HINTS AND HELPS. 



119 



the spring and summer in the young flower stalk or 

 near the crown of the plant. They hatch in a few days, 

 and the grub goes to work at once on the root or stem, 



The Rhubarb Clkculio. 



growing rapidly and developing into beetles from August 

 to October according to the time of hatching. The in- 

 sect seems to prefer laying its eggs upon the flower 

 stalks of the yellow dock, and if the dock plants in the 

 neighborhood are destroyed and the rhubarb not allowed 

 to develop its flower stalk the number of eggs which 

 hatch will be very greatly reduced. The only other 

 remedy practiced is collecting and destroying the beetles 

 whenever noticed. If the dock plants are quite thorough- 

 ly disposed of, the insects will not do very serious dam- 

 age. An illustration shows the appearance of a section 

 of stalk which has been punctured and gnawed by the 

 curculio grub making it worthless for market purposes. 



