THE HEATHER BEETLE 425 



per day. I was surprised to find, too, how little heather was eaten in most cases, 

 despite the fact that the birds were in almost every case found on the moor and 

 not in the woods." 



It is interesting to note that this was written and printed before any one 

 realised the importance of the heathe'r beetle as a destructive insect ! I have 

 been informed that on certain moors it is difficult to induce Blackgame to settle 

 and make a home ; but if they were once successfully established I cannot but 

 think that they would become a useful means of preventing that wholesale 

 destruction of heather which so often at present troubles the proprietors and 

 keepers of our Grouse moors. 



Probably the only practicable method of dealing with the pest is that of 

 burning the affected heather, not at the usual season for so doing, but at the 

 time when the grub is on the shoots feeding. As the beetle hibernates between 

 the months of September or October, and April or May, it appears to me to 

 be of little use burning within this period, for the beetles would then be lying 

 in a torpid condition below the surface of the soil, with cool and moist 

 surroundings, and the flames would pass over them without doing them serious 

 harm. The burning should, therefore, be done between May and August, when 

 the grubs are up feeding on the shoots. There are two principal objections 

 to this plan, namely, the legal aspect of the matter and the practical difficulty 

 of getting the heather to burn when in a green and sappy condition. As the 

 present state of the law prohibits burning in Scotland between April llth and 

 November 1st special dispensation might be obtained in order to try the effect 

 of burning the diseased areas during the summer months. The difficulty regard- 

 ing the green condition of the heather might be got over by spraying the portion 

 to be burned with some inflammable fluid such as paraffin or petrol, in small 

 areas at a time, and well before any light is applied. This would have to be 

 done with great care. It would not be necessary for the heather itself to be so 

 thoroughly burned as in the ordinary operation for the purpose of promoting 

 young growth for feeding, and I believe that the fire obtained from the inflam- 

 mable agent itself might be sufficient to kill the grubs, even if the shoots 

 did not burn so freely as at other seasons. 



