Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1922-05-04
OF INTEREST TO
POTATO GROWERS
No. 5.
(By J. E. SMITH, Meadow
prnalr Eo,.o.

Hats off to the farmer stag
gering under his double burden
He is not yet broke but is pref
ty badly bent. Even the wealth
er is against him and he needs
encouragement. In addition
to the great economic changes
resulting from the Worlds War
we are now going thru the
transition period from a great
exporting nation, to nation
needing all it's agricultural
products for its own consumpt-
ion, and by reason of the result
ing inequality in values the
farmer is unable to get what
he ought to get for what he
grows and is compelled to pay
for what he has to buy; in 9th
er words, he is getting the short
end of it, both coming and 60
ing.
Let us hope for the speedy
arrival of the long promised
improved conditions" also an
Improvement in weather con-
ditions. If these are not de-
layed too long, the average
farmer may, by hard labor and
the most rigid econmoy, hold
his own.
Among the many insects the
farmer must control the COM
ing season, in order to hold his
own, are the potato BEETLE and
the "aphis. The Colorado
BEETLE is too we'll known to re-
quire any description. It's con-
troll is easily accomplished by
the use of lead arsenate, either
in a spray in connection with
bordeau mixture, as explained
| in a previous article, or in
powder form, by busting thor
oughly. The latter method to
be most effective should be per-
formed in the early morning,
while the plants are wet with
due or after a rain. In cases
where the old BEETLES are trou-
blesome, when the potato
plants first come through the
ground, cut a few potatoes in
half, and apply a rather thick
! coating of lead arsenate to the
cut surfaces, then distribute
them at intervals between the
rows. The beetles will leave
the green plants to get the po-
tato, and pay the penalty, in
some instances the ground be-
ing Utterly covered with dead
ones around the poison bait.
, Paris green can also be used eff
fectively, but there is great
danger of too heavy an appli-
cation, resulting in burned foil
age and greatly reduced yield,
hence it is safer to use lead ar
senate. The control of the
beetle is an easy problem, com
pared to the potato "aphis.'
Little noticed owing to its pro-
tective coloring, and its fire.
quenting. The safe hooks on
the underside of the downward
curling leaves, the "aphis," is
one of the most rapid multipli-
ers of insects, the few scatter
ing individuals of late June be-
coming the countless billions
4 of July, which line the under
sides of the leaves, and silently
suck the life blood from the
plants. A coating of lead ar
senate or paris green on the
leaves is of no avail, for the
"aphis" does not eat the foil
age or poison, but merely in
serts his beak the poison layer
in the body of the leaf and
sucks out the juice. There
fore, in order to kill them it is
necessary to hit their bodies
with a Contact poison, in
other words, a substance that
will kill them when it touches
their bodies.
The most common of such
substances is nicotine sulphate
Large growers in general are
using this substance mixed with
water at the rate of one and
one-half pints to so gallons
with three pounds of soap to
cause the spray coating to
spread on the foliage.
The difficulties in the way OF
the more general use of this
spray are mechanical ones
The dropping nature of the po-
tato foliage makes it nee essary
to apply the spray at a high
pressure and from at least
three different angles in order