New Britain herald., 1928-03-03
NATION ID FIGHT JAPANESE BEETLE
Appropriations of &tS,6@ to
 Come Before Congress
BY GEORGE H. MANNING Washington Bureau Of the \. Hereld)

. Washington. D. C.. March S-Ap- propriations of sa65,so0 for control ! of the Japanese beetle. and $l41,- ! $50 for research on methods Of era dicating the pest are contained in l the appropriations bill for the de- partment of agriculture. now being debated in the house ot representa- tiveS.
 i New York and Connecticut, as well as the federal government, are bug policemen" for the infested iocali- ties. New York contributes s60,o00 i a year and Connecticut contributes 1 s10,oO0 a year to help prevent the spread Of the imported pest which has caused such tremendous dam 1 age to orchards. gardens, lawns and golf courses in Connecticut, Vest ! chester County. x. Y., and Long Island.
 Just recently the Japanese beetle has travelled farther north in Con- necticut, and has crossed the Vest chester county. N. T.. line into Rockland county, N. I. l The appropriations also cover the work to eradicate and control the Asiatic beetle, which is somewhat similar to the Japanese beetle, but 1 rot so bright in color, and not yet so devastating.
 1 The grubs occur in the soil and the beetles appear in the summer time. The adult bottles of this spe- . ces do not cause any serious eco- homie damage. They feed some what on the blossoms Of roses. but ! beyond that it has been practically uninjurious; the larvae have caused very serious damage to lawns in 1 Connecticut and more recently on Long Island and Westchester county. N. Y. They were particularly serl- ous on Judge Gary's estate on Long Island, where turf was completely destroyed in several acres Of lawn. In this work the federal government has been cooperating with the Con- necticut state authorities who un- dertook first a campaign of eNter
 mination. They wanted to wipe 1t out, if possible. Additional findings of the beetle beyond the territory where it was known to occur ren- lered that program impossible. An attempt was made toward big re- duction in the numbers Of the beetle by means of soil treatment.
 Among the measures taken by the federal government during the cur rent year to eradicate the Japanese beetle, MT. smith, in charge of beetle control work for the |. $. depart ment of Agriculture, listed ] Development of a new spray which kills tn. beetle on contact.
 Invention of d trap, now manu- factured commercially. which costs less than a dollar and has caught as high as $500 or 4ooo beetles day.
 A new and cheaper method Of treating the soil to control the larva" to protect lawns and golf courses from infesfations.
 Importation Of some 420.0G0 para sites which cat the beetle or its larvae.
 The Japanese beetle .s particularly dangerous to apples, peaches, Plums.
 grapes. entrants, blackberries rasp berries, beans. beets, lettuce. orna-
 mental trees and shrubs. and grass. The height of the dangerous season is from the middle of July to Sep tember 1.
 The situation is much better this year than it was last year, Mir. smith declared, due 10 the new methods of
 control worked out by the bureau o'
 entomology of the department Of
 agriculture.