234 THE ENEMIES OF COFFEE :—WHITE GRUB. 
and not jump at conclusions hastily as has been and is 
still the case with the theory of the ‘‘ incompatibles,” 
sulphur and lime which ean do no great good save the 
introduction of lime compounds to estates in a very 
costly manner. With respect to black grub and other 
noxious insects, I do not offer any opinion at present. 
ALEX. C. DIXON. 
THE GRUB QUESTION: A PLANTER WHO IS 
NO SCIENTIST ARGUES FOR NO DELAYS 
IN DESTROYING THE WHITE GRUB, 
AS THE ENEMY OF COFFEE. 
In Packard’s ‘‘ Study of Insects,” p. 454, I find this 
note on the subject :—‘‘ Melolontha and its allies feed 
exclusively on living plants.” From Louis Figuier’s 
‘¢ Insect World,” pp. 438 to 450, I make the following 
extracts ;—‘‘ For the first year the larve do not eat 
much. They feed then principally on fragments of dung 
and on vegetable detritus, and keep together in families. 
Next spring the want of a greater abundance of food 
forces them to disperse : they begin attacking the roots 
wnich they find within their reach. The ravages they 
occasion are incalculable : market gardens are sometimes 
entirely devastated. Fields of lucerne have been seen 
partially destroyed by them; meadows of great extent 
jose their pasturage: oat fields die off before they come 
to maturity.” 
‘Jn proportion as they increase in age and strength, 
especially in their last year, do they attack also ligneous 
vegetation. When they have gnawed away the lateral 
roots of a young tree, the new roots corresponding to 
them dry up. ‘The larve then attack the principal root, 
and thus bring about the death of the tree.” 
With these facts before him, will Mr. Dixon any 
longer ask us to give the matter our thoughtful con- 
sideration, though sorry to retard the carrying out of 
schemes for the suppression of grub ? 
NO DELAY. 
AN OLD PLANTER ON HIS CAMPAIGN 
AGAINST COCKCHAFERS AND HIS 
REMEDY POR GRUB. 
Maskeliya, 23rd Feb. 1880. 
Dear S1r,—Coming up from the store a few even- 
ings ago at about 6 o'clock, Iwas quite surprised at the 
number of beetles flying about in the coffee. 1 caught 
a few and found them to be the cockchafer. Thinking 
