Evening star., 1943-06-13

lead arsenate per 1000 square feet
of lawn is the recommended amount.
It should be washed into the soil
with a hose or rainfall Immediately
after spreading.
The spraying of our plants (trees,
shrubs, roses and flowers) is widely
recommended and in many cases is
a worthwhile practice. However, il
should be noted that the ordinary
insecticides, those applied to con-
troll other chewing insects, are
usually avoided by the Jap beetle. In
other words if we expect to poison
them we must use a special insecti-
eide, one that they will eat.
To the usual lead arsenate spray
q ounce per gallon of water) we
should add three-quarters of ar
ounce of wheat flour. The flour
seems to make the lead arsenate
attractive to the beetle. 1t also
improves the "stick" of the spray.
When aluminium sulfate becomes
available again we may use 9
mixture of it and hydrated lime fol
spraying purposes). 1t is especially
good on beans, rhubarb and aspara.
gus and is not poisonous. The for.
mula is pound of the hydratec
lime and Il pound of aluminium sui
fate to gallons of water.
Rotenone 6 ounces) and rotenone
rosin-residue (51a ounces) to 10 gal
Ions of water is an excellent spray
for fruits, but is not generally avail
able now for this purpose. Most
gardeners prefer to reserve theil
supplies of rotenone for use on the
beans. Dusting vegetables with
hydrated lime is preferable to the
use of arsenicals.
Beetles Do Sepere
Damage to Corn
Jap beetles are particularly de-
structive on sweet corn, oftentimes
eating the silk before pollenization
takes place and thus preventing the
formation of kernels. To avoid this
dust the silk every three days-three
applications are usually sufficient
with hydrated lime.
To protect fruits and foliage, one
may spray with bordeaux, lime or
any other mixture that discolors the
foliage. In many cases they act
as a repellent and the beetles will
leave them alone. Where there is
a heavy infestation of the beetles
it is wise to use some kind of a
spray, preferably the lead arsenate
flour, or the aluminium sulfate-hy-
drafted lime to protect grapes
peaches, plums and apples. The
beetles will feed on the fruits-es-
pecially those that are overripe and
soft-and to a lesser extent upon
the foliage. However, they may
strip the trees of foliage resulting
in loss of vitality and increasing
their susceptibility to disease and
insect injury. For this reason care
and feeding of trees and shrubs is
recommended along with such pro-
lection as may be given
There Is still another alternative
for the home gardener, especially
for those who have not as yet plant
ed their grounds. That is to make
a selection of trees, shrubs and plants
which are not on the Jap BEETLES
preferred diet list. For such a list
one should turn to the bulletins of
the United States Department of
Agriculture, especially to Farmers
Bulletin 1856.
While the above outlines the over
all programs offered for the control
OF the Jap beetle, most gardeners
will find that the beetles are not too
serious a problem. Perhaps we will
have to pass up the summer bloom
on the roses fdisbudding during the
season of heavy infestation is rec
ommended); use sprays on our
shrubs and fruits, and dust our
vegetables more often than we have
IN the past, but there is little rea-
son to believe that we will have a
burdensome fight on our hands.
After the major infestation is past
we can still have our plants with
only ordinary precautions.