

WlXTF.n SWKICT ("lUMnXANTHrS KUAflP.AXS. 



(Sop p' IS.) 



Friends and Foes of the Plotholders' Crops. 



Before considering the various pests and diseases 

 which are apt to become troublesome to the plot- 

 holder who is keen to get tlie best results out of 

 his allotment it might be worth while consider- 

 ing some of the friends of the plotholder, as well 

 as the primary causes which tend to make plants 

 unhealthy and more liable to attack by diseases 

 and pests. 



I remember, while at Kew, seeing a little 

 Austrian pushing a big burly Scotchman on one 

 side, because the latter was about to put his foot 

 on a foetid rose beetle, or devil's coach horse, as 

 it is commonly called ; remarking at the same time 

 that any good gardener ought to know his friends. 

 Plotholders should also know their friends, so 

 tliat when they enter on a war against plant 

 enemies they will know who are their friends and 

 who are their enemies. Amongst the most useful 

 animals of the allotment — more particvilarly 

 during the winter season — are the birds. This is 

 always a thorny subject for discussion amongst 

 gardeners; it would seem in the majority 

 of cases that " The evil that they do lives 

 after them, the good is oft interred with their 

 ))ones." There can be no gainsaying the fact, 

 however, that were all the birds exterminated 

 that are considered injurious there would be a far 

 more serious shortage of food than even at present 

 owing to the plague of insects and other pests 

 wliich would multiply witliout miich check. On 

 the allotment, more particularly in winter, various 

 birds, such as the robin, pewee, thrush, blackbird, 

 starling, hedge sparrow, seagull, wag-tail, and 

 crows, do a great deal of usefvil work in hunting 

 out slugs, wire-worms, and other grubs, &c. ; 

 during the spring and siunmer some of these — more 

 particularly the starling, crow, and house 

 sparrow — are apt to do a considerable amount of 

 damage. Due precautions should be taken at such 

 seasons to prevent injury to the seeds and crops. 



Earthworms. — Worms are often regarded by 

 plotholders as animals to be cut or killed at every 

 opportunity, despite the fact that so much has been 

 written with regard to their general usefulness. 

 On heavy soils, where they often abound, they are 

 particularly useful. 



The numerous tracks left by the worm as it 



burrows through the soil act as drainage channels 

 and also assist the entry of air, which is so much 

 needed in such soils. Then again, as the worm 

 eats its way through the soil, digesting a portion 

 only of the material it consumes, it leaves the 

 waste matter in the form of castings at the surface 

 of the soil, where it gradiuilly washes down to the 

 roots of plants. The plant foods contained in 

 such castings are generally in a more available or 

 soluble state than prior to their passage through 

 the worm's intestines ! 



Frogs. — These feed upon slugs and beetles, and 

 ought to be encouraged. 



Centipedes. — These are generally considered 

 useful, as they feed to a large extent on other 

 animals, while their cousins, the millipedes, are 

 considered more or less harmful to crops. The 

 former can be distinguished from the latter by 

 their having one pair of legs on each segment of 

 the body, and also in being generally flattened, 

 brownish in colour, and comparatively short, 

 while the latter have two pairs of legs on each 

 segment, are more rounded, yellowish in colour, 

 and have a long wriggly body. 



Slugs. — The testacella, or ear-shelled slug, is not 

 a very common animal; it is conspicuous inasmuch 

 as it carries on the outside, at the extreme end 

 of its body, a little, or rudimentary, shell. It is 

 usually yellow in character ; it feeds voraciously 

 on other slugs and soil grubs, and should there- 

 fore l)e encouraged. The more connnon slugs 

 wliich do not show a shell on their exterior cannot 

 generally be regarded as friends of the plotholder. 



Amongst useful insects are the ground beetles, 

 lady bird beetles, devil's coach horse beetle, 

 hover or hawk flies, lace wing flies, and ichne- 

 umons. 



The ground Ijeetles, which vary in size accord- 

 ing to the species, are fairly plentiful on most 

 soils, e.specially sandy soils; they feed mainly on 

 other insects and their larvae or grubs. The devil's 

 coach horse which, owing to its short wing cases, 

 appears to be made up of four principal divisions 

 instead of the usual three divisions, does similar 

 useful work, while the lady l)ird, of which there 

 are several species, and hover fly are specially 

 valuable where aphides are plentiful (and where 



