The "White Grub of the May Beetle. 23 



away every insect, arid saving the remainder of the crop unin- 

 jured. (D. W. Coquillet, in the Pacific Fruit Grower, i, September, 

 1887, p. 132). 



Infusion of Burdock Leaves. — A correspondent of the New 

 England Homestead gave the following as an effectual remedy for 

 an attack of the onion maggot : 



Take green burdock leaves and stalks, run them through a hay- 

 cutter, put them in a large kettle or tub, and mash them with an 

 old axe or mall, adding water, and pounding them to a pulp. Let 

 it stand over night, have the decoction strong, and when you see 

 the first sign of the maggot, use this, and it will be found a dead 

 shot for the worm. Put it on all of the onions as a preventive. I 

 have used it for forty years on onions. I use a sprinkler, taking 

 off the nozzle, and pouring the solution along the rows. I seldom 

 have to apply it the second time. 



If the above was what it claimed to be — an effectual preventive 

 of the attack of the persistent onion maggot, which no application 

 hitherto had served to repel — it seemed that it should be equally 

 efficient if used to prevent attack of the white grub. A test of its 

 efficacy was, therefore, suggested to Professor C. H. Peck, who 

 had applied to me for aid against the ravages of the white grubs 

 in his garden. The results of its use by him were so entirely 

 satisfactory, that a communication, in which they are detailed, 

 made to the Country Gentleman of November 25, 1886, p. 893, c. 4, 

 is herewith given : 



Editors Country Gentleman. — In April last the writer moved 

 into the country, and started a garden. In one part of it, 300 straw- 

 berry plants were set. The ground had previously been in grass, 

 and was well stocked with the white grub — the larva of the 

 troublesome May-beetle, Lachnosterna fusca. Any experienced 

 strawberry-grower would probably say that it was a foolish opera- 

 tion to set strawberry plants in such land, but as no other was 

 available, the risk was taken, and the difficulties encountered. No 

 sooner had the plants fairly commenced growing than they began 

 to die, one after another. The withered and drying plants were 

 found to be nearly rootless, and, in most instances, the white grub 

 that had eaten the roots was found in the ground under the plants. 



As a first attempt to stop the destruction, the earth between the 

 rows of plants was dug over, and the grubs thus found (about 

 forty) were killed. But all were not found. The destruction still 

 went on, though perhaps less rapidly than before. Wetting the 

 ground about some of the plants with chamber slops was tried, 

 but proved ineffectual. At the suggestion of the State Entomolo- 

 gist, Prof. J. A. Lintner, the burdock remedy, which has been 



