WHITE GRUBS AJsTD JUNE BEETLES. 287 



Strengthens the plant will lessen losses from insect injury. 

 A rich soil well cultivated may grow crops in spite of an infes- 

 tation which would be fatal on poorly managed land. Mineral 

 fertilizers such as nitrate of soda, are distasteful to many insects 

 and have some value in this respect as well as in furnishing 

 food for the plants. 



Where chickens or turkeys can run through freshly culti- 

 vated soil infested by grubs, they prove efficient aids. Swine 

 are fond of the grubs and where they are pastured on infested 

 land, they doubtless do more than any other means toward 

 freeing the soil of the pests. 



It sometimes happens that the adult beetles are locally so 

 numerous that it is possible and practical to kill them by spray- 

 ing the trees where they congregate at night, with arsenical 

 sprays. Sometimes, too, they can be jarred from the trees in 

 great numbers and crushed or otherwise disposed of. The 

 jarring is said to be especially effective from 2 to 5 o'clock 

 in the morning when they seem to cling less tightly to the, 

 leaves. 



Complaints concerning these white grubs have often been 

 sent to this Station during the past 15 years. A report from 

 Bridgton, Me., Sept. 18, 1893, reads in part: "There are many 

 acres of grass land in this town where a good crop of timothy 

 was cut the present season which now show hardly a green 

 blade of grass. These worms (white grubs) are found just 

 below the surface, where they feed upon the roots of timothy." 



From Harrison, Me., June 5, 1906, a correspondent writes: 

 "I broke up two acres for sweet com where the grubs have 

 eaten the grass so it plows like old ground." 



These complaints, 13 years apart, are from neighboring towns 

 and yet the correspondent from Harrison says : 'T was never 

 troubled with them before." 



The grubs become mature in three years and the beetles are 

 not so likely to deposit eggs in places where the infestation has 

 destro} ed much of the vegetation as in fresher and more inviting 

 fields. 



In conclusion it may be said that though locally and tem- 

 porarily the white grub is sometimes exceedingly troublesome, 

 there are no indications that in this State they are likely to 

 increase indefinitely or cause excessive damage to any one 

 field for many consecutive years. 



