ENEMIES OP THE 8ITGAE BEET, 209 



In order that this plan should he a success, a good 

 price should be paid for a bushel of these cock-chafers. 

 Unfortunately this industry has made but little pro- 

 gress up to the present day, and various other plans 

 have been proposed and adopted, the most important 

 being the utilization of the nitric substances they con- 

 tain in the shape of a fertilizer. The quality is said 

 to be nearly equal to the best guano. 



To make this practicable, various plans have been 

 suggested, such as to pay a given sum for a given 

 weight, for example, $1.00 for 200 lbs., or $11.20 per 

 ton, w^hich, when prepared, is worth much more. For 

 this manufacture the machines and chemicals to be 

 made use of are most simple, it being sufficient to have 

 a reservoir which is filled with a solution of ammonia^ 

 (water from gas works answers the purpose). The 

 Melolonthas die in this after seven hours; they are 

 then taken out, placed in layers three inches in depth, 

 then a small quantity of earth, after which a second 

 layer of beetles, etc., until the total height is three feet, 

 the whole being covered with several inches of earth. 



FreqiTfently these insects become black and give a 

 fetid odor when they are not dead. If they are utilized 

 as a fertilizer under these circumstances, more harm 

 than good will_ result. A good plan is to reduce the 

 total to a powder, and then there remains no doubt. 



Placed in boiling water, these beetles have frequently 



' A small quantity of sulphuric acid is frequently added to the above. 



