104 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



WIRE-WORM. 



Last year, I had experience of your kind- 

 ness ia the answer you gave to an inquiry 

 of mine as to a destructive grub in my 

 garden, which proved to be that of the 

 "Daddy Longlegs." Fortunately, lam rid 

 of that pest; but, most unfortunately, it 

 is succeeded by anot'.ier still more uni- 

 versal in its presence, and unscrupulous 

 ia its attacks, to wit, the wire-worm ; and 

 I should be agaitr obliged by advise how 

 to deal with an enemy which puts me 

 almost " at my wits' end." 



Every kind of crop is injured by it ; 

 iu some cases to the entire destruction 

 of such things as turnips and carrots. 

 Seedlings of ail kinds, strawberry plants, 

 and flowers of various growth, ai'e eaten 

 through and killed ; bulbs, beans, and 

 peas are pierced like sieves, and become 

 rotten before they can vegetate, or the 

 plants are cut oif before they can attaiu 

 any growth. 



I have consulted as many books as I 

 could meet with on the subject, but the 

 writers appear to be mostly unacquainted 

 Avith any means of lessening or banishing 

 the pest ; and they, as it appears to me, 

 seek to conceal their ignorance by the 

 recommendation of hand-picking. The 

 idea of attempting this with any hope of 

 success, iu a piece of laud of 800 square 

 yards, seems monstrous, especially as it 

 would involve the necessity of rooting up 

 every plant of every kind to prosecute the 

 search, besides bunting over, under, and 

 through every square inch of tlie soil, to 

 an indeflnite depth. If a man could tho- 

 roughly do a square yard in a day (which 

 I doubt), at the end of a year he would 

 have completed half his task, and the un- 

 completed half would still furnish such a 

 supply as to recolonizc that which had 

 been sifted over with so much care. Si- 

 syphus himself would not exchange his 

 labour for such an one as this. 



What is wanted is some pivparatiou 

 whicli shall destroy the worm, and yet 

 leave the crops unhurt. The only work 

 in which I have met with anything to the 

 pui'pose is Richardson's " Pests of the 

 Farm," published by Orr and Co. The 

 compost there recommended, and stated 

 to have been found effectual iu Ireland, is — 

 Quicklime, in powder, two parts ; soot, 

 three parts ; salt, one part ; applied, imme- 

 diately at'ier mixing, as a top-dressing. 

 But the writer, like your Cuero Guano 

 correspondent, does not say how much he 

 would use — whether a ton per square yard, 

 or a spoonful per acre. 



No doubt the composition would be 

 capital manure, if applied iu proper quan- 

 tity ; but too mucli of it would kill every- 

 thing of vegetable as well as animal exist- 

 ence. Again : when should it be used ? 

 In winter, when most crops are off, I ex- 

 pect it w^)uld be ineffectual, because then 

 the worms seem to have burrowed deep in 

 the earth, for there are none of them to be 

 found in the top soil. Whereas, just now, 

 they are mucli nearer the surface, "pitch- 

 ing into" stems and I'oots in all directions. 

 If a stray radish, for instance, happens to 

 have escaped utter annihilation, you pull 

 it up, aud find from two to six or more of 

 tlie yellow leathery rascals at its root. 

 They are now, therefore, much more ac- 

 cessible to " external influences," applied 

 in the waj' of physic. 



Buf, once more, it seems of no use 

 applying any preparation, unless it be done 

 thorougldy all over the gi'Oiuid ; for, if 

 auy spot be left, it will serve as a " refuge 

 for the destitute" wire-Viforms from otiier 

 parts of the ground, and as a nucleus for 

 recolonization by and by. 



I have ascertained, by preliminary ex- 

 periment, that either salt or soot will kill 

 wire-worms immersed in it in a few mi- 

 nutes ; and soot also kills small centipedes 

 (of which I have plenty) almost instanta- 

 neously. The questions on which I (and, 

 no doubt, many other unfortunates) would 

 be grateful for your opinion, are these : — 



1. The quantity of the preparation to 

 apply per square yard ? 



2. Whether each of the ingredients 

 would be likely to neutralize the effect of 

 the others ? 



3. WheniowiQ it with least ri^k to 

 crops, both seasonal and per;ua!;ont, and 

 with most certainty ? 



4. Whetiier to use it at all, or some- 

 thing better ? 



5. Whether gas -water or gas -lime 

 would be preferable or effectual in any 

 degree ? 



6. And to advise generally on the 

 subject. 



Mejt. — I have tried " tater-traps," 

 viz., pieces of potato stuck iu about an 

 inch or two deep, here aud there, all over 

 a bed. It is quite true that you soon fir.d 

 them full of tlie worms, but the quantity 

 in the neighbourhood does not seem to be 

 seriously diminisl;ed. Even if it were, 

 this process, or auy other form of hand- 

 picking, is inapplicable to any extent of 

 surface. 



7. Whether it would be unwise to dose 



