Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 May 1874 — Potatoes as a Field Crop. [ARTICLE]

Potatoes as a Field Crop.

The depredations oi the Colorado potato beetle have had the effect of discouraging the planting of potatoes as a field crop in many instances. To this, more than to any other single cause, may be attributed the present scarcity and consequent high prices of potatoes in the markets of the West. Those who have continued to plant- as in former years, and have used due vigilance in fighting the beetles and larvae, have reaped a jnst and ample reward. The Western Rural has not failed, heretofore, to show the comparative ease with which the Colorado beetle and its larvae may be kept under so that, as a rule, the crop will not be seriously damaged. It is by taking them in season and not permitting them to breed. The experience by which this has been successfully accomplished is worth reiterating. , » In the spring, as soon as the potatoes appear, the beetles, which have hybernated during the winter, come forth to propagate their species, and often collect on the extra early crop in great numbers. The easiest way we have ever found to take care of them at this time is to go over the vines with a newspaper or other soft substance that may be folded properly, and strike them into pans cr other suitable vessels. A little practice will enable any boy or girl to do this quickly, after which they may be killed with kerosene, or in other ways most practicable. Later in the season, daring the annual flight of the beetle, they will sometimes settle in immense numbers on the fields. If thoroughly destroyed at this time but little further trouble will be experienced, if Care has been taken to destroy the first beetles that have made their appearance. Still later, those larvae that may have been overlooked may be easily destroyed by the application of Paris green mixed with plaster or flour, or, as we think preferable and safest, dissolved in water. The expense of thus disposing of these depredators is always overestimated. In

seasons when they are prolific of course the expense will be greater than in other seasons, but theq, as an offset, the price of the crop is always accordingly enhanced, and here is just where the careful and persistent cultivators reap their sure reward; for those who believe the expense of securing the crop will not pay the cost get nothing, and usually have to buy not only their winter’s supply of potatoes but also seed for the next crop. Those who have cared properly for their fields have the produce to seil at prices that amply repay the toil and trouble of the care and cultivation. Our continued advice, therefore, is: Do not be deterred from planting foi* fear of loss from the Colorado potato beetle. —Western Rural.