INSECT AND OTHER PLANT ENEMIES. 



75 



Long-pod, and Broad Beans. The larvae pene- 

 trate the pods, and then the seeds, in which 

 they develop into fat, white, legless maggots. 

 They generally remain in the seeds, and, getting 

 sown, they hatch out to renew the evil 



Remedies. — The grubs continue to feed in the 

 seeds after they are gathered, until, when full 

 fed, they have eaten close to the skin of the Pea 

 or Bean. Their presence may be detected by a 

 small and paler spot than the rest of the seed. 

 If on examination a grub is found within, such 

 seed should not be sown till April By that 

 time the beetles will have left the seed or died 

 in them, and the opening from whence they 

 came out is easily detected. On a small scale 

 all such seeds should be rejected, as they cannot 

 give rise to strong healthy plants. The best 

 remedy, however, is to immerse the seeds in 

 boiling water for one minute, but not longer, 

 when intended for sowing. This should be 

 done as soon as the seed is gathered and the 

 grub is not yet fully grown. 



Birds. — Most birds are really friends in dis- 

 guise on account of the large numbers of slugs, 

 caterpillars, grubs, and insects generally which 

 they destroy, even if they claim a tithe of 

 various fruits, seeds, and young vegetables. 

 Raspberries, Cherries, Strawberries, as well as 

 Gooseberries and Currants, which it is intended 

 to preserve as long as possible, should be pro- 

 tected with old herring netting, which is cheap 

 and easily procurable. Apples and Pears are 

 seldom attacked by blackbirds and thrushes till 

 they are fit to gather. Valuable early crops on 

 Avails could readily be netted. More damage 

 has been done to Raspberry canes by shooting 

 at the birds than the latter themselves do to 

 that crop. The canes get riddled with the shot 

 and cannot bear so well next year. It may be 

 necessary, where wood-pigeons are troublesome 

 to Gooseberries and young vegetables, to shoot 

 them. Staking Peas will often stop the depreda- 

 tions of those birds. The titmouse is often more 

 blamed than guilty, for it is considered to be 

 after the " worm i J the bud ", rather than any- 

 thing else. Bullfinches, where numerous, are 

 very destructive to the buds of Apple-trees in 

 winter and spring, and their numbers might be 

 reduced by shooting; but some of the many 

 means of driving them away should be attempted 

 in the first place. The sparrows, or "Avian 

 Rat ", is the most troublesome and mischievous 

 of all British birds, whether in the corn or seed- 

 fields, or gardens. Where much Ivy abounds, this 

 should be regularly cut in with the shears every 

 spring, whether on houses, walls, or trees, so as 



to reduce the shelter for sparrows, Their nests 

 may also be pulled down if they cannot be held 

 in check by other means, Crocuses, Carnations, 

 Primroses, and other garden flowers, as well as 

 Lettuces, may have black threads stretched 

 amongst them. Currant and Gooseberry bushes, 

 and even Peas, may be threaded, and seed-beds 

 netted, In the case of orchards and large 

 quantities of valuable seed cultures, a boy may 

 be engaged to scare away birds. Scarecrows 

 are generally so evidently a burlesque on any- 

 thing real that birds take pleasure in sitting 

 upon them. Small windmills, with rattles upon 

 them, are often very effective; pieces of glass 

 may be hung up in such a way that they will 

 swing and scintillate with the sunlight, and 

 even rattle if two pieces are tied in proximity. 

 Feathers stuck in a piece of cork, with a cord 

 passing through the latter, and hung between 

 two stakes, and similar devices, often answer 

 very well in alarming and driving away birds. 

 Incessant war should be waged against the 

 sparrow, the worst of all feathered pests. 



Carrot- seed Moth (Dejiressaria depressella). 

 — The male of this moth is only J inch in ex- 

 panse, while the female is about f inch, and in 

 both cases the wings are of a silky-brown, or the 

 fore ones are inclined to chestnut. The cater- 

 pillar is brownish-gray, with small black spines 

 ending in hairs, and may be found devouring 

 the flowers and seeds of Carrots and Parsnips in 

 July and August. 



Remedies. — The caterpillars are very lively, 

 and let themselves down with a thread when 

 alarmed. Advantage may be taken of this by 

 passing along the rows of flowering and fruiting 

 plants w T ith tarred boards or trays, and bending 

 the stems over the trays so that the caterpillars 

 may fall upon the tar. Parsnips are preferred 

 to Carrots, so that a crop of the latter may be 

 saved by planting a row of Parsnips to every 

 two beds of Carrots ; then the Parsnips may be 

 cut into close baskets or boxes and immediately 

 burnt, to destroy either caterpillars or pupa. 



Codlin Grub (Carpocapsa Powonella). — This 

 little but destructive moth is about f inch in 

 expanse. The fore-wings are gray, with dark 

 lines crossing them, and have an eye-spot to- 

 wards the apex, surrounded by a coppery band. 

 The caterpillar is pink, with a brown spot on 

 the neck, and is all too frequent in Apples, and 

 less often in Pears, during August and Septem- 

 ber. The moths precede them in June and July, 

 and the female lays a single egg, generally in the 

 eye of the fruit, and the caterpillar when hatched 

 out penetrates the fruit, ultimately often causing 



