Then they came to the potato hills. The curly-topped little plants looked very pretty in their dark green ruffled leaves. Natalie was delighted with them and began describing how the seed of a potato was obtained. In following Natalie’s motions at the hills, Mrs. James saw something on one of the leaves of the plant just beside her. She stooped and plucked off the bug.
“Here’s a potato bug, Natalie. You’ll have to protect your vines from the beetle that is so destructive.”
At that, Natalie stooped too, and examined several leaves, and the rest of the scouts looked eagerly for the beetles. They found many of the pests on the under side of the leaves, busily at work feeding on the tender greens.
“The horrid little things! What can I do to them?” cried Natalie, horrified at seeing so many bugs.
“You must kill them or they’ll eat all the leaves which are the only sources of light and fresh air provided for the tiny tubers already forming under the surface of the ground. These Colorado beetles lay eggs on the underside of the leaves and these soon hatch out additional bugs so that very soon the entire field is infested with them. The time to get rid of them is when the potato plants are still very small, as these are,” explained Mrs. James.
“Dear me, Jimmy, I can’t bear to touch them, so how can I ever kill them all?” Natalie shuddered as she spoke.
“We’ll have to order some Paris Green from Four Corners and prepare a solution to cover the leaves. It can be applied with a squirt-gun, and it is quite simple to do.”
“I’ll go with Frances at once, and bring back the stuff,” was Natalie’s emphatic declaration.
The girls then left the gardens and Frances went to get out the car to drive to Four Corners. Meantime, Janet went to the barn yard with a few of the girls, to have a look at the fowl and pigs. While she was there, Janet took a peep in the nests and found two more eggs.
“Isn’t this great! The hens are laying splendidly now, and I am keeping the house provided with fresh eggs every day,” said she, exultantly.