The Brown Beetle.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4714, 9 May 1894, Page 2

The Brown Beetle.

[to the EDITOR, ff,D, Tim] Sir,—On looking tbi'oAi some papers the other day I catAroffi a memorandum intended in your paper during year. Although season just now, I to forward you, it will be entirely Much complaint waslßdij last spring in the papers of (fflavages macje in orchards by the brownjlieetle, and various remedies suggested for combating the pest. This remWd me of a plan-I once saw carried out in the Ola Country while serving my apprenticeship some twenty-fivefyears ago. That season we were plttaed,, with an unusally large number of brown beetles—common to Northern Europe— not only were the fruit trees in a very short time stripped naked by the pest, but also onto, sycamores, chestDiit, etc., anilalmostevery deciduous specimen of forest treeß, the large orchards of old fruit trees were coiltidered too big to operate on, but a young plantation of about nino-year« old tress (chiefly pears and plums), the Head Gardener determined if possible 4o save in the following wayA man was provided with an old pan to which was fixed a tem« porary handle four feet long, the pro filled with coal tar, a live coal dropped in the tar to set' Sre to it, the man walked from tree to tree holding the pan under each tree for abouLthrg* seconds, this was

ope the tree in a efficient to kill the insect, Two boys, followed after with bucketd of water and syringes tp wash the tree clean of soot and dead insects. As one who took part in the proceedings I can attest to its efficiency, Granted tlifl insect was not of the same species, but tliia is immaterial, the beetle specimon is much the same all over the world as regards tenacity of life. We have all road of the "inverted, umbrella" plant it may ans* wer very well for a few trees but when it .cornea to a large Lumber I venture to think the operation would be too tedious. I must add the coaltar process was the only one resorted to in the evening. Before concluding I may mention that a friend of ttine (a fruit grower livingin a district near Aucklandjtells me that during this summer he dis« covered quite by accident an infallible remedy for the bronzo beetle, It appears he had plinted some castoroil beans in his Orchard, and when the beetle pest came on they forsook everything else in order to feed on the castor-oil plant of which they seem to be inordinately fond.althongh that kind of feed sepmed to poison them. Ho says dropped to the ground in a dazed condition and wera easily destroyed. I can, of course, Dot vouch for this statement but any of your readers might easily experiment and satisfy themselves to indues which is my sole object for writing on the Bubjeot,—l am, etc,, John Blomquist, Park Valo Nursery, Carterton.