322 UK, HAUDY ON IMSKCTS 



the insects, while the latter came up by their side uiiiiiiui-ed.* The same end 

 may be attained, t1iou£^li less neatly, by scattering a quantity of seed broad- 

 cast over the drills after the crop is sown. Attempts to secure the crop, 

 by procuring a double braird, have been attended with considerable success. 

 Seeds of ditt'erent ages are sown together ; or one portion is steeped, while 

 the other half is used dry ; or one sowing after another is given to the land, 

 after the interval of a few days. If the earliest started seed come up in dry 

 weather, the Hy will perhaps take it, and being satiated, will be less severe 

 on the supploinciitary braird ; but if the first appear in wet weather, it will 

 remain the stautling crop in consequence of the insects being confined to their 

 hiding places. In connection with this topic, it was stated by Mr Wood- 

 ward of Little Comberton, Worcestershire, before the weekly Council of 

 the R^yal Agricultural Society of England, 8th May, 1844, that ho had, 

 the previous year, " prepared a field for turnips, and brought the whole of 

 it into the same state of cultivation; but, having sown one half of the field 

 on the 1st of June, and the other half on the 2d, with the same seed, in the 

 same condition, he had the surprise and mortification to find, without any 

 obvious solution of the mystery, that the first sowing went, while the 

 second only stood." In explanation, it may be remarked, that, probably, 

 the first sowing preceded the other in germinating, and that the insects, 

 having been primarily attracted to it, and finding a plentiful supply, never 

 removed from it. In general they are sluggish if once they establish them- 

 selves on plants adapted to their taste, as is seen by the unsparing man- 

 ner in which they conduct their depredations. One of the causes why the 

 Swede is iiore difficult to raise than the common turnip, "is from its be- 

 ing sown before other turnips, at a season of the year when commonly less 

 rain falls than at a later period, and being slower in growth, and less 

 able to withstand the attack of the fly.''t To distract the attention of the 

 insect, Mr Le Keux proposes to sow it along with stone white turnips, when 

 the beetle will attach itself to the latter, and the Swedes will be preserved. { 

 To this it is objected that the insect may be attracted to the Swedes by the 

 strong scent of the white turnip.§ Be this as it may, the plan has sometimes 

 succeeded in practice. Taking advantage of the perfect scent of the insect, 

 it might be possible, in some instances, to employ a trap to clear the neigh- 

 bourhood of a field, or diminish the number of the beetles, before tne crop 

 be sown. An acquaintance informs me that he once had his attention di- 

 rected to a portion of a turnip on the side of a public road, on which an im- 

 mense assemblage of the fly had taken place. They had been lured from 

 their retreats by the beautiful day, and had been drawn thither, as to a 

 common centre, to have their wants supplied. I have likewise remarked 

 that where the wild plants which they frequent in spring are isolated, or 

 grow in patches, the insects are more than usually crowded. In accordance 

 with these observations, it may be proposed to sow a quantity of seed in small 

 pits dug near the field, or garden if preferable, early in the season. If the 

 bait proves tempting, and a sufficient number of insects are collected in any 

 of the pits, a spadeful of earth might at once be placed over them while 

 busy feeding; and the insects thus entrapped might be destroyed by pour- 

 ing in boiling water, or some acrid solution. Different growths of seeds 

 might be obtained in the pits by sowing the seeds steeped, or dry, or of dif- 

 ferent ages. Smoke from dry weeds and stubble, driven across the fields 

 in favourable directions of the wind, has been found beneficial in clearing a 

 space from insects.|| Some render this more pungent by burning sulphur on 

 the fumigating heaps ; the sulphurous acid produced, as well as the smoke, 

 is very annoying to the little pests.^ It has been proposed to apply to the 



♦ Quart. Journal of Agriculture, viil., 363. 



t Poppy, in Mark Lane Express. 



I Trans, of the Ent. Soc. Lond., ii., part i. Ent. Mag., v., 343. 



§ Curtis, Roy. Agr. Soc. Journ. ii., apud Gard. Chron., June 22, 1844, p. 413, 



II Kollar on Injurious Insects, 143. ^ Gard. Chron., Aug. 7, 1847, p. 531. 



