The Colfax chronicle., 1900-07-21
FARMER AND PLANTER.
THE MELON LOUISE.
Pest that the Southern Planter Has
to Content with-How to Wage
War ON 1t.

During the summer this insect feeds
on melons, cucumbers, cotton, mustard
and perhaps other plants. 1t is prob
able that the insect passes the winter
either in eggs laid late in the fall or
the female survives the winter. The
eggs or insects are located ON ss.mc
plant on which they may feed in early
spring. This may be on the foliage of
some plant that keeps green during
the winter or on the roots of some
plant that loses its foliage in autumn,
or the eggs may be deposited on the
plants or fruit late in the season. The
plants themselves may die or the fruit
may decay, as the melon, and yet the
eggs may survive. When warm wealth
er comes in the spring, if the eggs sur
vive the winter, they hatch and prob
ably live for time ON some wild plant
until they obtain wings If the winged
form has passed the winter it feeds
for short time on some wild plant.
In either case when the melons have
formed few leaves these winged ;e-
male forms fly from place to place over
the field, leaving, not eggs, but live
young on the plants they visit. Gy
careful observation it has been seen
that one female individual will pro-
duce five or six live young on the
plants they visit. By careful obserya-
tion it has been seen that one female
individual will produce five or six live
IN, hot
young having inherited the repro
ductive propensity, begin producing
young at similar rate in less than
weeks time. Hence it will be seen
that single female louise that has
successfully passed the winter, can in
comparatively short time, establish
several colonies in the field. By u
brief mathematical calculation it will
be seen that one individual may b,-
come the common parent of a million
or more in a single season.
For this it will be seen that pie
ventive rather than curative measures
should he employed. Could the few
that are trying to pass the winter he
found, destruction would be easy
enough. The best thing to be done is
10 destroy the probable abode. This
can best be done by destroying all Old
lecayed or immature fruit by letting
hogs eat is practicable. If not, then
it should be hauled off at safe dis.
tance from the melon field and
dumped. The old vines should all b..
raked together and burned if possible.
if not, then hauled away from The
field. After the field has been cleared
in the fall, as soon as possible after
the crop has been harvested, it should
be well plowed, and if after that any
green thing tries to grow it should ne
killed by narrowing or digging, for it
may be that very few living plants
on large field may harbor the enemy
we are after. A second measure of pre-
caution would be to burn at some tine
curing the winter as much as possible
of the weeds and grass for several ro.ls
around the proposed field. Since the
louise is known to feed on the cotton
plant, it would be best to avoid as far
as possible old cotton fields. But what
is the melon grower to do who has not
taken care of his field during the win.
ter? Careful watch should be l.e:.t
for the colonies that have started. and
when they are found destroy the li..c
entirely, even at the sacrifice of few
hills of melons. The fight should begin
in the fall, and be kept up until the
crop is planted in the spring. and
longer if necessary.-American Gar
deulng.