The Newtown bee., 1895-05-10
Editorial Ink Drops.
CAN WE SAVE THE NOBLE FILMS [

villages, are sincerely hoping that the destructive elm tree beetle may take a vacation, this year. In Newtown Street and In the towns and villages of Fairfield county, the inoculation process was giv. en trial, last fall, but as to whether it will prove successful, is as yet an uncer- tainty.
 The Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station has sent out an interesting bull letin on this subject, to which we are in- debted for the facts contained in this ar ticle.
 The imported elm leaf beetle (Galeruca xanthomelaena) has become most widely distributed throughout the Northeastern States, and if unchecked, yearly renders comparatively worthless the elm trees planted to shade city streets and adorn parks. The elm is justly one of the most popular trees for ornamental and shade purposes, and is so thoroughly character istic of New England towns that no ef- fort should be spared to maintain it in It's normal, vigorous condition and to prevent it's being made unsightly and useless by the attacks of this insect. The elm leaf beetle is easily controlled, par ticularly throughout New England, where 1t is single-brooded.
 The injury Is done both by the beetle and by the larva, the former eating the characteristic little holes in the leaves, and the latter skeletonizing the leaves, blackening, curling and blighting them, and causing the ultimate falling of the foliage. The insect winters over in the beetle state, in any protective retreat, such as cracks in walls or fences, be- tween bricks, or wherever partial pro- tection can be found from the storms of winter.
 It makes it's appearance early in spring, just as soon as the elms leaf out, and sometimes almost as soon as the buds be- gin to unfold, in the form of an oblong beetle about one fourth of an inch in length, Iyellowish in color and with black stripe on each wing cover. This period is usually toward the last of May though it varies somewhat with the sea- son.
 The first indications of their presence are small round holes in the more mature leaves. These rapidly increase in num- Der as the foliage develops, until the tree looks as if loads of small shot had been fired through it in every direction.
 The life history indicates the practical steps to be taken in preventing the rav- ages of this insect. These are spraying with Paris green to poison the beetles and the larv@, in the latter part of May and the first of June, and the destruction of the pup@ about the base of the trees in July.
 The trees may be effectually sprayed by means of a force pump and spray noz- gle, with Paris green at the rate of one pound to 150 gallons of water, care being taken that the poison is thoroughly mix ed with the water during the process of | spraying. London purple will answer nearly as well as Paris green, but with it | should be mixed an amount of slaked | lime equal to the quantity of poison used. In spraying large trees 1t will be neces- sary to have hose 50 to 75 feet or more | in length, which by using long bamboo still larger trees, it will be necessary to send man up into the tree, to direct the spray into the topmost parts. Fairly good work also can be done in the top branches by removing the spraying tip and sending direct stream into the top of the tree, the force of the stream being sufficient to break 1t up into fine drops. |
 If spraying is neglected and the pupe are clustered thickly immediately about the base of the tree they may be destroy ed by mechanical means; or an area of | ground several yards in diameter contain ing pup@ may be wet with strong kero- sene emulsion, or with hot water. These measures against the pupe are instituted, of course, only after the damage for the year has been done, and if they are killed under all the trees in a given town, there will be no beetles to lay eggs the follow ing season. In this event there will be no necessity for the more expensive and elaborate spraying operations. Once in- stltuted, this method of destroying the pupm and iarv@ at the surface of the ground should be continued year after year, and will be very largely effective in keeping the trees in good condition.
 It appears that Entomologist Howard of the United States Department of Ag- ricultrre does not have much faith in the inoculation process. He says: "When