392 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
The White Grub. 
E. M. Beach, Sangamon Co., EL, writes us an 
account of the pasture of his neighbor, “T. H. E.” 
The writer states that the pasture, several years 
established, had never been fed very close, and last 
year, especially, the grass made quite a strong 
growth. This year about one half of the pasture 
is quite killed by the White Grub. In places every 
root is so completely destroyed that the grass can 
be swept oil “as you would sweep snow from a 
plank.” He asks, “ where do these grubs come 
from?”—and “ will the pasture reset itself, or must 
it be broken up and resown?” He concludes his 
letter by saying : “The grub question has become 
a serious one, and our people do not understand 
it.” If our friend’s neighbors do not understand 
the “grub question,” it is not because the American 
Aff)-icullurist has not kept them informed upon it. 
When we published, a few years ago, the remarkable 
destruction which we witnessed upon the lawn of 
one of the finest places in New England, described 
the grub, and gave the remedies that seemed to be 
the most useful, it is probable that our friend took 
but slight notice of it, as it was so far away from 
home. So to begin anew, and answer the question, 
“where do these grubs come from?”—They are 
the larvae or grub state of the brown beetle, 
that is commonly known as the “May-bug,” “June- 
bug,” or “Dor-bug,” which, when it enters the 
house, attracted by the light, in May and June, 
bounces about and knocks its head against the 
•walls and ceiling in such a manner as to attract 
notice. When a few of these enter the house, it is 
probably that there are many more elsewhere. If 
the fruit trees in the neighborhood be examined, 
no doubt but large numbers may be found ; they 
especially harbor in cherry trees. In early morn¬ 
ing, when they are torpid, large numbers may be 
shaken down, caught upon cloths, and killed. Every 
female beetle thus destroyed prevents the laying 
of over 100 eggs, some say over 200. The eggs 
are laid in the ground, and the grubs require three 
years to complete their growth. They feed upon 
young roots, but they do not appear to be large 
enough to do their worst mischief until their last 
year, when their work upon the grass roots is often 
most disastrous. Our friend is l ight in saying that 
the “ grab question is a most serious one,” and it 
appears as if it were to become to our farmers 
what the “ Cockchafer question ” is in England, 
and the “ Hanneton question ” in France. In those 
countries, a closely related insect, with very similar 
habits, is such a pest that prizes are offered by 
Government, in France at least, for its abatement. 
With us the complaints are each year more numer¬ 
ous, and the plague appears to increase rather than 
diminish. But a few days ago, a fruit grower came 
to us with a doleful face to tell of the complete 
ruin of his strawberry plantation from this cause. 
What can be done ? The presence of the grub it¬ 
self is not suspected until the mischief is done. 
The most effective help against the grub is the 
crow, but that, should it be seen after a grub— 
and its keen senses allow it to go for and destroy 
it—would be at once shot or driven away. Crows 
are the most active helpers, and should be pro¬ 
tected by law. That unpopular animal, the odor¬ 
iferous Skunk is another friend of the farmer, but 
war is declared against him, because he is sus¬ 
pected of varying his diet of grubs with an oc¬ 
casional spring chicken. No human help can avail 
while the insect remains in the grub state. Aside 
from shaking the beetles from the trees, they may 
be caught by means of lamps, so placed in lauterns 
that the beetles in flying against them, will drop 
into water. We gave a year or two ago a method 
employed in Texas for thus trapping the beetles. 
The Western Catalpa. — Doctor John A. 
Warder prepared for the Journal of the “ American 
Agricultural Association ” a memoir upon the 
Western Catalpa, which paper has been issued in a 
pamphlet form by its author. Some three or four 
years ago, when the discovery was made that there 
were really two species of Catalpa, heretofore re¬ 
garded as one, wc published the fact, and also gave 
the evidence of Mr. E. E. Barney, Dayton, O., as to 
the remarkable durability of the wood, and have 
from time to time given notes as to the value of 
the tree. The present paper brings together, in a 
compact form, the facts that make up the history 
of this tree. The new species is named Catalpa 
speciosa, and differs from the ordinary Catalpa 
hignonioides, in being a taller and straighter tree; 
its larger, nearly pure white flowers appear one to 
three weeks earlier; the pods are larger, more 
cylindrical; the seeds also are larger, with the wing 
broader and not pointed as in the other. The 
Catalpa has such a remarkable adaptability to a 
variety of soils and climates, is so easily raised 
from seeds, and grows so rapidly, that is is worthy 
of the attention of all who propose to raise forest 
trees The durability of its timber has been sub¬ 
jected to the severest tests, and there are few of 
our native woods that excel it in this respect. The 
pamphlet does not state that it may be purchased, 
but a treatise so useful to those interested in for¬ 
estry, should be made accessible to all who have 
a desire to procure it. 
Sundry Humbugs. 
Those who have 
regularly read these 
columns are aware 
that there is no point 
upon which we have 
morefrequently warn¬ 
ed our readers, than 
that of carelessly 
giving their signa¬ 
tures. So varied are 
i! the schemes by which the 
names of responsible farmers 
and others are obtained, to 
H afterwards appear at the bot¬ 
tom of “ a promise to pay-,” 
that of late years we have 
cautioned our friends against signing their names 
for strangers under any pretense whatever. The 
tricks for procuring the names of responsible men 
are so varied, that we have frequently given the 
warning : 
I)o Not Sigu Your Name 
to any paper in the hands of any stranger what¬ 
ever. Many years ago we showed one of the tricks 
of these swindling chaps, by which a comparatively 
innocent contract could be converted into anote of 
hand. This old trick is still alive in some parts of 
the West. A correspondent of one of the Cincin¬ 
nati papers, in writing from Indianapolis,Ind.,states 
that that city (Indianapolis), is the headquarters of 
a gang that are operating in this manner in the 
neighboring country. It is the old, old story, that 
we have told so many times before. Parties go 
among fanners and offer to make them agents for 
farm machines of varies sorts : hay rigging, seed 
sowers, mowing machine-sharpeners, in fact almost 
any farm implement. The farmer is shown that by 
matter until he is informed by a Bank in a neigh¬ 
boring town, that his note of such a date and for 
such a sum, has been deposited for collection. 
Knowing that he has given no note, he goes to the 
Bank and there learns how he has been swindled. 
The “ contract ” to pay for goods when sold, and 
which he signed, was so arranged that it read all 
right, but it was so carefully worded that when 
cut apart iu the middle, the portion to which his 
signature was attached was a valid “ promise to 
pay.” The diagram given below shows how this old 
trick is still played, and adds force to our caution 
to farmers : Do not sign your name for a stranger, 
upon any pretext whatever. The contract, of 
which this is one of the several forms, reads all 
right, but when cut apart, as shown by the dotted 
line, the left-hand part becomes a regular note of 
hand. Do not sign any contract for a stranger, do 
not even sign your address upon the request of 
a stranger... .Clara S. C., Peoria Co., Ill., has our 
thanks for bringing to our notice another form of 
The Sign Your Name Dodge. 
Our young friend informs us that persons have 
been around through the country, pretending to 
represent large dealers in groceries, dry goods, etc. 
Most of those who have given “ orders ” for their 
supplies have been surprised to learn that their 
notes for $75 to $150 are in the banks for collection. 
Our correspondent sends a clipping from a local 
paper, which gives the particulars of this swin¬ 
dle, and of a still meaner fraud. One of these 
“w'ell dressed” scamps who infest the rural com¬ 
munity, stopped at the house of a well-to-do farmer 
of the county, and wished to stay over night. He 
was given lodging and breakfast, and when in the 
morning he wished to pay his bill, the farmer told 
him that he made no charge. “Well dressed” 
chap was profuse with thanks, and on departing 
must ask his hospitable host, the favor of his 
autograph, just as a memento of his pleasant visit. 
Flattered farmer, of course, gave his signature.— 
Sequel. A note of hand for $700, the validity of 
the signature to which the farmer could not deny. 
N. B.—Since the above concerning 
The Note Trick 
was in type, a recent number of the “Iowa State 
Register” gives an account of a decision by the 
Supreme Court of Iowa, in an appeal from a County 
Court. A person who had bought one of these 
fraudulent notes cut from a contract, sued the 
signer. The defendant admitted the signature, but 
declared that it was not the paper that he signed. 
The jury gave a verdict in the defendant’s favor. 
Holder of the note appealed, and the Supreme 
Court sustained the court below. 
Moral : For the 100th Time—Do Not Sign Your 
Name. 
Several years ago there was a small swindle which 
caught many. It was an advertisement which pro¬ 
posed to send for 50 cents “ directions for writing 
without the use of pen or ink.” The victims who 
6ent the required amount, received in return, the 
Indianapolis, Ind., 1881. 
One year after date, 1 promise to pay-, or 
bearer Thirty Dollars when I sell by 
order, Three Hundred and Tweuty-five Dollars 
worth of Patent Seeding Machines 
for value received, at six per cent per annum, 
said Thirty Dollars when due, to be 
payable at Indianapolis, Ind. 
Sole Agent for.Company. 
acting as agent for the sale of these, he can make 
a large profit without any outlay. All he has to do 
is, to receive the machines, and pay for them when 
sold. It all looks very fair, and the farmer is often 
quite too ready to sign a contract (a mere matter 
of form, you know), to the effect that, when he 
has sold these machines to a given number, he will 
pay a certain sum. It all looks fair, and the farmer 
signs. He may sell some of the machines, or not, 
as the case may be, and he thinks but little of the 
direction —“ write with a lead pencil.” A similar 
dodge has been played upon farmers, as we learn 
by a friend in Henrico Co., Ya. It appears that 
some one advertised in a New York paper to send 
for $1 a “certain death to potato bugs, without the 
use of poison.” Henrico Co. farmer sent his dol¬ 
lar, and received by mail two small wooden blocks 
—(kind of wood not mentioned)—with carefully 
printed directions : “ Catch the bug, place it on 
one block and bear down gently on the other.” 
