238 THE BEAN CEOP. 



acquainted, the Bruchus granarius and B. flavimanus, 

 and these are kept in check by the larvae of certain para- 

 sitic flies, which feed upon their bodies, and thus destroy 

 them. The late-sown crops are more liable to be attacked 

 than the early, and chalky districts are said to be favour- 

 able to their increase, from such soils probably producing 

 wild flowers (weeds), which supply the beetles with food, 

 and thus aid in propagating their race. When the seed 

 is badly infected, as is frequently seen in foreign beans, 

 they are unfit to be used as food fatal cases have even 

 occurred from giving them to horses in this state. 



The mole-cricket, Gryllotalpa vulgar-is, is very destruc- 

 tive in some parts of the country to the bean plant. On 

 the Continent, in Germany, and the south of France, 

 they commit sad ravages in the crops, burrowing in the 

 ground like the mole, and coming out to commit their 

 depredations in the dark. In those places where they 

 abound, Curtis recommends that holes should be dug, in 

 September, 2 to 3 feet deep, and about a foot wide, which 

 should be filled with horse-dung, and covered slightly over 

 with soil, to which, on the first appearance of frost, all 

 the mole-crickets will resort, and can easily be destroyed. 

 They are as prolific as they are destructive, but happily they 

 are also very ferocious ; and being omnivorous, prey upon 

 each other, the female frequently devouring nine-tenths of 

 her own offspring ; besides which the farmer's Teal friend, 

 the " mole/' is very partial to them, and disposes of great 

 numbers, in which good work he is actively assisted by 

 the rooks and other strong-billed birds. 



The high feeding value which has always been assigned 

 to beans, long before we had any idea of chemistry at all, 

 gave the crop a claim upon the attention of chemists, as soon 

 as they commenced to investigate the constitution of our 

 soils and the plants we cultivate in them. The consequence 

 is, that well-nigh every variety in cultivation, either at 



