SOIL PESTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 June 1939, Page 5

SOIL PESTS

GET RID OF THEM. During the atituihh digging, the insect life exposed to view is amazing. ??o the novice it seehis difficult to disinguish between those species that are harmful, and those that are not. Much corifusion exists over the millepede and the cehtipede. The former will do much hartn to uhderground roots and stems of plants. They will even damage the fruits of strawberries; and may become a serious pest in the greenhouse. The body of the common millepede is round and dark grey, or almost dark black as it becomes older. When young, this creature is about half an inch long, or a little smaller. Fully grown it reaches about one inch in length. Each segment of the body has two pairs of legs. ’ To control millepedes is not an easy task. They may, however, be driven away from the garden if napthalene is dug into the soil at the rate of one ounce to the sqtiafe yard. This should be done in auttimri and not left until the spriiig. The crude horticultural napthalene seems to be more effective than the refined product. Early in spring, it is possible to trap large numbers of millepedes in portions of carrot; these can be “spitted” oh a stick for easy removal and examination. The centipede has a flattened body, and one pair of legs only to each segment of the body. The limbs of the first segment are modified into powerful poison jaws, these being used for the purpose of seizing prey. The centipede should not be destroyed; for it lives on other soil pests. Slugs do hot like frost, and in autumn and winter they burrow down deeply into the soil, where frosts are severe. The eggs may be recognised as round jelly-like objects, white, transparent and glistening. The eggs usually turn yellow and opaque as the embryo starts to grow, and may be fotirid in groups of from six to sixty. During digging, a mixture consisting of equal parts of copper sulphate and hydrated lime should be incorporated with the soil at a rate of one ounce to each square yard. This mixture Will kill any slug that comes into contact with it, only the slightest speck being required to do the work. It is not advisable, however, to use it for more than two or three seasons at a ! time. To prevent further infestations in particular spots in the garden or round choice plants, a light sprinkling of the mixture can be made completely fouhd the spot. Leatherjackets, those dull greyishbrown grubs, are the larvae of the daddy-long-legs fly, and devohr the roots of lawh grasses and herbaceous plants. These pests are usually plentiful in new gardens just dug up from turf, and should be looked for and destroyed as the digging proceeds. The ground caterpillars or cutworms, as well as the übiquitous grass grub, are also pests of hew ground. The ground beetles on the other hand need not trouble the gardener as, for the most part, they are beneficial. Typical kinds are usually found under stones or clods of earth, and move very rapidly when disturbed. These predatory beetles are great enemies of cutworms, and softbodicd grubs inhabiting the soil, and should be left to carry on the good work.