Gladiolus Sti'dies — II 255 



were devoured by wireworms, the destnictive little things eating throtigh 

 the shoot just as it appeared above ground." W. P. Wright also mentions 

 wireworms, in Popular Garden Flowers. He states that the grubs fasten 

 on the corms in myriads, and soon make short work of a large collection. 

 He recommends that if the corms are planted on new land from pasture, 

 the turf should be taken away, not turned in, however deeply, and in 

 the spring before planting Vaporite or Aporite should be dug in nine 

 or ten inches below the siu"face. 



The writer has seen no reference to injiu^' from ^dreworms in this 

 country. Weathers (191 1) recommends trenching three feet deep in 

 autumn, bur\4ng the topsoil containing the worms, and perhaps other 

 grubs, at the bottom of the furrow. By this practice the worms are 

 completely stifled and deprived of their vegetable diet; the subsoil will 

 thus be free from the pest, and if well manured and exposed to the weather 

 it will be in a good fertile condition in the spring. 



The writer has noted a slight amount of injun,- due to the small wiry 

 millepede, a Chilognatha. This may be the " wireworm " already referred 

 to. The millepedes may be observed in the ashes under pots of 

 gladioli grown indoors, and many of them are also noticed on the outdoor 

 corms at the time they are being overhauled for winter storage. The 

 condition known as scab may be due to these millepedes, but this is not 

 definitely proved. If the corms are left to dry in a bam for som.e time, 

 the holes bored by the millepede are filled with a jelly-like substance 

 which one might at first think is frost. The injury due to these millepedes 

 differs from diseased corms in that the areas of their attack are of regular 

 shape and are metallic in appearance. 



Most of the damage to gladioli caused by insects is on the parts of 

 the plant above ground. The black aster beetle seems troublesome to 

 many growers, the damage being to both buds and flowers. This is 

 especially true late in the season. 



H. A. Richardson reports the occurrence of arctiid moths, undoubtedly 

 a species of the genus of tiger moths, Eyprepia. These moths are 

 gregarious in habit, and they injure the flowers and spikes, but mostly 

 the cuticle of the leaves. Grasshoppers and katydids have been reported 

 as eating the blooms. 



The red spider (Tetranychus telarius Linn.) is especially troublesome 

 in a very dn- season. This is a small mite, one-fiftieth of an inch long, 

 which spins minute threads that are scarcely perceptible to the naked 

 eye but that when ven,^ abundant give a grayish appearance to the leaves. 

 The insects are rather reddish, though somewhat orange-tinged. Their 

 principal injuries are to indoor plants, but they are also found in the 

 open. When only a few are present they are not noticeable; but when 



