~~ ry PY WV \ Ya 7 V4 | He ee NARA A AAAAG ARARARINAD AREA EE BE aN AAAAAAAY rN om lax fo r fs ~ a la fm -*, A a fe rr om LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ST ae yp) > » é > = » > >, ) — sieges NANA NANNAAAANAAARANA a cra AANA 0 = “» > » D2 > >» > > 4 > Pe D2 ‘ES F AMERICA >» D » > » > 2D »> »> a > > > 2 See e222 >. > _ D> )» » 4 ) » Ais > 60e EK ? > ) » a DP, “< = > AT ee aH} j iw KARAARAR ; LARAR | AP AARANEE VAR > pp. # ar ) RRAAR A Awa AAAAANE nnAANnaAAAAA A aARAaB AAR RAARAAA ARAN nnselihat iA AWN ANAAAS iA AR Anannananalh Crhenaer AAA ee nae SUS SUN ) vv ye ow N Vv eodyy: y vw } UV INd\ef\ » 4 - ) ™ VU ¥ VCR } j\ vv a; ‘ ‘ 4 ed Jj é . hy Pa fy ARS | i 7 tt “i i \ ail J wy re J Wyld wv NEN, y YUU Je @ © jw — VAY Ney / y v ; De? P oe f yD > D>. DZ we! al y ey ~/ 4 3532 BD» BABES 35 220 Rez z —— we \/ ~~ => Dp»? 222 SP D>» 22 > 2 3 Rr 2222 De > » »? pre>) = Fz D>» DY2 YVIV GY UN Vu Wd wd w \/ WWE "UY y y INST nad) nd Sin RS ed ww, a YY NY, vy y v ¥Y / VU Y v ) wd V v ¥ \d\g\d\e! BEING AN IL LUSTRATED ACCOUNT OF THE COLORADO POTATO- BEETLE “AND THE OTHER © € Insect Foes of the Potato in North-America. WITH S$ SUGGESTIONS FOR THEIR REPRESSION AND METHODS 3 FOR. THEIR bea cataen canning yer of Haba is as se CHARLES V. RILEY, M.A., Ph:D., {STATE ENTOMOLOGIST OF MISSOURL.) ILLUSTRATED. . NEW-YORE: ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 245 BROADWAY. ae Oe ee ee NEW AMERICAN FARM BOOK. ORIGINALLY BY R. L. ALLEN, AUTHOR OF ‘‘ DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS,’”? AND FORMERLY EDITOR OF © THE ‘‘ AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST.”’ REVISED AND ENLARGED BY | LEWIS F. ALLEN, AUTHOR OF ‘‘ AMERICAN CATTLE,” EDITOR OF THE ‘‘ AMERICAN SHORT-HOR HERD BOOK,”’ ETO.: Own a NL Ss: INTRODUCTION. — “Tillage Husbandry —Grazing — Feeding — Breedinz — Planting, ete. CuHarPrEeR I[.—Soils — Classification— Description — Management — Pro- perties. CuarrerR I1.—Inorganic Manurcs— Mineral — Stone — Harth — Phos- phatic. CHAPTER III.— Organic Manures — Their Composition — Animal—Y c- getable. CuartTEerR IV.—Irrigation and Drain- ing. Carrer V.—Mechanical Divisions of Soils — Spading — Plowing—ln- plements. CuaprerR VI.—The Grasses—Clovers — Meadows — Pastures — Compara- tive Values of Grasses—Implements for their Cultivation. CuarprerR VII.—Grain, and its Culti- vation — Varieties — Growth—Har- vesting. CuapTeR VIII.—Leguminous Plants —Tne Pea—Bean — English Field Bean—Tare or Vetch—Cultivation —Harvesting. Carrer LX.—Roots and Esculents— Varieties—Growth — Cultivation — Securing the Crops—Uses—Nutri- tive Equivalents ot Different Kinds of Forage. CuoarpterR X.—Fruits—Apples—Cider —Vinegar—Pears—Quinces—Plums Peaches — Apricots — Nectarines — Smaller Fruits—Planting—Cultiva- tion—Gathering—Preserving. — Cuartger XI.—Miscellaneous Objects of Cultivation, aside from the Or- dinary Farm Crops—Broom-corna— Flax—Cotton—Hemp—Sugar Cane Sorghum—Maple Sugar —Tobacco— Indigo—Madder—W ood—Sumach— Teasel — Mustard — Hops — Castor Bean, CHAPTER XII.—Aids and Objects of Agriculture — Rotation of Crops, and their Effects—W eeds—Restora- tion of Worn-out Soils—Fertilizing Barren Lands—Utility of Birds— Fences — Hedges — Farm Roads— Shade Trees—Wood Lands—Time of Cutting Timber— 'iool;—Agri- cultural Education of the Farmer. CuHapter XIll.—Tarm Buildings— House — barn—Sheds — Cisterns — Variou; other Outbuildings—-Steam- ing Apparatus. Cuoapter XIV.—Domestic Animals —Breeding—Anatomy-—-Respiration —Consumption of Food. CHAPTER XV.—Neat or Horned Cattle Devons — Herctords—Ayreshires — Galloways — Short -horns — Alder- neys or Jerseys—Dutch or Holstein —Management from Birth to Milk- ing, Labor, or Slaughter. CHAPTER XVI.—The Dairy— Milk— Butter—Cheese—Different Kinds— Manner of Working. CHaPTER XVII.— Sheep — Merino— Saxon—South Down—The Long- wooled Breeds—Cots wold =lineeie — Breeding — Management — Shep- herd Dogs. CHAPTER XVIII. — The Horse—De- scription of Different Breeds—Their Various Uses—Brecding—Manage- ment. CHAPTER XIX.—The Ass—Mule — Comparative Labor of Working Animals. CHAPTER XX. — Swine — Different Breeds — Breeding—Rearing — Fat- tening—Curing Pork and Hams. CuHaptgerR XXI. — Poultry—Hens, or Barn-door Fowls — Turkey — J’ea- cock—Guinea Len—Goose — Duck —Honey Bees. CHAPTER XXII. — Diseases of Ani- mals— What Authority Shall We Adopt ? — Sheep — Swine — Treat- ment and Breeding of Horses. Cuapre: XXIIL—Conclusion—Gere- ral Remark3 — The Farmer who Lives by his Cccupation—The Ama- . teur Farmer—Sundry Useful Tables. SENT POST-PAID, PRICE $2.50. ORANCE JUDD & CO., 245 Broadway, New-York, es, -4 <. ah. = RAN ee GAY ‘) Nye vent) Nuts Mii a A) \ " Le 5 Ul io) Rn, © Bel IRA iv Mall OT FE SR TE, UATE ie, SS EOE Be 4 Dh — — — 2B Bae NN tT Se ‘ eS Pees ous, b 8 pal ts Guy, aa —ae, OF es |S eee = «een ee an arene, ee, A VOINANV J) HASILIGG ) a x oy ty Se NPR J Z oo tlt aa we " SPT ase oe Y <“, wy FUREA EO PHOUES. BEING AN ILLUSTRATED ACCOUNT OF THE Colorado -LPotato-beetle AND THE OTHER re INSECT FOES OF THE POTATO IN NORTH AMERICA. WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR THEIR REPRESSION AND METHODS FOR THEIR DESTRUCTION. hcg : | : | | Oe | CHARLES V. RILEY, M. A., PH. D. (STATE ENTOMOLOGIST OF MISSOURI.) ib ILLUSTRATED. NEW YORK: % ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, ? 245 BROADWAY. ; | | '~ ~_ ; ‘Bi ad LL. ; i é) / ee ot / on Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by the ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. wriey sie: heh TABLE OF CONTENTS. TGs swe PawGnaatt ws sece s OVS bes da cde e edb eee nee ee ae ENN ora cl clea ald aigic'e dws osc os0.ues Coxe ence melee 9 Se GeO FOTATO-BMETUR.« .. . oo ccnccccned vcadedwiicdedbe oun BGA Ee ee a oe 0's thd Boar eh bee oe oe 11 Prediction that it would reach the Atlantic, 12.—Its March across the Country, 13.—It reaches the Atlantic, 14.—Its swarming in large Cities, 16.—Its Occurrence out at Sea, 17. I rt PUMEAOs FIOURA. fig6dcs ox Fin bo Weim ode oiowae ed a PemeAk ek ewee 17 When it first attacked the Potato, 18. RIS Sit AINE eh oak Gat Ba oos ala: oa Swe Biahiele Maes vdok OS 21 I erg Pen ie ors. be cn aaah Rancid ae dad Bang dnasaonwes 21 Mostly in the beetle state, 21.—Assisted by Man, 21.— Tendency to migrate in Swarms, 23. Tt spreads but does not travel in the Sense of leaving one District for eta aoe wads oes wane g tiie fea Wa aCe ad oded wade evs e 23 PPO re Oe EE Ee rr ee Ee Oe 24 ee WIS PANNE TES PNPORNE 28. 56 i wine's Caplsee cic shececlamenadaeasde 25 Intense Heat in the South, 25.—Excessive Dryness in the Mountains, 26. How it affected the Price of Potatoes... ..cccececccceceonees Sulu gist 62 26 The Modification It has undergone. .......cccccccccccceces Pee hn 27 SER SERMON ol ae Sia ob onde gwh edna dsp Anan dite saws oe 27 First made known in 1863, 28.—The Female capable of laying 1,000 eggs, 29.—Three Broods a Year, 28. NN, COMME MNENE S0 s an Sie SOS weiaiorid etn siren Ab seen «ay 50's > 29 Exhalations from the crushed Bodies injuricus, 29. IN PNR setters fa a te Sant heed dma ek ob wii ww wip abn ge oauls a 30 The Number increases with each Year, 32.—Varieties of Po- tatoes preferred, 23. a Nelural Denked oo at ee PO Ug Bie 5 date Cee ai a pined alte ee 34 Birds which feed upon It, 35, 36.—Domestic Fowls, 36.— Reptiles, 36.—Spiders and Mites, 36, 37, 38.—True Insects, 39.—Rust-red Social-wasp, 40.—Lady-birds, 40-43.—Ground- beetles, 44, 45—Rove-beetles, 46.—Blister-beetles, 46.—Sol- dier-bugs, 47-51.—Tachina-fly, 52.—Asilus-flies, 53. 5 : 6 CONTENTS, BTOREQUES ou Ss ie wie ans 8 a NW% ou's.n 0b 6 aie Comin LTTE nate ele .. O4 Encouragement of natural Enemies, 54. Preventive Meas- ures, 54.—Mechanical Means of Destruction, 55.—Pincers for, 56,—Machines for collecting, 58, 59.—Sun-scalding, 56. —Horse-machine, 57.—Poisonous Applications to the Plant, €0.—Paris Green, 61.—Different Modes of using Paris Green, 62-65.—Other poisonous Applications tested, 66.—Patent Poisons, 68. The Use of Parts Gita y daa pice sew ds uwun Ge vane cds a's cca 69 Its Influence on the Plant, 70s Influence on the Soil, 71. —Its Influence on Man indirectly through the Soil or through the Plant, 74, Bogus Hupertments oie guaite nla wicialiie eis aie's 0's e'slt’s wee enn U5 Alarm about the Insect AbrOGG ice veces. clas cies stcatuns eee 16 Unnecessary Prohibition of Traffic in American Potatoes, 77.—How the Insect will most likely get to Europe, 78.— The Chances of [ts getting there, 79-82.—Could it become acclimated there ? 82. Nomenclatines. weirder bd dbbd db tebabies hele ‘tahe Ste SO » whee cae vy aie ee The Bogus Colorado Potato-bectle. ....00¢s.ve snes (vues scene geen 85 It has always existed East of the Mississippi, 85.—It never attacks the cultivated Potato, 85.—Easily confounded with its potato-feeding Congener, 86.—How the two differ, 86-88. OTHER INSECT FOES OF THE POTATO. THE STALK*BORBR oi 6 0.055 secs 0 o's oon cas sc oxae ew om a ieinkiely agin 90 Habits, 90.—Remedy, 91. THE POTATO. STALK-WHEVIL 0006.0 esc e sce cee e ave cceens sys aan 92 Habits, 92.—Remedy, 93. THE POTATO OR TOMATO-WORM..........ccscccccccccccedeususwaeae 93 Habits, 94.—Remedies, 95.—Parasites, 96. BLISTER-BEETLES .... 00 cc cece ct cc cece cccccees cece tnscescssesssesunes 96 The Striped Blister-beetle....cccecccecccecccecccccecccncrccceescces 97 The Ash-gray Blister-bectle.....cceeccececeeceivveccscecenneeneacee 98 The Black-rat Blister-beetle......cccccececccccoes Pewee 99 The Black Blister-beetle..... ccc cece cee cece cece ccccsscecessessaeen 99 The Margined Blister-beetle..... ccc cece cccccnceee cece cceenceeeecees 99 Remedies, 100. . THE THREE-LINED POTATO-BEETLE.......0ccceccceccceeccesccsceces 100 Habits, 101-2.—Remedies, 102. THE CUCUMBER F'LEA-BEETLE .....ccccccccvcccccccvcncccvcccsueees 102 Habits 103.—Remedies, 103. . THE CLUBBED TORTOISE-BEETLE....... oo ccesae Men sine «ke eee 103 . Habits, 103.—Remedies, 104. BEEN A OH; The Colorado Potato-beetle,.to the consideration of which the following pages are principally devoted, con- tinues to occupy a good deal of public attention ; and now that its transportation to Europe has become a de- monstrated possibility, demands from Europe for infor- mation regarding it areadded to those that have been con- tinually made by our own people as the insect has widened the area of its devastations. ‘The editions of the earlier Entomological reports of Missouri have long since been exhausted, and the author has, to his regret, been unable to satisfy, of late years, the many applications for his writings on the subject. ‘To this circumstance, and to the suggestion of the publishers that he should bring those writings together in some cheap, available form, with brief accounts of the other insects that injuriously affect the potato, this little volume owes its origin. The figures which illumine it, though they have, many of them, become familiar to the agricultural public by fre- quent reproduction in the columns of the industrial press, were most of them originally drawn from nature by the author, and for the text he can claim little more than that it is a compilation from his previous writings. With the explanation that some of the figures are enlarged, and have the natural size indicated only in hair-line ; that the (7) 8 PREFACE, term “larva,” so frequently employed, means the second or worm-like state of an insect ; that the term ‘‘ pupa” means the third or dormant state, and that all statements rest either on his own experience, or on authorities cited in his reports; the author submits this little work in the hope that it may somewhere find a welcome, and to some one prove a source of profit. oat | | C. V. RILEY. St. Louis, Mo., November 1, 1876. INTRODUCTION. The Potato ranks deservedly high among the products of the farm. A luxury even to the rich, it yet forms the poor man’s principal article of diet. Lasily cultivated ; yielding generously ; thriving in most soils ; requiring no process of manufacture to fit it for use—it is justly esteemed the most valuable of esculents. Whatever, therefore, injuriously affects it, excites general apprehen- sion, and demands careful consideration. The agencies which, at present, militate most seriously against successful potato-culture are fungus diseases, and noxious insects. Itis with the latter that the following pages deal, and more particularly with the Colorado Po- tato-beetle, which is the most injurious and widespread of them. i Two interesting phenomena invariably accompany the settlement by civilized man of a country previously unoccupied by him: Ist, the exceptional increase and spread of the few indigenous species which exhibit ex- ceptional powers of adaptation to the changed conditions that such settlement implies ; 2nd, the more general in- crease and spread of European species, which have, _ through ‘‘natural selection” for centuries, most effectu- - ally conformed to those conditions, and which, by virtue of this greater adaptation crowd out the endemic forms. America, Australia, New Zealand, have been overrun by European imports, and are good illustrations in point. The increase and spread of one species necessitates the decrease—often to extermination—of another; and the adaptation of an endemic species to new conditions, as also the introduction and spread of a foreign one, imply and have often carried with them, modification in habit and character. (9) EE ees INTRODUCTION. Within seventeen years there has been a grand revolu- tion in the minds of thinking men as to the origin of things upon our earth. The idea of special creation of what we call “‘ species,” almost universally held prior to that time, has given way to that of the derivative origin of existing from pre-existing forms. Darwin has revolution- ized our ideas, and given to the study of life, broader and deeper meaning than it had before ; and there can be no better evidence of the change in public opinion, in this respect, or of the force of the doctrine of evolution, than the respect with which Huxley was recently listened to in © New York, and the failure of opposers to weaken his argu- ments. The ‘survival of the fittest”. aptly expresses _ one of the axioms of evolution, and among the most beautiful illustrations of it, and consequently, among the more tangible evidences of evolution which man, in pres- ent experience, can have; must be reckoned the visible changes that occur through his influence in the fauna and flora. of a country—and particularly the two classes of phenomena just alluded to. Itis, therefore, an interesting fact, that since 1859, the very year when the “ Origin of . Species” was first given to the world, America has afford- - ed striking illustrations of both. In the Colorado Potato- beetle (Doryphora 10-lineata) te have a native species whose eastward spread has been carefully watched and — recorded, from year to year; and in the Rape Butterfly (Pieris rape) an European species whose introduction and westward advance have been equally well observed since that time. Both have been found in these com- paratively few years to undergo modification in habit and — character. The history of the former thus acquires an in- terest to the naturalist, second only to that which, by virtue of its destructiveness, it possesses for the agri- . culturist. — THE COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE, (Doryphora 10-lineata, Say.) . [Order, COLEOPTERA; Family, CHRYSOMELID. | COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE :—@, a, eggs; b, b, b, larvein differcnt stages of growth ; ‘c, pups; d, d, beetle, back and side views—natural size; ¢, left wing-cover, showing punctation ; 7, leg—enlarged. : ITS PAST HISTORY. This destructive insect commonly known as the Colo- rado Potato-bug, or simply as the Potato-bug* was first described under the scientific name of Doryphora decem- lineata, in the year 1824 + by Thomas Say, who was then * Entomologically the term “bug” is confined to a single Order of insects —the Hemiptera—and it is most correct and less misleading to say ‘ potato- _beetle.’? America is the only English speaking country in which all insccts, indiscriminately, are popularly denominated ‘‘bugs,’’ and with the spread of entomological knowledge, the custom will doubtless become obsolete. + Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Vol. II. (11) 12 POTATO PESTS. acting as naturalist to Long’s exploring expedition to the Rocky Mountains. The specimens from which his des- cription was made had been collected in the region of the Upper Missouri, and it was at that time not uncommon there. The original food-plant of the beetle was sub- sequently found to be the Sand-bur (Solanum rostratum, Dunal), a species of wild potato peculiar to the region of the Rocky Mountains. As civilization advanced westward, and potatoes began to be grown in its native home, this insect gradually © acquired the habit of feeding upon the cultivated potato; and in 1859, it had spread. eastward and reached a point one hundred miles to the west of Omaha city, in Nebras- ka. In 1861, it invaded Iowa, gradually, in the next three or four years, spreading eastward over that State. In 1864 and 1865, it crossed the Mississippi, invading Illinois on the western borders of that State, from the eastern borders of North Missouri and Iowa, upon at least five points on a line of two hundred miles. The first published account of the destructive propensities of the species may be found in the Prairie Yarmer for August 29th, 1861, in a letter from Mr. J. Egerton of Gravity, Iowa, who stated that ‘‘ they made their appearance up- on the vines as they were up, devouring them as fast as they grew.” From that time forth frequent reports of the species’ great destructiveness west of the Mississippi appeared in most of the Agricultural papers. In Octo- ber 1865, Benjamin D. Walsh of Illinois furnished to the Practical Entomologist an extended description of the new invader from the West, together with an account of its habits so far as they had been investigated ; and in the same article expressed the conviction that in all probabil- ity it would in future years ‘‘ travel onwards to the At- lantic, establishing a permanent colony wherever it goes, — and pushing eastward at the rate of about fifty miles a year.” (Practical Entomologist, Vol1. No.1.) A re- ea nn I LE LL LL ut a 7 COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE, 13 markable peculiarity in the eastern progress of this insect was subsequently pointed out by the same writer, in 1866, namely, ‘‘that in marching through Illinois in many separate columns, just as Sherman marched to the sea, the southern columns of the grand ‘army lagged far behind the northern columns.” (Jdid, IL. p. 14.) By the autumn of 1866 the beetle, which appears to have invaded the southwest corner of Wisconsin at as early a date as 1862 (Jéid, Il. p. 101) had already occupied and possessed a large part of the cultivated and southern portions of that State ; and in Illinois, if we draw a straight line to con- nect Chicago with St. Louis, nearly all the region lying to the northwest of that line was over run by it. In 1867 it had already crossed the eastern borders of Northern and Central Illinois into Western Indiana, and in 1868 it extended to Central Missouri and Southern Lllinois. In 1869 its presence was reported quite generally over the State and it had even made its way into Ohio, appearing almost simultaneously in the northern and southwestern portions. Its advent in the northern part of the State is thus described by a correspondent of the Ohio Farmer: ** Having crossed the Mississippi at Rock Island the in- sects soon traversed the State of Illinois and reached the shores of Lake Michigan, where they might have met a watery grave, but, unfortunately their course was only deflected southward, and there were other cohorts of the invaders traversing lower parallels, so that, by con- vergence, the force was multiplied ; and great fears were anticipated by the potato growers of Northern Indiana and Ohio.” These fears were subsequently justified. During the years 1869 and 1870 the insect was exceeding- ly destructive all through the Northwest, and continued its eastward march at an ever increasing rate. In July of the latter year it invaded the province of Ontario at two different points, namely, near Point Edward at the extreme south of Lake Huron, and opposite Detroit, near 14 POTATO PESTS, Windsor, at the south-western corner of Lake St. Clair. During the spring and summer of 1871 the insect was unprecedentedly numerous. In March of that year the beetle was turned up in great numbers while the ground was being plowed, especially in fields that had been plant- ed the previous year to late potatoes ; and it subsequently swarmed on the wing in the streets of St. Louis. The northern columns continued to advance at a rapid rate. During the summer the Detroit river was literally swarming with the beetles, and they were crossing Lake Erie on ships, chips, staves, boards, or any other floating object which presented itself. They soon infested all the Islands in the west end of the Lake, and by June were common around London, and finally occupied the whole country between the St. Clair and Niagara rivers. In ~ the States they reached in some places the borders of New York and Pennsylvania. The southern columns of the army lagged far behind. Though gradually spreading, the insect had not yet touched the extreme southern ~ counties of Missouri, and made its first appearance dur- ing the year 1871 in Phelps, Reynolds, Wright, Dent, and Texas counties. In 1872 its injuries were much less severe in the West, owing to the action of its natural enemies, and the free use of Paris green, but its eastward march continued. It extended into Cattaraugus county, N. Y., and obtained a foothold as far east as Lancaster Co., Pa. The Southern columns reached beyond Louisville, Ky. In 1873 the advance guards of the vast army pushed to the extreme eastern limit of New York, and detached colonies made their appearance in the District of Colum- bia and in W. Virginia. | fs F Early in the summer of 1874, I received undoubted evidence of its appearance on the Atlantic seaboard, and it~ was reported during the year from several parts of Con- necticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Dela- ware, Maryland and Virginia. COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. 15 Its injuries also increased in its native home in the Rocky Mountains. It had formerly been observed by many western travelers that the potatoes in the Mountain regions of Colorado were less affected by the insect than were those of the Mississippi Valley. ‘This was natural enough, since the wild food plants are common there, and the potato fields fewer, and more scattered than further east ; and moreover the stream which first branched off from the wild Solanum feeders and took to feeding upon the cultivated potato, and spreading eastward, doubtless at first took no backward course. During the summer of 1874, however, the insect did great damage to the crops of its native region in all fields below the middle elevations. | The summer of 1875 in Missouri and adjacent States was so excessively wet that although the beetle was abundant enough in the spring, it subsequently became comparatively scarce and harmless, and did not again be- - come multiplied till after the rains had ceased and the third brood had developed ; by which time the crop was sufficiently matured to be outof danger. Very much the same conditions occurred all over the upper Mississipi Valley country, and as there was an increased acreage planted, the crop throughout this whole section was larger and prices lower than they had been for many years. In the Atlantic States the insect attracted much more attention. From almost all parts of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia, accounts came of the excessive numbers in which the pest made its ap- pearance in the months of May and June. Local papers throughout the States mentioned, published records of the insect’s injury, and laid the experience that had been gained in the States to the West before their readers ; while even large city dailies, like the World and Herald of New York, devoted column after column to Dorypho- . ra’s consideration. Judging from the mass of accounts, 16 3 POTATO PESTS. the first brood was very generally neglected by those who had not before had experience with the insect, and not till the more numerous second brood appeared did the farm- ers awake to the importance of action, and, as far as pos- sible, concerted action. Much injury was consequently done. : Later in the season the beetle at times swarmed in and about the large cities, and was commonly seen flying in the streets of Philadelphia and New York, as in past years it had been seen in those of St. Louis. Mr. J. J. Dean, of New York, after referring toits frequency in the streets of Brooklyn, gave me the following interesting account of its occurrence on Coney Island. 7 On the 14th of September I picked up the enclosed specimen at Coney Island. The beach for miles was covered with them—the hummocks and sand-hills which comprise the greater part of the Island were literally alive with them. In the towns of Flatbush and Gravesend, both situated in Kine’s Co.—the latter town in- cluding Coney Island within its boundaries—the ravages of this insect have been very serious. The Egg-plant seems to have afforded him his favorite article of diet. I am however puzzled by the fact that so many millions of them desert the fertile fields of Flatbush and Gravesend and steer for the barren acres of Coney Island, on which the principal vegetation is a coarse sea grass which they do not seem to touch. They appear to have an irre- sistible tendency to travel East, and are only stopped by the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. In the Fall the insect reached up into Vermont and extended to within a few miles of Boston, but had not yet occurred in Maine. | During the present year, 1876, the insect has swarmed in most of the New England States, and especially on the sea shore. It has extended north around Montrea', and was especially abundant as far as Trois Riviéres ; *) while in its eastern progress it has overrun Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire, and extend- * L. Provancherin Naturaliste Canadien, Aug. 1876, p. 249. ake ; COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE, igs ed some distance into Maine. At Milestone and other places in Connecticut the beetles were washed ashore in such numbers in September as to poison the air, and the captain of a New London vessel found that they boarded him in such numbers while at sea that the hatches had to be closed. At many watering places, such as Cape May, Coney Island, Long Branch, Rockaway and New- _ port, they proved a great nuisance, being crushed and killed in large numbers by the continual promenading along the beach. The New York Zimes reported their impeding the progress of a train on the Central Railroad at Grinnell Station: ‘‘ the rails were covered with them for a mile and after a few revolutions of the drivers the wheels lost the friction and slipped as if oiled ;*** they had to be swept off, and the track sanded before any pro- gress was made.” THE INSECT’S NATIVE HOME. As in the case of all insects that spread or are intro- duced from one section of country to another, it is inter- esting to know the original home orrange of the Colorado Potato-beetle, so far as such can be learned, though the question has no especial practical bearing. Up to the autumn of 1865 it was generally supposed by economic entomologists, that this destructive insect had existed from time immemorial in the Northwestern States, feeding upon some worthless weed or other; and that of late years, from some unexplained cause, it had all of a sudden taken to attacking the potato-plant. They had however confounded with it an allied species, described further on as the Bogus Colorado Potato-beetle, and which never attacks the cultivated potato. Following Walsh, I have always believed that this spe- cies, which has gradually spread to the Atlantic, originally came from the mountain regions of Colorado, and the reasons given are sufficiently convincing to have been very 18 POTATO PESTS. generally accepted as valid. Nevertheless Prof. Cyrus Thomas questions the soundness of the theory in the fol- lowing language, which I quote because Mr. Thomas’s views are entitled to careful consideration: The first we hear of its attacking the potato, so faras I can ascertain, is in 1859, at which time it was in Nebraska, about 100 miles west of Omaha; the next we hear of it is in Iowa, in 1861, from which point its progress has been carefully noted. Now, it is not contended by avy one that it travels except from potato patch to potato patch. That it manages in some way to get over inter- vening spaces of a few miles, is admitted, but never over spaces which require the production of intervening broods. Previous to 1859, as is well known, there was an intervening space between the border settlements of Nebraska and the eastern base of the mountains of two or three hundred miles in which there were no ~ potato patches. How are we to account for it bridging this space ; what induced it to take up its line of march across this barren region in which there were no settlements? Is it not much more reasonable to suppose the plains themselves formed its native habi- tat, and that as soon as the pioneer settlements reached this region and the potato was introduced, it commenced its attack upon‘it, and then began its march eastward along the cultivated area ? Western Rural, December 4, 1875. The weak points in the above reasoning are that it im- plies, first, that the insect travels only from potato patch to potato patch, and that there must have been potatoes at every few miles between the point west of Nebraska, where the beetle was first noticed on cultivated plants, and the mountains; second, that no cultivated potatoes were grown on said plains. In truth, however, potatoes were undoubtedly grown around Fort Kearney and other forts and settlements prior to that time, and the beetle may travel by the spreading of other wild species of So- lanum, and by being carried along water courses or on vehicles. One point that may be urged in favor of the supposition that the insect was indigenous to the plains that reach far eastward into Kansas and Nebraska, is that it was unobserved in potato fields by certain parties in COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. 19 parts of Colorado after it had reached as far as Iowa. The point is, however, weakened by the fact that it was~ found in great abundance in Colorado by Drs. Velie and Parry in 1864. Another point that may be made is that it is difficult to imagine that an insect, with such a natural predilection for Solanum tuberosum, could have passed from settlement to settlement across the plains without its depredations being noticed and recorded. But this last point may also be turned against Prof. Thomas’s sup- position, since it is also just as difficult to imagine that the potato patches that have been grown in restricted lo- calities on the plains should have remained untouched, if the insect had always existed on those plains. Moreover, since potatoes were cultivated on the eastern borders of the plains in Nebraska and Kansas long prior to 1859, there can be no good explanation why the insect did not sooner commence its eastward march, except on the theory of a natural barrier in the shape of the more bar- ren plains, which had up to that time prevented its ad- vance from more western confines. Mr. Thomas, in support of his views, supposes that the Sand bur (Solanum rostratum) originally occurred over the plains in question, citing as proof Gray’s statement that it is wild on the Plains West of the Mississippi, and the lo- calities given by Porter and Coulter in their “Vlora of Colo- rado. Dy. Gray’s language is altogether too general to help much in the argument, and refers to the range of the plant ten years after the beetle had appeared in Ne- braska. Porter and Coulter’s localities are all in Colora- do, and their ‘* Plains of the Platte,” doubtless refers to the south fork of that river. At all events, nothing is more certain than that the original home of the plant was the more ‘fertile portions of the mountain region, and that, like the beetle which it nourished, it has been for many years extending its range eastward through man’s agency in one way and another, and is now rapidly 20 | POTATO PESTS. extending across Missouri, where but a few years back it was entirely unknown. Mr. Carruth, of Topeka, says that prior to 1864, it was unknown in Kansas, and Mr. C. W. Johnson, of Atchison, writes me that the coming of Doryphora and of the weed in question were cotem- poraneous in that section ; that the northern dispersion of the plant from the South-west, through the Texas cattle traffic, afforded the means by which the beetle pass- ed the great stretches of prairie lying east of its native haunts. | Bearing in mind that as early as 1824 Say reported the beetle sufficiently common on the upper Missouri, and that it flourishes most in the more northern of the States, I think we may justly conclude that the native home of the species is the more fertile country east of the moun- tains, extending from the Black Hills to Mexico, where it becomes scarce, and is represented by Doryphora un- deceminneata and D. melanothorax. Putting all the facts together, we may also conclude that it crossed the great plains through man’s agency. ‘That it first reached the more fertile cultivated region to the east, in Nebraska, finds explanation, perhaps, in the fact that travel was greatest along that parallel, and that the insect’s natural range extended further eastward in those more northern parts, just as the mountain region does in Wyoming and Dakota. : On the whole, Walsh’s theory is doubtless at fault, and needs modification in so far as it implies that the insect necessarily came from Colorado ; still I can but think that our Doryphora came from the Rocky Mountain region, and that civilization, in the way of traffic, travel, and settlement on the plains, was the means of bringing it, and that if we put not a too strict construction on his. language, Walsh’s views are in the main correct. COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. 21 RATE AT WHICH IT TRAVELED. Walsh estimated, from the rate at which it traveled in the earlier history of its march, that it would reach the Atlantic in 1881. From subsequent calculations I placed the date at 1878, butitin reality touched the Atlantic sea- board at many different places in 1874. It thus spread at an average annual rate of about 88 miles. But the annual rate was by no means uniform. Larlier in the history of its march the rate was much lower, and, until it got east of the Mississippi, did not average fifty miles. A glance at the map accompanying this pamphlet will suffice to show that, as indicated on p. 20, the line of most rapid spread was along the line of greatest human travel and traffic. In fact, after it had reached New York it began to extend and swarm both north and south along the coast, before many of the inland counties on similar parallels were reached by the main line of the immense army. | HOW IT TRAVELED. - As the larva is sluggish and never leaves the plant from which it is hatched, except in quest of more food, until it is ready to pupate, all the journeys of this insect are necessarily made in the perfect or beetle state by means of the ample rose-colored wings, which, when the insect is at rest, are compactly folded up beneath the striped wing-cases. Its spread, however, over the more populous portions of the country, is not to be attributed to its powers of flight alone. It undoubtedly availed itself, to no inconsiderable extent, of every means of transpofta- tion afforded to other travelers, and often got a lift on eastern bound trains, and, as we have seen, (p. 20), most probably crossed the more barren plains bordering its native confines through man’s direct agency, i. e. by being carried. There is a possibility that in some instances it 22 POTATO PESTS. may have been carried in the egg state on living plants, or in the pupa state in lumps of earth ; but these modes of transit, if they have occurred at all, have necessarily been exceptional. ven the winds and waters aided its progress. Its invasion of Canada took place at precise- ly the two points where we should expect to first meet with it in the Dominion, namely, at the extreme south of Lake Huron, and at the south-western corner of Lake St. Clair ; for all such beetles as fly into either of the lakes from the Michigan side would naturally be drifted to these points, and be washed to the shores of the St. Clair and Detroit rivers. As we know from experience, many insects that are either quite rare, or entirely un- known on the western side of Lake Michigan, are fre- quently washed up along the Lake shore at Chicago ; and these are so often alive and in good condition, and so often in great numbers, that the Lake shore is considered excel- lent collecting ground by entomologists. In like manner locusts are often washed up on the shores of Salt Lake, in Utah, in such countless numbers that the stench from their decomposing bodies pollutes the atmosphere for miles around. I have not the least doubt, therefore, in view of these facts, that the Colorado Potato-beetle could survive a sufficient length of time to be drifted alive to Point Edward, if driven into Lake Huron any- where within twenty or thirty miles of that place, or if beaten down anywhere within the same distance while at- tempting to cross the lake.* | We have already seen, (p. 14), how in 1870 the beetles crossed Lake Erie on ships, chips, staves, boards and any ping ME SS EE eS ere * The following item which was clipped from the St. Joseph (Mich.) Herald, attests the accuracy of the inference:—‘* Whoever has walked on this shore of Lake Michigan has observed large numbers of the Colorado Potato-beetle, crawl- . ing from the water. Many have doubted the source whence they came. It would seem from the following that they fly and swim from the western shores of Lake Michigan. Capt. John Boyne of the Lizzie Doak, reports finding his deck and sails infested with potato bugs when half way from Chicago to St. Jo- seph at night. Nota bug was on deck when the schooner left Chicago.”’ ¢ COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. 23 other floating object that presented itself, while the De- troit river literally swarmed with them. An incident related to me by Jno. Hurlburt, Jr., who was engaged at the time in surveying and prospecting on the southern shore of Lake Superior, will illustrate how great a distance the beetles may extend without food when aided by water: he found them in immense quan- tities on a potato patch belonging to some Indians on the Menomonee river ; yet this potato patch was in a clear- ing of about twenty acres, with no other clearing near ; and to his certain knowledge there could not have been another potato patch within one hundred and fifty miles. Many insects that are subject to very great multiplica- tion, though not naturally migratory, often acquire the habit of migrating in swarms from one part of a country to another ; and the migrating tendency has at times been quite marked in our Doryphora during its eastward march. This tendency is particularly noticeable in the last or Fall brood, and I have seen the beetles in autumn, swarming in the air or traveling in immense armies on foot—all instinctively taking the same direction, which is-indeed a peculiarity of all animal migrations. There can be little doubt, therefore, that the larger areas have been traversed by this insect in the latter part of the growing season. | IT SPREADS, BUT DOES NOT TRAVEL IN THE SENSE OF LEAVING ONE ‘DISTRICT FOR ANOTHER. Let it not be understood that this insect, in its onward spread, or march, ever entirely quits any district where it has once obtained a foothold. This idea of its itinerant character seems very generally to prevail, and a great many people labor under the impression that soon after its ad- vent, this dreaded foe to the potato will of its own accord take its leave as suddenly as it came—that, like every other dog, it will have itsday. This idea is rather encouraged, 24 POTATO PESTS though I believe unintentionally, by Dr. LeBaron in his first Illinois Entomological Report, where he gives it as his opinion that the beetle will in time disappear, ‘‘ espe- cially in those localities where it is most abundant, even though we leave the work wholly to Nature.” Nothing could, however, be farther from the truth, or less in ac- cordance with past experience. It may, and very general- ly does, prove more injurious during the first two orthree years of its advent than subsequently ; because time is required for its natural enemies to multiply sufficiently to keep itin check. But wherever it once obtains a foot- ing, there it may be expected to remain for all time to come—vascillating, it is true, from year to year, in num- bers and consequent power to do mischief, according as the conditions for its increase or decrease are favorable ; _ but always present to take its chances in the great strug- gle for existence, and to get the upper hand if it can. AREA INVADED BY IT. From the foregoing account it is manifest that this pernicious beetle has spread over an area of nearly 1,500- 000 square miles, or considerably more than one-third the area of the United States. It has traveled over two- thirds of the continent in a direct eastern line, and at least 1,500 miles of this distance since 1859. It occupies at the present time, more or less completely, the States of Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Mis- souri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, District of Columbia, — Virginia and West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Ver- mont, New Hampshire and Maine, in none of which it was autochthonous except the first mentioned. If we wish to outline the whole territory now occupied by it, we must add to the above, parts of Wyoming and Dakota where it was native, and a large portion of Canada; and COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. 25 the map at the beginning of this little work tells the story better than any words I can employ. CAUSES WHICH LIMIT ITS SPREAD. There are reasons why the Colorade Potato-beetle did not spread as rapidly along the line of its southern as along that of its northern march. ‘The first is, that the potato is not in such general cultivation along the latter as along the former parallel, and potato fields are there- fore more scattered; the second, that the insect was northern rather than southern in its native habitat ; the third, that it suffers and does not thrive where the ther- mometer ranges near 100° F. ‘The larve frequently perish under such a broiling sun as we sometimes have at St. Louis, and during very hot, dry weather, it frequent- ‘ly fails, as it did in 1868, to successfully go through its _ transformations in the ground, which becomes so hot and baked that the pupa dries out, and the beetle, if it suc- ceeds in throwing off the pupal skin, fails to make its way to the surface. or these reasons it may never ex- tend its range very far south of the territory now occu- pied. lts northern spread is not limited by any such cause, and the intensity or length of the winter will hard- ly affect it except in reducing the number of possible an- nual broods and consequently its power of multiplication. The state of dormancy once entered into may continue - & month or two, more or less, without seriously affecting most insects. We may expect, therefore, to see it push to the northermost limit of the potato-growing portion of the country—a limit which it has already well nigh reached. The question whether it will extend further westward and reach the Pacific, is a more interesting one. There is the best reason for believing that the Rocky Mountains furnish an impassable barrier to it, as they do to so many other insects. It has already been shown (p. 15) how po- 26 POTATO PESTS. tatoes in the mountains were for years less affected than were those of the Mississippi Valley; but that in 1874 the insect proved quite injurious to those of the mountain region of Colorado. ‘The fact is well established that it has not reached more than three or four miles into the - mountains, or to about the middle elevations—say 8,000 feet above the sea level. The reason ig that the.atmos- phere above that level is so dry and attenuated, that, taken in connection with the cool nights, the eggs, or the larvee that succeed in hatching from them, shrivel and dry up. We have here, therefore, a physical barrier to its further westward progress, and the beetle is no more likely to reach California without man’s direct assistance and carriage than it is to cross the Atlantic Ocean without the same means. Whcther it could thrive on the Pacific Coast where the summers are so dry, is another question; but I fear it would hold its own, in many portions, if once introduced. In this connection it will be well to state that geographical races of Doryphora 10-lhneata, differing in no very important characters from the typical northern specimens, occur in 8. Texas, New Mexico, Ari- zona and Mexico, though they seem to have no more acquired the potato-feeding habit than D. jwneta has done. | HOW IT HAS AFFECTED THE PRICE OF POTATOLS. During the earlier years of the insect’s devastations in the Mississippi Valley, it materially affected the price of potatoes, not only by its direct ravages, but by dis- couraging farmers from attempting to cultivate the crop on an extensive scale. In 1873 the price reached the high figure of $2.00 per bushel (wholesale) in the St. Louis mar- ket, and many a family had to forego the luxury of a pro- duct which a few years before had been one of the cheap- est of the farm, and so abundant as to enter largely into the feed of all kinds of stock. At the present time, with the improved methods of fighting the enemy, there is no a COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. D7 longer the same dread of it in the Western States that formerly existed : its management is considered part of - potato-culture, and its natural enemies assist man to that degree that its effect on the crop is less felt. The quality of “the tuber was very seriously affected through the de- foliation which the vines so generally endured, "dni ib was at one time difficult to get a non-watery potato on our western boards. THE MODIFICATION IT HAS UNDERGONE. Under the head of food-plants it will be presently shown how the species, as it spread over the country, be- came modified in habit, and increased the number of its food-plants.. It has also undergone considerable modi- fication in character. Specimens which I have examined from different parts of the country, show great variation in the marks of the thorax, in size, in coloration, and even in the ornamentation of the elytra, or wing-covers, and legs. The yellow varies from deep gamboge to almost pure white, the black line along the elytral suture is either very distinct or as obsolete asin juncta ; while some specimens have the pale legs and the femoral spot, more or less dis- tinct, which are so characteristic of this last. In north- ern Iowa and Wisconsin I have seen millions traveling over the ground, the average size of the individuals being not more than half that of the more typical specimens ; and the general ground-color being white rather than yellow. In its southern range the colors tend to brighten and the black to become more metallic. Indeed the vari- ation which it has already exhibited furnishes interesting material for the close species makers ; but it will suffice here to indicate that it exists: its consideration more in detail, belongs elsewhere. | ITS NATURAL HISTORY. The natural history of this insect was first made known by the author in the columns of the Prairie farmer for 28 POTATO PESTS. August 8th, 1863. Subsequently, in 1866, Dr. Shimer of Mt. Carroll, Ill., detailed some additional particulars bearing on its habe! in a paper which he published in the Practical Entomologist, (Vol. I. pp. 84-85). The Colorado Potato-beetle hibernates in the perfect state, beneath the surface of the ground, or under any rubbish — or other shelter that it can find. It has been exhumed from depths varying from a few inches to several feet, though its habit is not to burrow deeper than ten inches. The beetles are often dug up or plowed up in April, and — they issue from their winter quarters soon after the ground thaws out, and at this season fly readily during the warmer parts of the day, making aérial journeys of considerable extent. In flight the striped elytra are raised and held motion- less from the thorax, while the gauzy wings, unfolded and vibrating, strike pleasantly on the eye as the sun in- tensifies their rosy hues. | The females begin to lay their eggs upon the young potato plants oanontly on the underside of the leaves—as soon as the latter appear above ground, and will often - work into the ground to feed upon the young leaves be- fore these have fairly shown themselves. ‘The eggs are oval, of a translucent dark orange color, and are deposit- ed in clusters of from 10 to 40 on the under sides of the leaves. The larvee are hatched in less than a week, and are at first of a dark Venetian red, becoming lighter and ~ acquiring a double row of black lateral spots as they ap- proach maturity. The legs, head and posterior half of the first joint are also black. In from two to three weeks these larve acquire their full growth, after which they enter the earth and undergo their transformations, first to - the pupa and then to the beetle state, which last isassum- ed in about a month from the time of hatching. There are three broods or generations each year in the latitude of St. Louis : yet it may be found at almost any time COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. 29 during the summer in all its different stages. This is owing to the fact that the eggs in the ovaries continue to — develop, and are laid in small batches at short intervals during a period of about 40 days in summer. The num- ber produced by a single female averages ftom 500 to 700, but has been known to reach over 1,000. The whole cycle of transformations from the egg to perfect beetle rarely requires more than a month, and the last brood of beetles issue from the ground early in the fall, and, as we have just seen, enter it again to pass the winter. ITS POISONOUS QUALITIES. This question has been much and freely discussed in ~ the columns of the agricultural press since the year 1866, and the war of divided opinion and diverse experience has waged briskly. That the juices of the insect on the human skin, are, as a rule, harmless, is proven by the hosts of farmers who have, with impunity, crushed the pest by hand ; indeed, scarcely any one who has had ex- perience believes the wild stories of the poisonous nature of these juices. Yet the rule is not without exceptions ; there is no doubt that, with blood in certain bad con- . ditions, persons have been poisoned by getting said juices into wounds orcuts. But the cases of undoubted poison- ing by this insect—cases that have in some instances been serious and even proved fatal—are not from the juices of the body, but from the exhalations resulting from the bruising or crushing of large masses; especially by burning or scalding large quantities at a time. The poison seems to be of a very volatile nature, and to pro- duce swelling, pain, and nausea, very much as other animal poisons do. In the writer’s reports, as well as in the first report of Dr. Wm. LeBaron, formerly State Entomologist of Illinois, authentic instances of such poisoning are re- _eorded. Therefore, while there can be little danger in the cautious killing of the insect in the field, it should 30 POTATO PESTS. _ not be recklessly handled in large quantities, and its destruction, in such quantities, by scalding or burning, should be especially avoided. Some interesting experiments, to test the poisonous qualities of thése msects, were made in 1875 by Messrs. A. R. Grote and Adolph Kayser, and reported in a paper entitled ‘‘ Are Potato Bugs Poisonous?” read before the American Association for the Advancement of Science at ifs meeting in Detroit. ‘The experimenters conclude that the reported cases of poisoning resulted rather from the arsenic used in destroying the insect, or from carbonic © oxide produced by incomplete combustion when large numbers of the beetles are thrown into a fire. It is to be hoped that the experiments will be continued, because, so far, they by no means cover the whole ground ; we have yet to learn what the active principle is which produces the physiological effect that has been well attested, and the precise conditions under which it acts. It is worthy of note that Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan Agricultural College, from experiments some- what similar to those of Messrs. Grote and Kayser, has been led to form conclusions quite opposite to ‘nee ar- rived at by these gentlemen. ITS FOOD PLANTS. In its native home the Colorado Potato-beetle fed upon the few wild species of Solanwm found there, especially S. rostratum and S. cornutum. It still often shows a prefer- ence for these wild plants to the cultivated potato. For a number of years it was thought that the insect was in- capable of flourishing on any other plants but those of the Night-shade Family (Solanacew), and more especially upon those of the Night-shade genus proper, (Solanum), which includes the Egg Plant, the Horse-nettle, and some other wild species west of the Mississippi, which are, known by various popular and local names. Upon the - . 1 i. t } COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. 31 Horse-nettle, (S. Carolinense), which is common in Mis- souri and east of the Mississippi, but is mostly replaced in Kansas by the S. rostratum, it seems to delight even more than upon the potato, and it has been found quite injurious to other plants of the same genus, such as the S. Warsce- wiczt, S. robustum, S. discolor, and 8. Sieglingit which are often cultivated for their ornamental foliage. The other common plants of the family, such as the Tomato, (Lyco- persicum), Ground cherry, (Physaiis,) Thorn apple, (Da- tura), Henbane, (Hyoscyamus), Apple of Peru, (Wican- dra), Tobacco, (Nicotiana), Belladona, Petunia, and Cay- enne Pepper are not over much to its liking, though upon a pinch it will feed upon all of them, and especially the first named. Dr. Le Baron observed that the Cayenne _ pepper, if eaten to any extent, was actually poisonous to it. Under these circumstances it is interesting to note (as showing how new habits may be acquired under favorable conditions), that as the insect became more and more acclimated east of the Mississippi, it acquired the power to feed on a greater variety of plants, and did not even confine its depredations to those belonging in the natural Order Solanacew. In 1871 it was found by several parties feeding and even breeding in considerable numbers on Cabbage. It would be sad indeed if so important an —esculent should in the future be doomed to suffer with the potato, from the insatiable appetite of such a pest ; and though I have no idea that cabbage raisers need fear anything of the sort, yet stranger things have happened. In 1874 Mr. Henry Gillman, of Detroit, Michigan, added to the list of its food plants several new species, on which, in one state or another, he found them feeding. I quote the following from a letter in which he recounted to me these observations, with the remark that the fact of find- ing the eggs on a plant, or the insect sparingly nibbling the same, does not prove that it could live and thrive on o2 POTATO PESTS. such plant, as a species, any more than the fact that a cow at times partakes sparingly of animal food proves that she could sustain life on a flesh diet. Yet the facts communicated by Mr. Gillman are interesting, as showing the tendency to which I have before alluded, toward a change of habit from year to year, as the insect changes and extends its habitat : I found the Doryphora 10-lincata, Say, at Port Austin, Michigan, on June 19, 1872, feeding sparingly on young grass (too immature to determine its species), on which the insect had deposited its eggs. This was generally, though not always, in potato fields or their vicinity. On July 20 (about a month later) I found the insect at Fort Gratiot, Michigan, in large numbers, both larva and perfect states, in the vicinity of potato ficlds which it had almost destroy- ed, devouring the young leaves and flower-buds of the common thistle, (Cirsium lanceolatum, Scop.), which it wasrapidly stripping. In the same neighborhood I saw it on Pigweed, (Amarantus retro- ficaus, L.), Hedge Mustard, (Sisymbrium officinale, Scop.), the culti- vated Oat, Smartweed, (Polygonum Hydropiper, L.), and the Red Currant and Tomato of the gardens, as well as the common Night- shade, (Solanum nigrum, L.) ; of which, with the exception of the Night-shade, its more legitimate food, it ate only the young leaves, and of them very sparingly. Two or three weeks later I found the thistles devoured by it even to the thick stems, so that all the leaves were stripped off, and the entire tops of the plants hung down, almost severed. About the same time I saw the insect feed- ing on the maple-leaved Goosefoot, (Chenopodium hybridum, L.), Lamb’s quarter, (C. album, L.), and Thoroughwort, (Hupatorium perfoliatum, L.), and on August 8, 1872, I found it, in both the larva and perfect states, voraciously eating the Black Henbane, (Hyoscyamus niger, L.), on which was also to be seen an abundance of the eggs. As the last mentioned plant is not native, having been introduced from Europe, the beetle’s fondness for it is more noteworthy. Mr. A. W. Hoffmeister, of Ft. Madison, lowa, an en- tomologist, the accuracy of whose observations may be relied on, wrote during the same year : Last year, after all the early potatoes had been taken up and the late ones either wilted through excessive dryness or eaten up by ne ee de ee aC ' + we ' ; F ’ 7 : - COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. 33 the Colorado gentleman, I was astonished to find so many 10-lined spearmen in the lower part of town, while in the upper part they were reasonably scarce; but I was more astonished to find that the larve had stripped the Verbascum of its leaves. The Mullein, belonging to the Figwort family, must therefore be added to the list of plants on which the in- sect lives and flourishes. An item went the rounds of the papers during that year to the effect that Alfalfa was greedily devoured by the insect, but just how much credit should be given to the statement, which originated with a Montana correspondent of the Farmer’s Home Journal of Kentucky, it is difficult to say. Probably the reference was originally made to the old-fashioned ‘‘ potato-bugs,” or blister-beetles, which are common in the Western country and very general feeders. This growing ability to adapt itself to a greater variety © of food-plants will render its extermination and control all the more difficult. _ Several instances came under my notice where the beetles, in early spring, entered hot-beds in great numbers and devoured tender tomato and egg-plants. Among the Potatoes, the tender leaved varieties, such as the Shaker Russet, Mercer or Meshannock, Pinkeye, and Early Goodrich are most affected, while the Peach Blow, Early Rose and the like enjoy comparative im- munity, especially when grown in the same field with the more tender varieties which attract the greater propor- tion of the pests. THE BEETLE EATS AS WELL AS THE LARVA. As the statement has been quite frequently made that _ the beetle does not feed, and that consequently there is nothing to fear from it early in the year, the fact may as well be reiterated that the beetles do feed, though not quite so ravenously as the larva. But as they are on hand as soon as the young plants peep through the ground, 34 POTATO PESTS. and as these first spring beetles are the source of all the trouble that follows later in the season, it is very impor- tant to seek and destroy them. ITS NATURAL ENEMIES. Persons not familiar with the economy of insects are con- tinually broaching the idea that, because the Colorado Po- — tato-beetle is in certain seasons comparatively quite scarce, therefore it is about to disappear and trouble them no more. This is a very fallacious mode of reasoning. ‘There are many insects—for instance, the notorious Army-worm of the North, (Leucania unipuncta, Haworth),—which only appear in noticeable numbers in particular years, though there are enough of them left over from the crop of every year to keep up the breed for the succeeding year. © There are other insects—for instance the Spring Canker- worm, (Paleacrita vernata, Peck),—which ordinarily oc- cur in about the same numbers for a series of years, and then, in a particular season and in a particular local- ity, seem to be all at once swept from off the face of the earth. These phenomena are due to several different causes, but principally to the variation and irregularity in the action of cannibal and parasitic insects. We are apt to forget that the system of Nature is a very complicatéd one—parasite preying upon parasite, cannibal upon can- nibal, parasite upon cannibaland cannibal upon parasite— until there are often so many links in the chain that an occasional irregularity becomes almost inevitable. Hvery collector of insects knows, that scarcely a single season elapses in which several insects, that are ordinarily quite rare, are not met with in prodigious abundance ; and this remark applies, not only to the plant-feeding species, but also to the cannibals and the parasites. Now it must be quite evident that if, in a particular season, the enemies of a particular plant-feeder are unusually abundant, the plant-feeder will be greatly diminished in numbers, and bs i COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. 3D will not be able to expand to its ordinary proportions un- til the check that has hitherto controlled it. is weakened in force. ‘The same rule will hold with the enemies that prey upon the plant-feeders and also with the enemies that prey upon those enemies, and so on ad infinitum. The _ real wonder is, not that there should be occasional irregu- larities in the numbers of particular species of insects from year to year, but that upon the whole the scheme of creation should be so admirably dove-tailed and fitted to- gether, that tens of thousands of distinct species of ani- mals and plants are able permanently to hold their ground, year after year, upon a tract of land no larger than an ordinary State. | To the naturalist it has been interesting to watch how, with the advance of the Doryphora toward the East, the number of its natural enemies has increased. The farmer should learn to distinguish these his allies, and to en- courage them. . Several birds are known to feed upon both beetles and larve. Among these is the Crow, which not only takes the beetles from the potato vines, but late in the scason digsinto the earth in search of the hibernating individuals. The common quail too, that blythe and pretty field com- panion, whose services as an insect gatherer have been altogether underrated, performs the same service for us. In July, 1872, Prof. C. HE. Bessey, of Iowa Agricultural College, wrote me word that he found the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, (Guiraca ludoviciana), devouring the Potato- beetles, and soon afterward, the same bird was sent to me by E. H. King, of Stcamboat Rock, Iowa, with a similar statement. Other persons, especially in Iowa, observed the same trait in this bird, which, though for- -merly quite rare, seems during that year to have suddenly multiplied and acauired this habit. Mr. Joel Barber, of Lancaster, Wisconsin, informed me that this bird, though seldom seen there before, was quite common in that vicin- 36 POTATO PESTS. ity about the first’of June, breeding there, and clearing potatoes of the nasty ‘‘ bugs,” which it seemed to prefer to all other food. Ever since than it has effectually assisted the northwestern potato-growers in protecting his fields. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak isa beautiful and conspicu- ous bird, the male having a heavy bill, with black head, black back, varied with brown, and black wings, the lat- ter with three white bands. Some of the outer tail- feathers and parts of the abdomen are white, and the breast is rose-red. Among domesticated birds, the duck was for soem years the only species that would touch the nauseous in- sects, and for a long time chickens would invariably give them the go-by. After a few years, however, chickens ~ learned to eat, first the eggs, and then the larve, and finally acquired the habit of feeding upon the mature insects to such an extent that instances have been report- ed to me where between thirty and forty perfect beetles had been found in the crop of a single chicken, and this not from lack of other food but from preference. | Among quadrupeds there is good evidence that the skunk feeds upon them. That good garden servant, the common toad, (Bujo Americanus), often gorges itself with them, while the black snake and doubtless other reptiles in this respect keep it company. Among spiders (Arachnida) an undetermined species of Phalangium, (Fig. 3 represents P. dorsatum, Say), has been seen preying upon our Doryphora larva. These animals are popularly called ‘‘ Grand-daddy Long-Legs,” in this country, but are also known as ‘‘ Harvest-men,” and ‘‘ Grandfather Gray-Beards,” in some parts. They all have similar habits, being carnivorous. and seizing their prey very much as a cat seizes a mouse, but differ from other spiders in that they bodily devour their victims, instead of sucking out their juices. They are known to COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE, 37 devour great numbers of plant-lice, and Mr. Arthur Bry- ant, of Princeton, Ill., found them devouring the larve - of our Colorado immigrant. F a \ ‘3 “eS | 4 3 > AQ / : oO AQ = oe 2 mat / — ore 3 & Ses 2 re : 5 | Fe | E | oS f | 3 A < | é . : | # Of mites, (Acarina), there is a very interesting species _ (Uropoda Americana, Riley), which is parasitic on the beetle externally. It was first sent to me by Mr. H. O. Beardslee, of Paynesville, Ohio, in 1873, and subsequently 38 POTATO PESTS. found by Mr. W. R. Gerard, to very generally infest the beetles around Poughkeepsie, N. Y. It sometimes so thickly crowds and covers its victim that no part of this Jast is exposed, and the beetle thus infested languishes and eventually perishes. This minute parasite is about the size of the head of a small pin, broadly oval, depress- ed, the body in one piece, somewhat tough above, and (Fig. 4.] ld] 4G Y MW co UxoropaA AMERICANA :—@, Colorado Potato-beetle attacked by it—nat. size; b, the mnite, ventral view, and showing the penetrating organs lying between the legs ; c, the organs extended; d, the claw; e, the excrementitious filament—all greatly enlarged. yellowish-brown in color. It is not uncommon on other beetles, and is closely allied to a well-known Kuropean mite parasite of bectles and other Articulates—the Uro- poda vegetans. 'This last is described by authors as pos- sessing the peculiarity of attaching itself to the hard, shelly parts of its victims by means of a thread-like fila-» ment that issues from the posterior part of the body. A careful study of our American species has convinced me that the similar anal filament, which also helps it to adhere a —_ oe Pe - ~ ¥ « , LLL L2G LLL. LLL... Ser. EE ee OE — — Ee . / = . 2 . =. t y r s - : i ‘ . ° COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE, 39 to Doryphora, is in reality excrementitious, sticking to the beetle and to the mite by a flattened disc at either end, being quite fragile and easily broken. The true penetrating organs, which enable the mite to hold tenaci- ously to its victim, and probably assist in obtaining nour- ishment, I have discovered to be a pair of extensile pro- cesses, each armed at the tip with a bifid claw somewhat resembling that of a lobster. When at rest these organs are retracted and lie between the legs and just under the skin. When extended, they are usually brought closely _ together and extend the whole length of the animal be- yond the head. ‘Thus, in addition to the more frail excre- mentitious and adhesive filament, this Uropoda is provid- ed with an organ that is beautifully adapted to penetrating the hard covering of beetles, and of thus securing it to its slippery support. The most effective natural enemies of our potato pest, are, however, found among insects proper, and—deter- mined as man’s warfare has been against it, with his - mechanical appliances, and poisonous preparations—it is doubtful whether his efforts would have been availing without the aid of these tiny but by no means insigni- ficant allies. A few prey upon the beetle, but the larger number attack the eggs and larve. I will give brief illustrated accounts of the more notable of them, accord- ing to their several orders : Ord. Hymenoptera.—Though this, of all the Orders, contains the largest number of parasitic species, yet not one of them is known to attack the Doryphora, and the only Hymenopteron that has been observed to attack it is the Rust-red Social Wasp, (Polistes rubiginosus, St. Farg.), which has been seen to carry the Doryphora larva to its nest. The wasps of this genus, with their gray paper- dike nests, are familiar objects. A solitary female or queen that has hybernated, founds the colony, feeding her larvze on honey and various partly masticated insects. 40 POTATO PESTS, Her immediate progeny is composed of females only, somewhat smaller than herself. There are no males in this summer brood, and the virgin females build a nest in (Pig. 5.) POLISTES RUBIGINOSUS +a, Wasp, 6, spring nest. common, and produce a fall generation, composed of both sexes, the large females of which, after impregnation, hibernate, and start, each one, a colony again the follow- ing spring. Ord. Coleoptera :—This order eee quite a number of Doryphora’s enemies, and first In importance among them are various species of Ladybirds, (Cocetnellide). The — following species have all been found by my- self and others preying voraciously upon its eggs: 1.—The Spotted Ladybird, (ippeda- SPOTTED, SSPOTTED, AND ISsPoTTEpD Lan. gmi@ maculata, De- arte Geer), which is one of our most common species, and is of a pink color, marked with large black spots asin Fig. 6. 2.—The Nine-spotted Ladybird, (Cocetnella 9-netata, Herbst), which is of a brick-red color, and marked with 9 small black spots asin Fig. 7%. 3.—The Thirteen-spotted Ladybird, (Aitppedamia 13-punctate, Linn.), which is also of a brick-red color but marked with 13 black spots as in Fig. 8 4.—The little species figured at 9, ¢, which may be known as the Con- (Fig. &) (Fig. 7) (Fig. 8) 9 . >. ‘ 7 ; ‘a f Lae = bic. = ess 2G s COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. | 41 vergent Ladybird, (Hippodamia convergens, Guer.), and which is of an orange-red color marked with black and _white, asin the figure. This last species alone has been of immense benefit in checking the ravages of the Pota- (Fig. 9.] to-beetle. Its larva is represented | of the natural size at Fig. 9, a, its color being blue, orange and black ; when full grown it hangs by the tail to the underside of a stalk or leaf, and transforms into c ° Convercsnt Lavysrev:—a, the pupa represented at Fig. 9, 0. larva; pupa; ¢, beetle. ‘In this state it is of the exact color of the Colorado beetle larva, and is doubtless quite often mistaken for that larva, and ruthlessly destroyed. It may readily be distinguished, however, by its perfect repose. _ Let every potato grower learn well to recognize it and spare its life! 5.—The Icy Ladybird, (Hippodamia gla- cialis, Fabr.). This species, which was doubtless so named from occurring so far north, where it is often found under ice and snow, has like- wise been seen in great numbers carrying on the same commendable work. Fig. 10, repre- sents it of the natural size, the wing-covers be- ing of a bright orange-red, each marked behind with three black spots, the two upper of which are confluent, and the head and thorax being black, marked with cream- yellow, as in the illustration. The species is closely allied to the Convergent Ladybird (differing principally in being nearly twice as large, and in lacking the spots on the anterior portion of the wing-covers), and will be found to have similar transformations. 6.—The 15-spotted Lady- bird (Mysia 15-punctata, Oliv.). This is the largest of our true Ladybirds, and the only other species of the family that is larger, in this country, is the Northern Squash- beetle, (Zpilachna borealis, Fabr.), a species which has the wing-covers spotted in a somewhat similar manner, 42, POTATO PESTS. — and which is common in some parts of the Hast. The15- spotted Ladybird is a very variable insect, and at d, e, f. and g, (Fig. 11), are represented four of the more strik- ing forms. In the more common form the thorax is cream-colored, and the wing-covers cream-colored, with a tinge of chocolate. In this form (d) the black spots and marks are conspicuous. In the next (e) the thorax re- [Fig. 11.] 15-SPOTTED LADYBIRD :—a, larva, devouring its prey; 6, pupa; d, e,.f, g, beetle, showing variations—nat. size; c, shield on first joint of larva—enlarged. mains the same, but the wing-covers are chocolate-brown, and the black spots are surrounded with a paler brown annulation. In the third form (/) the thorax is a little darker, and the wing-covers so dark that the spots are scarcely perceptible ; while in the fourth form the whole insect is of a uniform deep brown-black color. The larva of this beetle (ig. 11, a) is jet black, with six rows of long spines and six long black legs. It has a paler yellowish stripe along each side, intercepted by two bright orange spots behind the legs, and there is also an orange spot on the back of the flattened first joint (c). When about to change, this larva fastens itself to the plant and changes to a cream-yellow pupa, marked with black, as at Fig. 11, 0. All these Ladybirds devour by preference the eggs of the Potato-beetle, and thus attack it in the most suscep- tible condition. The two larger species, and notably the last mentioned, also attack the Doryphora larva. The larvee of all these Ladybirds are more bloodthirsty in their ds gal Sasi COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. 43 ‘habits than the perfect beetles, and the larva of the little Convergent Ladybird is so essentially cannibal, that when- ever other food fails, it will turn to and devour the help- _ less pupeze of its own kind.* It is rather cruel, and with- al a somewhat cowardly act, to thus take advantage of a helpless brother ; but in consideration of its good services, we must overlook these unpleasant traits in our little hero’s character! All these larve bear a strong general resemblance, and with the aid of Figs. 8, 9 a, 11 a, and 12, a good idea may be obtained of them. They run with considerable speed, and may 7 be found in great numbers upon almost TAPEBIEPEARVA oll kinds of herbage. The larvee of certain species that prey upon the Hop Plant-louse in the Hast are well known to the hop-pickers as ‘black niggers” or ‘‘serpents,” and are carefully preserved by them as some of their most efficient friends, The eggs of Ladybirds greatly resemble those of the Colorado Potato-beetle, and are scarcely distinguishable except by their smaller size, and bya much smaller num- ber being usually deposited in a single group. As these ' eggs are often laid in the same situation as those of Dory- phora, the farmer should learn not to confound those of his best friends with those of his bitterest enemies, A practiced eye soon discriminates between them, and it is often on such minute discriminations that we must dis- tinguish between friend and foe. Next in importance, among the beetles, as enemies of Doryphora, come certain Tiger-beetles, (Cicindelide), and Ground-beetles, (Carabide), which are quick of limb, very voracious, and devour indifferently the larva or the beetle. I will illustrate a few that have been found doing [Fig. 12.] * This is so generally the case with predaceous insects, that the term ‘‘ canni- bal” is often employed by entomologists, and is sometimes employed in this work to designate the rapacious or insectivorous species, 44, POTATO PESTS. this good work, though many others of the same family doubtless also prey upon the potato pest, as the different species are not at all particular as to diet. 1.—The Virginia Tiger-beetle, (Tetracha Virginica, [Fig. 13.] Hope), which is of [Fig. 14.] pi, a dark metallic zg green color, with PX Pao brown legs, and of 8 8 which the annexed Ci, cut, (Fig. 13), will enable recognition to be made without much difficulty. 2.—The Fiery i atl lang Ground- beetle, CALOSOMA CALIDUM. (Calosoma calidum, Fabr.), is of a black color, with cop- pery dots, as shown in Tfig. 14, Its larva is a black, elongate, six-legged creature known as the ‘* Cut-worm Lion,” on account of the avidity with which it hunts for, and destroys, those garden and field pests. 3.—The Elongate Ground-beetle, (Pasimachus elonga- [Fig. 15.] tus, Lec. ), a pretty [Fig. 16.] : and conspicuous 1n- sect of a polished black color, edged with deep blue, and of a rather elegant orm, (Fig. 15). 4,—The Murky Ground - beetle, (Harpalus caligr- PASIMACHUS ELONGATUS. 20SUS, Say), which B42?P4LUS CALIGINOSUS. is of a dull black color, and which is represented life-size at Fig. 16. | | In 1871 the Great Lebia, (Lebia grandis, Hentz, Fig. bs : te ¥; a ' — COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE, 45 17), was found devouring the larve of Doryphora; and during the subsequent year this beetle, hitherto consider- (Fig. 17.] ered rare, was found to be very abundant in certain potato fields in Central Mis- souri, where it was actively engaged in destroying both the eggs and the larve of the same. ‘The head, thorax, and legs, of this cannibal are yellowish-brown, in high contrast with its dark-blue wing- covers. Mr. P. R. Uhler subsequently MEBIA GRANPIS- found the Black-bellied Lebia, (Lebia atriventris, Say), a species of the same color and general appearance, but only half as large as L. grandis, destroy- ing it around Baltimore. The same commendable habit is ascribed to the Kansas Bombardier beetle (Brachinus Kansanus, Lec.), an in- sect likewise bearing a general resemblance to the Great Lebia, but one third larger and more lengthened, and with the wing-covers of a duller, less polished blue. The beetles of this genus all have the power of discharging from the anus, when disturbed, an acrid fluid of so vola- tile a nature, that upon coming in contact with the air, it tenuates with an explosive noise and pungent smell, and hides the artilleryman in a bluish vapor which enables him to effect his escape. The species in question was first found attacking the Doryphora larvee by Mr. Thomas Wells, of Manhattan, Kansas, who furnished me with specimens for identification. To those above enumerated may be added a species of Rove-beetle, belonging to the genus Philonthus. An undescribed species of this genus was found by Dr. Shimer, killing the Doryphora larvee in one of his breed- ing cages, and there is reason to believe that it follows the same habit when free in the field. The particular species noticed by Dr. Shimer was in the Walsh cabinet, which was destroyed in the great fire at Chicago, but to 46 POTATO PESTS. give the reader a correct idea of this genus of insects I present a figure of Philonthus apicalis, Say, (Fig. 18). The larve are active and voracious, and bear considerable resemblance to the perfect insects. Fig. 19 is taken from (Fig. 18,] Westwood, and shows that [Fig. 19.] of Goerius olens. The pups are quiescent and incapable of motion, all the parts be- ing soldered together and encased almost as firmly as in the chrysalis of a butter- fly. The head and pro- thorax are suddenly bent forward, the former touch- ing the breast, and the back LARVA. is curiously flattened. Fig. 20 represents the pupa of an allied insect found in the ground and from which I bred Quedius molochinus, Gray. The rove- crig.203 beetles are, as a general rule, carrion feeders, preying voraciously on decaying animal and vegetable substances ; but some of them are true cannibals, while a few are even parasitic. Indeed they are no doubt more carnivorous E than is generally supposed. RoVE-BEETLE Finally, strange as it may seem, the Striped ha Blister-beetle and the Ash-gray Blister-beetle, which are very injurious to the potato, seem to have the redeeming trait of also preying occasionally on the larva of the Colora- ROVE-BEETLE. do Potato-beetle. It was first difficult to believe or reconcile | the statements to this effect, but there have been so many of them, that the fact may now be considered as indisput- able, and these two blister-beetles may therefore, with propriety, be added to the list of enemies. 1 by no means advise their protection, however, on this account; for I believe that what little good they accomplish is much more than outweighed by the injury they do us. As , . 7” ee ¥ —— ie ¥ EE EE ——. of 4! \ 44, a 4 - D hate i} y: ee s 4 , ial AY shoulders and fast- Pes enacrossthe breast. S 22= To the lower part EZ L>~==~ of the can are at- Gray’s IMPROVED SPRINKLER, FOR THE USE OF tached two rubber PARIS GREEN WATER. tubes, which are connected with two nozzles on sprinklers. The inside of the can has three shelves, which help to keep the mixture stir- red. There isa convenient lever at the bottom which presses the tubes and shuts off the outflow at will, and two hooks on the sides near the top on which to hang the tubes 64 | POTATO PESTS. when notin use. On the top is a small air-tube and a capped orifice. ‘Two bucketfuls of water are first poured into the can, then three tablespoonfuls of good green, well mixed with another half-bucketful of water and strained through a funnel-shaped strainer which accompa- nies the machine, and the use of which prevents the larger particles of the green from getting into the can and clog- ging up the sprinklers. Five to eight acres a day can readily be sprinkled by one man using the can, and from one to one and a half pound of good green, according to the size of the plants, will suffice to the acre. Two lengths of nozzles are furnished, one for use when the plants are small, the other when they are larger. The can should be filed on the ground and then raised on a bench or barrel, from which it is easily attached to the back. The walking serves to keep the green well shaken, and the flow of the liquid is regulated at will by the pressure of the fingers on the tubes at their junction with the metallic nozzles. When not in use, the tubes should be removed, the can emptied, and laid on its back. I can testify to the ease and efficiency with which this little machine may be used. An excellent Spray Machine has been invented by Mr. W. P. Peck, of West Grove, Pa., consisting of a tank, strapped knapsack-fashion on the shoulders, and connect- ed by rubber tubes with a pair of bellows, strapped to the waist, turned by a crank, and connected with a moy- able nozzle. I have used it with good results, and know of noinstrument that better answers the purpose, or more effectually economizes material. This atomizer can of course be used to distribute other liquids than Paris green water, and to protect other plants than potatoes; but for use in the potato field it answers an admirable purpose. The tank holds three gallons, and there is a simple device at the bottom which, by the motion of walk- ing, keeps the liquid in agitation and prevents the green COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. _ 65 ) from settling. The liquid issues in a fine spray and with : considerable force. The very general use of Paris green as an insecticide had the effect at first to raise the price of the drug to an exorbitant figure, and in many places the demand largely exceeded the supply. The impetus given to its manufacture, however, soon reduced it to a [Fig. 36,] a. et ee — - iS ~ ‘Sy SRO na ; PECK’s SPRAY MACHINE. reasonable price again, and of late years the cost of its use to protect a potato-field, even where the insect has been very abundant, has averaged only from $3 to $5 per acre, according to the number of applications. In addition to Paris green, a great number of drugs and other substances have been tested as *‘ Potato-bug” reme- dies. The most thorough experiments were instituted 66 POTATO PESTS. during the summer of 1871, by Messrs. Wm. Saunders and EH. B. Reed, of London, Ont., under the direction. of their Commissioner of Agriculture, and from their report I quote the results obtained with various chemicals : ArsEntous Acrp (Arsenic).—This chemical, being much cheaper than Paris Green, and more uniform in its composition, we hoped would have proved a practical and safe remedy. We tried it in the proportions of half ounce, one ounce, and two ounces, to a pound of flour, and while we are not prepared, from the few trials we have made, to entirely disapprove of its use, the results we have obtained point to the conclusion that where it has been used in sufficiently large proportions to destroy the insect, it has caused more or less injury to the leaves. In cases where Paris Green is not obtainable this might be used as a substitute, in the proportion of one ounce to one pound of flour, which should always be color- ed with some black powder, such as charcoal or black antimony, so as to lessen the risk of accident from its use. Another Arsenical compound was also tested, known in com- merce as Powdered Cobalt or Fly Poison; this was used in the same proportions as the last mentioned, and with similar results, but owing to its higher price we do not recommend it for general use. SULPHATE OF CopPER (Blue Stone).—A strong solution of this salt was tried in the proportion of two ounces to one gallon of water, and showered on the vines with a watering pot, without | damage to either the insect or the plant. BICHROMATE OF PotAsH.—This is a poisonous substance large- ly used in dyeing, and one which has attracted some attention in France of late, as a remedy for insects. We used it dissolved in water in the proportion of two ounces to three gallons of water. This killed the insects effectually, but at the same time destroyed the plants. Whether, in a more diluted form, this remedy could be effectively used without injury to the foliage, we are unable to say, but shall experiment further with it. POWDERED HELLEBORE.—This powerful irritant, which is so effectual as a remedy for the Currant Worm, we tried without per- ceptible effect, both in powder and also mixed with water, in the proportion of one ounce to the gallon of water. Several other poisonous substances were also used with like results. CARBOLATE OF Lime.—There are several preparations sold under this name, which we found to vary much in composition and character, and equally so in effect. We tried an article known w te, Se pa COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. | 67 as Dougall’s without any good results, but succeeded better with one prepared by Lyman Bros., of Toronto, a black powder manu- factured, we understand, from coal tar. This destroyed a large proportion of the larve, but we doubt whether it would kill the perfect insect; it is, moreover, used in an undiluted form, which would render its cost greater than that of the Paris Green mixture, SO we see no advantage in using it, although the fact of its being less poisonous may induce some to try it who are prejudiced against Paris Green. Ass and AIR-SLACKED LIME, we found, had been extensively used by many of the farmers on the frontier districts, but, so far as we could see or learn, without any perceptible results. Decoctions of Elder leaves, Dog-fennel, the roots of the Mandrake or May Apple, (Podophyllum peltatum), black-pepper, ashes, lime, and a variety of other applica- tions have been recommended. Many of the proposed remedies are simply ridiculous, while some are partially effective. Both lime and urine or uric acid have been used with good effect, but do not compare to Paris green. A correspondent of the Prairie Farmer, for July 3, 1875, in whose signature —‘‘'T. of Iowa ”—I recognize an old friend and intelligent observer, gives the following experience : I have had quite as good success in using the ingredients from — which the green is made, as from the finished article, bought in paint and drug shops at 50 cents a pound, especially when the local demand is so great that it cannot be bought at all. The fol- lowing directions for making it are taken from Brande’s Chemis- try: Dissolve two pounds of sulphate of copper, blue vitriol, (cost- ing 20 cents per Ib., or 40 cents), ina gallon of hot water, keeping it in a stone jar. Dissolve in another large jar, one pound of white arsenic, (costing 10 cents), and two pounds of saleratus or pearl ash, (cost 20 cents), in forty-four pounds of hot water, stirring well, until thoroughly dissolved. These articles, costing 75 cents, will make about five pounds of Paris green, costing $2.50. I usually keep them in solution and mix in the proper proportions, one part of the first to five of the ‘latter, as they are needed. The “green immediately begins to precipitate in a fine powder, and is much more convenient for use, in solution, than the dry article sold in the shops. 68 POTATO PESTS. Before leaving this subject of poisonous applications, it may be well to say a few words about two other com- pounds that have been strongly recommended and adver- tised as such. One of these is advertised as ‘‘ Potato Pest Poison,” by the Lodi Chemical Works of Lodi, N. J. It is put up in pound packages, which are sold at $1 each, with directions to dissolve four ounces in two quarts of hot water, then pour into a barrel containing thirty gallons of cold water, and use on the vines in as fine a spray as possible. Analysis shows it to be composed of one part of pure salt and one part of arsenic (arseniate of soda), and it has the general color and appearance of common salt. J had this poison tested in a field of late potatoes, which had been badly infested during the Sum- mer, but of which about half the vines had been saved by pretty constant hand-picking. ‘These were at the time fairly covered with theinsect in the egg, larva, and beetle states. Five rows where treated with the poison, both © according to directions and by finely sprinkling the dry powder over the vines. As soon as the powder touched the larve, they writhed and became restless, as with pain, the powder dissolved and formed a translucent coating upon them, and in about three hours they began to die. The beetles were not so easily affected, though they too were in time killed by it. Used as directed, it destroys, but hardly as efficiently as the ordinary Paris green mix- ture. A pound of Paris green, costing much less than a pound of the Lodi poison, will go nearly as far in pro- tecting a field of potatoes, and I cannot seeany advantage to the farmer from the employment of a patent poisonous compound, of the nature of which he is ignorant, when a cheaper one is at hand. The color of the Lodi poison is also very objectionable, as there is much more danger in the use of poisons, when their color renders them un- distinguishable from ordinary salt. The second is a patent ‘‘nest poison,” gotten up by the Kearney Chemical Ae ‘a § COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. . 69 Works, N. Y., and extensively advertised for this par- ticular insect. It is a prototype of the preceding, con- sisting of arsenate of sodium and common salt, faintly colored with rosaniline, and it acts in a similar manner. It is put up in a’|, lb. package, for 50c., which is to be dissolved in 60 gallons of water, and all that has-been said of the Lodi poison is true of it. THE USE OF PARIS GREEN. As this mineral has now come into general use for the Colorado Potato-beetle, and likewise for the Cotton Worm and various other insects ; and as it is a virulent poison, the question as to its safety for the purpose here recom- mended is a very important one. It was my lot to be largely instrumental in causing its now general use. for the two insects mentioned, and the position which I took from the first has been justified by the facts, which are herewith presented, and which will serve to dissipate much misapprehension. Past Experience.—In the early history of the use of this mineral as an insecticide, most persons, myself in- cluded, were loth, on theoretical grounds, to recommend its general use; and I have ever insisted that the many other mechanical and preventive measures, which, if per- sistently employed, are sufficient to defeat the foe, should be resorted to in preference. But the more diluted form and improved methods now-a-days employed in using the poison, render it a much safer remedy than it was a few years back ; and no one should fail to take into account that during the past seven or eight years, millions of bushels of potatoes have been raised, the leaves of which have been most thoroughly sprinkled with the Paris green mixture, without any injurious effect to the tuber, or to persons using potatoes raised in this manner. In- deed, scarcely any potatoes have been raised in the Middle States during these years, without its use; yet I have to a oe POTATO PESTS. learn of the first authentic case of poisoning or injury whatever, except through carelessness and exposure to its direct influence. So far as experience goes, therefore, there is nothing to fear from the judicious use of the mineral. Let us then consider, from the best authority, what.are the effects of its use as at present recommended: First, on the plant itself; second, on the soil ; third, on man, indirectly, either through the soil or through the plant. Tis Influence on the Plant.—Practically the effect of sprinkling a plant with Paris green, will depend very much on the amount used and on the character of the plant treated. Thus, from experiments which I made in 1872, a thorough coating of a mixture of one part of green to fifteen of flour, while injuring some of the leaves of peas, clover, and sassafras, had no injurious ~ effect on young oaks, maples, and hickories, or on cab- bage and strawberries; while the fact has long been known that when used too strong and copiously it destroys potato vines. Itis for this reason that the experiments that were made in 1874 on beets, by a committee ap- pointed by the Potomac Fruit Grower’s Society, are of little value, as against the universal experience of the farmers of the Mississippi Valley. The mixture used by the committee, and which they call ‘‘ highly diluted,” © consisted of one part of green with but six of the dilutent, instead of from twenty-five to thirty parts of the latter ; and it is no wonder that, as reported by the committee, the vitality of the plant was seriously impaired. ‘There can be no question, therefore, about the injurious effect of the green upon potato vines, when it is used pure or but slightly diluted ; yet in this case, since it is the office of the leaves to expire rather than inspire, we cannot say that the plant is injured, or killed by absorption, any more than if it were killed by hot water, which, according to the degree to which it is heated, or the copiousness of . COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. 71 the application, may either be used with impunity or with fatal effects. Indeed, judging from my own -ex- perience, I very much incline to believe that future care- ful experiments will show that injury to the leaf by the application of this compound, arises more often from the stoppage of the stomata, which is effected as much by the diluent as by the arsenite itself. So much for the in- fluence of the poison when coming in contact with the plant above ground. The question as to how it affects the plant below ground, through the roots, may be con- sidered in connection with— Its Influence on the Soil.—As Prof. 8. W. Johnson, in an able review of the subject, stated two years ago :* ‘*One pound of pure Paris green contains about ten ounces of white arsenic, and about four ounces of cop- per;” or, to state it in the usual way, Schweinfurt or pure Paris green contains fifty-eight per cent. of arsenious acid. One pound of the green uniformly spread over an acre of soil, would amount to sixteen-hundredths of a& grain per square foot, or nine-hundredths of a grain of arsenious acid. If uniformly mixed with the soil to the depth of a foot, it would, of course, be the same to the cubic foot. In actual practice, even this amount does not reach the soil direct or in an unchanged form, since much of it is acted upon by the digestive organs of the fated insects. It is safe to say that even if the green re- tained for all time its poisonous power and purity in the _ soil, this mere fractional part of a grain might be added annually for half a century without any serious effects to the plants. In reality, however, there is no reason to be- lieve that it does so remain. Of the few experiments on record which bear on this point, those made by Prof. R. C. Kedzie, of the Michigan Agricultural College, in 1872, are most interesting and instructive. In a paper read before the Natural History Society of the College, he * New York Tribune, December 16, 1874, 72 POTATO PESTS, proved, from these experiments, that where water was charged with carbonic acid or ammonia, a certain portion of the green was dissolved, but was quickly converted in- to an insoluble and harmless precipitate with the oxide of iron which exists very generally in soils. Fleck has shown - (Zeitschrift fir Biologie, Bd. viii, s. 455, 1872), that arsenious acid in contact with moist organic substances, especially starch sizing, forms arseniuretted hydrogen, which diffuses in the air, and it is more than probable that the green used in our fields will lose its poisonous power, and disappear in these and other ways. The question as to how the plant is affected by the poison through the soil is, therefore, partly answered by the above facts. Water is both the universal solvent and the vehicle by which all plants appropriate their nourishment ; but in this instance its solvent and carrying power is for the most part neutralized by the oxide of iron in the soil; and though some experiments by Dr. HE. W. Davy, and quoted by Prof. Johnson in the article already cited, — would indicate that, under certain circumstances, some of the arsenious acid may be taken up by plants before passing into the insoluble combination ; yet the quantity is evidently very slight. | | Moreover, all doubt as to the danger to the tuber, to the soil, or to man, indirectly, was set at rest, by a further series of thorough experiments made by Prof. Kedzie in 1875, from which he concludes : Ist, Paris green that has been four months in the soil no longer remains as such, but has passed in some less soluble state, and is unaffect- ed by the ordinary solvents of the soil. 2nd, When ap- plied in small quantities, such as alone are necessary in destroying injurious insects, it does not affect the health of the plant. é@rd, The power of the soil to hold arseni- ous acid and arsenites in insoluble form, will prevent water from becoming poisoned, unless the green is used in excess of any requirement as an insecticide. | COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. _ %3 k These experiments of Prof. Kedzie’s accord, so far as __ they refer to the influence of Paris green on man through the plants, with others by Prof. McMurtrie, of the De- partment of Agriculture, which showed that even where the green was applied to the soil in such quantities as to , cause the wilting or death of the plants, the most rigor- ous chemical analysis could detect no trace of arsenic in - the composition of the plants themselves. > cs ws - ' * ; Some persons have imagined that the soggy and watery potatoes that have been so common of late years, are due to the influence of this poison ; but this idea is proved to be erroneous by the fact that such imperfect potatoes are ___ not confined to the districts were Paris green has been ___used. Indeed, they are much more likely due to the in- _ jury and defoliation of the plant by the insect ; for no ‘i plant can mature a healthy tuber when its leaf system is ‘? _ go seriously impaired by the constant gnawings of insects. i Finally we must not forget that both arsenic and copper are widely distributed throughout the inorganic world* and are found naturally in many plants ; and so far from injuring plants, in minute quantities, arsenic occurs in the best superphosphates and the volcanic soil around Naples, which, like all volcanic soils, contains an unusual amount of it, has the reputation of being a specific against — | : | | * Prof. Johnson, (loc. cit.) writes: “The wide distribution of both arsenic and copper is well known to mineral- ogists and chemists. These metals are dissolved in the waters of many famous mineral springs, as those of Vichy and Wiesbaden. Prof. Hardin found in the Rockbridge Alum Springs of Virginia, arsenic, antimony, lead, copper, zinc, cobalt, nickel, manganese, andiron. The arsenic, however, was present in ex- ceedingly minute quantity. Even river water, as that of the Nile, contains an appreciable quantity of arsenic. Dr. Will, the successor of Liebig, at Giessen, proved the existence of five poisonous metals in the water of the celebrated mineral springs of Rippoldsau,in Baden. In the Joseph’s Spring he found to 10,009,000 parts of water, arsenic (white), 6 parts; tin oxide 1-4 part; anti- _ mony oxide, 1-6 part; lead oxide, 1-4 part ; copper oxide, i part. Arsenic and copper have been found in a multitude of iron ores, in the sediments of chaly- beate springs, in clays, marls and cultivated soils. But we do not hear that the arsenic thus widely distributed in waters and soils ever accumulates in plant or animal toa deleterious extent.” + V4. POTATO PESTS. fungus diseasesin plants. A certain quantity may there- fore be beneficial to plants, as it appears to be to ani- mals, since horses fed on a grain or two a day are said to thrive and grow fat. Its Influence on Man indirectly through the Soil or through the Plant.—TVhe green as now used could not well collect in sufficient quantities to be directly deleteri- ous to man in the field in any imaginary way, and this statement is borne out by Prof. Kedzie’s experiments ; while its injury through the plant is, I think, out of the question ; for the plant could not absorb enough without — being killed. 'The idea that the earth is being sown with death by those who fight the Colorado Potato-beetle with this mineral, may, therefore, be dismissed as a pure phan- tasmagoria. In conclusion, while no one denies the danger ational ing the careless use of Paris green, and all who have re- commended its use have not hesitated to caution against such carelessness, a careful inquiry into the facts from the experimental side bears out the results of a long and extensive experience among the farmers of the country —viz: that there is no present or future danger from its judicious use, in the diluted form, whether as liquid or powder, in which it is now universally recommended. It is in this as in so many other things, a proper use of the poison has proved, and will prove in future, a great blessing to the country, where its abuse can only be fol- lowed by evil consequences. Poison is only a relative term, and that which is most virulent in large quantities is oftentimes harmless or even beneficial to animal econo- my in smaller amounts. ‘The farmers will look forward with intense interest to the work of the committee ap- pointed by the National Academy, or of any national commission appointed to investigate the subject, and will hail with joy and gratitude any less dangerous remedy that will prove as effectual ; but until that is discovered, COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. | TD _ they will continue to use that which has saved them so much labor and given so much satisfaction. I would therefore say to those agriculturists of the East who are in any way alarmed by what has been written’on this sub- | ject, and who hesitate to use the Paris green mixture— profit by the experience of your more western brethren, and do not allow the voracious Doryphora to destroy your potatoes when so simple and cheap a remedy is at hand. In case of direct poisoning from carelessness or what- ever cause, 1t will be well to state here that the antidote for Paris green poison is hydrated sesquioxide of iron. Nearly every druggist keeps it always on hand. If it can not be bought, it may be prepared thus: Dissolve cop- peras in hot water, keep warm, and add nitric acid until the solution becomes yellow ; then pour in ammonia wa- ter—common hartshorn—or a solution of carbonate of ammonia, until a brown precipitate falls. Keep this precipitate moist and in a tightly corked bottle.