134 
GARDENS AND THEIR MEANING 
of descent in many a prolific family. Picture if you will how 
this treatment would affect, for instance, the corn worm. 
Offspring of a dull yellow moth which feeds on tomatoes, 
peas, and beans, it goes through the changes from caterpillar 
to moth in an interval of three or four weeks, during which it 
is buried out of sight. Again, the cucumber beetle conceals 
its eggs in the soil around the cucumber, squash, or melon, 
and the young larvae feed luxuriously upon the roots. 
The tomato worm, child of the five-spotted sphinx moth, 
goes through its transformations underground after the same 
fashion. Rose beetles, the scourge of every garden, which 
are so apt to appear, out of a clear sky, as it were, on some 
fine June morning, will have made all their preparations for 
their debut within their subterranean homes. For the eggs 
are usually laid in the ground in early summer and hatched 
into grubs which feed on the roots of grass and remain be- 
low ground through the winter. Not until spring do they 
pass through a brief pupa stage, coming out as perfect adults 
in a short month. 
The cutworm, progeny of the owlet moth, is most suc- 
cessful in carrying on its dire operations during the watches 
of the night. Though the eggs are laid above ground, both 
caterpillar and moth are nocturnal, and that is why they are 
able so successfully to escape destruction. The caterpillar, on 
emerging from the egg, hastens to a spot of safety under- 
ground, coming out of its hiding place, however, at night to 
nibble the tender stalks. By scraping away the loose earth 
one may get a look at him. A true account is given’ by 
a man who, puzzled by the mysterious devastation of his 
orchards and vines, heard one night as he walked across 
the field what sounded like the grinding of countless jaws. 
On striking a match the mystery was solved. The trees 
were simply alive with hungry cutworms. 
