172 Commercial Gardening 



following that of the larva, maggot, or caterpillar, and preceding that of 

 the perfect insect. When the larva has eaten and destroyed a certain 

 amount of plant tissue, and has attained its full size, it then prepares to 

 take a rest for a certain period. It exudes a secretion out of which a 

 leathery protecting coat is formed, and it proceeds by a series of jerks to 

 pull this coat over its body from the bottom upwards, much in the same 

 way as if a man tried to pull a tight-fitting sack over himself from the feet 

 upwards, until he could tie it over his head. While this process is going 

 on, many larvae hang by a silken cord from the bough of a tree, or shrub, 

 or leaf, afterwards dropping down to the ground and burying themselves 

 in the soil at certain depths. Other larvae, however, spin cocoons in which 

 they pupate and go to rest in the soil, in crevices of walls, &c. 



The periods at which various insects go to rest in the soil vary according 

 to their nature and habits, some being dormant either in spring, summer, 

 autumn, or winter, while others are active and destructive. It is in this 

 period of inactivity that the cultivator has the key to destroying the pests. 

 There they are resting quietly in the soil, and so long as they are undis- 

 turbed there is every chance that they will come forth in the perfect 

 insect stage to carry on mischief. Not only are the pests free from severe 

 frosty weather by being buried in the soil, but what is of more importance 

 is that they are also out of the reach and out of sight of the birds, whose 

 beaks in most cases are either too short or too tender to pierce the soil 

 covering the pupae. 



It is therefore to the treatment of the soil that the cultivator must pay 

 more attention if he wishes to stop the mischief of these pests at the foun- 

 tain head. So long as the soil is left uncultivated, so long are the pests 

 quite safe from frost or birds. As soon, however, as the spade, fork, plough, 

 or hoe is used to turn up the ground, then and not till then will the grower 

 receive the assistance of nature's pest destroyers, the birds thrushes, 

 blackbirds, starlings, rooks, robins, sparrows, magpies, finches, owls, 

 swallows, poultry, &c., that are ever on the watch to pick up any choice 

 morsels of diet in the way of chrysalides or grubs that are brought 

 within their reach. Birds are of the utmost assistance to the gardener; 

 they render him valuable services free of charge, and are only too glad 

 of having a free feed placed at their disposal. A thrush or blackbird will 

 probably account for hundreds of grubs of various insect pests in the course 

 of a day, if the ground has been turned up so that they are readily detected. 

 Even the cost of digging the soil should not be debited to the birds, but to 

 the cultivator himself, as it is he who obtains the additional advantage 

 of having a larger supply of nitrates, phosphates, potash, fresh air, and 

 other essential plant foods placed at the disposal of his crops. As some 

 pests are dormant in the soil at every season of the year the wisest plan 

 therefore to secure their eradication is to keep the upper layer stirred with 

 the fork, spade, hoe, or scarified as often as the growing crops will permit. 

 The hoe is probably the most convenient for keeping the surface of the 

 soil in a loose and friable condition after digging or trenching. Its constant 



