244. FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



ment; "and you see how the stomach is distended 

 with food, which shows in a darker tint through the 

 white skin of the paunch. So gorged is the worm, in 

 fact, that it cannot stand on its legs, but lies lazily 

 on its side. < 



"For three years this fat grub lives under ground, 

 always under ground, tunneling like a mole in all 

 directions, and living on roots. Then it makes for 

 itself a little chamber out of earth, very smooth in- 

 side, and shuts itself up there; after which it pro- 

 ceeds to transform itself into a nymph, and then into 

 a June-bug. Everything serves it for food: the 

 roots of grass and of trees, of cereals and of fodder, 

 of vegetables and of flowers. In winter it buries 

 itself deep in the ground and becomes torpid ; at the 

 approach of spring it returns to the upper layers of 

 the soil, installs itself among the roots, and goes from 

 plant to plant, leaving devastation in its path. You 

 have, let us suppose, a fine bed of lettuce in your 

 garden. From no apparent cause, some morning, 

 you find it all withered. You pull up one of the 

 plants, and it proves to have no root ; the white grub 

 has cut it away. Or you have a nursery of young 

 fruit trees for your orchard. The terrible worm 

 passes that way, and your nursery is good for noth- 

 ing but fire-wood. Or you have sown several acres 

 with wheat or rape, you have made a considerable 

 outlay for fertilizer and labor ; but there is promise 

 of a handsome harvest with large profit to you. The 

 larva of the June-bug works its way up from the 

 depths, and then good-bye to your harvest ; the stalks 



