THE POTATO GRUB.
—Q—& A VERY SERIOUS MENACE
Reference has already been made to a pest of a particularly insidious nature, which, in the form of a grub, is severely attacking the potato crops of North Otago. This grub in question is of a white colour, with a black head, and is fully a quarter of an inch in length. It is of very active disposition, and, observed under a microscope, appears to be very ugly, while its powerful head and strong jaws give it the impression that it would without difficulty bore a way for itself into the pulp of a potato. Two consignments of grub-infested potatoes have now arrived in Dunedin from Oamaru, says the ''Otago Daily Times." The first, which arrived some days go, was originally intended for export abroad, but, being condemned for shipment, it was sent on to Dunedin, and has since passed out of the railway goods sheds into the hands of the consignees. A second consignment is at present in the railway stores, and there a reporter had an ocular demonstration of the ravages which the grub inflicts upon the tubers. The method employed by the destroyer is briefly this: In the form of a grub it eats its way into the heart of the potato, and, having gained sufficient strength, it emerges therefrom and covers the outer surface with a disfiguring secretion. It then places itself nn the outside of the bag, and there pins its cocoon, which is a white-coloured substance of tough texture. The sacks which the reporter inspected were covered with thosands of these cocoons. From the cocoon is evolved the fly, which in turn lays eggs. These produce the destructive grub, and so the process goes on. The soriuunsss of this latest menace to our potato crops can scarcely be exaggerated, and if, as is feared in some quarters, it is a species of the Australian potato fly, farmers are exposed to a greater danger than they were at the hands of the Irish blight. The case is certainly one which calls for strenous measures on the part of the Agricultural department, and it appears strange, adds the "Times,"' that it has not hitherto seen fit to take action in the matter. If the plague is not strictly confined to the districts in. which it originated and stringent measures adopted for its eradication there, the whole potato crop of the Dominion will be seriously imperilled.
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King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 354, 22 April 1911, Page 6
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407THE POTATO GRUB. King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 354, 22 April 1911, Page 6
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