80 



' the head and another just before the tail. When 



full grown, and after changinj? the skin for the last 

 time, these yellow patches still remain, but they are 

 otherwise of a delicate pale green, with sometimes two 

 little black dots on the head, and are about three- 

 quarters of an inch in length. After the operation of 

 casting the skin they rest awhile, and then crawl 

 down the stem of the bush or drop from a bough, and 

 at once begin to bury themselves. When deep 

 enough, which may be from two to eight inches, 

 according to the nature of the soil, they form a 

 cocoon of a gummy secretion, in which they turn to- 

 chrysalids. This takes place in about three weeks 

 during summer ; in the case of the late broods the 

 grub remains unchanged in the cocoon during winter, 

 and does not turn to the chrysalis till spring, in time 

 for the gooseberry sawfly to make its appearance as the 

 gooseberry and currant bushes are coming into leaf. 

 a, Male saw^y ; h, the female. ''The sawfly is of the shape figured above, and 



of the length marked by the straight lines ; the head and body between the wings are 

 ochre-colour or yellow, variously marked with black ; abdomen yellow or orange ; legs 

 yellow, with brown or black tips to the feet and hinder shanks ; horns brown or black. 

 The four wings are transparent and irridescent. 



"An excellent and effectual method of preventing attack in the coming season is to 

 remove the soil from beneath the bushes to the depth of a few inches early in spring, and 

 give a good sprinkling of lime ; by this means the caterpillars which winter in the ground 

 are completely cleared away. A slightly different method, but thoroughly successful, is 

 to remove the surface soil below the bushes in winter, dig a deep hole, and bury the whole 

 of the removed soil, cocoons and all (so deeply as to ensure having no further mischief 

 from them), and replace the earth removed with manure and the soil dug from the hole. 



" This complete removal of the soil with the cocoons is quite worth while wherever the 

 gooseberry caterpillar is prevalent, and a layer of unslacked lime, well mixed with the 

 soil as deep as the cocoons are, would be highly beneficial in case of the surface-soil not 

 being removed. Gas-lime also would be of service, well sprinkled on the surface, if 

 fresh, or lightly pricked into the surface-soil beneath the bushes after it had been aired 

 for a few weeks, taking care not to lay it against the stem. 



" When the caterpillars appear on the bushes, it is of great importance to attend to 

 them at once ; w^hilst still very young two or three dozen may be found on one leaf and 

 got rid of together, which in a few days would have spread themselves over the bush. 

 This early stage of attack may be known by the leaves appearing as if riddled with dust- 

 shot. At a later stage thorough hand-picking, or shaking the bushes so as to make the 

 caterpillar fall, is of service. If the caterpillars are allowed to drop on the ground, they 

 should be crushed with the foot, or with the back of the spade ; but a surer plan, with 

 little more trouble, is to spread cloths or put some tarred boards under the trees, and 

 thus collect and kill them." 



The plan of removing the surface-soil from beneath the bushes, which is new to us,, 

 has been adopted with great success during the last twenty years (Miss Ormerod records 

 in her Report for 1880) at Oxenford Castle. The soil is annually removed in winter, a 

 deep hole is dug in some part of the garden, and in this the removed soil, with whatever 

 may be in it, is buried. The soil under the bushes is replaced by that out of the hole, 

 with the addition of some manure. It is important that the hole should be deep, as if 

 there was only a light covering many of the larvae and pupse would not be the worse for 

 -^being moved, and would emerge in the spring to inflict as much damage as usual. 



In this country we have no doubt that our small-fruit-growers will adhere to the 

 use of powdered white hellebore, which has proved so effective in the past, is so easy to 

 apply, and from the use of which no evil consequences have ever' resulted to our 

 knowledge. 



