1899] DADDY LONGLEGS. 31 



" I noticed also that there was no extra leaf growth in the plants 

 receiving the nitrate of soda. This was rather strange, because nitrate 

 of soda increases the leaf growth very much. I can only account for 

 it in this way, — after the application of the nitrate of soda we had 

 very heavy falls of rain several times, and I think the nitrate of soda 

 was washed away before the plants had derived any benefit. Our soil 

 here is very light and porous, and I have several times seen nitrate of 

 soda applied to our corn crops, and in a venj wet time no good whatever 

 was derived from it.^' * Here my correspondent made some observations 

 on the likelihood of sulphate of ammonia being more serviceable on 

 such a porous soil on account of being less soluble than the nitrate of 

 soda. 



The above report, though by no means satisfactory in the point of 

 view hoped for (and consequently adding to the losses of my corre- 

 spondent, instead of lessening them), is valuable, and deserves careful 

 attention in several of its details. Firstly, it did?io^ induce a vigorous 

 growth, which, where circumstances allow, is the great reason fur appli- 

 cation of nitrate of soda. Secondly, though only a few of the Daddy 

 Longlegs grubs were found present in June and July, it is by no means 

 certain that we owed this absence to the nitrate. We have no evidence 

 either way ; that is, the Daddy Longlegs grubs, to kill which it was 

 applied in April and May, may have been killed, or they may (by June 

 and July) have changed to fly state and taken flight. Thirdly, the 

 application had done no harm to the white grubs, distinguished 

 especially as beetle grubs, which, from the specimens sent me, I had 

 found to be weevil, and apparently one of tlie very common kinds of 

 Otiorhynchus grubs, which are very injurious at plant roots, and in 

 this instance a bad attack observed to occur in summer. 



The cause of the failure is attributed, so far as non- stimulating the 

 plant growth, to great rainfall, and probably this is perfectly correct ; 

 and the observation that similar failure of effects had been noticed 

 when applied to corn crops in a very wet time confirms the view, and 

 is valuable in itself. Therefore, as giving the reason of failure of what 

 is usually a trustworthy remedy, I give my correspondent's notes in 

 extenso, as valuable both for crop and fruit growers. 



Prevention and Eemedies. — These have been entered on in my 

 previous Annual Reports so very fully that I only now repeat some of 

 the main points or general principles of prevention. 



With corn and grass crops a fertilizing application which will keep 

 up the strength of the plants that are not hopelessly injured is what is 

 most needed, and if at the same time the application is one injurious 

 or obnoxious to the larva it is all the better. 



* The italics are mine, to draw attention to observation of great fall of rain 

 neutralizing the effect of the nitrate of soda, as this is important. 



