60 



He said lie had several bags of potatoes of liis own production, 

 and quite healthy when dug, placed in his storeroom, where 

 they were left undisturbed for a considerable time. When he 

 at last came to open a bag for use, lo ! quite a swarm of little 

 moths greeted the event, and to his surprise he found the 

 tubers spoiled by the grubs to a great extent. 



My opinion is that the eggs are first deposited by the moths 

 upon the stalk near the ground, when the infant grub burrows 

 through the soil till reaching the tubers ; or the moth itself 

 burrows, as many are found to do, and deposits the eggs direct 

 upon the tubers. My reason for this is the fact that the longer 

 the tubers are left in the soil, the more infected they will prove 

 to be. They ought therefore to be unearthed as soon as 

 possible after ripeness. Then they should be washed clean 

 (perhaps in saltwater, or, if only for consumption, a weak 

 solution of sulphuric acid would be better), and stored in 

 store-rooms without large cracks in floor and walls or strewn 

 litter of any sort, for in and among these the chrysalis-state is 

 passed. If such a one is wanting, deal boxes or tin cases would 

 do as well for smaller quantities, instead of bags. AVhile in 

 store they ought to be frequently stirred, and the walls, &c., 

 carefully swept, as by these operations the chrysalis cases 

 would be disturbed and the insects destroyed. Kotten and 

 affected tubers ought to be separated from the rest at once and 

 destroyed (burying does not do), either by boiling them for the 

 pigs, burning, or throwing them into water. By simply 

 throwing them on the rubbish heap, the evil is not checked, 

 but, on the contrary, aggravated, as my experiments show, and 

 is only forming a moth-hatching establishment, from whence 

 millions of moths arise andjspread over the adjoining regions ; for 

 increase of numbers in insect life of this sort means augmented 

 security for propagation and multiplication. 



If an enterprising chemist could devise a cheap and efficient 

 solution, in which the newly-dug potatoes might be immersed 

 and washed, that would effectively destroy the adherent ova 

 and infant caterpillars buried only skin-deep, without impairing 

 the quality of the tubers or their germinating powers, a benefit 

 would be conferred upon the community, the value of which 

 <jould hardly be over-estimated. 



