134 GARDENS AND THEIR MEANING 



of descent in many a prolific family. Picture if you will how 

 this treatment would affect, for instance, the corn worm. 

 Offspring of a dull yellow moth which feeds on tomatoes, 

 peas, and beans, it goes through the changes from caterpillar 

 to moth in an interval of three or four weeks, during which it 

 is buried out of sight. Again, the cucumber beetle conceals 

 its eggs in the soil around the cucumber, squash, or melon, 

 and the young larvse feed luxuriously upon the roots. 



The tomato worm, child of the five-spotted sphinx moth, 

 goes through its transformations underground after the same 

 fashion. Rose beetles, the scourge of every garden, which 

 are so apt to appear, out of a clear sky, as it were, on some 

 fine June morning, will have made all their preparations for 

 their debut within their subterranean homes. For the eggs 

 are usually laid in the ground in early summer and hatched 

 into grubs which feed on the roots of grass and remain be- 

 low ground through the winter. Not until spring do they 

 pass through a brief pupa stage, coming out as perfect adults 

 in a short month. 



The cutworm, progeny of the owlet moth, is most suc- 

 cessful in carrying on its dire operations during the watches 

 of the night. Though the eggs are laid above ground, both 

 caterpillar and moth are nocturnal, and that is why they are 

 able so successfully to escape destruction. The caterpillar, on 

 emerging from the egg, hastens to a spot of safety under- 

 ground, coming out of its hiding place, however, at night to 

 nibble the tender stalks. By scraping away the loose earth 

 one may get a look at him. A true account is given by 

 a man who, puzzled by the mysterious devastation of his 

 orchards and vines, heard one night as he walked across 

 the field what sounded like the grinding of countless jaws. 

 On striking a match the mystery was solved. The trees 

 were simply alive with hungry cutworms. 



