Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-07-26

Remedies for Flea Beetles.

At the New Hampshire experiment sta
ton tests of remedies for the flea beetle
have been made this season A recent bull
letin says:
During recent years great annoyance
has been caused many farmers and gard
eners In New England on account of the
injuries due to small jumping insects that
appear in spring upon great variety OF
young crop plants eating out small circu-
lar portions CT its leaves. These insects
are called flea beetles, because of their
habit of jumping when disturbed. The
most abundant species is the socalled
cucumber flea beetle-a small, black,
hard sbelled insect scarcely one-twelfth
OF an inch long. Its common name is
hardly an appropriate one. for it seems
no more partial to plants of the cucumber
family than to many Others. 1t common
ly attacks with destructive effect pota-
toes, tomatoes, egg plant, radish, turn1p.
cabbage, raspberry, sunflower and other
plants, as well as the various members OF
the squash family. 1t feeds almost exclu-
sively upon thick leaved plants, and is
more likely to attack the relatively thick
cotyledons or first leaves than those APP
pearing later. This Is easily explained
by its habit of gnawing the surface OF the
leaf; when the parenchyma or green part
is thick and succulent more food is avail
able than when the leaf is thin.
Apparently the life history of this in
sect has not as yet been very completely
worked out So far as now known the
essential facts may be briefly summarized
thus: The beetles deposit eggs, presuma-
bly, upon the leaves Of the food plants,
which hatch into little grubs that become
leaf miners living within the tissues of
the leaves. Probably they drop to the
ground to change to the pupa state, emerg-
ing shortly afterwards as adult beetles
again. In New England there are evil
IDENTIFY two broods of beetles each season,
one appearing early In spring and the
other little after midsummer. The
first brood attacks early vegetables most
severely, while the presence Of the second
Is most likely to be shown by injuries in
the potato field. The most serious losses
are undoubtedly caused by the attacks
upon potatoes.
There Is another species of flea beetle
that frequently Injuries vegetables-es-
pecially cabbages, turnips, radishes and
other related plants. 1t is commonly
called the striped flea beetle, and is q
small shining black beetle, one-tenth of
an inch long, with broad, yellow, wavy
longitudinal stripe on each wing cover
It feeds upon the surface of the leaf, gnaw
ing.
A large number of substances have
been recommended as preventives of flea
beetle attack, success in tho use of any
of which depends, to a great extent, upon
the comparative abundance of the insects.
Our own experiments indicate that the
pests may be driven off from garden vege-
tables in early spring by the liberal appli-
cation of simple repellant and deterrent
substances like plaster, rslaked lime,
SCOT, and especially tobacco powder, busted
on when the plants are wet with dew.
/ obtained more satisfactory results,
however, by the use of spray of lime
wash made by adding pint or more Of
freshly slaked lime to two gallons Of
water and then thoroughly mixing i'll
about half teaspoonful of paris green l
sprayed this upon variety of garden
crops with excellent results. The lime
dries on in frmer coating than when
simply busted on, and consequently il
| is more effective.
A still more certain remedy is found in
the use of the Bordeaux mixture. Tie
second brood of flea beetles appears upon
| potatoes during the last half of July, so
that spraying about the middle of the
month is likely to protect the plants from
attacks