Insect and OCiher Pests. 159 
air while still in bud. Soft soap and sulphur, as well 
as Gishurst Compound, have even greater effect, but 
cannot be used after the flowers expand. The buds 
may be dusted with tobacco powder while wet. Dur- 
ing the flowering season the Carnation grower must 
combat this pest assiduously. 
Wireworms. 
These are the larve or grubs of certain beetles, 
known as Click Beetles, Skipjacks, and Snap 
Beetles. They are slender, yellow, encased in a 
hard, polished skin, wiry in texture, and furnished 
with six short legs on the thorax, a little behind the 
head. Amongst the more common and destructive 
are the grubs, or wireworms, of Elater sputator, E. 
obscurus, E. lineatus, and others all known also by 
the name of Agriotes. They live in grass pastures 
and corn fields, often doing considerable damage. 
They are imported to the garden and to Carnation 
beds along with soil and manure, and get into pot- 
ting soil with the turf. 
REMEDIES.—In beds, borders, and plantations of 
Carnations wireworms may be persistently trapped 
and hunted for by precisely the same methods as 
adopted in the case of Leather-jackets, than which 
they are more easily detected owing to their bright 
colour. As they live in the larva state, under the 
soil, for three to five years, every wireworm that is 
caught saves a deal of after trouble. The grubs 
vary from half to one inch in length, according to the 
species and their age. They gnaw their way into 
the stems at the surface of the ground and thus 
destroy many plants, where the pest is plentiful, often 
before their presence is detected. Where plants are 
shrivelling up or break over at the ground line, the 
stems should be examined for wireworms to prevent 
them from serving other plants in a similar manner. 
Where the ground can be fallowed for a year it can 
be heavily dressed with gas-lime, forking the latter 
into the soil WVaporite should prove even more effec- 
tive in destroying the wireworms. The ground 
should also be frequently forked over to expose the 
grubs to birds, while those detected by the operator 
should be pickel up and destroyed. The forking 
over of the soil would destroy many while in the 
pupa state by disturbing them during this critical 
stage of their existence. This operation should prove 
serviceable if conducted during June, July and 
August. 
