Evening star., 1947-07-18
This and That
BIZ Charles E. Trdce1DeH.

There is an absolutely bumper crop of Jap
anese beetles this summer.
Despite all the spraying of past years, the
creatures are out in such force now that many
local gardener wonders u they go in cycles
Everything else in the world seems to run
in cycles-wars, depressions, common colds,
etc.-why shouldn't these hardy beetles?
Control measures include poisonous sprays,
traps and attacks by natural enemies of the
beetles.
usually~give hah-results. No wonder that in a
few years, even after part-eradication, the
beetles come back again as strong as ever.
Control measures are dubious, at the best.
Spraying by authorities sounds good, but
sometimes appears ineffective.
The spray would go back as much as $50
feet it was announced.
But actually it only went back about feet
from the roadbed, at least on our block
We were right there, running around shut
ting doors and windows, fearful lest the spray
get all through the house.
And what happened?
Not drop went back more than few feet.
Most of it hit the trees and fell into the road.
1t reminded us of the time we watched a
posse comb vacant lot at night for a miss
ing man.
THAT word comb" in such use, sounds
very thorough, doesn't it? But the way it
worked out, at least in this case, was laughable.
The men stuck so close together that they
left great gaps all over the lot. and in these
gaps a dozen missing men might have been ly
ing as far as they knew.
But according to accounts, the lot had been
"combed."
Maybe it is that way too often with insect
sprays, official or unofficial
Certainly in home spraying. too often sprays
nj, pv1yr fho nf
merely run around to the bottom of the leaf
and remain there while the spray drips safely
around them.
In our own yard we have found that the Jap
beetles like best white flowers, yellow flowers
and roses of any color
Some persons labor under the misapprehen-
sion. we believe that the beetles will not touch
white flowers.
One of the first things they go for in our
place Is the white althea blossom.
Beetle traps are made yellow because that
color has been found attractive to them.
But the beetles do not like the orange day
lilies, we have observed.
They prefer such wild things as the wild
potato vine the wild grape and the narrow
wild morning glories.
This might be the way to combat them. to
give them certain amount of wild things,
in order to draw them off ones ornamentals.
b We must admit that the wild potato vine
is a dangerous lure, since once established 1t Is
even harder to get rid of than beetles.
*
Sprays of about l or 2 per cent DOT, accord
ing to some enthusiasts, will rid yard OF
beetles, without danger to birds.
We wonder. Perhaps observers do not OBJ
serve long enough, or realize that birds eat
still-kicking beetles. More and more species
have eaten the japanese beetles in recent years.
Any dead birds in yard sprayed with DOT
must be suspect
Experimental observation still seems incon-
elusive. Spraying operations should try to miti-
gate dangers not only to birds and small
animals, but also to determine the effects on
various insects used as food by the birds. The
long time effects are still unknown in this
breaking of the food chains Of the lowly crea-
lures Of the earth. We are experimenting with
dangerous things, with our poisonous sprays
and atom bombs, to name but two. Are these
the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge
against which we were warned so long ago?