145 



have not got the means of steaming the house from 

 a boiler, will find a trough, with small holes pierced 

 in the bottom, fixed over the hot-water pipes or flues, 

 a very good substitute. Enough of steam will be ge- 

 nerated in this way in one hour to cause a fine dew 

 on the plants ; if the house or frame can be covered 

 during the operation, so much the better, as it will 

 prevent the steam from condensing on the glass, and 

 also keep the tobacco smoke from escaping through 

 the laps in the roof. (Gard. Chron. 1844.) 



In other parts of the globe there are other insects 

 which are very serious depredators upon the vine. 

 There is a singular beetle, common in Hungary, 

 (Lethrus cephalotes) which gnaws off the young shoots 

 of the vine, and drags them backward into its bur- 

 row, where it feeds upon them ; on this account the 

 country people wage continual war with it, destroying 

 vast numbers. Three other beetles also attack this 

 noble plant : two of them mentioned by French 

 authors (Rynchites Bacchus and Eumolpus Vitis,) 

 devour the young shoots, the foliage and the footstalks 

 of the fruit, so that the latter is prevented from 

 coming to maturity ; and a third (C. Corrwptor, Host) 

 by a German, which seems closely allied to Otiorhyn- 

 chus picipes before mentioned, if it be not the same 

 insect. This destroys the young vines, often killing 

 them the first year ; and is accounted so terrible an 

 enemy to them, that not only the animals but even 



