GARDEN INSECTS. 59 



shoots for market require to be cut when just peeping 

 through tlie ground, otherwise in a day nothing would 

 remain to be collected. 



Asparagus beds past the marketable condition of 

 growth can be dressed advantageously with a solution of 

 a tablesj^oonful of Paris green in four gallons of water, 

 which will be generally found to kill the slugs. Some- 

 times effective results ensue by the application of freshly 

 slaked lime while the dew is on them, for the least par- 

 ticle of lime touching the skin of a slug is certain to 

 kill it. 



White Grub. — The white grub is the larvce of the 

 familiar June bug, or, more correctly. May beetle, which, 

 in the early spring months, enters dwellings in the even- 

 ing, swarming about the lights, buzzing loudly and vio- 

 lently, knocking themselves against the walls and ceil- 

 ings. The perfect insect feeds upon the foliage of trees, 

 and is more or less destructive. The eggs are deposited 

 in the earth, and hatch in about a month. The grubs 

 remain in the ground, doing little injury till the second 

 summer, when they attack the roots of plants. They 

 remain as grubs in the earth for nearly three years, by 

 which time they reach a length of two inches, and often 

 appear in such great numbers as to do immense damage. 

 The body of the grub is soft and of a dirty white, and 

 its head is of red and l)rown, and its habit, like the cut 

 worm, is to coil into a ball when disturbed. Like other 

 grubs, they are difficult to poison, the best plan being 

 to endeavor to destroy the beetles in early spring. This 

 worm is eaten by skunks, coons, moles and birds. Dogs 

 can be trained to eat it, and when so trained will follow 

 a plow^ all day long. 



Wire Worm. — The wire worm is a long, yellow, 

 slender-bodied grub, with exceedingly hard' and tough 

 skin. These worms destroy the seed and young plants 

 of squash, pumpkin, melon, and often potatoes. They 



