BEAN-SEED BEETLE. 
28 
or prevent it starting; and the note of Mr. Ellis Mace at p. 20 shows 
such to have been the case with his crop from infested seed. It would 
be exceedingly desirable, if possible, only to buy seed which showed no 
signs of being infested; but next after this, to save future attack, it 
would be very desirable to kill the beetles in the Beans before they 
come out to fly abroad. 
In experimenting on infested Beans, I found that, if placed for a 
short time to soak, the water passed through the thin film of coating 
of the Bean at the end of the gallery, and soddened the powdery dust 
and rubbish within, and thus choked the breathing-pores of the beetle 
lying within, and killed it. If simple wetting in this way would 
answer the purpose, this would save trouble, likewise the expense and 
some degree of risk in using chemical additions; but it is open to 
doubt whether, if weather was unfavourable for sowing, when the 
Beans had been wetted, they might not be harmed ; and the two 
following notes mention successful use of Calvert’s Carbolic Acid and 
McDougall’s Sewage Carbolic. Mr. J. J. Harrison, in addition to the 
observations given above, mentioned :— 
“ In sowing this year I dressed all the seed with Calvert’s Carbolic 
Acid, of such strength as to kill all the insects in the Beans without 
damaging the seed.” 
In the course of discussion on this subject, at the meeting of the 
Farmers’ Club, at the Salisbury Hotel, on April 30th, Mr. Geo. Street, 
of Maulden, Ampthill, mentioned that he had found good results from 
dressing infested Beans with “ blue vitriol ” and McDougall’s Sewage 
Carbolic. A great number of the beetles were killed ; but, as all were 
not destroyed (at my request), he promised further information. On 
May 10th, Mr. Street wrote as follows,—and, firstly, with regard to 
whether the dressed Beans would be found to be injured thereby:— 
“ They were then only just coming up, and I wished to see the result 
before writing to you. They have made wonderful progress, and the 
result, as far as I can see, is so far perfectly satisfactory. The 
dressing applied to the Beans was used in a similar way to that used 
for seed-wheat. Formerly we used ‘ blue vitriol ’ only, but the 
addition of McDougall’s Sewage Carbolic leaves a smell, which to 
some extent prevents birds eating the seed-corn. I am inclined to 
think the carbolic alone would be sufficient, if a larger quantity was 
used. We used 6 bushels of Beans, 6 quarts of water, 1 lb. of ‘ blue 
vitriol,’ and 1 pint of Sewage Carbolic. I am inclined to think that 
Beans should be dressed some few days before they are sown (as the 
skin is thick), and turned over with a shovel every day. Those which 
escaped the liquid dressing might be killed by the strong dust which 
would be formed when the Beans were again dry.” 
From the above notes of practical field experiments, it would 
