GRASS GRUBS.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1592, 16 September 1882, Page 3

GRASS GRUBS.

'IW " *, TO TIIE EDITOR •^jSI&,-i-In .your issue of the 12th you have ,. t ; *n' article on the grub in pastures, quoted the Canterbury Times. The grub '- "generally attacks old rich pastures and „ oats, but it is by no means fastidious in ;v; v ite taste, as it cleans all before it. Good , cultivation and liming will do a good " , deal to prevent it, but the only prevenVtion is the introduction of its natural enemy, the crow or the starling. The pastures in Ofcago had been very bad with the" grub when the starlings were introduced. They first bred in the Taieri bush, and in a few years I saw a flight flying from the bush and returning with the^grub like bees to a hive. After cleaning the Taieri Plain they soon extended their field of operation to the Tokomairiro, and up the Clutha River, where they soon appeared in great numbers, clearing all before them. —l am, &c, Thos. Muhray. Annandale, Piako, 14th September, 1882. P.S.— I trust some one will take the hint to introduce the starlings into this district, which would be quite safe, as they live entirely on insects. I have seen them even picking them from the sheep's backs to the apparent satisfaction the sheep.