52 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



Insect on the Gbape Vine. — " The Horti- 

 culturist" has for some time past afforded me 

 much pleasure and instruction. The work was 

 recommended to me by Hon. S. Young, of Balls- 

 ton, wliflse enthusiasm in the cultivation of trees 

 and flowers may be known to you. 



The communications and inquiries received by 

 you and published in the Horticulturist, constitute 

 a very interesting part of the work, and the infor- 

 mation sought and the subject of this communica- 

 tion may be useful to others. 



Upon a recent examination of my hardy grape 

 vines, which for some time previous, had given 

 great promise of an abundant crop, to my great 

 disappointment and mortification I discovered that 

 the buds upon many of the vines had been almost 

 entirely destroyed. At first I supposed " Jack 

 Frost" some still night had touched them with his 

 icy finger. I consulted my daily record of the 

 thermometer and fotind that we had not had frost 

 to injure them. I suspected at once that an ene- 

 my, heretofore unknown and unseen, had trespass- 

 ed uj)on my rights. Upon more careful examina- 

 tion, I found that the buds had been bored, and 

 the centre part was missing. I have a large 

 number of grape vines, some of which for many 

 years have produced large crops, and I had never 

 before discovered such an attack upon them. I 

 resolved to hunt up the enemy. At length I 

 caught him busy at his trade — a small green bug. 

 I send you a. pair of the rascals. Do you know 

 him? I presume they will reach you alive and 

 kicking. They are quick on the wing and have 

 locomotive power not only on foot, but by a pecu- 

 liar jerk, somewhat after the manner of the 

 " snapping bug," so called. Can you inform me 

 how and when to guard my vines from their at- 

 tack? They are found in pairs. I noticed that 

 the young vines had not been attacked, and also 

 that the buds upon branches of the old vines which 

 rested upon or near the ground had escaped. — 

 The Isabella had suffered more than other vines. 



If you can give me any information in regard to 

 this new entmy to the vine in your June number, I 

 shall be thankful. I am truly yours, &c., Thomas 

 M. Howell. 



Answer. — The insect reached us alive. It is 

 the grape-vine flea-beetle (Haltica chalybea ) 

 We have never seen this species in a living state 

 before, nor have we seen its ravages, but the in- 

 sect (a small glossy, greenish-blue beetle, about 

 three-twentieths of an inch long.) is accurately 

 described by David Thomas, in the 26th vol. of 

 Sitliman's Journal of Science, and also noticed in 

 Harris' Treatise on Insects. It appeared in great 

 quantities in Cayugo co., N. Y., according to Mr. 

 T. in 1831, and the same season was seen in 

 great numbers in New-Haven, Conn., doing, in 

 both places, great mischief by eating out tlie cen- 

 tre of the buds and destroying them. The habits 

 of the insects are not yet perfectly understood. 

 Mr. Thomas thinks it undergoes its ffnal trans- 



formation in the ground, coming out to attack the 

 buds in May. The beetle lays its eggs on the 

 vine. These change to •' small chestnut-colored, 

 smooth worms," that feed on the leaves of the 

 vine in summer and pass the winter in a larva 

 state, in the ground, coming out perfect beetles in 

 the spring. 



Assuming this to be correct, the best remedy i» 

 to destroy the insect when in the worm state j it ia 

 found upon the leaves in summer, by syringing 

 the leaves with tobacco water. Next, look over 

 the vines carefully in March, or before the least 

 vegetation commences in the spring — strip off all. 

 the old or loose bark and white-wash the entire 

 plant (winch of course has been previously prun- 

 ed,) buds and all, with a mixture of white-wasl^ 

 and sulphur — a pound of the latter to a pail-full, 

 of the former. This will deter the insect from 

 boring the buds. Next to this we should say 

 dusting the buds with powdered lime, while the 

 dew is upon them in the morning would be the 

 best remedy. This is recommended by Harris. 

 Of course the most effectual way of getting rid of 

 the pest is to destroy it in the worm state, with 

 tobacco water. — Ed. 



Practical School for Gardeners. — In your 

 leading article in the April No. of the Horticultu- 

 rist, you express your regret at the non-existence 

 of a practical school for gardeners, wherein their 

 knowledge of European gardening might be re- 

 modeled to suit the climate. You go on to say,_ 

 that the difficulty of getting foreign gardeners to 

 enter this school would be removed by the readi- 

 ness with which they could get from 50 to $100 a 

 year more than they do at present, after spending 

 1 year there, and having its certificate to produce. 



I assure you that to the uninitiated your suggest 

 tion looks well on paper — but men like me, who 

 have spent ten summers here, and knovk^ something 

 of the liberality of American employers generally, 

 would not be caught by the golden vision you hold 

 out. I am personally acquainted with a dozen 

 gardeners who live with some of the first mer- 

 chants in New York city — they give their em- 

 ployers entire satisfaction, and yet $30 per month 

 (and many of them only $25) is the most any of 

 these gentlemen will pay — while these same mer- 

 chants pay the porters in their stores from 35 to 

 $40 per month for the very scientific process of 

 sweeping out the store and nailing up a packing 

 box. There is an intimate friend of mine who 

 gave up the trade last summer, and is now getting 

 $35 per mouth in a hardware store in Maiden 

 Lane, N. Y. Would it not be better for a gar- 

 dener to be in the New York police at $600 per 

 year than live with one of your aristocratic neigh- 

 bors on the banks of the Hudson for 300 or $360 

 per year? I mention these facts to show at what 

 a discount the science of gardening is at, in these 

 United States. In a country like this, where the 

 chances of doing better are so numerous, it would 



