Nitrate of soda is believed
to kill or repel them, but you have to be careful with it, for too much
will either over-stimulate or kill the kill; about 200 pounds per acre,
well distributed, is the usual prescription for the good of the plants.
Wire worms can probably be killed with carbon bisulphide, using a
tablespoonful poured into holes about a foot deep, three or four feet
apart. The vapor would permeate the soil and kill all ground insects,
but the acre-cost of such treatment must be measured in its relation to
the value of the crop. The most promising policy with wire worms is
rotation of crops, starving them out with a grain or grass crop and not
growing such crops as you mention continually on the same land.
Bean Weevil.
How can I keep certain insects from getting into my dry beans? I have
finished picking the crop. Every year a little, short, stubby beetle
gets in them before spring and makes them unfit for use.
You have to do with the bean weevil. The eggs are inserted by the insect
while the beans are still green in the pods; subsequently the eggs hatch
and the worm excavates the interior of the ripened beans. The beans can
be protected after ripening by heating carefully to 130° Fahrenheit,
which will destroy the egg, or the larva if already hatched. Of course,
this heating must be done cautiously and with the aid of a good
thermometer for fear of destroying the germinating power.
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