DADDY LONGLEGS. 69 



seed-bed on this. The plant takes longer to develop, the 

 growth is slower, and consequently, as it is not able by its 

 growth to counter-balance the effect of the damage from the 

 grub, it starves, sickens, and dies. 



Well-drained ground, properly prepared, and plenty of suit- 

 able manure, * are the things most likely to keep off attack ; 

 and with a special view to lay a foundation for strong growth 

 where an attack is feared, it is recommended to use guano as 

 a top-dressing, along with the seed. This more particularly 

 applies to clay-land, as the ammonia contained in guano is 

 especially wanted on these soils. 



3rdly. Applications that are of use when the gruh is des- 

 tructive to the groioing crop. — "With regard to mechanical appli- 

 cations. The grubs pierce the soil by means of their pointed 

 heads, and draw themselves through by their rings ; and 

 therefore, though it is but an imperfect cure, something may 

 be done by compressing the ground so that they cannot easily 

 stray about under the surface, and waste and weaken even 

 more than they totally destroy. 



Pressure may be given by a Crosskill's roller or a Cambridge 

 ring-roller, and where the land has been previously rolled so 

 that no shelter is afforded to the grub a good many may thus 

 be crushed. Where there is bad infestation, it would be worth 

 while to examine whether the grubs are out on the surface at 

 dawn and dusk, and if so, though rolling at such times is 

 exceedingly inconvenient, it would be the best time for the 

 operation. The grubs may sometimes be collected by a top- 

 dressing of Eape-cake, and the roller passed over the ground 

 in the morning with good results. In a series of experiments 

 tried in 1884, by Mr. Ealph Lowe, of Sleaford, Lincolnshire, 

 with regard to the amount of weight which could be borne by 

 these Leather-jacket grubs, he placed some of them in moder- 

 ately damp soil, about an inch from the surface, and applied 

 a pressure of Sg- cwt. for five minutes. The soil was pressed 

 very close, and the grubs, on being exposed to the air, soon 

 recovered. 



Eepeating the experiment for the same length of time — that 

 is, five minutes — with the lesser weight of 2 cwt., but leaving 

 the grubs in the compressed soil, it was found that forty-eight 

 hours afterwards none of them had moved, and Mr. Lowe 

 considered they would not have moved, but died where they 

 had been pressed down. 



The above experiments appear to me of value in con- 



* Daddy Longlegs grubs are sometimes carried out to the field in farm- 

 mauure, and are also to be found in composts that are mixed with decaying 

 turf ; such applications therefore need inspection where there is reason to 

 suspect infestation, and most especially in the case of rotten turf heaps. 



