DISEASES OF THE CARNATION 89 



wireworms will be found half buried in the tubers or 

 the carrots. Hundreds may be killed in this way. 



Daddy-long-legs or Cranefly. — This insect is 

 quite innocent in the daddy-long-legs stage, but it must 

 not be forgotten that as a grub few pests of the garden 

 are more destructive ; it has a voracious appetite, and 

 is generally found browsing on the plants at night. 

 Its eats the leaves and sometimes gouges out the 

 centre. In the daytime it burrows underground, or, 

 if overgorged with the leaves of choice Carnations, 

 will be found at the base of the plants, when it must 

 be caught and destroyed. These grubs are generally 

 called " leather-jackets," on account of the toughness 

 of their skins. This peculiarity prevents insecticides 

 from having much effect on them, and they seem to 

 be indifferent to drought or moisture, and may be 

 frozen until they are quite stiff without being killed. 

 When the grubs are underground no insecticide can 

 be made of sufficient strength to kill them, but a heavy 

 watering with liquid manure, such as a solution of 

 guano, nitrate of soda, or common salt, has been found 

 very useful. It is disagreeable to the grubs, and is of 

 assistance to the plants. The grubs may be trapped 

 with slices of carrot, turnip, and mangold, into each 

 of which a small w^ooden skewer should be thrust. 

 They should then be buried about one inch below 

 the surface, the skewer being placed uppermost, to 

 show the position of the bait. Leather-jackets are very 

 fond of roving about at night, and if bricks, boards, 

 tiles, slates, or pieces of turf are laid near their haunts 

 and turned over in the morning, these grubs will 



