The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1916-06-07
THE ROSE-CHAFER
Beetle Damages Vegetables, Fruits,
And FlOwers-Early And Persis-
tent Control Measures Necessary.

v.
The rose-chafer, or rose bug" a
it is often called, one of the mos
widely distributed and troublesom
insects with which the florist or ga1
dener has to contend, is the subjec
of new Farmers Bulletin No. 721
of the department, by F. H. Chitten
den aud A. L. Quaintance. The in
sects appear as long-legged beetles O
a yeilowish-brown color, usually i
the month of June. They strip al
kinds of vegetables, fruits, and flow
ers OF blossoms and foliage, an,
where especially plentiful do grea
damage. In from four to six week
after their first appearance the,
leave as suddenly as they came
Rosehushes and grapevines especial
ly suffer from attacks of the insects
but the beetles are almost equal,
destructive to fruit, shade, and othe
trees and shrubs. When the rose
chafers are especially numerous, the,
attack even berries, peas, beans, ant
nearly all garden fruits and vege
tables. In their attacks upon the
grape, they first devour the bios
SONS; then they strip the leaves
leaving only thin network, and la
ter the young grapes are eaten
| Whola vineyards and orchards otter
are devastated and whole crops il
certain sections of the country are
destroyed.
Besides the damage done to vege
tation, the beetles sometimes cause
the death of young chickens. The
chickens eat the beetles and poison.
ing results in the death of the chick,
en- within "a hours. Experiments
have developed the fact that from
15 to; 20 beetles are sufficient to kill
week-old chick.
The character of the soil bears an
important relation to the appearance
of the rose-chafer. Light sandy re-
gions are greatly preferred as a
breeding ground, while clay lands
unless near sandy soil, are seldom
troubled.
A thoroughly effective remedy
against this insect is vet to be dis
covered. Any application that may
be made is unsuccessful unless ap-
piled almost continuously, for as Of
ten as the beetles on a plant are kill
ed, Others arise from the ground or
from neighboring fields to take their
place. Many so-called "sure" rene
dies, including compounds of copper,
lime, kerosene, and tobacco, have
failed to give results when put to a
rigid test. Whatever practice of a
remedial nature is undertaken. whe-
ther collecting or spraying, it should
be begun at the first onset of the
inseces' attack and continued until
they disappear. The work should
not b. confined entirely to those use
fuI 1ants which it is particularly de-
sfr7n no preserve, as the insects at
tack many other plants.
Ornamental plants that are hardy
may possibly be protected by hea-
Wy application of arsenate of lead.
using 4 or pounds to so gallons of
either water or Bordeaux mixture.
Very thorough applications should
be made when the insects first ap-
pear, and repeated applications
should be made as found necessary.
A considerable degree of protection
to vineyards is afforded by the time
ly and thorough use of arsenicaI
sprays, the amount of benefit vary
ing with the abundance of the in
sects. Since the use of poison SPRAYS
at the time of 'rose-bug" invasion is
desirable for the control of other
grape pests, vineyards in sandy re-
glons and subject to the attack of
this insect should be SPRAYED regular
ly as a part of the routine of the
vineyard work. The first applica-
t1on OF spray should be given Just be-
fore the blossoms open, and if the
beetles continue to be destructive the
treatment should be repeated as soon
as the blossoms fall VINEYARDS reg
ularly sprayed should be less injur-
ed by the roSe-chafer than those
which are not so treated.
For the destruction of the beetles
on fruit trees, as peach, apple, etc..
arsenate of lead should be used, pre-
ferably in fungicide, such as Bor-
deaux mixture, when the beetles first
appear. 1t should be applied at the
same strength indicated for vine
yards, namely, or pounds to so
gallons of spray. In spraying
peaches and other stone fruits the
arsen1cal should be used in the self
boiled Hme-sulphur wash or in so
Soiioho VI WdlcI w ulCu contains lime
wash made from shaking 8 or 4
pounds of good stone lime. Repeated
applications may be necessary. de-
pending upon the extent of reinfes-
tatlon of the trees by newly emerged
beetles, or those from other sources.
The rose-chafer is extremely SEN
sltlVe to disturbance when it is in
the pupal stage in the soil. Since
both larvae and beetles are very ten
aclous of life, the pupal stage appears
to furnish the most vulnerable per-
iod of attack, and large numbers NAV
be destroyed by simly stirring the
breeding grounds at the proper time
to depth or or more inches. In
northern Ohio the most favorable
time for the application of this rem
edy is from May 25 to June 10. In
the South the operation should be
commenced earlier. All ground
which might serve as breeding
place should be plowed and harrow
ed at the proper time. The least
possible light sandy soil should be
left in sod, only the heaviest land be-
ing used for grass.