Evening journal., 1900-12-31
GREEN PEA CROP
WILL BIZ SHORT
Partly Due to Failure Of Said
Crop
Also 10 Small Green Bug Which Dew
aStateS Roth Young Plant
and the Blossom

uhu llO biOOoVm
The reports collected this Autumn
from the seed growers presage disap-
polntment for lovers Of green peas next
Spring. The general story is OF partial
failure of the green peas grown for
seed. In some cases only half crop
has been gathered. and in others the
loss has been larger. This means high
er prices for seed, a condition which
Of itself would prevent some growers
from raising the vegetables.
Then the aphis is to be recloned with,
The aphiis is a little insect of beau
tiful light green. IL Is similar to the
pest which is one of the reasons why
everybody can't grow rc1es. 1t frstI
made itself generally remarked cou-
pie of years ago. This year in the lat
ter part Of the Spring and in the early
Summer IT. appeared in vast numbers,
utterly destroying whole crops of peas.
The first crop grown during the cOol
weather in the early part OF Spring es-
capped IL. Some growers attribute Ia. 81
Immunity to the fact that favorableI
weather enabled the vines to becomeI
vigorous enough TO resist its attacks
others believe that at that time the
pest simply had not spread Later
crops succumbed to it SO that the vines
produced absolutely no peas. or so few
as not TO be worth picking. Long Is.
land suffered severely, and so did grow
ers in Delaware and Maryland and
New Jersey In localities further ncr,h.
the aphis did not appear. either because
1t had not spread TO them or because
the cooler climate did not favor its de-
velopment The severity of the evil
may be appreciated from the fact that
the losses Of growers on the pea crop
have ben estimated at as high as SO.
00O 900.
The appearance Of the aphis is one
Of those things which arouse the won
der ana admiration OF the gardener
who is able with philosophical and i'm
partial calm to contemplate the de-
struction of the crop upon which he
has labored Thus take a small. harm
! less garden set amid a wilderness CT
/ houses and vacant lots. far from sur
roundings calculated to tempt the
/ aphis and other pests and seemingly
so remote and secluded from their
rightful haunts as to be hidden from
them and secure. One day. after long
care and thought and labor. the phil
osopher cOntemplates his pea vines.
! delights in their delicate fresh green.
their graceful vigOr, and anticipates
the feast which they are shortly b
supply. The next day. maybe, he notes
with concern that there seems a tri1
less vlgor about them, just a trihe. not
so much as would be apt to be notice 4
by the casual observer, but as plain 70
him as a child's slightest i'll is to it's
mother Another day and with alarm
he sees that the vines no longer shoot
upward with the pride of health. but
droop, and that a pallor has come upon
the briliiancy of the green. He axam-
ines them and finds them covered with
millions Of insects where a day before
there was none.
The wonder is, how did these tiny
creatures find in an area to them i'm
measurably vast the one spot whert
they could live and thrive? Science may
explain their rapid multiplication. buf
the marvel remains that they were
able 10 discover the peas. 1t is not as
If they had been thriving in one field
and spread 10 a field beyond il is
rather as if there We're but one spot in
a region as large as the State of New
York where man could live and thai
man were able to discover infalibly
that one spot.
The rest is soon told. The aphis COW
ers the leaves and tender pods and
sucks the juices out, so that first
growth stops and then the plant dies
NO adequate remedy has been discover
ed Tor the pest. Various insecticides
XIII them, but the trouble is IN apply
ing the remedy in an effective manner
lhey may be shaken Off the vines tin
the ground beneath is covered
put others take their place, and. be-
sides, the plant is apt to have been ir.
retrievably ruined when this stage has
been reached. They have various enc
mics in the insect world. but thei,
numbers are so vast that they car
satisfy even the rapacious insect anne.
tites without apparent diminution oi
their own legions. For those who grow
on large scale the task Of fighting the
pea aphis is difficult if not impossible
there Is no apparent reason now VIII,
the aphls should not be as much of I
pest next year as IL was this year. par.
ticularly as it attacked the full cror
OF peas in some localities at least
Growers are therefore confronted b,
the two facts that they are likely Il
nave TO pay high prices next year fol
their seed peas, and that the crop ma,
be a failure again. Some may con
fine their efforts to raising the frs
crop of early peas. which ESCAPED tn.
aphis this year; Others may turn thei
T attention to other crops. So that ther,
Is likely to be a shortage Of green pea
unless some one discovers a way o
lighting the aphis effectively an,
cheaply.
The aphis attacked the sweet De,
vines also, though perhaps to a les
serious extent Rows which shouI
have been brilliant with every hue Q
the rainbow were shabby and bedrae
:, gled. and in picking the flowers grea
care was needed to get rid Of the IN
sects that swarmed about them. SO tn
eye suffered from the aphis as well a
the palate.