190S. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
783 
THE HATEFUL WHITE GRUB. 
Its Life History; What Can We Do With It? 
In a flourishing strawberry bed of 400 plants I have all 
Summer found one large plant suddenly dead. On touch¬ 
ing it I found it loose in the soil, the root eaten off near 
the crown. On digging I have found the cause to be a 
large white grub about 1% inch long, with a brown head 
and six legs near the head. Please tell me what it is, and 
what I shall do to save the rest^of the plants, h. t. w. 
South Westerlo, N. Y. 
I plowed up a patch of sod this year and although the 
soil is mellow it is literally full of white grubs. They have 
destroyed the beets and now cucumber vines are being 
killed by them. They are thick around cabbage stumps; 
lively shotes on it. They will eat every grub .within* 
reach. In Illinois eight sows and 100 pigs, the lattes 
averaging 75 pounds, were turned into 10 acres so 
badly infested with grubs that 3,460 were found in 
the space covered by 100 hills of corn. The pigs 
were turned in September 23. By October 13 the 
pigs had rooted over the entire surface of the field, 
in some places a foot deep. There was then an aver¬ 
age of about five grubs per hill, while before they 
started there were nearly 35. In another week the 
pigs dug and rooted so well that they had cleaned 
out 99 per cent of the grubs. In some cases they 
dug down two feet. 
clean-long ere -this. In order to gut- his - field- ready 
for wheat next Fall his surest plan now is to plow- 
them out. c. c. hulsart. 
That Thin Asparagus Bed. 
A field of asparagus 2*4 acres in the condition 
described by C. E. T., on page 746, is in poor shape 
to look forward to for future profits, especially so 
where one-third of the plants are out. If ground is 
plentiful and choice of location can be had, I would 
recommend setting a new bed in the Spring with 
good one-year-old plants from seed bed, and retain 
KILLING AN OLD ASPARAGUS BED. 
DISKING ALFALFA IN ARIZONA. Fig. 367. 
In fact, nothing is immune; tomato plants are dying. Do 
you think if I cover the ground with lime and plow it 
under it would destroy them? I have tried putting wood 
ashes on just before a rain to no avail. J. c. vv. 
Lewiston, N. Y. 
Part of the information given below was taken 
from Bulletin 116 of the Illinois Experiment Station. 
There are several species of destructive white grubs, 
their life cycle varying from three to five years, de¬ 
pending somewhat upon climate. One of the best 
known species (Lachnosterna fusca) is the larva of 
the common June-bug. In the northern part of the 
United States these hard-shelled beetles emerge from 
Winter quarters in April or May. They feed vora¬ 
ciously on foliage during night, sometimes doing 
great damage, but do not remain long in the beetle 
stage, as they go into the ground the 
latter part of June to lay their eggs, 
and then die. The eggs hatch in from 
10 to 15 days into tiny white grubs, 
which usually remain under ground two 
or three years. The first year they are 
small and do but little damage, but dur¬ 
ing the last year they are heavy feed¬ 
ers, eating the roots of corn, grass, 
strawberries and other plants, and 
gnawing out the inside of potatoes, 
sometimes leaving only a shell. In 
July the mature grubs prepare for their 
change into the beetle, which emerges 
from the ground in Spring. Grubs re¬ 
maining beyond the middle of Septem¬ 
ber pass the Winter as grubs, and con¬ 
tinue in that stage at least until the 
following 'June. Thus, although the 
life cycle is three or four years, de¬ 
pending on species and climate, there 
is a new brood practically every year, 
and grubs with a full-grown appetite 
during the whole growing season Dur¬ 
ing Summer most of the grubs are near 
the surface of the soil, usually not more 
than three inches under ground In the 
Fall they go down sometimes 2 1 / feet, 
to escape the cold. Those that have 
turned into beetles winter near the sur¬ 
face of the ground, as they appear to 
be more resistant to cold. 
Pigs are extremely fond of these in¬ 
sects, and where allowed the run of a 
field will root out the grubs and eat 
any beetles found. The stomachs of 
many blackbirds and crows examined 
have been found crammed with white grubs. The 
grubs have several enemies, most important of which 
is the grub wasp. This insect enters the ground and 
follows the burrows of the grubs, laying a single 
egg on the back of each one. This hatches into a 
maggot which kills the grub. 
In the garden or in cultivated fields where these 
insects abound there is no practical way of killing 
the adults except hand picking. Lime, salt and other 
materials have been tried, but ordinary doses have 
little effect upon the insects. Thorough cultivation 
during late Summer destroys many of the little in¬ 
sects, and is good practice on fields where straw¬ 
berries are to be set the following year. We have 
had great trouble in planting strawberries on sod 
ground or one year from old meadows. The best 
way to free such soil of grubs is to pen a drove of 
I would like the experience of people who have been 
successful in getting rid of an old asparagus patch. The 
patch in reference is of 20 acres, set in rows one foot 
apart; has been plowed three times and tilled in field corn 
after every plowing, and kept cultivated (I mean the 
corn), going along through the corn with cultivators, try¬ 
ing to do all the damage to the asparagus that could be 
done, but it still flourishes and continues to grow, appar¬ 
ently uninjured by this process. The patch is several 
years old and crowns large. We want to use the same 
place in corn for next Spring, with the object of entirely 
ridding the patch of the asparagus so as to seed it to 
wheat in the Fall. Would it be advisable to plow a fur¬ 
row away on each side of every row, and then with big 
plow and strong team go right up each row and plow 
them out by getting under the crowns? Would it be best 
to do this in the Fall and let crowns lie exposed to the 
Winter to kill them, or plow crowns out in Spring and 
gather and haul them away. w. l. m. 
Clayton, Del. 
It was the custom here for many years t do just 
what W. L. M. asks, namely, to plow alongside of 
each row, away from the row, then plow the crowns 
out, but that is very hard work both on man and 
team, and yet for quick work it is about the quickest 
and surest way to get rid of the crowns. I would 
prefer to plow them out in the late Fall, let them lie 
on the ground all Winter, and cart them off toward 
Spring. They will have to be carted off no matter 
when plowed out, because after they dry one might 
as well have huckleberry hassocks in the field; one 
will rot about as soon as the other. Of late years 
the asparagus growers in this section have adopted a 
different method, and if persisted in it works well 
with far less labor. Plant the old bed between every 
row of asparagus, usually with late sweet corn; culti¬ 
vate the corn and raise a fair crop. At same time 
keep all'asparagus shoots cut; do not allow any to 
grow. This can be done by going over the field once 
every two weeks with hand hoes, cutting everything 
in sight. By Fall the crowns are so weakened that 
most of them are dead by Spring, and plow out more 
easily. The principle is the same as that told us by 
our grandfather, who said, “If you cut your hedges 
on the ‘old of the moon’ in August you soon kill 
them,” but with asparagus, don’t watch the moon but 
keep them cut all season, and you will have very 
little trouble thereafter. Inquirer’s trouble has been 
from allowing some tops to grow. This allows the 
plant to store up plant food for next season’s growth. 
Had he kept all tops cut, his field would have been 
A SHOW OF BIG APPLES. Fig. 369. 
the old bed until the new one comes in profit. But 
where land is scarce, and with a desire to maintain 
the same crops on the same soil, I would recommend 
a system very much practiced by those who have 
limited space. Where rows are six feet apart plow 
out trenches in the center of the old rows, set young 
plants one year old 18 inches apart; use manure or 
commercial fertilizer freely and plant as early in the 
Spring as the soil will admit. Ridge up and cut from 
the old bed as usual the following Summer. After 
cutting ceases plow down the old rows, level the sur¬ 
face around the young plants, which are to become 
the future bed. Keep the plow and cultivator going 
in the old rows, never allowing the grass to grow up 
from the older crowns. In this way at the 
end of three years C. E. T. will have 
better results than in trying to reset 
and maintain the old bed. It would be 
a mistake to take up a portion of the 
larger plants to fill in the vacant places. 
Old asparagus roots should not be 
planted. It has been practically de¬ 
cided that one-year-old plants are bet¬ 
ter than two-year-olds from the seed 
bed, and those that are three years old 
almost worthless. t. m. white. 
Monmouth Go., N. J. 
A WESTERN ALFALFA HARROW 
The culture of Alfalfa has now 
reached the point in this country where 
it is creating new lines of industry, 
aside from the growth of the crop. A 
convention of Alfalfa millers was re¬ 
cently held in Kansas. Many people 
will be astonished to know that the 
business of grinding Alfalfa hay into 
meal has reached the point where 
millers organize their business. Baled 
Alfalfa, according to these millers, is 
going out of the market, while the 
ground product has reached an enor¬ 
mous sale. 
In the culture of the crop, also, new 
tools and methods are being devised. 
In the Southwest particularly it has 
been found desirable to work the Al¬ 
falfa over with some shallow working 
tool, which will chop up the ground 
without cutting off the crop, so as to 
prevent its sprouting. A recent bulletin 
from the Arizona Station discusses this 
matter. The proper kind of a disk harrow, in that coun¬ 
try, not only quickens up the growth of Alfalfa and 
destroys a large number of weeds, but also helps de¬ 
stroy many insect enemies, by turning up their eggs, 
so that they are destroyed. For some time the or¬ 
dinary disk harrows were used, but a new tool is 
now being operated. A picture of this tool is shown 
at Fig. 367. It was operated first in Australia and 
South Africa, and is now being used in southern 
California, Arizona and New Mexico. In this tool, 
spikes or teeth like those used on a tooth harrow are 
fastened to the disk, so that instead of cutting the 
surface as a disk harrow does, these teeth chop up 
and turn over the surface. They are said to be 
easily clogged tip. Aside from this, the tool appears 
to give good satisfaction, and with an eight-foot ma¬ 
chine and four horses one man will work over eight 
to 10 acres of Alfalfa in a dav. The Arizona Station 
concludes that the Alfalfa crop in that territory may 
be increased from 10 to 20 per cent by working with 
this new tool. 
SILVER MOON ROSE. MUCH REDUCED. Fig. 368. 
SEE RURALISMS, PAGE 7SS. 
