War Has Started On the Colorado Beetle -- Dusting Machines *****. Each is capable of covering 40 acres per day. Land girls are helping the farmers in combating the Colorado Beetle menace. In the Essex area where these photograph were taken - Orsett and Tilbury - trained land girl 'socute' have been spying out the farms behind the long stretch of the Essex Coast. After the suspected area has been mapped, the dusting of the crop by a contractor is carried out, and afterwards an inspection of all potato fields before and after dusting in an endeavor to discover if any beetles are in fact present. June 27, 1949. (Photo by Fox Photos).