Annual Report for 1894 of the Zoologist. 
779 
Witte is both simple and cheap, the cost being 1 5*. Its nature 
can be gathered from the accompanying figure. It is stamped 
into the ground by the foot, 
spade-fashion, and the four rows 
of about twenty needles with 
which the soil is pierced are fitted 
with a spring arrangement, which 
allows them to give way if too 
great a resistance is met with. 
Such implements can, of course, 
only be used in certain cases, and 
where the soil is free from stones. 
Where the grubs are at work, 
crows and other birds should be 
encouraged to the utmost, though 
they appear to do damage by 
plucking up the grass. 1 
A beetle somewhat like a 
small cockchafer, and known 
scientifically as Rhizotroyus sol- 
s titialis, is so extremely common 
in certain localities that it is by 
no means unlikely that its grubs 
are often mistaken for half -grown 
specimens of Melolontha larvie 
which they very closely re- 
semble. 
If this surmise be correct, 
the life-history of this beetle, 
about which little seems to be 
known at present, becomes of 
importance from an economic poi 
of view. 
Tiik Mustard Beetle. 
Phcedon betake. 
The literature on the subject of the mustard beetle has by this 
time assumed quite formidable proportions. In 1886, an inquiry 
into the pest was instituted by the Royal Agricultural Society, and a 
full and interesting report was published by the Consulting Entomo- 
logist in the Journal for 1887. 2 
Since compiling that report Miss Ormerod has written frequently 
on the subject, and lately Messrs. J. & J. Colman, of Norwich, have 
published a leaflet containing an excellent resume' of the practical 
1 For many of the above suggestions the writer is indebted to the works of 
Judeich, and Nitsche, and Taschenberg. 
* Vol. xxiii. Part i., S.S., pp. 273 et scq. 
