1896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
369 
for soiling purposes, or to supplement scanty pastures 
on dairy farms. They are also an excellent fodder to 
mix with other crops less rich in protein for the silo, 
but for curing as dry fodder, are not so desirable on 
account of the tendency of the leaves to fall from the 
stalks in drying. If sown, they may be drilled in 
two or three inches deep, and the drills 18 inches 
apart if sown in J uly ; earlier sowings should not be 
less than two feet apart for the best results. 
Rhode Island Ex. Station. chas. o. flagg. 
Good to Follow Strawberries. 
As to Soja beans, I find them a very good crop to 
follow strawberries on beds that I plow up directly 
after fruiting. I have the ground harrowed down 
well, and then the beans, about one bushel to the 
acre, are sown in rows three feet apart. They come 
up very quickly, and after running through them two 
or three times with the cultivator in the early stages 
of growth, they are allowed to grow at will and often 
make a growth of three to four feet before frost 
comes in the fall; a grand forage crop and fine for 
turning under. For very light, sandy land, I find that 
they do even better than cow peas. j. H. hale. 
MORE LIGHT TURNED ON WHITE GRUBS. 
THE TRAIL OF THE “DUNG WORM.” 
W. G. S., Mathews, Va .—I read the article on Dung worms in 
The R. N.-Y., and send you some of the large ones referred to. I 
was carting manure, and there were plenty of worms all through 
it. I noticed that each worm was in a hole that ran through 
the manure into the ground. I dug where the manure was, and 
found plenty of worms about one foot in the ground. These may 
not be the same as were in the manure, but I got them where the 
manure was. I could see the holes, so I dug down until I reached 
the worms. 
S. G., Emmitsbwg, Md .—I see by The R. N.-Y. that the scientific 
men are trying to prove that the White grub is never hatched out, 
in or under manure. The R. N.-Y. has never published anything 
to the contrary, except from Fred Grundy. Science is all right, 
and is what marks progress; but when science tells me one 
thing, and my own observation tells me another, science has 
either not covered the whole subject, or my experience has not 
gone deep enough. I have been cultivating strawberries for 20 
years, and never planted in sod until last year, not having enough 
ground. M. Crawford, of Ohio, wrote me that he thought that I 
would not be troubled. I consider him one of the best, if not the 
best authority on strawberry culture in the United States. I could 
see no difference between those planted in clover sod, and those 
planted where the land was cultivated with corn and potatoes 
two years, using manure the first year on corn, and in starting 
clover, and using commercial fertilizers on the potatoes the 
second year. The hardest fight of my life was last year, perhaps, 
by reason of the drought, as the plants did not grow rapidly, and 
the grubs got in their work all the same. Can Mr. Slingerland, or 
any other scientist, tell me where the White grubs come from that 
destroy strawberries in a garden that is always In cultivation 
with the hoe, if the May beetle never deposits its eggs in culti¬ 
vated land, and all white things in or under manure are harmless? 
I have never seen the small beetle which Mr. S. describes, but 
the larger Tumble bug, both green and black. I am also certain 
that white worms are generally found in piles of dung or manure 
lying in heaps for some time, that ai’e harmless. Last spring, I 
removed the mulch, cultivated and returned it between the rows 
of strawberries, and hundreds of young White grubs were found 
under the mulch that had been trampled over in picking the ber¬ 
ries. They were genuine White grubs or, at least, they destroyed 
some of the plants that were left to fruit next year, as so many of 
those set last spring were destroyed. I have come to the con¬ 
clusion that the eggs that make White grubs, are deposited under 
anything that affords a hiding place. The mulch was only wheat 
straw, and the wheat that preceded the clover or the young clover 
furnished a hiding place, if they were not in the manure applied 
to the wheat. 
ANSWERED BY M. V. SLINGERLAND. 
From the two large grubs received from W. G. S., I 
was enabled to determine just what insect both W. 
G. S. and S. G. have reference to in their queries. 
The grubs are, indeed, white grubs, but it appears 
that the White grub of the Southern States, is the 
grub stage of quite a different beetle from the true 
May beetles, the parents of the true White grubs, 
which occur all over the country, but are especially 
numerous in the Northern States. In short, there are 
White grubs and White grubs, The beetles that are 
the parents of the White grub of the South, are com¬ 
paratively rare in the North. The true White grubs 
of writers on insects, are the young of May beetles, 
those well-known, large, brown beetles that buzz 
about in our dwellings, attracted in large numbers 
by the lights, in May and June. Thus, when I ex¬ 
pressed a doubt that White grubs were ever found in 
(not under) manure, I referred only to the true May- 
beetle grubs ; and I have yet to see any true White 
grubs taken from manure piles. Let us see how this 
Southern White grub differs from the true White 
grubs. 
At e in Fig. 119, is shown, about natural size, a true 
May beetle. There are many different kinds of these 
beetles ; we have over 20 in New York State. They are 
formed in little earthen cells in the ground in August 
and September, and they remain in these cells all 
winter, not appearing above ground until the next 
May or June. Soon after emerging, they lay their 
eggs from an inch to three inches below the surface 
of the ground, each egg being enclosed separately in 
a little cavity just large enough to hold it; sometimes 
several are placed near each other, but never in a 
co mm on cell. The beetles live for a week or more, 
and as they feed at night on ^e foliage of trees, they 
sometimes occur in such great numbers as to do 
serious injury to fruit trees. They may be readily 
jarred into curculio-catchers from two to five o’clock 
in the morning. The eggs are usually laid in 
grass lands, where the grubs find abundant pastur¬ 
age ; but eggs have also been found in corn fields. 
They hatch in from 10 to 18 days, and the grubs feed 
on the roots of living vegetation during the growing 
season, usually retiring, in November, to a greater 
or less depth below the surface, depending upon the 
severity of the weather, and coming up again within 
reach of food some time in March or April. 
It is not yet definitely known how long the insect 
lives as a grub. The indications are that a grub 
hatched in July, 1895, will attain full growth in June or 
July, 1897, and the beetles into which they transform, 
will appear in May or June, 1898, or this insect is 
three years in passing through its life cycle from the 
egg to the beetle. A genuine White grub, the young 
of a true May beetle, is shown, about natural size, at 
d, Fig. 119. They work on the roots of many different 
crops, and are often vei’y destructive. 
Now the Southern White grub referred to in the 
queries of W. G. S. and S. G., is the young of a beetle 
known as the Green June beetle, or, sometimes, as 
the Fig-eater (Allorhina nitida). It is very common 
in the South, but it differs in many respects in its 
life history and habits from the true May beetles. 
Thus, as S. G.’s observations have been confined to 
this Green June beetle, it is not to be wondered at 
that he thinks that “ science is at fault,” for in all 
that has been said in The R. N.-Y. about White grubs, 
only the grubs of the true May beetles have been 
considered. 
The Green June beetle, shown natural size, at c, 
Fig. 119, is of a green, velvety color, trimmed with a 
yellowish band. It is formed in a tough, hard cell of 
earth in June, and emerges a few days later. Noth¬ 
ing is definitely known of its egg-laying habits. The 
WHITE GRUBS AND “DUNG WORMS.” Fig. 119. 
eggs are, probably, laid underground, and the indi¬ 
cations are that the beetles are attracted to any soil 
that is heavily mulched, and where there is manure 
or decomposing vegetation. The beetles live for a 
week or more, and do not feed upon leaves as do 
the true May beetles, but upon over-ripe fruit and 
vegetables, like peaches or melons. They often swarm 
around the sap flowing from a bruise on a fruit or 
forest tree ; however, they rarely do much damage. 
It is thought that, during most of their growth, the 
grubs are comparatively harmless, feeding largely on 
vegetable humus ; but as they attain full growth, 
they often injure the roots of strawberries and grasses. 
The full-grown grubs (see a, Fig. 119) differ from 
true White grubs in being a little larger, more robust, 
more thickly covered with short, stiff hairs, and in 
their peculiar habit of crawling upon their backs. 
Sometimes they leave the ground in swarms, and 
crawl, strangely enough, upon their backs easily, 
making no use of their short legs. On one occasion, 
they were seen crawling over the pavements on the 
Capitol grounds at Washington, in such numbers that 
bushels of them were swept up and carted away. 
Their peculiar method of crawling, and very hairy 
bodies, will readily distinguish them from the grubs 
of true May beetles, which creep clumsily along by 
means of their legs. 
How long the insect lives as a grub, is not known. 
It may undergo all its transformations from the egg 
to the beetle in one year ; b, Fig. 119, represents the 
pupa stage of the insect, that is, the stage between 
the grub and the beetle. Thus, this Green J une beetle, 
or Southern White grub has quite different habits 
from the true May beetles or their White grubs. 
This brings us to the question, Does the Southern 
White grub breed in manure, or does it occur in ma¬ 
nure piles so that it might be distributed with the 
manure ? I doubt very much its breeding in piles of 
manure, as I know that it can and does breed in grass 
lands like the true White grubs. Doubtless it may 
breed more freely where the land is covered with a 
mulch, or manure containing much straw ; but do the 
grubs feed upon manure piled or strewn upon the sur¬ 
face of the soil ? In short, are they true “ Dung 
worms” ? It is true that the experience of W. G. S. 
and S. G. indicates that this Southern White grub 
may be introduced into a strawberry bed with manure, 
or the stronger presumption is that thickly mulched 
or manured beds attract the insects. Even the true 
White grubs are not confined to uncultivated lands, 
but will breed freely in cultivated crops as corn or 
strawberries. 
The light is just beginning to dawn on the “ Dung- 
worm ” question. Let us keep our eyes open for any¬ 
thing in the form of a white grub that lives in or 
under manure. I will gladly lend my aid to deter¬ 
mine the nature of any inhabitant of a manure pile 
you may find. If farmers are liable to introduce in¬ 
sect pests into their crops by the use of farm manures, 
we all want to know it. More “Dung-worms” wanted ! 
Some Apples for Maine. 
)V. M. 11., Ellsworth, Me. —1. What vai ieties of apples shall I 
need here for a good orchard ? 2. Will the American linden be 
good for shade and ornamental purposes ? Is it of value for bee 
purposes ? 
Ans. —1. Probably Baldwin, if it will stand the win¬ 
ters, and I think that it will. As an alternative, or 
companion with Baldwin, I would add Yellow Bell¬ 
flower, if high culture be given. Fine Bellflowers 
bring $4 and $5 per barrel in Boston, but it takes 
skill and high culture to produce these. 2. Basswood 
makes a fine shade tree. As to its value for honey 
bees, I am not sure ; but my own impression is that 
it is a good tree for that. x. h. hoskins. 
Selling Seed Peas Direct to Growers. 
Pea Grower, Ontario. —We are in the seed-pea growing district 
of Canada, and it seems to me that we might be able to sell direct 
to growers in the trucking districts of your country. From the 
late articles on jxea growing, I see that there is a great difference 
between the cost of seed to your growers, and what the dealers 
pay us. 
Ans. —Vast quantities are used here, in southern New 
Jersey, but it would be best for seed growers to sell to 
the dealers, for this reason, among others : Peas should 
be shipped from Canada in car-load lots. If small lots 
of 20 to 50 bushels are shipped, they would have to 
change cars several times. In changing in this way, 
the bags get torn, the peas waste, and, with peas at 
$5 and $6 per bushel, this would be a serious loss. A 
car-load comes through without change, and, if a bag 
breaks, the peas all stay in the car and are not lost. 
Any of our country dealers could take a car-load and 
some of them several. Charles parry. 
The Mammoth Clover Seed Crop. 
1). II. S., Northport, Mich. —How shall I treat Mammoth clover 
for seed ? In this latitude, the first crop ripens about the first of 
August. Although clover does well here, no seed is raised, on 
account of not beiDg able to get it thrashed. There is not a clover 
thrasher in this county ; in fact, I never saw one. 
ANSWERED BY JOHN M. JAMISON. 
The first crop being the seed, and growing during the 
most favorable season for plant growth, one great point 
is to manage the large amount of straw produced. If 
allowed uninterrupted growth during the whole sea¬ 
son, it is almost sure to lodge, which will prevent, to 
some extent, perfect seeding, and the amount of straw 
will be so great that it will be costly handling. To 
prevent this, it should be closely pastured or clipped 
with the mower. One of the most successful growers 
I know, pastures it, and says that the part of the field 
most closely pastured, gives the best seed returns. 
The only way I can account for the fact that grazing 
is better than clipping, is that more of the insects 
that prey upon it are destroyed by pasturing, than 
by clipping. 
In the latitude of southern Ohio, it should be pas¬ 
tured till June 10 to 15. If the field is not pastured 
evenly, run the mower over it, that it may all start 
together, otherwise it would ripen unevenly. In 
cutting, care should be exercised not to cut too green. 
Not only the bloom, but the burr should take on a 
brownish hue before being cut. The best way to cut, 
is with a self-raking reaper, which will deposit the 
bunches to the side of the swath cut, and with the 
heads exposed to the sun and air. Many use a mower 
with a platform attached to the cutting bar ; this re¬ 
quires two men to do the raking, the first one riding 
the platform till he has raked off the bar a bunch 
sufficiently large, when he steps off the platform 
back to the power wheels, drawing the bunch after 
him. Then the second man takes his place and re¬ 
peats the operation. Others use their harvesting 
machines, removing the binder and attaching a slatted 
box to catch the clover when elevated, and it is dis¬ 
charged from the box by the use of a lever. 
Mammoth usually yields a larger amount of seed 
than Medium clover. It ripens at a time when the 
farmer is at comparative leisure, and when it is easy 
to get it hulled, because hullers are not crowded. If 
hulled from the bunch, the bunches should not be 
moved after cutting, till the huller is due in the field, 
when they should be lifted from the ground that 
they may dry out. The less handling before getting 
to the machine, the less seed will be wasted. Another 
advantage Mammoth has over Medium Red clover, 
lies in the fact that the midge has never been able to 
time its visits so as to damage it. As soon as growing 
clover for seed becomes an industry in a community, 
hullers will come in. In this section, there are four 
times as many hullers as there were 12 years ago. 
