The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1859-05-21
FROM the Country Gentle man.
The White Grub Worm.
Among 1he various insects ihat arc oc.

The White Grub Worm.
c Among the various insects that are Oc
casionally so very destructive to our fam
crops, the white grub worm in some years
. and in many sections of the country, ap
pears in vast numbers dom. immense
damage to the moving fields and the cui
, tivated crops. The parent Of this grub i.
brown beetle, sometimes called the May
beetle or doorbug, Of & cicsftltbrown col
or, nearly an inch in length and about
half as broad These beetles issue from
the ground about the middle of May, and
are sometimes very numerous as well n:
annoying while on the wing in the even
ing In their olron:. fight they move
very irreguiarly dar:inG hi,her and thther
with an uncertain aim, hitting against Oh
jeets III their way with 4 force that often
causes them TO fall to the ground They
| frequently enter houses III the evening,
apparaut!v attracted, rs w"il as tszZ1cd
and hcwildered 10y the Lights, and fre-
guently causing much fright and trepida-
ton among the females and juveniles Of
the family circle
The beetles while upon the wing. in c.r-
tain seasons, and in particular districts
sonn times do incaicuatle mischief in de-
/ vOu;ing the leaves of trees over large sec
| tons Of country Mou,iet relates, that
| in 1874, such a number of them fell in
| the river Severn, as 10 stop the wheels of
! the water-in!l-
/ Various anplals and birds feed upon the
/ beetle; we.,oel- rat. skunk, and bats de
/ >trov immense numbers Of them 81 also
duis-hill iowl-, night hawks, and the crow.
The skunk and crow also destroy large
quantities OF the white crul,S. the lIfv;r
OF the May beetle, their Instincts enabling
them 10 seel. the ciTihs with certainty
when embedded some inches below the
surface of the soil The recent high price
Of skunk skins (readiiy selling froin fifty
cents 10 a dollar per skin.) has caused in
some oarts Of the county, the trsrp!n.
and -h1oting Of an InnI"Ii-" number OF
these striped back essence I-diafS. Il
would be far better tor the community AZ
large 10 ptoteci both crow- and sbuil.> !y
lesGslativ, cnaetments and rcna! law
than To eGt!rr such havoc anon them n
,h're ha- been OF h.e, by powder. trap
doys and ktrvcl nirs
To exhibit the great benefit the farmer
derives Ir41n some Of th- insect G,~tloycr>.
we quote from anderson Eocfo1tiOus
IL is stated that :, cautions observer having
found lad Il OF i've young .iay> remarked
that each Of thcse birds wniie yrt yv.y
young. oIsumed at !c,-t fifteen o: thc-,
full SIZED trUbS i'll one day. and Of course
would RED Jiii.,. many more of smaller
size. Say that on an av.-acr o.: aiz"s they
consumed twenty each these ior the five.
make one .Irundred Each ot: the parent,
consume -hy fty.so that the pair and farn;-
~ Gevour two hundred every CAV. This
IN three II IOuil-, amounts 10 twenty thou
sand in one season. But a. the grub con-
Times IN that state four season. ti.iS sin
gle pair with their family alone, without
reckoning their DESCENDANTS after the :r-t
year, would destroy eighty thousand g1uhS.
Let Us suppose that half namely .o,rv
thousand, arc females, and il l. known
tia. they usually lay about two huui,e,l
eggs each it VIII appear that no ie-, than
eight millions have been destroyed. OF
prevented from bon Iatcllci y, tIs.7 L.
bols of q nIlc family of jas i ! -
reasonin. in tins way. that we learn to
know of what importance !, : to attend
Ia the economy of nature. and e. ne csu-
tious how We dcrangc It by our sl.og. -i GLt-
ei and futile operations
Jays sometimes help themselves - tn"
rircning CORN in the ii,.I; LUt m i~.IJ.
the white grub DESTROYED more corn for u.
than the JAYS did for the f1m,I- "a tho
whole township and lat season the grub
was nearly a. injurious 70 oar corn.
says lT. Fitch. with regard u rene
dies, W. may observe tia, IN Europe tie
eVp"rerc" 80 centuries La, failed 70 d.
cover any ctiicirnt MEASURE i.r destroying
a similar insect during it, larya l.,riol cf
itS existence And concealed IL the ground
~ those grub are. II J. NOT I-Diab.. t.3J
any substance can l., applied l. the soil oi
sufficient power to XII them. without de
-1oyiug also whatever vegetation Is there
growinc
The Dr. suggests plan that might some
times be put IN rrl 'tice. When the grub
are - numerous - to sever the grass
roots, a. l. sometimes the case, he recon-
mcnded the placing of a temporary fence
around that portion Of the field throngcd
with these gruhs. and enclosing number
OF swine therein, thus for while convert
ing the patch into hog pasture By so
dong. the hogs would feed themselves:
the srubs would he cXtclIn;uatcd and tLe
land would be manurcd, cleanscd. mellow
ell and we'll prepared tor Immediately ly-
ing down To grass again, or for receiving
any rotation OF crops for which the owner
may deem the spot best adapted. From
Our own experience, we thinl, il would
have been better for Va to have lot these
grub-!ntc>tep fields lam tallew than To have
planted them with corn. When hoeing
the corn the second time, we found in
nearly every hill from one to three or
more of the full sized grubS about the
base OF the plants the roots OF which they
feed upon We undertook to dig them
from the hills of corn, bat the remedy
was about as bad as the disease as We ne
ccssarily broke many Of the remaining
roots. much to the injury of the plants
The result was about third Of a usual
crop. II we had kept the ground failow,
and narrowed over As often as the weeds
started. perhaps We should have starved
the "cr.tturs; bat as il was they found
support from the com and during the
winter and spring passed the change from
grub to perfect or WINGED insect, and
the next May emerged from the ground
in swarms-deposited their eggs toi an
other brood of worms, thai will probably
commit similar ravaces We shall be eau
tious in future about planting corn on land
badly infested with these glubs.
IN I!iinnfS (-ncl ysi,e on ySirc.