SOME COMMON PESTS 285 



the ground. I have already mentioned the point, but it is 

 worth emphasising again, that half the battle against grubs, 

 maggots, caterpillars and slugs is won in the autumn and winter 

 by the gardener who digs his soil early, turns it over often, and 

 exposes both it and the insect life it contains to the rigours of frost 

 and snow. The career of many a promising grub is thus cut short, 

 and much future trouble averted, whereas if he and his kind had 

 been left undisturbed throughout the winter in a neglected piece of 

 ground they would have come forth as soon as the atmospheric 

 conditions were genial enough and wrought their wicked way 

 through many a promising batch of seedlings and young vege- 

 tables. 



But though thorough cultivation of the soil will do much to 

 mitigate the evil, there will still be plenty of work before the 

 gardener who seeks to keep his plants clean and healthy, and for 

 his guidance I have set out in the following pages a list of the 

 commoner garden pests which he will encounter, together with a 

 few hints as to the methods by means of which they may be 

 combated. Dealing first with the pests which attack the roots 

 of plants, we have : 



WIREWORM. This grub is among the most destructive of its 

 kind. It has a long slender yellowish body with a dark brown head 

 and three pairs of legs. The best way to trap the wireworm is by 

 burying small slices of turnip, carrot or potato in the soil near 

 its haunts. The slices of turnip, etc., should be secured on a 

 skewer, and lifted every morning. The wireworms can then easily 

 be caught and destroyed. 



COCKCHAFER GRUB. This grub is nearly white and has a bluish 

 tail. It is not so easily trapped as the wireworm and must there- 

 fore be killed whenever, in digging the soil, it is discovered. The 

 cockchafer itself, which is a brown leathery beetle, flies at night 

 and should be destroyed on sight. 



LEATHER JACKET GRUB. This is the common daddy-long-legs 

 grub which attacks the roots of grass. He may be trapped in 

 the manner recommended for wireworms. The grub is legless 

 but moves with great rapidity. Where a lawn is attacked 



