74 TRACTS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS, &c. 



being- extremely fond of it) which is found in great numbers in 

 old grass lands, when newly broken up. These have not hitherto 

 been injurious to potatoes, or crops of corn : j^et they are very 

 destructive to pasture lands. I knew not, until lately, the cause 

 of the barren appearance I had observed in many parts of the 

 pastures. I had been told it proceeded from shallowness of soil, 

 or from barren clays under the soil : — but, upon breaking up 

 some old lays, it was discovered that, under these apparently 

 barren spots, this " large white grub, with a red head, six short 

 " legs, and nine breathing holes in each side, and measuring 

 " from an inch to an inch and a half in length," had been 

 at work, and had absolutely separated the sward, for an inch or 

 more, from the sub-soil. I have examined many spots, where 

 the verdure had disappeared, and invariably have found this de- 

 structive maggot. I have seen some taken out at 12 or 15 inches 

 under the surface ; and, at other times, have caught them de- 

 structively employed within a few inches of the grass, feeding on 

 its roots, and occasioning the mischief. It seems to me, unless 

 the lands, on which they have taken up their abode, are dug up, 

 or ploughed, that the most serious consecpiences may be appre- 

 hended. Mr. Thomas Greentree, the other day, informed me 

 that, on his lands, this species of insect did not appear until last 

 year. — Already it has spread over several acres ; and unless it is 

 checked, it is impossible to foresee to what extent those depre- 

 dations may be committed. It is not merely at Mr. Greentree's, 

 but on Church-ground, at Mrs. Harper's, and to the southward 

 of Mr. Defountain's, and many other places, that the ravages of 

 this insect may be discovered. In the year 1751 an insect of the 

 same description, but seemingly of a different species (for at St. 

 Helena I believe the maggot becomes a brown cricket,) made its 

 appearance in the county of Norfolk. Sop^much did it multiply. 



