The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1899-11-17
AGRICULTURAL.
FALL FLOWING vs.. WHITE
GRUBS AND WIRE WORMS.
Fall Measures for Prevention of the
Ravages of the White Grub
Another Year.

What is commonly known as the white |
grub, or grub worm, is the young of
the brown May beetle, or June bug,
which occurs in such abundance in late |
May and June, and is not, as is often
suggested, the young of the common
Tumble bug. These May BEETLES de-
posit their eggs in June, usually about
the roots of grass. These eggs hatch
in about month, and the young grubs,
though very small, even Immediately
after Matching appear to be larger than
the egg. They feed upon the roots of
grass and by the first of November are
about half an inch in length, having all
the appearance of the full grown grub
excepting in the matter of size. With
the coming of cold weather, or perhaps
more properly speaking, in late autumn,
they go deeper into the ground, some
times foot or even more, and make for
themselves small earthen cells by pack
ing the earth more densely about their
bodies, and in these cells pass the win
ter, coming upward in the spring, feed
ing upon the grass roots throughout
the entire summer, and at the end of the
second autumn they have reached about
| two-thirds of their ultimate dimensions.
They now burrow into the ground, and
again pass the winter in an earthen cell,
coming to the surface again in the
spring and feeding until the latter part
of May, in this latitude, when they
abandon the grass roots, burrow down
into the ground, and again make an
earthen cell within which they trans
form to the adult beetle.
1t is possible that an occasional in
dividual may appear above ground in
the fall, but the mass of them pass the
winter in this condition and come to the
surface as adults the following May.
Thus it will be seen that they have fed
during portion of three years. The
young of the insect is, by nature, a
grass feeder, and, therefore, they are
always more abundant in fields that
have remained in grass for long series
of years. The major portion of their
injury in cultivated fields occurs the
first summer Immediately following a
series of grass crops.
From what has been stated of the
life history of these pests the reason fol
this will be readily understood. Now
the insect cannot be kept off grass
lands, nor is there any practical way
of reaching these grubs under ground
and as they never get to the surface
their control by topical applications il
not only difficult but practically i'm
possible. AS yet, we have found bu
one practical way of dealing with these
pests, and, while that is not infallible
it seems to prove effective in the major
| ity of cases. This consists in the fal
plowing of grass lands as preparation
for the grain crop the following year
While early fall plowing is known t.
be often effective, it is quite probable
that late fall or winter plowing is mucl
more dependable. The reason for thi
10 ohuo oiuOA ollO 3 uOo ldN . uStCs
their winter quarters they are proba
bly, too stupid to construct others.
then the ground is broken, the grub
within their winter quarters are eithel
thrown up to the action of continued
freezing and thawing, or, if not throw
up, are exposed to the more direct et
fects of rain and frost, add thus kille'
by the winter weather. That this meth
cd is effective in the majority of case
there can be hardly doubt. During
the present year the Ohio Agriculture
Experiment Station has been in receip
of number of letters stating that wher
portion of field which, for some years
had been devoted to meadow or past
ure, was plowed in the fall, and the re
mainder in the spring, the fall plowe
portion escaped injury during the pas
summer, while the spring plowed por
ton suffered very severely.
A concensus of all the evidence oh
tanned up to date, indicate that fal
plowing is the most reliable and pro-
liable method, known at present, 70
preventing the ravages of the whit