Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1923-07-14

| almost as soon IS it gets the first
aouthiol Picking potato bugs is an
old out-of-date method Ii is a Job
hat Will make the boys and girls
our on the world in short order.
Potato bugs can be poisoned on
mall patches by busting the vines
with arsenate of lead mixed with
land plaster, lime or road dust at the
rate of one part of poison to five
parts of lime or plaster. This mix
IRE is hest applied early in the morn
ng while there is deu on the vines.
The time to spray is when the bugs
are small, then a small amount a
mount of poison viii kill them Ar
senate of lead is superior to Paris
Green for spraying because there is
less danger of burning the vines and
the poison adheres to the vines much
better than the green. The wise
farmer will spray with bordeaux mix
ture along with the poison to guard
his crop against early blight.
The potato flee-beetle has been
found in the county this year, and
will cause considerable trouble if il
IS not brought under control. This
beetle is about one-tenth of an inch
in length, black in color with yellow
legs and feelers. 1t is able to iump
far and quickly and therefore is hard
TO find. It feeds ON a variety of
plants besides potatoes. They do
considerable and serious damage to
potatoes by eating small shot holes
through the leaves, often causing tip
burn, and also allowing free entrance
TO the leaves of the spores of early
blight. 1t has been reported from
Colorado that the larvae Of the bee
ties, tiny white grub about one
fourth of an inch in length, burrows
INTO the stems and spoils the crop and
later ON in the season the second
brood of larvae hores under the skin
and into the flesh, causing a pimply
or scabby appearance which causes
great waste when the potatoes are
prepared for the table.
The only known remedy for this
insect is a thorough spraying with
poison and bordeaux mixture.
The third insect found in this To-
cality this summer is the Blister Bee
tie or old fashioned potato bug.
They are long and slim, from one
half to three-fourths Of an inch in
length; some are black and others
are yellow-brown striped They Of
ten go in swarms and il not checked
will do a lot of damage in short or
der, Blister Beetles are hard to
poison but as a rule "A thorough APP
plcation of bordeaux mixture and ar
senate of lead will help to control
them
The fourth insect that is likely to
cause trouble is the Potato Leaf Hop
per, a small light green insect about
one-fourth of an inch long. This in
sect Injuries the potato plant by suck
ing the plant juices or sap, They us
ually appear to feed only on the large
veins on the upper half of the leaf
The amount of injury depends on the
size and abundance of the insects.
The injury appears normally either
as a following or curling Of the leaf
which is sufficient in many eases to
kill the entire leaf, Though it sell
dom kills the entire plant it certainly
causes distinct injury TO the potatoes.
Spraying with bordeaux mixture
usually will give a crop of almost dou-
bic the size over the unsprayed por-
lions in an infested field Bordeaux
mixture has been found to be the
best spray to use against the hopper
and alone will suffice if applied in
time. The underside of the leaves
should be sprayed thoroughly using a
sprayer capable Of a pressure of $50
pounds with nozzles throwing a fine
mist Spray at least three times
and if the leaf-hoppers still persist,
spray once more.
~~
CHAUTAUQUA begins July 80