1878. J 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
471 
become plump, roots will strike from the lower sur¬ 
face, and leaves, followed by buds, from the upper 
surface. Florists who make a specialty of the Cy¬ 
clamen are usually careful about their seeds, and 
one is more likely to get plants that have large 
flowers from them, than to buy imported bulbs. 
The plants need no special care beyond that re¬ 
quired by other window plants ; they will continue 
for a long time to throw up their quaint, knowing¬ 
looking flowers, and when these are done with, the 
foliage will make it worthy of the place it occupies. 
The White Grub and Its Ways. 
Last August, in Notes for the “ Orchard and Gar¬ 
den,” p. 335, a brief account was given of the de¬ 
struction of several acres of lawn. After that was 
•written we visited the gentleman referred to, and 
examined that portion of the lawn that had not 
been re-seeded, and saw the men at work removing 
the old turf and picking up grubs by the bushel/ 
Since then we have received many iettters com¬ 
plaining of the work of the grub—some hav¬ 
ing lost their strawberry plants, others their 
flowering plants, others their grass—indeed, it 
makes little difference what the plant may be, 
for we have known them to cut off the roots 
of young apple-trees as large as 
one’s finger. These letters, as a 
whole, show that the writers, if 
they know what the grub is, 
have very imperfect ideas of its 
ways—or modes of life. The 
first step towards a successful 
combat is to know the strength 
and the taetiesjof the enemy, and 
though we gave a quite full ac¬ 
count of the insect several years ago,our correspond¬ 
ence shows that the subject needs to be presented 
anew. Wefind that*)tlierwise intelligent persons do 
not understand the changes which insects undergo. 
Not so very long ago a gentleman brought us some 
beetles—perfect insects—and insisted that they 
changed into something else, and no argument or 
assertion would convince him to the contrary. In 
brief, the changes of insects are always in one 
direction; we have first the egg, then the lan>a (the 
grub, maggot, caterpillar, or “ worm ” state); in 
this condition it makes its growth, which requires 
all the way from a few weeks to a few years. When 
full-grown, the larva forms a pupa or chrysalis, 
usually becoming dormant, and in due time it 
bursts its covering, and comes out a perfect insect 
—as a beetle, butterfly, fly, or whatever its kind. 
The creature has then completed its career—it does 
not “turn into” anything, but it lays eggs, and 
thus the scries begins anew. 
Perfect insects do not grow— 
little beetles never become large 
ones, and if they feed it is in 
many cases by sucking sweets, 
and they are not usually injuri¬ 
ous as perfect butterflies, moths, 
and beetles, though as to the 
last there are noted exceptions 
Pio-. 2._ grub. This being the routine, let us ap¬ 
ply it to the White Grub. This 
pest is the larva of the beetle (shown in fig. 1) 
Lachnosterna fusca, well known as May-bug, June- 
bug, and Dor-bug; they find their way into houses 
in early summer, being attracted by the light. The 
female beetle lays her eggs in the earth; the young 
grubs (larvae) are hatched from these, and go about 
to find their food. But little is known of their his¬ 
tory for the first year; no special damage is traced 
to them, and it is supposed that they live on small 
root fibres, the loss of which is not noticed. In 
their second year they make their presence felt; 
they appear then to work just below the surface, 
and as already stated devour almost every root or 
other vegetable substance they find. At this time 
they are of the shape of fig. 2; when full-grown, 
somewhat larger. The body is of a dirty white 
color, the head is brownish. In the spring of the 
third year, the grub having made its full growth, it 
goes into the chrysalis state, and in May or June 
£omes out as a beetle. The perfect insect, or beetle, 
is also destructive ; it collects upon fruit and other 
trees and devours their foliage. The beetles seem 
to be quiet in the day-time, but in the evening are 
very busy ; they pair, lay eggs, and the mischief 
continues. While there are some beetles every 
year from scattered grubs, the great crop for any 
particular locality appears once in three years, and 
one who has observed the year in which they 
abound, will know when to look for the ravages 
of the grub. Some think that the White Grub is 
brought to their gardens in the manure, which is a 
mistake ; the Manure Grub, though of about the 
same general appearance, belongs to a very different 
insect, and the two have but little in common. 
With this brief review of the habits of the White 
Grab, we will leave the methods that have been pro¬ 
posed for destroying it to be given another month. 
Multiplying Strawberry Plants. 
With a new and rare variety of Strawberry, it is 
desirable to multiply it as rapidly as possible. Not 
only does the nurseryman wish to do this, as a mat¬ 
ter of profit, but the amateur who has invested in a 
few high-priced plants would increase these suf¬ 
ficiently to make a productive bed as soon as may 
be. Ordinarily, the runners are left to take care of 
themselves, and it sometimes happens that many 
fail to strike root; when the soil is too dry, or the 
plants are in a bleak place, and whipped about by 
strong winds, there will be many failures. With 
scarce kiuds it will pay to secure a plant from each 
ranner—or rather from each bud on every runner, 
which may be done by fastening them in place with 
a bent or forked twig, or by laying a clod of earth 
on the runner. Where the failure is from drouth, 
the soil should be mulched with cut straw, and 
watered after the runners have been fastened down ; 
cut straw is more convenient than long, for this 
use, as it may be more readily worked in among 
the old and young plants. Our old horticultural 
friend, Sam’l Miller, the originator ofthe “ Martha” 
and other grapes, writes us from Sedafia, Mo., that 
owing to an excessive drouth last summer his run¬ 
ners could not take root; he picked off the buds— 
or young plants without roots—at the ends of the 
runners, and packed them in damp moss. In a few 
days roots were emitted, when the little plants 
were set out in beds, shaded for a time, and they 
made a satisfactory growth. When the Agricul¬ 
turist Strawberry first came out, a cultivator of 
our acquaintance followed a similar plan. When 
cold weather came, his few plants had many run¬ 
ners that had not taken root; these would be lost, 
if left as they were, so he gathered them and set 
them out in a cold-frame; the next spring they 
were well rooted plants ready for sale or planting. 
Winter Protection. — Probably more plants 
are killed by too much protection than by the want 
of any covering. Some plants, like the strawberry, 
are perfectly hardy, yet we advise covering them, 
not so much to shield them from the cold, as to 
prevent the frequent freezing and thawing of the 
soil; such protection should be mainly around, and 
but little upon the plants, and it is better to not 
put it on at all until the ground has actually frozen. 
Shrubs just on the border between tender and 
hardy were formerly completely bundled up with 
straw, and if they were evergreens, were often 
smothered to death, between which and freezing 
there is little choice. One of the most efficient 
methods of protecting shrubs of this kind, where 
the material is available, is to procure boughs of 
cedar or other evergreen, and set these in the 
ground close to the bush or young tree to be pro¬ 
tected. In the absence of evergreens we have suc¬ 
ceeded well by placing naked branches or brush 
around the half hardy plants, and working in straw 
among them. The object is to ward off severe 
winds, to give partial shade and to modify sudden 
changes of temperature, yet, at the same time, to 
allow a full circulation of air. Hardy herbaceous 
plants bloom all the stronger for being covered in 
winter ; for this purpose, leaves serve an excellent 
purpose. When first put on, they are liable to be 
blown about; sprinkle a little earth over them. 
For other Household Items see “ Basket ” pages. 
How Common Lamps Waste Light. 
Did it ever occur to the reader, that most of the 
common lamps actually waste one-half or more 
of all the light produced, and are therefore doubly 
expensive ? The flame gives off rays from its sur¬ 
face ; but if we half cover the flame, half of the 
rays are intercepted and lost. This is just what is 
done in a majority of lamps. Figure 1 shows this. 
The metal cap, a , partly covers the flame; ouly the 
portion that rises above a gives out light to the 
room. In several of the lamps now made, this loss 
is saved by omitting the metal cap, and having 
the glass chimney set down below the bottom of 
the flame, as in figures 2 and 3. Such an arrange¬ 
ment is equivalent to saving half the expense of 
oil.—The Argand principle is of great utility. This 
is an arrangement for having a current of air pass 
up through the coder of a circular flame, furnishing 
oxygen to its interior. The combustion is much 
more intense, and the light correspondingly greater. 
Home Topics. 
BY FAITH ROCHESTER. 
"Warm Underclothes for Children. 
The cool days that come now, more and more 
wintry in their suggestions, set mothers to think¬ 
ing about the winter clothing of the family. Let 
no thoughtlessness or negligence hinder the pre¬ 
paration of warm under-garments, especially for the 
children. We used to think that 
little boys had much the advantage 
of little girls, in having warmer and 
more equal clothing over their 
whole bodies. But the fashion of 
short trousers leaves their legs be¬ 
low the knees no better protected 
than those of little girls—unless, 
indeed, they are more likely to be 
provided with long under-drawers. 
Many fashionably - dressed little 
boys are not so provided for. 
Through ignorance or indifference, 
their mothers sacrifice future 
healtli and manly beauty to present 
pretliness, and in this unreasonable 
and unkind manner, the majority 
of little girls are treated. No one 
can tell bow much this has to do 
with the general ill-health of 
women. The children are supposed 
to be growing “tough,” but it is 
often t e case that the vitality is 
too much drawn upon and the con¬ 
stitution gradually undermined, so 
that many children who seem to be 
enduring all things wonderfully, are really among 
those who “die in the toughening,” though the death 
is long postponed and approaches gradually at last. 
Make the under-garments of flannel or fleecy cotton 
flannel, and let them cover the body from neck to 
wrists and ankles. They may be made all in one 
