St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1900-07-07
FARMER AND PLANTER.
THE MELON LOUISE.
d Pest that the Southern Planter Has
Content Nith-Hoyv to- Wage
War on 1t.

/ q u the summer this insect feeds
On l.. S, encumbers, cotton, mustard
and perhaps other plants. 1t is pfob-
able that the Aasecs passes the winter
| either in eggs latfa late in the fall cr
| the female survis rs the winter. The
eggs or insects re located on st.me
| plant on which they may feed in early
spring. This may be on the foliage of
some plant thsr5 keeps green dul,ng
the winter OF on the roots of some
| plant that los,s its foliage in autumn,
| or the eggs raay be deposited on the
| plants or trust late in the season. The
plants Themselves may die or the fruit
may decay, as the melon, and yet the
eggs Diay Survive. When warm wealth
er cores III the spring, ifst the eggs sur
Eylve the winter, they hatch and prob-
Raly live for d time on some wild plant
until they. obtain wings. If the winged
form has passed the winter it feed;
Tor short time on some wild plant.
In eithkr case when the melons have
formed few leaves these winged se-
male forms fly from place to place over
the field, sleaying, not eggs, but liv,.
young on the plants they visit. Hy
careful observation it has been seen
that ore female individual viii pro-
duce i've or six live young on the
plants they visit. By careful observa-
Fion it has been seen that one female
individual will produce five or six live
young in "a hours, and that these
yourg having inherited the repro
ductive propensity, begin producing
young at similar rate In less than
a weeks time. Hence it will be seen
that single female louise that has
successfully passed the winter, can in,
a comparatively short time, establish
several colonies in the field. by /:
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 pre-
ventiFe rather than curative measures
should be employed. Could the few
that are trying to pass the winter be
found, destruction would be easy
enough. The best thing to be done is
to destroy the probable abode. This
can best be done by destroying all oil
decayed or immature fruit by letting
hogs eat is practicable. II not, then
it should be hauled off at a safe dis.
fance from the melon field and
dumped. The old vines should all be
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 a very few living pisats,
ON large field may harbor the enemy
we are afse-'. A second measure of pre-
caution would be to burn at some t:s,.s
turing the winter as much as possible
OF the weeds and grass for several rods |
around the proposed field. Since th.
Iouse is known to feed on the cotton |
plant, it would be best to avoid as far
rs 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 Ee.,t |
for the colonies that have started, aud I
when they are found destroy the lie
even at the sacrifice of few
lills of melons. The fight should begin
n the fall, and be. kept up until the
:rop is planted in the spring, AMI
onger if neeessary.-American Gar
lenlng,