35 
_ The castor-oil and soot mixture recommended for apple-seale will 
extirpate the pest with but little trouble. Syringing with dissolved 
soft-soap containing a little lime and sulphur would be attended with 
excellent results. 
GRASS GRUB (Odontria zealandia). 
The roots of the olive as well as other fruit-trees are liable to the 
attacks of the grass-grub, which, although usually feeding upon the 
roots of grasses, has of late years developed a voracious taste for all 
kinds of roots, so that in localities where it is numerous very few 
trees escape its attacks. 
In the apple the roots are but rarely attacked ; the foliage, how- 
ever, is largely eaten by the perfect insect. On the other hand, the 
perfect insect rarely attacks the olive, but the larve often cause serious 
injury to the roots, especially in the case of young plants. 
In the extensive olive-plantations of Dr. Campbell, at One-Tree 
Hill, I noticed numerous young trees attacked by the grub, and on 
examination found the finer portions of the roots had been eaten away, 
and the trees injured to such an extent that the growth had been 
arrested ; the leaves were of a yellowish tint, and presented a miser- 
able, starved appearance. In all respects they afforded a strong con- 
trast with hundreds of trees in the same plantation, planted at the 
same time, and exhibiting a most luxuriant growth. 
The life-history of the grass-grub has been recently made out, 
and may be briefly stated here. In its perfect state the insect is a 
small dark-brown beetle, about half an inch in length; the head is 
often dotted, and the wing-cases are marked by four smooth longitu- 
dinal lines, with or without a row of minute dots on each side. The 
legs are yellowish-brown, with three large teeth in the middle joint of 
the foremost. It makes its first appearance in Canterbury about the 
commencement of November, but most likely a few days earlier in the 
North; and may be met with until the close of January, sometimes in 
countless numbers, and in this state feeds on the leaves of apple, 
peach, plum, mulberry, vine, and many other trees. It especially 
affects untrimmed furze-hedges in the month of November, but late in 
the season the furze is abandoned for other plants, probably owing to 
the increasing firmness of the epidermis. It rarely makes its appear- 
ance until the shades of evening are fairly advanced, and is of quick 
but not lofty flight. During the day-time it becomes inactive, usually 
hiding amongst the loose soil at the base of trees or large herbs, but 
not restricting itself to situations of this kind. As a general rule, it 
commences to deposit its eggs about the third week in November, 
most frequently at the base of the stems of grasses or other plants, 
but sometimes amongst the loose svil on the surface of a sloping bank, 
or beneath loose litter or oF farm-yard manure, &c. 
I have not observed the larval or grub state earlier than the 
second week in December, at which date specimens may occasionally 
be found less than one-eighth of an inch in length. When it has 
attained its full size it is from five-eighths to three-quarters of an inch 
in length, with a hard, yellowish-brown head, one pair of short 
