). The moths 
are so numerous that entomologists find it con¬ 
venient to divide them up into families, and this 
insect belongs to the Owlet Moths ( Noctuidece ), 
which are distinguished, among other characters, 
by their rapid flight at night; they are attracted 
by a light, and we are apt to have many species 
enter the house and present themselves to our 
notice. The Corn-worm, the destructive Army- 
worm, and the several Cut-worms, are all too well 
known larval states of moths of this family. 
Though called the Potato-stalk Borer, the parent 
moth does not confine herself to the Potato in lay¬ 
ing her eggs ; 6he also deposits them upon the 
related Tomato, as well as on the Dahlia, the Aster, 
Lily, Salvia, and other garden flowers, and has 
been known to do so on Indian Corn, and even on 
the stems of the Peach and Currant. Being a na¬ 
tive insect, it attacks several wild plants, especially 
the common Cocklebur ( Xanthium ), which is quite 
too abundant from East to West. Tbe immature 
larva or borer and the moth are shown in figure 1. 
The larva, of a livid hue when young, and lighter 
colored when mature, lives in the stalks of the 
Potato and other plants, leaving them usually the 
latter part of July, and descending to a short dis¬ 
tance below the surface of the ground, forms its 
chrysalis some time during September; it is of a 
mouse-gray color, the front wings finely sprinkled 
with pale yellow, with a curved pale line across 
them. There are good reasons for supposing that 
the insect passes the winter in the perfect or moth 
state, hiding away and becoming torpid, only 
arousing with the warmth of April and May, to lay 
its eggs upon the stems of the Potato and other 
plants. When the borer is suspected to be within 
the stem of the Dahlia and other flower plants, 
Eig. 1.—MOTH AND LARVA OF THE POTATO-STALK 
BOKER. 
from their wilting, a close examination will show 
where it entered, and it may often be cut out and 
the plant saved. In the potato-field its presence 
may be detected by the wilting of the vine, and 
such stems should be cut off and burned, to pre¬ 
vent the spread of the insect. Another insect 
attacks the Potato in a similar manner, but belongs 
to a different order of insects. 
The Potato-Stalk Weevil 
is a small beetle (Baridius trinotatus), shown in its 
perfect state at c, fig. 2, the line at the side indi¬ 
cating the real size. Its general color is bluish or 
ash-gray, with three indented, black spots on the 
lower edge of the thorax. The female makes a 
slit in the stalk with her beak, and deposits in this 
a single egg. The grub is soon hatched, making 
its way to the center of the stalk, and working 
downwards towards the root. The grub, when 
full grown, is but a little over a fourth of an inch 
long, whitish, and legless ; it is shown at a, en¬ 
larged. The absence of legs distinguishes it from 
the Stalk-borer just mentioned. It also differs 
from that in not leaving the plant to form a chrys¬ 
alis in the ground, but becomes a pupa within the 
Fig. 2.— THE POTATO-STALK WEEVIL. 
a. Larva; 6, Pupa; c, Weevil. 
stalk where it has lived (&, fig. 2), and appears as a 
beetle late in August or early in September. No 
doubt it passes the winter in the beetle state. It 
has not been known to attack any plants besides 
the Potato, which in some localities has been 
much damaged by the weevil. The insect is more 
abundant in the Southern and Middle States than 
further North. The remedy suggested for the 
borer, destruction of the stem containing the 
larva, is the only practical one for this insect. If 
farmers, when they first observe a vine to wilt here 
and there, would search for the cause of the trou¬ 
ble, and carefully destroy by fire all stems that are 
found to contain larvae within them, they could 
do good service in keeping these insects in check. 
Eee Notes for September. 
One of the features of the apiculture of Europe 
is the holding of large exhibitions of bee prod¬ 
ucts and apiarian implements. The bee jour¬ 
nals of Great Britain, France, and Germany, are 
full of accounts of these large and interesting 
Honey Shows. So great is the skill displayed in 
making the exhibits, and so attractive are the dis¬ 
plays, that it is no rare thing for the Shows to be 
visited by kings and queens. Surely the European 
apiarists find it advantageous to make these exhi¬ 
bitions, or they would not continue them year after 
year at great expense of time and labor. Not 
only are these meetings noted for their beautiful 
honey shows, but numerous essays, lectures, and 
discussions in connection with them, serve as 
educators in apicultural science and art. 
Exhibitions in America. 
Heretofore the honey exhibits in America have 
consisted of a few pounds of second-rate honey 
and a little beeswax, tucked away in some obscure 
corner, and sandwiched in between maple-sugar 
and syrup and sorghum-molasses. The premiums 
have ranged among the cents, and occasionally, in 
some unusual cases, have even reached a dollar. 
There was nothing to induce producers of honey 
to make exhibits, and still less to excite the inter¬ 
est or attention of visitors. Of course bee-keepers 
are to blame for this state of things, as no busi¬ 
ness demonstrates its importance at expositions 
unless its patrons possess sufficient enterprise to 
push it forward. It is very strange that American 
apiarists who have gone to the front in every other 
line of apicultural progress, have been so slow to 
recognize the great opportunity to advance the in¬ 
terest of their pursuit by encouraging and patron¬ 
izing these exhibitions of bees, honey, etc. 
Owing to the fact that some of our leading bee¬ 
keepers had visited Europe, and witnessed the 
substantial advantages that resulted from these 
Honey Shows, there were two successful exhibi¬ 
tions of this kind held in America last year. These 
were at St. Joseph, Mo., and at Toronto, Canada, 
and so attractive were they, that no other part of 
the Fairs received so favorable comment from the 
press. Tons of honey were on exhibition at To¬ 
ronto, and thousands of pounds were sold there. 
Bees were also exhibited and manipulated at the 
Fair, and the exhibit was farther aided by the dis¬ 
play of all the numerous and valuable implements 
and appliances that aid the bee-keeper in his work. 
Exhibition at Fairs. 
The place to hold these exhibitions is in connec¬ 
tion with the several State and County Fairs of 
the country. The requisites to success are gener¬ 
ous premiums, in keeping with the importance of 
apiculture, a separate building in which to hold the 
display, a room fitted with gauze, so that the bees 
can be manipulated each day, with no fear from 
stings, even by the most timid person. The honey 
should be taken in quantities, both comb in sec¬ 
tions and extracted honey in jars and tin pails. 
This should be put up with the greatest neatness, 
and labelled in an attractive manner. Some of 
it should be put in glass crates, so as to teach vis¬ 
itors how to present the honey for sale at the gro¬ 
ceries. There should also be a large exhibition of 
wax, foundation, implements, and extractors, so 
that the decision of the Judges, who should be ex¬ 
perts, may carry weight with it. The best colony 
of bees should be taken, so ventilated that the 
bees will not suffer, and arranged that they can be 
so shown that every visitor may see how easy it is 
to handle bees without harm. Wire gauze may be 
so arranged around the hive that there need be no 
danger of exciting the fears even of the visitors. 
If the bees are properly ventilated, and fed a little 
every day, they will not suffer by being taken to- 
the Fairs. 
The Honey Crop. 
Owing to the cold, wet season, this promises to> 
be a very poor honey year throughout the entire 
country. The white clover and raspberry harvest 
is over, and the yield was very light. Bass¬ 
wood offered a generous bloom, and yielded some¬ 
what better than did early clover. Those who 
have a chance for an autumn harvest, have still 
reason to hope. We have one colony which has 
brought in from one to two pounds daily during 
the past week, and has not gained more than 
three pounds, except during two or three days. 
The best record was on a sultry day, when the 
gain was eight pounds. Possibly some of this 
might have been moisture collected by the honey.. 
Weeds Going to Seed. 
Just at this season, when cultivation is mostly 
over, and the main crops harvested or laid by, we 
are most in danger of allowing our old enemies, the 
weeds, to go to seed. This is a most culpable and 
expensive practice, entailing untold labor in future 
years. We have had in hand the present season, 
an old garden, where every weed was left undis¬ 
turbed, and no crop was planted last year. Their 
name is legion of almost every variety that infests 
Connecticut soil, and some that we never met else¬ 
where. Pig-weed, milk-weed, dock and burdock, 
dandelion, fennel, mustard, quack-grass, plantaiu, 
purslain, jack-in-the-pulpit, mallows, and divers 
other sorts have sprung up in their season, and dis¬ 
puted possession with the crops planted. There is 
only one excellence about them, they insure fre¬ 
quent cultivation of all crops, if you would have 
any harvest. The labor of subduing one year’s 
seeding of these pests is immense. In the garden 
especially, no weed should ever be allowed to go 
to seed. When one crop is off, put in another, and 
wlieD the last is gathered, plow, or rake, or harrow,. 
and let the frost have free play at the soil. Conn. 
Keeping Grapes.— In Europe a method of 
preserving grapes is now very generally followed. . 
The cluster is cut with a piece of the cane still at¬ 
tached, and the lower end of the cane is inserted in 
the neck of a bottle containing water. Grapes 
thus treated are kept in a perfect manner for a long 
time. The European journals have figured racks 
and other devices for holding the bottles, in such a 
manner that they may sustain the weight of the 
fruit, and also to allow the clusters to hang free, 
and much as they would upon the vine. We are 
not aware that this method has been tried with our 
native grapes. These, even at the holidays, when 
the price is the highest, sell for too little to make 
this method of keeping profitable, but for home 
use, the experiment seems to be worth trying. 
