The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1876-07-06
The Colorado Potato Bug.
WINTHROP Me-. Jlno %. Is

WINTHROP Me-, June %. 1876.
Enclosed in this box is bug which picked
| yesterday from Early Rose Potato tops. Is it
Colorado potato bug or not !: Since l caught
| this fellow it has laid some eggs and l found
some like them on my potatoes a few days
since. A. A. MAXWELL
| The bug, we are sorry to say, is the YER
table Colorado potato beetle, already so
| famous for its devastation Of the potato
| fields Of the West. Ii is the first specimen
that we have heard of being found in the
state OF Maine. How it came in Winthrop
does not appear. The pest has been intro
duced into some places by the means of
seed potatoes brought from section
where the bug prevailed last year.
1t is evident that THE BUG has arrived
| and every one should look carefully to
his potato patch or field Their first ap-
pearance is in small numbers and the best
treatment then is to go over the field and
kill all that can be found In two or three
weeks after the first appearance Of the
old ones the young ones will be out in
force. Then is the time to poison them
with Paris green. Paris green one part,
to twenty parts plaster is Il convenient
mixture for application. A tin can hold
ing three or four quarts with closely fit
tlDS cover auu WIFI u INT wire DOLlOHl
like that used for milk strainers is Il good
implement to apply it with. A handle
some three or four feet long should be at
tached to the pan. Partly fill the pan with
the mixture and dust all the vines that are
infested with the young l;irv;e. One or
two thorough applications are generally
sufficient to destroy the pest. In apply
ing avoid having the wind blow the dust
upon you. as the Paris green is deadly
poison and is very dangerous to inhale or
have in contact with the skin any length
of time. 1t is the only effective remedy
against the Colorado potato beetle. Ag.
Ed, Lewiston journal.
Advantages of Hoeing.
Too many persons who Use the hoe sup
pose that the chief benefit derived from it
is to XII the weeds That certainly is IN
important work, and one greatly neglec-
ted. Weeds are not only in the way of
cultivating the crops which we plant, but
they rob them OF much of the nutrlment
which they need. lloeing, then, is an es-
sential service in respect TO destroying the
weeds. There are other advantages, how
ever which are commonly overlooked
Let us see: The loosening of the soil in
the operation OF hoelng is beneficial to the
plants. as much as the destruction of the
weeds Or more So Moisture abounds in
the atmosphere during the hottest months,
and is absorbed and retained most abund-
antly by Il soil which is in the most fria-
bic state. Then, again, pulverizing soil
enables it better to retain the moisture
absorbed. The soil, in order to be health
ly and active, must breathe. A light por-
Gus soil admits the air, and thus it is in
vigorated by atmosphere. The suns rays
heat q hard soil much more quickly than
a loose one, and the hotter the soil is, SO
much greater will be the evaporation from
it. So that the hard soil is deprived Of its
moisture much sooner than one of a loose
texture The sell that has been kept loose
near the surface by the action of the hoe
will receive and hold the rain water that
falls, while a hard soil will allow most of
it to run off into valleys and streams as it
falls TEN