My own method is to get a helper, and, taking one plant at a time, knock the beetles off and kill them with a stick. It is a joy to look upon the heaps of slain when all is done. Whenever the plant upon which it is is jarred in the slightest, this beetle falls to the ground exactly as though it were dead. Only for a second, however, then it runs for dear life. That is why it takes more than one person, for it's no child's play to kill a score of scampering bugs in a quarter of a minute.
My other half's way is to get a fresh supply of insect powder (Dalmation, Persian, Bubach, etc., whatever name it may be sold under) and squirt it thickly over the bugs by the use of one of those 10-cent powder guns that all druggists keep. It is effective if the insect powder is fresh.
Other remedies are to put netting over the bed; to spray the plants with poisoned water, made by stirring 1 teaspoonful of Paris green into 2 gallons of water; and to use kerosene emulsion. The last is made after this formula: 1 tablespoonful of kerosene beaten up with half a cupful of milk. Dilute with 2 gallons of water.
Do not forget that any remedy must be used two or three times a day while the raid is on.
Root-lice, blue aphis, etc., is one of the most common enemies of the Aster. When the plants are almost at their best the tops turn a peculiar sickly green, or they wilt, or become brown. They die quickly unless something is at once done. Pull one up and the roots are found alive with a little insect that looks like a plant louse. Insecticides poured on the soil rarely kill the pests. A bed that has been ashed, or had a mulching of tobacco stems, as has already been advised, will have escaped.
Where the root lice have already commenced, Rexford recommends drawing the dirt away until the roots are exposed, then sifting tobacco dust thickly over them replacing the soil afterwards. Others recommend flooding the bed with kerosene emulsion in the same way. While some have success, others claim failure by either of these methods. Here is a way of dealing with root lice, however, that is always sure.
Heat a lot of water. Then pull up every affected plant, shake the dirt off their roots, and dip them quickly into scalding water. Leave them in but a second, but dip their roots two or three times to make sure every bug gets its dose. Pour boiling water into the ground where the Asters had been. That settles the fate of every root-louse in the ground. As soon as the ground has cooled a little, plant the Asters back, stake them so as to hold them up, and shade lightly for a day or two.
Will it not kill the plants? No, it will not injure them. Of course the plants should have been taken up very carefully so as not to break off the roots. The Aster will stand more in the way of lifting than any other plant I know. Mature plants may be washed out by the roots in a severe storm, but if promptly planted again will be all right in a day or two after. I know a lady who had to move some distance in August. She had a fine bed of Asters. She made the ground soaking wet, then took them every one up, putting them as close as they would stand in ordinary soap boxes. They never minded the transfer in the least, and bloomed so handsomely in their boxes as to call forth many compliments. I give these instances to convince doubting Thomases that pulling up Asters and scalding the root-lice on them is not so desperate a remedy as it sounds. And it is a sure remedy.
Other Cultural Rules