98 How to Make the Garden Pay. 



mended as the chief preventive measure. Ordinarily we can 

 succeed in preventing serious damage to our young plants of the 

 Brassica family, by dusting them, when first appearing above 

 ground, with plaster, air-slacked lime, sifted wood ashes, soot, 

 tobacco dust, or in fact any dust-like material. When the beetles 

 appear in very large numbers, and consequently are very hungry, 

 mere grit will not repel them, and a little admixture of Paris 

 green one part to a hundred parts of plaster to such appli- 

 cations will be necessary. The insect is hardy and resistant 

 enough not to appear to be inconvenienced by even the best of 

 buhach in full strength, nor by strong vapors of naphtaline. 

 Little chicks will catch these insects in great quantities, and so 

 will toads when they happen to come across an infested patch. 



Of late these insects have appeared in vast numbers in our 

 potato fields, and often entirely ruin the foliage, greatly reducing 

 the crop of tubers. The only remedy that thus far has seemed 

 to give relief, is spraying the vines freely with a strong decoction 

 of tobacco stems or dust. Very likely, also, the free use of 

 dry tobacco dust may drive these beetles away. 

 GRUBS White. See May Beetle. 

 MAGGOT Cabbage, Onion, etc. See Onion Fly. 

 MAY BEETLE. (Lachnosterna) In the perfect or beetle 

 state, this does not usually damage the gardener's crops very 

 seriously; but its larva, the well known 

 and much feared " white grub " is often 

 very destructive to the roots of straw- 

 berries, corn and other 

 garden plants, especially 

 when grown on sod land 

 recently brought under 

 cultivation. Both beetle 

 and larva are shown in 

 May Beetle and Grub. illustration. Fortunately 



these fat grubs have many 



natural enemies, especially brown thrushes, robins, crows, and a 

 number of other birds; also moles, pigs, skunks, etc. Fall plow- 

 ing and continued cultivation will soon rid the field of their 

 undesirable presence. It is also recommended to make some 

 artificial breeding place, by covering piles of fresh cow manure 

 with fine earth during latter part of May or June. Many beetles 

 will select these for a place to deposit their eggs, and the heaps 

 may be turned over and spread out exposing the young larvae to 

 sure destruction by frost, birds and other natural enemies. 



ONION FLY. (Anthomyia.) More generally known as radish 

 or cabbage fly. In general appearance it resembles a small 

 house fly. It is the parent of the maggot, which troubles the 

 roots of cabbages, radishes, onions, turnips, etc., and makes itself 



