494 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. 



them from doing so. The difficulty is to know when to 

 make the application, for the flies mav be found from the 

 beginning of June until the end of July, When full grown 

 the grubs bury themselves in the ground and become 

 chrysalides. After the crop has been taken off, the 

 upper part of the soil should be buried as deeply as pos- 

 sible, so as to render it impossible for the flies to reach 

 the surface when they leave their 

 chrysalides. Every bit of the crop 

 that is left should be burnt. The 

 fly is a pretty little brown insect 

 with brilliant green eyes ; it 

 measures nearly Aim across the 

 wings, which are clouded with 

 yellowish brown markings. 



Cockchafer, The, or May Bug-, 

 and other Chafers. — This 



insect is a pest in many places, 

 though fortunately not to the same 

 extent in this country as it is 

 on the Continent. Both the cock- 

 chafer and its grubs are destructive 

 to trees and plants, the former by 

 feeding on the leaves and the 

 latter on the roots. As the beetles 

 feed almost entirely on the leaves 

 of forest trees, the damage done 

 by them is not much noticed 

 unless they are unusually abundant. 

 The injury caused by the grubs, 

 however, is considerable, as they 

 feed on the roots of most plants, and 

 do not attain their growth for three 

 years, so that they have the opportunity of doing much 

 mischief in the course of their lives. Their vitality is so 

 great that it is useless to try to kill them with an 

 insecticide, as none can be made to reach them of 

 sufficient strength. Watering with gas liquor, diluted with 

 ten times its bulk of water, or strong salt and water, if 

 used in large quantities, is useful in driving the grubs 

 away ; but turning up the ground and picking them out 

 is far more efficacious, and by no means difficult, as they 

 are when full grown about 2in. long and '-in. in diameter. 

 They are nearly w hite, but their tails — which are usually 

 curled under their bodies, and are thicker than the rest 

 of the grub — are bluish. The cockchafers are usually 

 very sluggish in the middle of the day. and may then be 

 shaken or beaten off the trees, and collected or crushed 

 on the ground. 



There are other chafers whose grubs feed on the 

 roots of plants, which very much resemble those of the 

 cockchafer, but they are smaller, varying in size according 



Caterpillar. 

 ■I. Apple s/i 



CODLIN MOTH. 



2 C hrysalis. 3. Codlin Moth 

 nving injury done by Caterpillar^ 



1. Cockchafer. 



COCKCHAFER. 

 2. Grub. 



3. Chrysalis. 



to the species. The grub of the green or rose chafer 

 (Cetonia aura/a), a brilliant metallic green beetle, 

 often found on Roses and other flowers, closely 

 resembles that of the cockchafer, and is equally 

 injurious to plants. The grubs of another much 

 smaller species, the garden chafer (Phyllopertha 

 hofticola), are very injurious to grass. The beetle is 

 only about Ain in length. 



Codlin Moth, The (Carpocapsa ponionella). — Growers of 

 fruit are only too well acquainted with this very common 

 pest, whose caterpillars feed on various fruits. They have 

 been found in Apples, Pears, Quinces, Plums, Peaches, 

 Apricots, Sweet Chestnuts, and even Walnuts ; but 

 Apples are the most commonly attacked. The eggs are laid 

 usually in the eye of the Apple, and the caterpillar works 

 down the core, feeding on the 

 pips and on the adjoining flesh of 

 the fruit, leaving small masses of 

 brown droppings in the gallery 

 that it forms. When full grown it 

 eats its way out of the Apple, falls 

 to the ground, and makes its way 

 to the stem of the tree, or of some 

 other that happens to be near, and, 

 finding a suitable crack or crevice 

 in the bark, spins a thin cocoon 

 within which it becomes a 

 chrysalis. The moths leave the 

 chrysalides in the spring, and lay 

 their eggs as soon as the fruit has 

 set. There are various ways in 

 which this insect may be destroyed. 

 If many of the fruits are seen to be 

 injured, the tree should be well 

 shaken, and all that falls (which 

 has probably been attacked) 

 should at once be picked up. 

 The injured fruit may be generally 

 known by having some of the 

 droppings of the caterpillar on it, 

 and it should be destroyed before 

 the caterpillar has time to make its escape. All the fruit 

 that falls from the tree should be collected at once for the 

 same reason. All the loose rough bark should be 

 scraped off the stems and branches as far as it is possible 

 io reach them, and in the course of the winter, before the 

 buds begin to open in any way, the trunk and branches 

 should be sprayed with a solution of paraffin emulsion, or, 

 better still, with a caustic alkali wash (see insecticides). 



It is advisable that early in June bands of some 

 material should be tied round the stems so that the 

 caterpillars on crawling up the trees can find convenient 

 places to become chrysalides in. Some persons use hay- 

 bands wound two or three times round the stem, 

 and tied as tightly as possible so that the insects 

 shall not crawl underneath. Others use strips of 

 old canvas or some other material. The strips should be 

 about Sin. wide, folded in half, and the folded edge 

 again turned down for about iAin. The band should then 

 be tied or wired round the tree with the doubly folded 

 edge uppermost, and the fastening should be near 

 the top of the band, which, of course, must 

 reach all round the tree and lap over a little. 

 The object of the bands is to furnish the 

 grubs with a suitable shelter within which they 

 can undergo their transformations, and in case 

 the caterpillars should pass over one band 

 another should be placed about ift. above it ; 

 the lower one should be about 2ft. from the 

 ground. Examine the bands occasionally and 

 destroy any caterpillars or chrysalides found 

 in them. The moths measure hardly \m. across 

 the open wings. Their general colour is brown, 

 „ the fore wings streaked with grey or brown, and 



near the tip is a brow n patch marked with gold 

 lines; the lower wings are brown, but paler 

 towards the base. The caterpillars, when full grown, 

 are fin. in length, and are white or flesh coloured, with 

 eight black dots on each joint of their bodies. 



Daddy-long-leg's, or Crane Fly (/ipula ol raced). — 



Though this insect is perfectly harmless in the fly or daddy- 

 long-legs state, the grubs are among the most destructive 

 that infest our gardens. They feed on the roots of most 

 plants, but are particularly fond of the roots of grasses, 

 and often do much damage to lawns by killing the turf. 

 The grubs often cause the death of plants that have tap 



