FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
97 
festation. Many people will say that we 
do not grow enough corn in this State to 
worry about what will happen to the crop 
if this pest is introduced. Do you realize 
that the corn crop ranks next to the citrus 
crop in Florida? In 1920 it was valued 
at ten and one-half million dollars. What 
do you think will happen to the great cel¬ 
ery fields near Sanford and Bradentown 
if this pest is established? Celery is one 
of the favorite hosts of the corn borer. It 
bores directly into the heart of the plant, 
and has caused great losses to the celery 
growers in Massachusetts. Another pest 
of the eastern United States is the Japan¬ 
ese beetle, which attacks all the nursery 
and greenhouse plants in the sections in 
which it is established, making it neces¬ 
sary to prohibit shipments of nursery 
stock from Burlington county, New Jer¬ 
sey, and to regulate shipments from ad¬ 
joining parts of New Jersey and Penn¬ 
sylvania. 
We do not have to go to the northeast¬ 
ern part of the United States to find de¬ 
structive pests. Recently an outbreak of 
the Mexican bean beetle was discovered in 
Birmingham, Alabama, where all of the 
beans in the gardens were destroyed. 
This beetle is a member of the lady-bird 
beetle family, and is one of the very few 
which is injurious to crops. From the 
small infested area in Alabama, the beetle 
has spread to six states: North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Ten¬ 
nessee and Kentucky. In Thomasville, 
Georgia, every property was found to be 
infested. All varieties of beans are se¬ 
verely attacked, the beetle skeletonizing 
the leaves. Next to the beans, beggar- 
weed is the favorite food of the pest. We 
all know that beggar-weed is one of the 
mainstays of the citrus growers, who use 
it for a cover crop. When this pest is es¬ 
tablished, for there is no way under the 
sun to keep it out of the State, the entire 
cover cropping system of Florida will 
have to be changed. In addition, cowpeas 
and velvet beans are hosts of the beetle. 
This pest was no doubt introduced into 
the southeastern part of the United States 
on shipments of alfalfa hay from the 
Western States, where it has been estab¬ 
lished for years. Like the boll weevil, the 
pink boll worm, and several other de¬ 
structive insects, this one was introduced 
into the United States from Mexico. Due 
to the tender foliage of the hosts of this 
insect, spraying has not been effective as 
a means of control. An expedition has 
been sent into Mexico to find parasites, 
which will in a measure keep the beetle 
under control. 
Further west we have a pair of pests 
that should be kept out of the State at any 
cost. They are the Argentine ant and the 
Japanese camphor scale. This last pest 
was just recently introduced into the 
United States. The Argentine ant was 
introduced into New Orleans about twen¬ 
ty-five years ago by a ship from the trop¬ 
ics. It has spread throughout the State, 
as well as into adjoining states, until now 
about one-fourth of the orange groves in 
Louisiana are infested. That is where the 
shoe pinches: We may get used to find¬ 
ing the ant in our house, in the sugar, 
bread, etc. We might also get used to its 
attacking young children at night, but 
when it gets in the orange groves, right 
