Stearns — Diabrotica 12-Pundata and Limax Maximus. 139 



factory. The latter because of the time and labor required, the 

 frames because of the first cost and subsequent expense for 

 repairs and the cartage to and from the field and storage when 

 not in use, while the cultivation among peas has no limitation 

 and two crops are produced on the same land to the pecuniary 

 advantage of the grower. Aside from the value of the peas 

 whether picked green or dried, the haul-in is excellent food for 

 cattle and sheep; nothing is wasted, lost or without value. 



In these latter days spraying with some insecticide is often 

 resorted to. This is objectionable because of its poisonous char- 

 acter; it requires considerable labor and involves expense, while 

 the pea-vine plan is scientific, natural and has no limitations; it 

 is comparatively inexpensive, and ordinarily one season with 

 another fairly profitable, not only in dollars and cents, but also 

 from the point of view that like all leguminous crops, peas 

 extract nitrogen from the atmosphere, and the soil from which 

 a crop of peas has been harvested is richer in this fertilizing 

 element than before the peas were sowed upon it. 



It is not unreasonable to assume that other pestiferous insects 

 may be thwarted, by careful experiment in the same line as 

 pursued above with Diabrotica. 



Regarding the sense of smell in the Mollusca, the testimony 

 of many observers as recorded in the literature, so far as it goes, 

 indicates that this sense is highly developed in the Gasteropoda, 

 in both marine and land species. The well-known slug Limax 

 maximus, a European form common in many localities on the 

 Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, is the only species 

 that has particularly attracted my attention, though other related 

 European species occur here and there in California. While none 

 of our native slugs or snails, so far as I am aware, are regarded 

 as pests these exotic slugs and the common Helix aspersa are 

 under the ban as undesirable residents because of their destruc- 

 tive habits. They multiply rapidly, a small colony soon becom- 

 ing a numerous community. Wherever they occur in consid- 

 erable numbers it is hardly worth while to attempt making a 

 lawn. The favorite mixture for seeding lawns in Los Angeles 

 and elsewhere in the general region thereabout, is Kentucky 

 Bluegrass, Poa pratensis, and the White Clover, Trifolium repens. 

 With the earliest tinge of green upon the ground the slugs and 

 snails make short work of the tender growth. 



