48 
COEN AND G-EASS. 
found many dead or dying. I put fresli turf and broken potato and 
turnip, in addition to the cake, but all died. 
The Wireworms which I placed on Black Sea Rape cake (that is, 
true Rape), broken and moistened as above mentioned, went into it at 
once and, like the others, fed (or appeared to feed, having no other 
supply); but whereas the Mustard-cake Wireworms died in about a 
fortnight, these were still alive at a period of three weeks or more after 
being put on the cake. I cannot tell how much longer they would 
have lived, for it was difficult to keep the cake in an evenly moist 
state, and by disturbance in examinations and possibly by attacks of 
birds the specimens lessened in number, but from August 2nd to 
August 22nd might be taken as a time during which they were 
thriving. Xone of the Wireworms which were experimented on burst 
from effects of eating, but it frequently occurred that when one was 
dead, or had so stiffened itself that it was cracked across in being 
moved, that consequently its white contents burst out where it was 
broken, and this may not improbably have given rise to the belief 
above referred to.— (Ed.) 
Wieewoem in Hop Land. 
Wireworms frequently are most injurious to Hop plants, especially 
in fresh-planted grounds. These are the larvae of the striped “ Click 
Beetle,” Elater lineatus, and they attack the “ sets ” or cuttings put in 
to form the Hop stocks directly they are planted. They bore into the 
juicy part of the stems of the sets, and suck out the sap and gnaw off 
the shoots as fast as they make their appearance. Old meadows and 
orchards are often converted into Hop grounds, and in these some¬ 
times the mischief caused by Wireworm is very great, and unless 
expensive means are adopted to catch them two or three years elapse 
before a good plant can be obtained. 
Planters do not like to pare and burn the turf with the humus, as 
it affords so much food to the plants if it is turned in and buried 
deeply, and all that can be done in these circumstances is to feed the 
sward off as closely as possible before it is ploughed in. 
As Hop land is usually kept particularly free from weeds, and the 
Hop plants are set from 5-| feet to 6J feet apart, the food for the 
Wireworm is not plentiful, and they therefore concentrate their attacks 
perforce upon the Hop plants. 
The soil is often disturbed by the nidgetts between the plants, and 
by the spud around them, so that for the sake of peace and quietness 
they take refuge in the plant centres, and soon destroy the plants if 
they are not checked. If Hop plants show signs of weakness and 
decay they should be closely examined for Wireworm. Even in well- 
established Hop ground, that has been planted for a considerable time, 
