110 
Report  on  Wireworm. 
also  eaten  by  them  as  soon  as  it  came  up,  and  is  the  only  instance  which  has 
ever  come  under  my  observation  of  this  crop  being  attacked  by  wireworms. 
Then  the  land  was  sown  to  wheat,  and  no  wireworm  put  in  an  appearance, 
neither  have  I seen  any  there  since  of  any  consequence. 
“ Thos.  Hy.  Baker,  Mere,  Wiltshire” 
“ Old  turf  is  generally  found  (on  being  broken  up)  the  most  likely  to  be 
full  of  wireworm,  and  requires  the  utmost  care  before  being  turned  over,  and 
very  great  watchfulness  afterwards.  Next  to  this  ‘ seeds  ’ which  have  lain 
two  or  more  years  would  be  most  likely  to  prove  troublesome,  then  those 
seeds  which  have  lain  one  season.  Vetches  and  peas  are  fouling  crops,  and 
give  shelter  to  the  worm. 
“ Adam  Lee, 
“ For  Bight  Hon.  the  Earl  of  Powis,  Lydbury  North,  Shropshire .” 
“ The  cereal  crops  seem  to  be  the  most  often  affected  by  wireworm.  Wheat, 
for  instance,  if  sown  after  ‘ seeds  ’ (containing  grasses)  is  particularly  liable  to 
attack,  and  wheat  sown  on  weedy  land,  especially  if  the  weeds  he  wild 
grasses,  such  as  the  long  ‘ water-grass,’  often  very  common  on  wet  land.  I 
judge  that  the  eggs  are  laid  in  the  dead  grass  rubbish  on  the  field,  and  that 
when  the  young  crops  are  sown  and  growing  (even  from  January  during  the 
spring  of  the  year,  if  there  be  no  frosts),  the  wireworm  pursues  its  way  from 
plant  to  plant,  half  burying  itself  in  the  tender  stalk,  and  then,  after  eating 
out  its  heart,  leaving  it  for  another. 
“ Mangolds,  when  young,  are  often  attacked  and  destroyed  if  sown  after 
weedy  white  straw  crops  that  have  likewise  suffered  from  the  wireworm. 
“ Robert  L.  Podney,  Halstead,  Essex” 
“ Land  is  more  subject  to  wireworm  after  clover  and  beans,  but  there  is  no 
crop  that  increases  wireworm  so  much  as  ‘ couch  ’ and  weeds,  and  often  when 
land  has  been  fallowed  the  previous  summer,  the  wireworms  are  quite  as 
destructive  in  the  next  spring  as  they  are  on  the  clover-ley  wheat. 
“ G.  Burgiss, 
“ Manager  to  Bight  Hon.  Earl  of  Winterton,  Strutheralen  Park, 
“ Pet  worth.” 
“ Certainly  I think  there  is  more  danger  from  wireworms  after  clover  than 
after  any  other  crop.  I believe  that  after  a crop  of  beans  or  cabbage  they  are 
also  troublesome,  but  consider  that  this  may  be  because,  if  a large  amount  of 
beanstalks  or  cabbage-stumps  are  ploughed  down,  the  land  would  lie  so  open 
that  it  could  not  he  properly  consolidated  by  rolling,  and  the  wireworm  would 
have  a chance  to  harbour  and  work  in  the  stumps.  After  these  crops,  there- 
fore, the  land  should  be  got  as  free  as  possible  from  stalks  and  stumps,  as 
well  as  weeds,  before  ploughing. 
“ M.  Locke  Blake,  llminster.” 
“ I have  observed  that  the  wireworms  have  appeared  upon  land  immediately 
after  a turnip  crop,  when  not  grazed  by  sheep  or  other  animals.  I have 
hitherto  supposed  that  the  appearance  of  the  wireworm  after  turnips  was  due 
to  the  pulverized  condition  of  the  soil  rather  than  the  nature  of  the  preceding 
crop. 
“ L.  P.  Williams,  Penbcrry,  St.  David’s.” 
