June 30, 1906 



HORTICULTURE 



813 



Chionanthus virginicus 



THE WHITE FRINGE 



This is a native shrub of great beauty and one that 

 should be planted wherever it is found to be hardy. As 

 will be seen from the accompanying illustration, the 

 flowers are borne on loose panicles, from lateral buds at 

 the end of the previous season's growth. The petals of 

 the flowers are divided almost to the base and thus have 

 popular name of white fringe. It usually flowers dur- 

 ing the months of May and June and the flowers have 

 a pleasing fragrance. The leaves are dark green and 

 when even not in flower it is quite an attractive shrub; 

 it is of rather slow growth but thrives in any good 

 garden soil. 



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Bernardsville, N. J. 



Two Injurious Grape Insects 



GARTERED PLUME MOTH 



Several times this season I have had my attention 

 called to the work of the gartered plume moth (Oxyp- 

 tilus periscelidactylus) . which has done considerable 

 damage to the grape foliage. The caterpillars are 

 nearly all pupating now (June 16) and as there i? but 

 one brood a year no further damage need be feared this 

 year, but there is danger of a repetition another season. 



The larvse hatch when the early foliage appears and 

 are greenish white caterpillars, one-half inch long when 



mature, covered with tufts of white hairs which give 

 them a furry appearance. The head is yellowish green 

 with a band of black across the front. 



On hatching each one folds a leaf over or fastens two 

 or three together with silken threads. Inside this pro- 

 tected place the caterpillar feeds, skeletonizing the leaf. 

 When through feeding— about the middle of June— the 

 larva spins a few silk threads and fastens his hind feet 

 in them. Then he sheds his coat and becomes the 

 curious green pupa, one-half inch long, with two pro- 

 jecting shields in front, the whole resembling a monk 



dressed in a long green cloak. Later the color turns 

 brown. 



These pupa? give rise in about eight days to a yellow- 

 ish brown moth marked with streaks, lines, and spots of 

 white and having a metallic lustre. The fore-wings are 

 cleft about one-half their length. The hind ones are 

 each divided into three parts, but instead of having the 

 ordinary wing texture they are feathery-like plumes, 

 from which the moth derives the name, "plume moth." 

 The wing expanse is about seven-tenths of an inch. The 

 hind legs are furnished with two pairs of long spurs or 

 spines arising from clusters of brown scales, which give 

 the moth the "gartered" appearance. These moth.^ lay 

 the eggs for the next brood. 



Where the vines are sprayed early with a stomach 

 poison no trouble need be feared, but if no spraying is 

 done' and they appear in large numbers they will' be too 

 well protected for a poison to reach them and crushing 

 or picking infested leaves must be resorted to, care being 

 taken that the lively caterpillar doesn't slip out and 

 escape. 



EIGHT-SPOTTED FORESTER 



Another insect that is doing a lot of damage is the 

 eight-spotted forester (Alypia octomaculata). It, is a 

 conspicuous insect easily identified by the spots from 

 which it takes its name. The Boston ivy and Virginia 

 creeper suffer severely every year from this insect and 

 in fact it attacks many ornamental shrubs and trees, 

 being common over the greater part of the United States ■ 

 and Canada, especially in town or city gardens. 



The moth is five-eighths inch long with a wing 

 expanse of about one and one-fourth inches. Its pre- 

 vailing color is brilliant blue black. Each forewing is 

 marked with two large, more or less oval, pale yellow 

 spots, and each hind wing is also marked with two 

 spots but they are more nearly round and are white in 

 color. The shoulder covers are yellow and a yellow 

 hand encircles the head. The legs are partly clothed 

 with orange hairs. There are two broods a year, the 

 moths flying in May and August and the caterpillars 

 appearing soon afterwards. 



The eggs give rise to pale bluish caterpillars very 

 prettily marked with orange and black. Each segment 

 has eight black stripes and an orange hand covered with 

 black conical spots, the orange being bounded by the 

 two middle black lines. They are about an inch and a 

 half long when mature. After they are done feeding 

 they bore into rotten wood, or burrow into the ground 

 and form a cell of earth. Here they pupate coming 

 forth as moths in a few days. 



When they are troublesome spraying will check them, 

 u<ing arsenate of lead five pounds to one hundred gal- 

 lons of water, hellebore one ounce to two gallons or Paris 

 green one teaspoonful to two gallons of water. 



GMk 



