INSECT ENEMIES. 



319 



a degenerate growth of the plant, favoured more or less by 

 unsuitable food conditions in the soil in which it is grown. 

 Considering the number of insect enemies the turnip 

 has to encounter in the field, it cannot be a matter of sur- 

 prise if our crops have, during the progress of their growth, 

 to submit to serious injuries from their attacks. Indeed, 

 considering the little attention we pay to them, and the 

 very little we really know about them, their habits, their 

 reproduction, and their remedies, it should be rather a 

 matter of surprise that we are able to secure at the end of 

 the season those magnificent crops which, under the im- 

 proved system of farming, have so largely added to our 

 productive resources. As soon as the seeds are deposited 

 in the soil the ants, always busy at that season, take pos- 

 session of vast numbers of them, and carry them away ; 

 while those that are left germinate and in due time appear 

 above the ground, where the "turnip-fly" Haltica nemo- 

 rum^ in countless numbers, are on the look-out for them, 



1 and 2. Insect (natural size and magnified). 3. Insect feeding. 4 and 

 5. Eggs of Insect on under side of leaf. 6 and 7. Maggot advancing in 

 growth. 8 and 9. Maggot full grown (natural size and magnified). 10 and 

 11. Pupa (natural size and magnified). 



and speedily give evidence of their destructive capabilities. 

 The first pair of (cotyledon) leaves are selected by them, 



1 This is a common misnomer the insect is clearly a beetle, and not a fly. 



