40 CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 



has somewhat the form of the perfected beetle, but is of a yellow- 

 ish-white color; its short, stump-like wings, its antennas, and its 

 legs, are folded upon the breast ; and its whole body is enclosed 

 in a thin film, that wraps each part separately. During the month 

 of June, this filmy skin is rent : the included beetle withdraws from 

 its body and its limbs, bursts open its earthen cell, and digs its way 

 to the surface of the ground. Thus the various changes, from the 

 egg to the full development of the perfected beetle, are completed 

 within the space of one year. 



" Such being the metamorphoses and habits of these insects, it 

 is evident that we cannot attack them in the egg, the grub, or the 

 pupa state': the enemy in these stages is beyond our reach, and 

 is subject to the control only of the natural but unknown means 

 appointed by the Author of Nature to keep the insect tribes in 

 check. When they have issued from their subterranean retreats, 

 and have congregated upon our vines, trees, and other vegetable 

 productions, in the complete enjoyment of their propensities, we 

 must unite our efforts to seize and crush the invaders. They 

 must indeed be crushed, scalded, or burned, to deprive them of 

 life ; for they are not affected by any of the applications usually 

 found destructive to other insects. Experience has proved the 

 utility of gathering them by hand, or of shaking them or brushing 

 them from the plants into tin vessels containing a little water. 

 They should be collected daily during the period of their visita- 

 tion, and should be committed to the flames, or killed by scalding 

 water. The late John Lowell, Esq., states that, in 1823, he dis- 

 covered on a solitary apple-tree the rose-bugs 'in vast numbers, 

 such as could not be described, and would not be believed if they 

 were described, or at least none but an ocular witness could con- 

 ceive of their numbers. Destruction by hand was out of the 



