The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-09-20

INSECT PESTS IN THE FIELD.

Fail Flowing . Remedy for Glover Loaf
wssvil and wheat nHidge.
The clover leaf weevil which has been
at work in the clover fields of New York
has pushed It's way gradually westward
until 1t is now mentioned as new pest
in Ohio, and lis the subject Of report
from the station Of that state, which
says: GAS described by Professor Lint
ner, of New York, the beetle measures
over four-tenths Of an inch in length
and is Of an oval form and brown color.
The eggs are deposited il the latter part
of summer by the beetles, which may be
seen in July and August. The larv@
from them appear in September and,
changing TO pups in October, emerge
as beetles In November. Some of them
lay their eggs, from which the larv@
hatch and hibernate while quite small,
within the old clover stem. Others Of
the beetles hibernate without oviposition
and lay their eggs the following spring.
The young larv@ are seen as early as
April feeding upon the clover, but 1t is
not before the latter part Of May and
June that they have attained sufficient
size to render them very injurious and
their depredations noticeable. At first
they feed among the young folded
leaves or attach to the under side of a
leaf; later they fasten to the edge, into
which they eat irregular patches.
From observation made at the depart
ment Of agriculture at Washington upon
the insect in confinement during au-
tumn, the entire time from the egg to
the perfect insect was about 81 months
As to remedies, the application of or.
binary insecticides is of no value. except
such as will poison the clover and rem
der 1t useless as hay, and it is thought
likely the pest will have to be fought in
the autumn, either by moving and burn
ing or fall blowing, or both
The depredations Of the wheat nudge
have also been considered in bulletiu
of the Ohio station, from which we learn
the following: THE original discovery
of the species dates back to the year
1895, in England. From there it was
introduced into Canada first, whence
it has spread over the larger portion OF
the United States, making its first ap
pearance in the northwestern part of
Vermont in the early part of the present
century.
This depredator is also known as the
red weevil, on account of the color of the
maggots or young, and under this name
will be best recognized by farmers
Others will readily understand the ma
ture of the pest by its occurrence in the
heads of wheat under the chaff, giving
these, when very abundant, reddish
appearance, somewhat resembling rust
Prior to 1851 the ravages of the insect
were widespread and more or less dam
aging. Since 1851, for period of TWEEN
ty-eight years, no serious widespread
outbreak occurred. Reports of local III
juries, however, were frequently re.
corded. ..-.a.
1.-THE only thoroughly practical pre-
ventivo, and also the one promising the
best results, is deep blowing of wheat
stubble in the fall, thereby covering the
midges so deep in the earth that they
are unable to reach the surface in thu
spring. This is done as soon as possible
after harvest. Burning the stubble be
fore blowing will also destroy any which
have remained therein and rotation of
crop will add greatly to the efficiency Of
deep blowing" .a. .-.-. -.7