34 APPLE. 



much infested) to spread cloths helow, the help of fowls or 

 young pigs might prove serviceable. 



The observer quoted immediately above, mentioned: — "At 

 the height of the season I cut oft" the heads of Eoses in -which 

 ^Yere several beetles, and took the flowers and contents to a 

 family of young pigs. It was amusing to see the pleasure 

 and excitement of the hunt for the living beetles. I shall, if 

 I can manage it, place our pigs in the held from which the' 

 beetles rise next year, and enlist them in the service. If I 

 can find grubs underground, I shall try turning the pigs 

 (without rings) into that infested patch, and letting them turn, 

 it up."— (A. L. B.) 



For destruction of maggots in the ground it has been stated 

 that to water the infested land in autumn with gas liquor 

 diluted in the proportion of one-tenth of gas liquor to nine- 

 tentbs of water does good by killing the grubs without hurting 

 the grass. But it would be eminently desirable to experiment 

 on a small scale before risking a general application. For 

 one thing the strength of gas-water might vary, and it is ver}^ 

 difficult to manage fluid dressings so that they should kill the 

 grubs at an inch or two deep in the ground, and yet not hurt 

 the grass. 



A correspondent mentioned that rolling with the "heaviest 

 roller" had the effect of hindering the progress of the grubs 

 very much, but the Eye had been bitten off by them in such 

 large patches that it had become necessary to plough up the 

 crop and re- sow. 



Another correspondent mentioned that in the case of soot 

 being spread over a piece of ground which had been infested 

 whilst the beetles were flying, that in the following year 

 the grass was greatly improved, and it was considered that 

 the soot drove away the chafers, and prevented them laying 

 their eggs. 



Birds of various kinds — as rooks, thrushes, blackbirds, and 

 especially starlings — have been found to be of great use in 

 keeping the grubs in check, and should on no account be 

 driven away. In one locality it was observed that "large 

 flocks of starlings, numbering several hundreds in a flock, 

 frequent the fields where these grubs abound, and the soil is 

 perforated by the birds' beaks." From another locality where 

 the Phyllopertha had been very prevalent it was reported that 

 "thousands of starlings are at work in the pasture fields 

 pulling up the dead grass and turning it off to get at the fat 

 succulent grubs, and the thrushes are going the same good 

 work on the lawns. 



But we still are in great need of more information as to 

 how to cope with these maggots, and even from the United 



