262 Report oF THE ENTOMOLOGISTS OF THE 
by poisoning: First, just previous to the time when the beetles 
commence to pair, and second, during a short period in September 
and October. Poisoning during the latter period is effective only 
on areas where fall-flowering weeds are scarce. 
Spraying cucumber and melon vines with Paris green and water 
has often been recommended. ‘Tests during the past two years 
show that very few beetles are killed by this method and that the 
risk of killing the vines is too great to allow the measure to be 
recommended for general use. Instead, I would recommend the 
use of the poisoned bait which is given under “Trap crops.” 
PREVENTIVE MEASURES. 
COVERINGS. 
One of the oldest methods of keeping the beetles from the small 
plants is the use of covers. As near as I can determine, this 
method was first used by Dr. Fitch,’* who in 1865 claims to have 
used the method for twenty years previous to the time it was 
published. According to Dr. Harris’® the use of covers was 
published in the New Hngland Farmer previous to 1852. The 
cover recommended by Dr. Fitch was, apparently, a crude affair, 
while that recommended by Mr. Levi Bartlett in the New England 
Farmer, as quoted by Dr. Harris, was apparently just as handy 
and simple as those recommended in 1889, forty years later, by 
Professor Weed. | 
The styles cf covers recommended vary from an ordinary box 
open at top and bottom, the top being covered with cheese cloth 
or with miilinet, to patented wire covers which are costly. The 
least expensive forms are the box just mentioned; wire or staves 
bent in a half circle, the ends stuck into the ground over the vines 
and then covered with cloth, which is held in place by placing dirt 
along on the edges; and lastly, a box made from two short boards 
six inches wide and a rectangular cloth. The two ends of the 

12 Tenth Report on Noxious and Other Insects of the State of N. Y.: 440. 
13 Insects Injurious to Vegetation: 125. Flint’s ed., 1852.) 
14 Ohio Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul. 13: 146-147. 
