The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-09-04
POTATO BLIGHT
 DUE TO PEST
"June Bug" Has Destroyed Thousands of Bushels
 In These Parts
SERIOUS LOSS TO FARMERS

Fairfield, Sent. 4.-Potato digging is going on in various parts of the town and here and there a. good crop is be- ing harvested. Some fields have been struck with the blight, and potatoes planted in May suffered from the drought. It is thought late potatoes will turn outs better tha,n the early ones. But q curious and alarming csondttion o< affairs has been found in some of tlae fields in the Hulls Farms district The large white grub known to entonoaogdste aS the Lach- uosterna, a worm, which when fully developed, becomes a large. brown, hard-bodied beetle, commonly known as the "June bug" has appeared in vast numbers in both potato and corn delds, and is working an immense amount of destrlactton-
 A few days ago MT. E. c. Brother ton went out to dig, potatoes, and found them hardly worth gathering. ed 100 bushels to the acre, he was able Ito send but 13 to market. He found that the great white grub had gnaW- led the potatoes, leaving deep ruts and holes in them. much as ii they had been eaten by mice. Another curious thing was observed-the field was covered with the tracks of skunks, the paths they had made running all over flne ground, and in many places the Ipotatoes were on the surface. At first Mir. Brotherton thought some two leExed animal had been poaching on ihte field, but further investigation re- jvealed the fact that the skunks aug lup the potatoes for the purpose of get ting at the grubs, which they devour with a relish.
 Yesterday q. representative of the Farmer visited Hulls Farms, and in lspected number of fields. both of corn and pokatoes, and found that nne Irumors which have been current In town about the grub, and the damage lit fs doSr,<y were fxslly confirmed. In a field belonging to Mrs. Horace Kay lmond, men were at work digging po- {tatoeg. and all the. hills were found Ifuil of srubs. while from 80 to 90 per lcemt of the tubers had been ruined tPossibly two or three small potatoes would be found untouched. The held twas an upland, and the soil was Of good ualaltty, and had been cu1rlVaCeo tthe year before.
 Just west of the potato field there IS lone of corn, perhaps two acres, which has been ruined by the same grub. The stGlks have withered ana or1eo up lend the corn looks as 1t would the last tof October. The ears have failed to I1rakure. On pulling up a hill of corn tfhe earth was found to be full or the teasne srrubs as those which are eating Itiaa potatoes. From 15 to 20 big fat trr1rbs were found at the roots of the }etalhs. Mrs. Raymond has been ad- lyised &o' have the corn cut and taken Ito the barn to be used as fodder TOT fthe cattle. Other farmers in the vi lcinity ere suffeDing from the same tpest.
 What appear to be sensible reasons lare advanced for the cause of the un- Iprecedented plague The winter was Ian open one, and the frost Penetral. led the ground but a few inches. It ias known that Isachnosterna, or grub under consbd eratdon, usually lives on lthe roots of grass and 1t is said that lin some of the meadows at Hulls tFarms, they can now be 1ouno m aa ivast quantities. It is thought that If line winter had been colder, many of fthe eggs of the beetle would have tbeen frozen. One of the fields where fths grub is found in such great mum turf ground when ploughed last fspring, and undoubtedly contained many of the eggs of the beetle. The tsame is true of MT. Brotherton's field. tbut ttds was not the case With Mrs. fRaynyonds potato field. 1 The only known remedy is one Of lprevendon. Do not give the beetle tchance to hibernate. To this end a farm should be kept very clean of all rubbish Grounds covered with mat fted grass or leaves, brush piles, Ishucks of corn fodder left in the fields, |old straw or hay stacks, and the over grown waste land along rail and hedge fences. are choice places for the hi tbernataon of insects above ground. tNeelected roadsides afford ample pro- ttection for destructive insects during Ethe winter. If the Grubs were de- kprived of grass roots when the heids Ewere ploughed, they naturally turned Ito the food nearest at hand, and this happens to be the potatoes and corn. lThcre are many old stone fences at
 Hlrlls FaGsns, overgrown with vines and all sorts of bushes These should Ebe cleaned up, and the useless growths fburned.