1871 



THE WESTERN POMOLOGIST. 



157 



berry beds, corn, vegetables, and even young nur- 

 sery stock, are all subject to the attacks of these 

 white grubs, and often ruined by them. Soon after 

 pairing, the female beetle creeps into the earth, 

 especially -wherever the soil is loose and rough, and 

 after depositing her eggs, to the number of forty or 

 tifty — dies. These lialdi in the course of a month, 

 and, the grubs growing slowl}', do not attain full 

 size till the early spring of the third year, when 

 the}' construct an ovoid chamber, lined with a gela- 

 tions fluid; change into jiupa", and soon afterwards 

 into beetles. These last are at fir.st white, and all 

 the parts soft as in the pupa^, ami tlicy frequently 

 remain in the eartli for weeks at a time till 

 thoroughly hardened, and then, on some favoralile 

 night in May, they ri.se in swarms and till tlie air. 



This, briefly given, is their history, though it is 

 very probable, as with the European cock-chafer 

 (a closely allied species), that, under favorable con- 

 ditions, some of the grubs become pupsr, and even 

 beetles, th<' fall subsetiucnt to their second spring ; 

 but, growing torpid on approach of winter, remain 

 in this state in the eartii, and do not quit it any 

 sooner than those transformed in the spring. On 

 this hypotbesis, their being occasionally turned up 

 in the fresh beetle state at fall plowing, becomes 

 intelligible. 



As natural checks and destro3-ers of this grub, 

 may be mentioned the badger, weasel, skunk, mar- 

 tin, the crow, and the different hawks, but especi- 

 ally tlie Carajiid^k among insects, some of which 

 were figured in the Jovmal of May 2. Hogs are 

 fond of the?n, and will devour great numbers, as 

 will also fowls. Ashes and .salt serve a good pur- 

 pose in the garden, and the roller is doubtless bene- 

 ficial in the field. During their periodical visits as 

 beetles, they should be shaken from Ihe trees, gath- 

 ered up, scalded and fed to hog.s. As an illustra- 

 tion of what may be done in the way of hand pick- 

 ing, I will state that under the efforts of M. Jules 

 Reiset, the incredible amount of 100,00(1 kilogram- 

 mes, or about eighty millions of those white grubs 

 were collected and deslroj'ed in a portion of the 

 Seine-Inferieure of France, during the autumn of 

 186G. 



Tlie second or .Small Bronze I?ug is the Diplnloxig 

 fmndicoln, of Say, of its transformation and natural 

 history we know but little. A mixture of nine 

 parts of flour and one part of Paris Green, judici- 

 ously applied on the leaves of the plants tliey infe.st 

 when damp, would, no doubt destroy many of tliem, 

 if not all. It is highly probable that .some of the 

 disasterous work which you attribute to this insect, 

 is also due to the presence of the May-Beetle. 



The " worms inclosed " are the larvre of the Nr- 

 matus Venirnlin, of Say, .-i small four-winged black 

 fly. The "worms" come to hand all neatly 

 enclosed in cocoons, and after a few days hatched 



out perfect imago. In our Report to the State 

 Horticultural Society, at its session in January last, 

 we mentioned this White Willow Worm. Last 

 year we heard of it in several localities in the State. 

 Every means should be used to destroy it. 



The Doryphorra 10-Iineata, has quite a numlier 

 of natural enemies, and judging of from what you 

 say, you are blessed with a good supply of them. 



Boll-Worm on Roses— Heliotliis Marglnldeiis. 



Dr. Kridelbaugh : Herewith please find speci. 

 mens of a new insect foe to my roses. For several 

 days I have noticed that the l)uds were being punc- 

 tured at the tip, and thouglit it was the work of a 

 caterpillar that is quite numerous on the bushes, 

 and have hunted for and destroyed them (the cater- 

 pillars) two or three times a day, until I think they 

 are mostly exterminated. But this morning I find 

 the buds in a sad plight. On a cottage rose bush 

 where there are many hundreds of buds formed, 

 and some expanding, scarcely a dozen can be found 

 but what have been nipped at the tip, and some 

 punettired at the side also, so badly that they are 

 turning yellow and falling ofl". Roses that are 

 wholly or partly opened are comparatively free 

 from the worms, but in the center of almost every 

 flower are marks of the enemj' ; the stems and pis- 

 tils are gnawed out, and a dark, shiny, sticky sub- 

 stance left in their pl.accs, about as adhesive as thick 

 gum water, and where it has dried on the inner 

 pi-stils they are stiffened so that further expansion 

 is impossible. 



Altogether, the prospect for roses is gloomy 

 indeed ; for with all the wealth of bud promise — 

 they are immensely full of buds — wc shall have on 

 some .sorts no perfect flowers. Ragged, gnsiwed 

 petals, opening less than one fourth their usual size, 

 and gummed and discolored as fhey are is most 

 aggravating. I think I will try arsenic water on 

 sorts that are not nuich infested as yet, and trj' to 

 sove them. But it is too late now to .save the Cot- 

 tage, Prairie Queen and Black Tuscans, Are you 

 acquainted with this worm ? and can you recom- 

 mend a preventive of its future ravages ? Our 

 roses heretofore have been exempt from an}* serious 

 foe. A. A. M., Den Moines, Iowa. 



Remarks. — The bottle of cuttings from the rose 

 you sent b)' mail was received in good condition. 

 Besides the cuttings it contained the larvae of the 

 Udiotliis Maryinidcns, of Guenee, a deep rust-col- 

 ored moth, belonging to the .same genus as the 

 Ootlini Boll - worm, (Anmni Xyliva, Siiy) and 

 Corn - Worm (Hdiotliis Armigera, Hubner). The 

 specimens were in excellent condition and of all 

 sizes, from half grown down to those which were 

 but jnst hatched, of beautiful pale green color, 

 bedo'tted over with minute black specks. 



Would like to hear the result of your application 

 of a solution of arsenic, although we have but little 

 hope that it has relieved 3'ou of your iiests. Hand 

 picking among the Boll - Worms has thus far been 

 the best remedy. 



