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Report  on  Wireworm. 
“ The  wireworm  does  not  do  so  much  harm  to  the  turnips  as  the  crows  do 
by  pulling  up  the  plants  in  order  to  get  at  the  worm. 
“ R.  Renton,  Earhton,  N.B 
“ I had  great  damage  done  once  to  3 acres  of  swedes,  not  directly  by  the 
wireworm  itself;  but,  when  the  worm  was  gnawing  at  the  root  of  the  plant,  by 
the  rooks  alighting  and  drawing  out  the  plant  for  the  purpose  of  getting  the 
insect,  and  so  the  piece  was  entirely  spoilt. 
“ Thos.  Jones,  Penpont  Farm,  Brecon .” 
Moles,  etc. 
“ Owing,  I think,  to  the  large  numbers  of  moles,  the  wireworm  in  this 
immediate  neighbourhood  is  not  much  trouble. 
“ Wm.  Taylor,  Longleat  Gardens,  Warminster.” 
“ Moles  are  very  fond  of  wireworms.  You  will  always  see  them  burrow 
most  where  the  worms  are  thickest.  A neighbour  of  mine  never  kills  any 
moles,  and  has  not  done  so  for  twelve  years,  and  his  crops  are  not  so  much 
destroyed  as  they  used  to  be  by  wireworms  ; but  I think  they  are  almost,  if 
not  quite,  as  bad  as  the  disease. 
“ D.  Husband,  Struthers,  Cupar,  Fife.” 
“ Having  found  that  wireworms  were  the  favourite  food  of  moles,  I deter- 
mined (having  first  drained  the  land)  not  to  destroy  any  more  of  the  moles, 
but  to  let  them  destroy  the  wireworm,  which  having  accomplished,  they 
speedily  deserted  my  laud. 
“ G.  W.  Pretty,  Fressing field,  Harleston.” 
“ Two  pheasants  were  killed  on  the  estate  I manage,  and  in  their  crops 
were  found  1500  wireworms. 
“ Prof.  Chas.  E.  Curtis,  Farringdon,  Alton,  Hants” 
Weybread,  Suffolk. 
Of  five  returns  with  which  I am  favoured  through  the  Rev. 
J.  H.  White  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Weybread,  one  makes 
mention  of  loss  by  wireworm  ravage,  amounting  to  a quarter  of 
the  crop  ; one  mentions  a quarter  to  a half ; and  another  notes 
the  loss  as  usually  a quarter,  but  sometimes  half  the  crop. 
The  preventive  measures  advised  are  to  plough  soon  enough 
and  keep  the  land  solid,  and  to  well  bush  and  roll  leys  and 
pastures  ; also  heavy  rolling  in  spring  to  stop  the  worm  (as  the 
looser  the  soil  the  worse  the  attack)  ; and  hand  hoeing  and  well 
rolling  down  the  land  are  recommended. 
Artificial  manure,  or  nitrate  of  soda,  is  recommended  to  run 
the  crop  on  past  the  power  of  the  worm,  and  soot  also  is  found 
useful  ; but  no  mention  is  made  of  the  use  of  lime  or  of  salt. 
One  observer  notes  that  rolling  and  treading  are  very  well 
on  some  soils,  but  when  you  have  got  the  worm  you  must 
humour  it,  and  give  it  something  to  eat  (?  rape-cake,  Ed.),  until 
