Gresham outlook., June 19, 1914, Page 17, Image 17

HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
13
Growing Good Potatoes in the Pacific Northwest
Some Ideas on the Homely “ Spud” by Men Who Know Whereof They Write.
Pest Is Serious.
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In this, the fifth of a series
<f> of articles on p otato growing,
diseases affe c tin g potatoes in
*•> th e N orthw est are discussed in
♦ in terestin g style.
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.
♦
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r
By O. M. MORRIS, Horticulturist; J. O.
HALL. Plant Pathologist, and M. A.
YOTHERS, Asst. Entomologist,
at Washington Experiment
Station.
H E S P E C IE S of flea beetle most
ab u u d an t in th is state, and in the
whole N orthw est, in fa c t, is a d if­
fe re n t species from those commonly
fou n d in th e middle and eastern states.
I t s h ab its and th e n atu re of th e damage
it does are much th e san|e as those of
th e eastern species. Our species is
kqown as “ The W estern P o tato Flea
B e e tle .’’ The larva, pupa and ad u lt are
shown in (F ig. I ) .
T
The seriousness o f th is pest is in ­
creased by th e fa c t th a t in m any p arts
of th e country it (as well as the e a s t­
ern species) is know n to assist u n in te n ­
tio n ally in th e d istrib u tio n of the
fungous disease o f the p o tato known as
early blight. The fungous enters the
tissues of th e len t through the exposed
eaten edges o f the feeding punctures
and spreads from them throughout the
leaf.
The eggs o f th e w estern species are
unknow n, an d those of th e eastern
species have been found only a few
times. T hey are laid singly in the
ground in th e la tte r p a rt of Ju n e and
th e firs t p a rt o f Ju ly . The larvae,
sm all, w hite and th read like, re found
in the ground feeding on th e potato
stem s and tubers. W here a t all ab u n ­
d a n t these larv ae give the potatoes a
pim ply appearance, w hich may serious­
ly a ffe c t th eir sale as choice potatoes.
The larv ae grow to th e ir full size,
p u p ate in th e soil and then tran sfo rm
Fig. 3.—Larva and adult of a wire worm.
(After Forbes, Illinois.)
v ary in g from one-fourth to one inch in
length.
Methods of Control.
X
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— ___ — ------- ------ ...
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i
1
Fig. 1.—The Western Potato Flea Beetle. A, rdult beetle; B, pupa C, larva.
Enlarged. (After Ore. Ag. Exp. Sta.)
D uring th e season o f 1913 th is was
©no of th e most serious p o tato pests we
had. I t w as especially ab u u d an t in
E astern W ashington, w here in many
places it so hindered the grow th o f the
p o tato vines th a t th e p o tato crop was
m aterially lessened. D uring th e month
o f A ugust i t was no uncommon th in g
to see th e p o tato leaves alm ost com­
pletely covered on th e under side w ith
these sm all brow n beetles. The adult
b eetles are v ery sm all, about th e size
o f th e head of a pin only more elon
gated , and are of a brow nish black
color. They g et th e ir nam e “ Flea
B e e tle s’ ’ from th e ir a b ility to jum p
v e ry q uicklky when disturbed. The
c h aracter o f th e ir w ork is shown in
(F ig. 2). They eat alm ost alw ays if not
*
Fig 2.—Potato leaf ah owing charac­
teristic flea beetle injury. (After Jo
hannsen. Maine Exp. Sta.)
i
en tirely from th e under aide of the
leaves and do not feed d e a r through,
b u t leave a th in , tra n sp a re n t m em brane
on th e upper surface in m any eases.
The leaves, a fte r being fed upon, have
th e ap pearance o f h av in g been ahot
fu ll o f fin e holes.
to ad u lt beetles. T h-re are tw o genera
tions during th e season. The p ast sum­
mer th ey w ere most ab u n d an t during
A ugust. The ad u lt beetles o f th e fail
generatio n pass th e w in ter as adults,
and a tta c k th e potatoes in the spring.
Treatment Is Advised.
W ire worms are am ong the most d if­
fic u lt insects to control.
The best
rem edy so fa r devised is fall plowing
to d estroy th e over w in terin g pupae in
th eir cells in tho ground. R epeated each
fall for tw o or th ree years, th is pro
cedure will work out most if not all
o f the w ire worms from the soil. Owing
to tho fa c t th a t all of tho larvao do
not develop to m a tu rity in th e same
season, th is prolonged treatm en t is
necessary in order to rem ove those
pupae req u irin g tw o or th ree y ears to
develop.
S alty fertilizers, sueh as K a in it or
n itra te of soda have been used with
good results. These salts a c t as repel
I ants.
Poison b a it, such as green a lfa lfa
poisoned w ith stryehnine, placed under
stones and boards n the gardens have
killed m any of them . Poisoned slices of
p o tato or carro ts are also good baits.
Crop ro tatio n is valuable in working
th e larv ae o u t o f the land. Clover
should follow the grass, corn or some
o th er cu ltiv a te d crop follow th e clover
and then potatoes. O r potatoes m ay fol
low' tw o y ears of clover or alfalfa.
The most effe c tiv e 're a tm e n t for this
pest is to sp ray th e p lan ts w ith B or­
deaux, a t in te rv a ls of about tw o weeks,
as long as th e beetles are present. The
B ordeaux serves m erely as a repellanl.
A lthough th e beetles work on th e under
su rface of th e leaves only, it is possible
to poison them w ith an arsenical, such
as arsen ate o f lead, applied to the un
der su rface of the leaves. Bordeaux ap ­
plied to th e under su rface of th e leaves
as well as to th e upper su rface is more
effectiv e th en when applied from above H O U S E W I V E S
only. S p ray in g machines are to be had
OF TODAY
th a t are ad ap ted for th is kind of sp ra y ­
are dem anding three es­
ing. b u t w ith a little in g en u ity any
sen tials in b aking powder.
sp ray er can be so ad ju sted th a t it will
P u rity ,
R eliab ility
aad
sp ray both th e under and upper snr
Economy. T hey get them
faces of the leaves a t th e sam e time.
in
Such a m achine not only places the
poison in th e only place in which it “ C R E S C E N T ”
can be effectiv e, b u t also increases the
B a k in g P o w d e r
efficiency of th e Bordeaux rep eilan t by
I t ’s h ealth fu l, made to
placing it on both surfaces of th e leaves
raise th e dough and sus­
a t once.
tain th e raise u n til food is
W ire Worms.
baked. H ence i t is reliable.
W ire worms are prim arily know n as
grass in festin g insects and do th eir
I t costs
g re a te st dam age to th e g rain s and
grasses, including corn, b u t th ey arc
not averse to feeding upon th e p otato
2 5 c p e r lb.
tn b ers when th ey happen upon them in
th e ground, and often do considerable
At Yonr Grocer
dam age by boring holes through them
T hey are usually found in low grass
lan d or land one or tw o y ears removed
C rescent M fg Co.
from th e sod, b u t a re o ften found in
B e a ttie , W n.
lan d more or less cu ltiv ated .
The w ire worms are slender w hite or
yellowish g rubs (Fig. 3) from one h alf
to one and one h alf inches long and
ab o u t one eig h th of an inch across.
Some specimens are much sm aller, how­
National Stamp 4
ever, and some larg er. They a re some
Seal Works
w hat fla t and have smooth polished
BOBBER. STEEL
skins more or less lik e shells. They
and BRASS
have six short legs ju s t back of the
S
TAM PS
head and a sucker-like fo o t on the last
Stencils,
Baals,
segm ent or jo in t o f the body. Some
Badgaa end
T r id i Checks.
k inds develop in to pupae in th e fall
and reach m a tu rity th e n ex t sum m er;
Fruit Stamps
others require tw o or th ree y ears to Brass Signs, Box Printing. Plates and Bum-
tag Brands, Nambarlag Machias
com plete th e ir tran sfo rm atio n .
The
E x p e r ts.
ad u lt o f the w ire worm is th e common
MAIN ¿ i t t
“ c li" k ” or snapping beetle, a t shown
ate Ont Btaaet. Oppaatta Punaa
.a (F ig. 1). T here are many kiada,
Enlarged about four times.
MACONS NOI “ DRY” ON
[ ASTLRN SHORE
BALTIM O RE, Md., May 23.—D ui-
ing a hearing before the public service
commission, it developed th a t, unless he
he a druggist, the only w ay a resident
of th e “ d r y ’ ’ E astern shore can ob­
ta in liquor is to become a church o f­
ficer.
The hearing w as held on th e p ro te st
ag ain st the increased rate on liquor p u t
into e ffe c t by the T olchester S team boat
Company. Capt. Elineon, president of
the com pany, ad m itted th a t he w as do­
ing ev ery th in g he could to discourage
the shipm ent of liquor by his line.
U nder the new law, liquor can bo
shipped only to druggists, for m edicinal
purposes, and to churches, fo r sacra­
m ental purposes.
In his argum ent A tto rn ey Chapman
for the T olchester Company said:
“ I f a gallon of liquor or six dozen
bottles of beer were shipped to a
church and a man called for it and said
ho was deacon of the church, how was
the ag en t a t the w h arf to know w hether
the caller was telling the t r u t h ! ’ ’
(Paid Advertisement )
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