The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1878-03-07
THE POTATO BuG.
The OrIaiu, History asd Travels OF thIs
Great Prst.
n 4.

]
7 Ter. the great collector of beetles. Mr.
Fuller was preparing n box Ia send 10
some eminent German collector. Among
others we're several potato bugs. See
ing that the writer took nn interest IN
/ the bug, aud knew hut little cnncerning
its history. Mr.. Fuller opened hiH fund
ot information.
The potato bug evidently Sprnng Into
existence near the BLACK HillH. or the
/ Big Horn country. For centuries u
/ fed upon the wild solanuul, ita numbers
being limited by the quantity uf food.
The sulanum is found along the Rocky
mountains, as far south as New Mexico.
The Pixies Peak excitement broke out
4 IN 1883 There was rush for gold.
Men came together from every State IN
the Union. One out uf hundred turned
his attention "a farming and triel a.
T feed the ninety nine who were digging
/ for gold. Potatoes were planted and
/ the pest of the solanum found more
! palaiable food. Ii got more nutrimuIA
from one acre Of potatoes than from u
/ hundred acres of sulanum. Every po,
tato iit,ld IN Colombo was covered with
tholn, and the farmers IN the new Terri,
tory stuoI aghast al the numbers
They began to travel East ln 1866
they appeared IN Kansas, They must
have been carried there in wagons, fOl
they arr heavy bodied insects, and car
tly but a short distance. as WAS shown
by the millions atluat along the coast
last year. No sooner had they struoA
7 the potato fields of Kansas than they Ice
gan to increase IN proportion 10 the sup
ply Of food. The same year they ap,
pearrd IN Nebraska, and in 1861 crosse,
the Mississippi into Iowa. Within
three wears they spread through thai
State and jumped the Mississippi int,
Illinois. =" TemelnllsF, Said Mr.. Fut
ler, THAT in lSd6 Walsh and Riley
entomologists from Missouri. sent me
/ several potato beetles found pepr Rock
4 Island. Here they aro." He drew n
case of beetles from his cabinet and
pointed them out.
alarmed. They did not regard the beo
tie rs a stranger and ayerred that II hal
always been there. They had con
founded Il with the luncta, and thought
il had learned new trick and gone {,
eating POTATOES the same as schOol-bOyt
i learn to chew tobacco, Ii WAS not untl
7 1866 that the lamcntcd Walsh dlscuycrc,
that the bug. notwithstanding It's yer,
strict resemblance. WAS entirely distiuc
from the juncta, aud that while both fc,
on the wild solanuIa, bat Que thriycd oI
the potato.
d" How DO you Guow, the writer IN
quired, "that the iuncta iocs Not feed
upon the potato p
Well. " said the goO,l,natured cnto
mologist, lit sometimes costs something
tu find out something. | went a. Ala
baInA and got the iuucla IN all is stages
larVB, grubs and beetles. | sent twic,
before | could get them alive The firs
Time. owing 10 bal packing. they wer,
smashed III the pOst-0itce. | put them
IN breeding cases and tried their tastes
for various plants. Those fed ON pOtnt,
leaves ate few at first hut gradually
grew weaker and weaker until they died
This proved that they might possibly
feed uu potato vines II starved to IT,
but IN thc end they would be Surr .,
die"
The most singular feature III the al
vance ui the p0tato-bug Is that they
have crossed the Mississippi and marchr,
! cast IN five separate columns. The
I aarthern cllumn- has been The NOR
rapid IN q Inoycments, Ae southern
: Tagging away behind, showing that
cold climate is tile best suited for ia,
, prupagatioa Of the pest They wer,
found in the southwestern corner ui
Wisconsin rs early As 1862, and ,prca,
over the State quite rapidly. In 1867
millions OF them were blown into LAX,
I Michigan from northern Wisconsin.
A northwest wind sent them ashore IN
I southwestern Michigan and northern
I Indiana. In 1868 they began 10 propa,
gate IN Indiana, and IN July - that
wear the second brood ralscd IN Indians
appeared in Ohio. Their progress east
ward from that time Was very rapid, an,
in 1873 they wcrr discovered ia Eastern
APennsylysaia. All the time they IN
creased iu numbers with the ratio o
potato-aelds Their rate of speed mp {,
last fall has averaged over seventy milr'
wear. The bug Is not found south u
. Maryland. The hot weather kills It.
aud il viii never appear in the Gul
Z States, because II cllpnoi live there.
" During all this time. c1n nanue,i Mr
( Fuller, entomologists were WAruinG
the people aud urging them to tax,
steps 20 prevent the spread 81 the pests
= No action was taken. The bugs la,
thair own way. and the Northern State,
have BECOME their feeding and breeding
groundA II the farmers had listened 3
. -
been saved. As late as 1870 a CauAdiar
, found bodies Of the bugs on the shore u
Lake Huron. Charles V. Riley, Stat,
entnmologisi Of Missouri, mentioned
tlnA fact In his annual report. He told
B the Canadians thRt the insect for ter
years past hal cost the Western State,
, millions Of dollars, aud predicted its
! spread over Canada within thirty months
unless something wus done to prevent il
lie alluded to Uncle Sans territory be.
yond the Niagara rivor, and said that
dollars aud cents could not save it'
potato patches. He warned both New
York and Canada uf their danger, nnd
asserted that after the insect had got q
footing within their borders ~ ,OO0. .OOC
i-would be freely spent 10 accomplish
what few thousands could do II applied
{ at the right time. ..
THAT is what Riley wrote, Air
Fuller said, "and the New Yorkers auu
Canadians paid no attention to him.
What has been the result? Eight years
have elapsed. and they have already
spent more than 81, 900, 00o for Paris
green ami labor, and had short crops
aud more bugs in the bargain. "
" How would You have prevented the
spread Of the hug ?" asked the writer.
They never should have been allow
ed 10 cross the Mississippi" replied Nj.
Fuller 1--WE all know they were am
nually destroying crops in Colombo. A
few hundred dollars rightly applied
would have kept them west Of the Missis.
appi, where they belonged. As il was
they only crossed il in FIVE places A
few men with the use of the telegraph
eould have stopped them at each point.
They have been found in Europe. hut
you can be assured that they will never
be allowed to spread They listen n their
scientific men over there, and follow
their advice. The European govern
, ments will take hold ot the potato bug.
Wherever il appears the drst brood will
be totally destroyed, for not one in 10,
600 that 60 into the ground in The iall
reappear in the spring. To give Won an
idea, 7 suppose 100, 900. 900 went into
the ground in my viciI ity year before
last. and not above 1000 came ont"
Mr.. Fuller says that the female layr
from LOCO 20 /, 200 eggs at each sitting,
and IL not DESTROYED. her children will
multiply three times in the summer. II