August  4,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
S3 
make  up  for  their  Tomatoes.  It  is  on  the  concrete  floor  of  the  house, 
in  a  space  restricted  to  about  2  feet  in  width,  rests  on  a  layer  of  brick¬ 
bats,  and  these  included,  is  not  more  than  18  inches  deep.  The  Master 
thinks  it  must  be  one  of  the  smallest  in  the  country.  Probably  it  is, 
and  anyone  who  would  like  to  see  it,  and  to  see  the  upside  down 
Vines  and  the  topsy-turvy  border-making,  should  call  at  the  Sandgate 
Cottage  Homes,  near  Folkestone,  the  next  time  he  is  at  the  seaward 
end  of  Kent. 
Meanwhile,  I  told  the  smiling  Master,  pupil  of  Wm.  Taylor,  of 
■Longlcat  memory,  that  I  was  going  to  show  him  up.  When  and 
where  Mr.  Taylor  advised  renovating  borders  for  Vines  in  fruit  at  the 
end  of  May  I  don’t  remember,  but  perhaps  the  information  will  be 
forthcoming. — W.  Pea. 
THE  ASPARAGUS  BEETLE. 
This  beetle  (Crioceris  Asparagi)  often  does  much  harm  to  Asparagus, 
-especially  in  beds  which  have  been  established  from  one  to  three  years, 
by  eating  and  disfiguring  the  heads  as  they  are  formed,  and  later  on  by 
attacking  the  stems  and  seeds,  of  which  it  is  particularly  fond,  both  in 
the  beetle  and  larval  stages.  In  the  beetle  stage  the  insects  bite  the 
tender  Asparagus  heads  while  these  are  yet  underground,  or  only  just 
showing  above  the  ground,  making  brown  patches  upon  them,  and 
spoiling  their  appearance  ffir  market.  Later  on  the  beetles  eat  the 
feathery  shoots  of  the  plants,  as  well  as  the  large  round  seeds,  to  which 
-they  are  very  partial.  A  beetle  will  eat  a  considerable  quantity  of 
the  tender  feathery  shoots  in  the  course  of  a  day.  The  larvae  are  also 
most  voracious,  and  sometimes,  in  bad  cases  of  infestation,  the  long 
stems  of  the  plants  are  left  completely  bare  of  foliage  by  successions  of 
larvae. 
The  Asparagus  beetle  is  common  in  the  southern,  eastern,  and 
western  parts  of  England,  but  it  is  rarely  found  in  the  northern 
districts.  Canon  Fowler,  in  his  Coleoptera  of  the  British  Isles,  states 
that  he  does  not  know  of  a  record  from  any  locality  further  north  than 
South  Derbyshire.  It  is  known  in  France,0'  Germany,  and  Italy,  and 
probably  throughout  Europe. 
In  the  United  States,  where  it  was  introduced  from  Europe  in  1858, 
it  has  spread  very  rapidly.  It  was  first  seen  at  Astoria,  in  Long 
(Island,  where  Asparagus  is  largely  grown,  and  by  the  year  1862  the 
beetle  had  spread  throughout  the  Asparagus  beds  of  Long  Island. 
Life  History. 
The  beetle  (fig.  15)  is  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  long  and  com¬ 
paratively  narrow  in  width.  Its  body  is  shiny  black,  with  a  blue 
tinge;  its  head  is  black;  its  ten-jointed  antennae  are  dark  brown;  its 
thorax  is  red,  with  two  black  marks  or  lines  upon  it;  and  its  wing- 
cases  have  outer  margins  of  orange-colour  and  black  inner  margins, 
and  there  is  a  transverse  bar  of  black  across  them.  Upon  each  wing- 
case  there  is  a  row  of  three  yellowish  or  lemon-yellowish  spots,  or 
patches,  which,  with  the  transverse  bar  and  the  black  margins,  form 
the  figure  of  a  cross  ;  hence  the  beetle  is  termed  “  Cross-bearer  ”  (the 
French  call  it  “  Porte-Croix  ”). 
Eggs  are  laid  by  the  beetles  in  the  early  spring  upon  the  heads, 
shoots,  and,  in  summer,  on  the  feathery  foliage  of  the  Asparagus  plants. 
The  eggs  are  brown,  long,  and  somewhat  cylindrical,  being  glued  by 
their  ends  to  the  plants,  usually  in  rows  of  three  to  five,  but  frequently 
they  are  placed  singly.  Larvae  come  forth  in  from  eight  to  ten  days, 
and  immediately  begin  to  feed  upon  the  Asparagus.  The  larval  stage 
lasts  for  fourteen  days,  or  for  about  this  period,  when  the  larvae  fall  to 
the  earth  and  undergo  transformation  just  beneath  its  surface  in  a 
slight  cocoon.  The  number  of  broods  appears  to  depend  upon  the 
weather  and  the  supply  of  food.  Beetles  and  larvae  are  frequently 
found  upon  the  plants  until  the  middle  of  October. 
The  larva,  which  is  about  the  fifth  of  an  inch  in  length  when 
extended,  is  of  a  dark  olive-green  colour,  and  usually  has  a  black 
mark  upon  its  back.  It  is  thick,  fleshy,  and  somewhat  slimy,  with  a 
shiny  black  head  and  three  pairs  of  shiny  black  legs  ;  the  lower  end  of 
its  body  is  unusually  prolonged  to  help  locomotion  and  to  enable  the 
larva  to  cling  to  the  stems  and  shoots  of  the  Asparagus.  There  are 
also  two  rows  of  tubercles  along  the  body,  which  have  the  appearance 
of  rudimentary  pro-legs. 
It  has  not  been  definitely  decided  whether  this  insect  hibernates  in 
this  country  in  beetle  or  pupal  form,  but  the  evidence  tends  to  show 
that  here,  and  in  other  European  countries,  it  exists  during  the  winter 
in  the  latter  form  in  the  earth.  The  majority  of  the  American  ento¬ 
mologists,  including  Fitch,  Lintner,  and  Chittenden,  hold  that  the 
winter  is  passed  in  beetle  form.  Dr.  Lintner  says : — “  The  beetles 
destined  to  continue  the  species  survive  the  winter  in  dry  sheltered 
places,  as  beneath  bark,  in  crevices  of  wood,  and  under  the  boards  of 
buildings.” 
*  Boisduval  says  that  the  Asgaragus  growers  of  Argenteuil,  in  France, 
complain  that  it  is  very  detrimental  to  their  Asparagus  culture. 
If  hibernation  takes  place  in  the  pupal  form  in  England,  the 
transformation  occurs  very  early,  as  the  beetles  attack  Asparagus 
plants  directly  they  shoot,  and  before  the  heads  are  above  the 
ground,  and,  as  is  well  known,  Asparagus  begins  to  shoot  after  the 
first  few  warm  days  in  spring. 
Methods  of  Prevention  and  Remedies. 
In  the  first  stages  of  this  attack — that  is,  when  the  beetles  are 
underground  and  feeding  upon  the  juicy  parts  of  the  heads  of  the 
Asparagus  as  they  are  formed — it  is  difficult  to  deal  with  them, 
though  at  this  period  they  do  considerable  harm  by  making  the  heads 
brown  and  spotty.  It  is  desirable  to  leave  a  few  heads  uncut  in 
every  bed  where  there  is  infestation  as  traps  for  the  beetles,  which 
get  up  the  feathery  shoots  and  branches  during  the  day  for  pairing 
and  the  deposition  of  eggs.  In  the  course  of  eight  or  nine  days  these 
plants  should  be  brushed  off  close  to  the  ground  and  burnt.  Another 
set  of  heads  should  be  allowed  to  run  to  shoots,  which  should  also  be 
brushed  off  and  burnt. 
Beds  of  young  Asparagus  plants  are  most  liable  to  this  attack  in 
the  first  year  or  two,  when  only  the  strongest  heads  are  cut  for  market, 
// 
Fig.  15.— The  Asparagus  Beetle. 
References.—  1,  beetle,  line  showing  natural  size;  2,  larva  (magnified) ;  3,  egg 
(much  magnified) ;  4,  Asparagus  plant,  with  larvae  (natural  size). 
as  the  beetles  like  the  succulent  shoots  of  young  plants.  It  would 
seriously  injure  the  stocks  in  newly  made  infested  beds  to  cut  off  their 
shoots.  In  such  cases  it  would  be  better  to  beat  the  feathery  shoots 
smartly  with  sticks,  and  to  tread  heavily  round  the  plants  to  crush  the 
larvae.  Very  finely  powdered  lime  dusted  on  infested  plants  would 
also  be  efficacious,  as  it  would  adhere  to  the  slimy  bodies  of  the 
larvae.  The  lime  should  be  applied  as  soon  as  the  larvae  are  noticed, 
and  the  application  repeated  at  intervals.  In  small  beds  and  in  beds 
of  young  plants  hand-picking,  both  of  beetles  and  larvae,  would  be 
useful ;  but  this  operation  is  too  costly  where  Asparagus  is  largely 
cultivated. 
In  extensive  beds  the  remedies  to  be  employed  are  liming  and 
beating  infested  plants  and  trapping,  as  indicated  above,  by  letting 
some  heads  grow  into  plants  and  brushing  them  off  and  burning  them. 
Syringing  can  be  adopted  in  gardens.  Where  Asparagus  is  grown 
upou  a  large  scale  this  process  is  more  difficult,  as  the  plants  are  not 
set  in  rows ;  but  it  may  be  effected  by  means  of  knapsack  spraying 
machines.  Kerosine  emulsion,  consisting  of  2  gallons  of  kerosine  oil 
and  half  a  pound  of  softsoap  dissolved  in  a  gallon  of  soft  water,  may 
be  used  for  spraying  purposes.  The  soap  should  be  boiled,  and  while 
boiliDg  the  kerosene  should  be  poured  into  it  and  churned  up  with  the 
soap  until  it  is  thoroughly  incorporated.  The  mixture  should  then  be 
diluted  with  15  to  20  gallons  of  evater. 
Paris  green  is  also  a  valuable  remedy  against  these  and  other 
insects  which  feed  upon  foliage.  It  may  be  used  at  the  rate  of  1  lb. 
of  Baris  green  to  200  gallons  of  water.  It  is  better  to  put  1  lb.  of 
fresh  lime  with  the  Paris  green.  This  mixture  can  also  be  put  or 
with  a  knapsack  machine.  As  this  is  poisonous  it  should  not  be  usee 
till  the  Asparagus  has  been  all  cut. 
