THE GOOSEBERRY GRUB. 
123 
constructs a tough black cocoon, attached all 
round to the walls of the cells : although I 
say spins, the material he uses is not silk or 
thread, but something between silk and glue, 
or what we might suppose to arise from the 
hardening of fluid silk, an illustration rather 
of the uncouthest, but for want of a better it 
must go. In this cocoon or case he disposes 
himself to await the change to a chrysalis, 
and soon after to a fly. 
" The time occupied in this round of ex- 
istence is very variable : many of the eggs laid 
in May, before the middle of the month produce 
grubs that go through every change and are 
on the wing by the 24th of June : and eggs 
laid about that day, will go through their 
changes as far as the cocoon by the 10th of 
July, or 15th at the latest : the first brood 
thus taking about twenty-eight days, and the 
second generally remaining under ground till 
the next spring. It is not, however, clear 
that in all instances this insect has two broods: 
on the contrary, I am nearly certain that 
many of the late hatches never reproduce 
during the year, but the time of their first 
appearance is so variable, that a constant suc- 
cession is kept, the earliest having reproduced 
before the later hatches are gone down. 
" In my war on blight I always weigh well 
the remedies : many a tree has been killed to 
get rid of its blight ; this plan is efficient but 
impolitic, energetic but unwise : some will 
whitewash a gooseberry-bush, the effect of 
which is cheerful and pleasing to the eye, but 
rather injurious to the leaves, moreover gives 
a very unpleasant flavour and grittiness to the 
berries ; some will water the bushes with 
strong brine, thereby greatly annoying the 
grub by killing the leaves ; quick lime has a 
very similar effect. It strikes me that no 
nostrum will ever be found that shall be per- 
fectly efficient as regards the grub and harm- 
less as regards the tree ; it would therefore 
be my plan to attempt to lessen an evil that 
is not to be cured. I have already mentioned 
the good effects of smoke ; the picking of the 
perforated leaves I have also recommended. 
Another benefit will arise from treading the 
ground very hard about the roots of the 
bushes. An observant gardener cannot fail 
to notice that when gooseberry-bushes stand 
singly at the end of patches of potatoes, peas, 
or beans, they are sure to be more infested 
than when in a close bed : the reason for this 
seems to me that the soil for all our culinaries 
is made as light as possible ; this is effected 
by constant digging, hoeing, or raking: in a 
bed filled with gooseberry-bushes, on the con- 
trary, there is but little moving of the earth 
going on, and it gets trodden hard when the 
gooseberries are ripening, and commonly re- 
mains so through the year. This hardening 
of the soil prevents the grubs from burrowing' 
when they come down from the bushes, so 
they go wandering about and become a prey 
to the hedge-sparrow, house-sparrow, white- 
throats, robins, and obese toads that are 
always on the look out for them ; it also pre- 
vents so feeble an insect as the fly from forc- 
ing its way upwards from the cell in which it 
has changed ; thus those on the surface and 
those under the surface are alike assailed by 
the simple expedient of hardening the soil. 
Various remedies have been adopted to 
arrest the ravages of the voracious grub. 
One of these, which has been more or less 
successful, is to dust over the affected trees 
with the powder of white hellebore, which 
should be done when they are dewy, so that 
the powder may adhere to the leaves. This, 
however, sometimes fails, according to state- 
ments made public • probably, in consequence 
of the use of inert hellebore, for there is good 
evidence of its efficacy in other cases. 
A simple, but we believe effectual plan, con- 
sists in dressing the trees on which the cater- 
pillars have established themselves, with sharp, 
gritty road dust, in a perfectly dry state ; this 
should be thrown sharply against the trees, 
and is also to be applied when the trees them- 
selves are damp with dew. It must be evi- 
dent that these two applications will be most 
effectual in dry weather, for rain would dis- 
lodge the materials employed. Contact with 
the insect would also seem to be essential. 
A still more effectual remedy, however, is 
the following : — About the end of March, or 
beginning of April, in dry weather, remove 
the surface soil from beneath the gooseberry 
bushes, to the depth of two full inches, and as 
wide as the spread of the branches. Replace 
this with fresh, or maiden soil, which should 
be well consolidated. When the trees come 
into leaf, spread over the fresh soil a slight 
covering of soot mixed with quick lime. This 
remedy cannot fail, if carefully applied, be- 
cause it is planned in reference to the habits of 
the insect which does the injury. The grubs 
bury themselves in the soil about the roots 
of the trees, and these change to chrysalids. 
With the warmth of spring they go through 
their other mutations, and the flies then de- 
posit their eggs on the trees. The eggs soon 
produce young grubs, which feed voraciously 
until they become full grown, when they re- 
tire into the soil, and undergo their changes. 
It may be proper to explain that goose- 
berry trees are attacked by at least two dis- 
tinct kinds of insects, one a species of Saw- 
fly, Nematiis trimaculatus, or, as it is some- 
times called, Tenthredo grossularia, to which 
the preceding quotation applies j the other 
a kind of Moth, the Phalcena grossulariata, 
sometimes called the Magpie-moth. 
