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Farm Field And Garden

Farm Field And Garden image
Parent Issue
Day
16
Month
December
Year
1892
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Tlie clover leaf weevil which has bren at work in the clover fields ot' New York lias pnshed its way gradually westwara vmtil it is now mentioned as a uew pest in Obio, and is the subject of a report froni the station of that state, whicb eays: -'As described by Professor Lintner, of New York, the beetle measures over four-tenths of an inch in lengtb and is of an ova] form and bi'own color. The eggs are deposited in the latter part j of summer by the beetles. which inay be seen in July and August. The larvte j from thern appear in September and, i chongiñg to pupee in October, einergo as beetles in November. Some of them lay their eggs, from which the larvte : hatch and bibernate while quite small, , within the old clover stem. Others of the beetles hibernate without oviposition and lay their eggs the following spring, i The young larvce are seen as early as , April feeding upon the clover, but it is i not before the latter part of May and : Jtmo that they have attained sufficient j size ti render them very injurious and tlieir depredations noticeable. At first j they feed among the young folded leaves or attach to the under side of a leaf; later they fasten to the edge, inte which they eat irregular patches. "From observation made at the departmentof agricultura at Washington upon j the insect in continement during autumn. the entire time from the egg to the perfect insect was about 3} months. As to remedies, the application of ordinary insecticiden is of nó value, except sncll as will poison the clover and render it useless as hay, and it is thought likely the pe.st will have to be fought in tiieautumn, eitlier by mowing and bnrn■ ing or fall plowing. or both." The depredations of the wheat inidge liave also been considered in a bulleíiu of the Uhio st;tion. from which we learu ;he following: "The original discovery of the species dates back to the year 179Ö. in England. From there it wa introduced into Canada ftrst, wheuco it has spread over the larger portion of the United States, making its flrst ap pearance in the northwestern part of Vermont in the early part of the present century. "This depredator is also known as the red weevil, on account of the color of the maggots or young, and under this name will be best recognized by farmers. Üthers will readily understand tlie nature ot' the pest by it3 occurrence in the heads of wheat under the chaff, giving these, when very abundant, a reddisb appearance, somewhat resembling rust. Prior to 18C1 the ravages of the insect were widespread aud more or less darnaging. Siuce 1861, for a peri6dof twenty-eight years, 110 serious widespread cmtbreak occurred. Reporte of local injuries, liowever. were freqttently recorded. "The ouly thoroughly practical preventive. and also the one promising the best resulta, is deep plowing of wheat stubble in the f all, thereby covering the midges so deep in the eafth that they are unable to reach the surface in tluspring. This is done as soon as possible after harvest. Burning the stubble be('ore plowing will also destroy any which have remained therein, and a rotation of j erop will add greatly to the efficiency of deep plowing."

Article

Subjects
Ann Arbor Argus
Old News