THE CUCUMBER-BEETLE. 
125 
numbers of these little beetles may be obtained in the autumn 
from the flowers of squash and pumpkin vines, the pollen and 
germs of which they are very fond of. They get into the 
blossoms as soon as the latter are opened, and are often 
caught there by the twisting and closing of the top of the 
flower ; and, when they want to make their escape, they are 
obliged to gnaw a hole through the side of their temporary 
prison. The females lay their eggs in the ground, and the 
larvae probably feed on the roots of plants, but they have 
hitherto escaped my researches. 
Various means have been suggested and tried to prevent 
the ravages of these striped cucumber-beetles, which have 
become notorious throughout the country for their attacks 
upon the leaves of the cucumber and squash. Dr. B. S. 
Barton, of Philadelphia, recommended sprinkling the vines 
with a mixture of tobacco and red pepper, which he stated 
to be attended with great benefit. Watering the vines with 
a solution of one ounce of Glauber’s salts in a quart of water, 
or with tobacco-water, an infusion of elder, of walnut-leaves, 
or of hops, has been highly recommended. Mr. Gourgas, of 
Weston, has found no application so useful as ground plaster 
of Paris ; and a writer in the “ American Farmer” extols the 
use of charcoal dust. Deane recommended sifting powdered 
soot upon the plants when they are wet with the morning 
dew, and others have advised sulphur and Scotch snuff to be 
applied in the same way. As these insects fly by night, as 
well as by day, and are attracted by lights, burning splinters 
of pine knots or of staves of tar-barrels, stuck into the 
ground during the night, around the plants, have been found 
useful in destroying these beetles. The most effectual pre- 
servative, both against these insects and the equally destruc- 
tive black flea-beetles which infest the vines in the spring, 
consists in covering the young vines with millinet stretched 
over small wooden frames. Mr. Levi Bartlett, of Warner, 
N. H., has described a method for making these frames 
expeditiously and economically, and his directions may be 
