FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONER. 99 



the seed beds of white pine, larch, and red and Norway spruce, sown the 

 preceding spring. In these beds the grubs would not only feed on the 

 roots, but also on the tender stems of the young seedlings, drawing the 

 stems down below the surface as fast as they were consumed until the leaves 

 were level with the surface of the ground. In some cases this did not kill 

 the seedling, for occasionally the cut end of the stem, no matter how short 

 it was, would heal over and put forth new roots. 



One grub would destroy a patch of from ten to forty seedlings in the 

 course of a single day. Eighteen out of the 460 grubs destroyed were 

 found in these seed beds. 



It is quite probable that they were also at work in the beds of the 

 large four year-old pine transplants, but as the roots of these trees are large 

 and tough, only some of the new and tender roots would have been eaten, 

 and not enough of them to injure the plant seriously. At any rate, none 

 of these trees showed any indications that it had been injured. 



About 2,400 seedling trees in the Wawbeek nursery were destroyed 

 by these grubs during the two months of August and September. As 

 this pest confined its operations to the soil below the surface of the ground, 

 there was no way of learning of its presence until the damage had been 

 already done. By digging up and destroying the grubs wherever their 

 presence was indicated there can be no question that a much greater loss 

 was thereby avoided. Allowing for these plants a day per grub, the 460 

 that were destroyed would have killed over 40,000 transplants in the course 

 of a single month. But as these grubs are supposed to live and feed through 

 two successive summers (see life history below), the number of transplants 

 destroyed by these same 460 grubs would probably have amounted to at 

 least 200,000. 



However, in hopes that some method could be found that would exter- 

 minate the grubs before they could do any further damage, letters were 

 written to the United States Forest Service, office of extension, and to Mr. 

 Austin F. Hawes, State Forester of Connecticut, to learn if either had any 

 experience with this pest in their tree nurseries, and, if so, what methods 

 of prevention or extermination had been adopted by them. Both Mr. 

 Spring, chief officer of extension, and Mr. Hawes replied that they had 

 never known of any such injury done to young plants in their nurseries, 



