Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1885-10-29
soabby or Security Potatoes.
BY PROF. CHI. II. FERNALD.

| Mr.. j. j. Burton of Warren, Me-.
sent to the editor of this paper, a po-
tato which was scabby, and also had
a millipede feeding in the bottom Of
the scabs, causing or increasing the
trouble. This potato was given to me
with the request that | should write
something about it. The potato was
laid on my table but when got ready
TO look up the matter the millipede
was nowhere to be found. | there
fore wrote to Mr.. Burton who kindly
sent me several more potatoes, but
these were infested by true wire
worms and not by millipedes. Mr.
Burton stated in his letter that the
/ ravages this year were so great IN
/ some fields in that region that scarce
| ly a merchantable potato could be
| found. 1t therefore seems that more
| than one animal has had a hand in this
| business in Warren. and that We must
consider both the milipedes and the
| wire worms.
The milipedes do not belong to the
true insect, but are classed below the
spiders in group with the centipedes
under the name MYRIAropA, a word
/ sienifying many feet, and two divis-
! ions have been made of this group, one
I Of wAich. the CHILoPopA, have long.
/ narrow bodies composed of many fiat
( tened Joints. 10 each of which Is at
/ tached one pair of legs. These feed
4 on small insects and worms and must
I te regarded as beneficial. They are
represented in tropical regions by the
| poisonous centipedes. and in this state
I by the little L,uobias. a hattened,
/ jointcd. worm-like animal of a shining,
/ reddish brown color. about two inches
long. and often incorrectly called the
/ car wig. The other division. the Chill
/ oGNATHA. comprise similarly jolntcd
/ animals. but they are nearly cyllndrl-
cal in form and each joint has t'co
/ pairs Of legs These are vegetable
! feeders and include the genera Toig-
! },,u,,, and Jpits. both common in
Maine. especially among the fallen
/ leaves in our forests. he form sent
/ with the first potato mentioned above,
/ belonged 10 the genus baus. but u
what species cannot say, n he gave
me the slip before had chance to
make 4 critical examination. | noilc-
/ ed. however, that the excavations on
I the surface Of the potato were about
a quarter Of an inch deep. which Is
deeper than is generally found in case
of scabby potatoes.
Wire worms are the Larvae OF Young
Of COLEOPTERA o: beetles, belong
ing to the family ELATErIDt. Of
which more than jo0,liffcrent species
are already known to occur in the
United States Some Of these live IN
rotten wood being frequently found
under the bark ii decaying stumps
and lu4~. While others feed on the
roots 81 grasses both Wild and cuiu-
waited. which seems to hc their uaiur-
a food. bu; the, very readily take To-
,he roots Of almost all kinds OF cul-
tivatcd plants. and when they become
abundant they must be ranked among
seriously injurious insects.
"N ''' 49, az ''t' ~ r.
'Atoer were ah"nt an men long GYM
IIic"'' J"'ii'td. ~ q SHINING reddish
brown DOR and ha three pairs Of legs
only Oh the joints immediately follow
M inc htad. ne alu.ls 81 "iI'
worms are rather I"h@ ana sim beetles
an" nave Inc power "heh placed on
'heir backs "i >pIh4ihs up INTO the
air aha coming """h !i2ht o'le up
making at me same time chcAing
morse Ike the 'i'N ~ watch hence
'heN nave "'vh called clcAlh2 Oh snap
pihg beetles.
Inc work "f 'ht>e wire worms on
ne POTATOES seems somewhat different
from ordinary .e.'h aud al" from That
vi the "''"' described above They
'"' '"'Li way mi" ''' P'''"" ma"ih2
. noir "ui! iar-e enough 20 admit Their
bodies ho'n 'A''' animals nave HaFd
coverings "'i'cii project them from any
ordinary relne'iie>- II a piece 81 land
l. b"d'y infested wan them II would