GARDEN FOES AND GARDEN FRIENDS 133 



miss catching this elusive creature in some one of its life 

 stages. If the neatly hidden eggs fail to attract his eye, the 

 caterpillar itself must on no account be allowed to escape. 

 Destroying the eggs, or, better still, catching the butterfly be- 

 fore the eggs are laid, is by all means the most economical 

 course. In this way he puts a certain end to hundreds at one 

 stroke in preference to pursuing the myriads of caterpillars 

 after they begin to wend their devastating way. Of the cab- 

 bage butterfly, agriculturists say that it is probably the only 

 butterfly that should be destroyed wherever seen. 



Moths and butterflies usually winter in the pupa form, either 

 as cocoon or chrysalis. They respond so quickly to a rise in 

 temperature that they often surprise us by appearing as one 

 of the signs of spring while the snow still lies in patches 

 upon the ground. The potato beetle tides over the cold 

 weather by creeping into the ground as a full-grown adult 

 and remaining there torpid but alive and ready to take up 

 its occupation as a master chewer at any favorable moment. 

 Most beetles and bugs, however, pass the winter in a resting 

 stage as pupae, and do not emerge in adult form until a 

 fortnight or so after the spring sets in. 



The ground is so full of a number of things ! It is, in fact, 

 a regular hatchery. And yet most girls and boys, and men 

 and women too, go on their way little suspecting what wealth 

 of life swarms beneath their very feet. But the scientific 

 gardener is rudely awakened to the situation. One season's 

 experience is quite enough for him- Before the summer 

 closes he has at least resolved to keep the soil perpetually 

 stirred and to leave it rough in the autumn. By this act he 

 will join hands with the elements. He thus not only takes 

 advantage of the first light fall of snow, which has long been 

 known as the "poor man's fertilizer," but he relies upon frost, 

 rain, and sunshine to quietly but effectually wipe out the line 



