274 



rilE GARDENER'S MONTJIL Y 



\Scptt'mbi'i ,. 



large quantities and last for several weeks, when 

 they die away a^ain, and I suppose lay their 

 e<"'s for the crop of the future. Tliey do not 

 seem to injure the foliage at all whihMu the hug 

 form, hut through the day are constmitly (lying 

 against the glass; they liave now disappeared 

 ahout ten days. On examining the roots to-day 

 I find a great many killed and many full of the 

 insects like the root sent you in a small piece of 

 paper in the liox. Are any of the bugs in their 

 full grown state ? Is this what is called the Phyl- 

 loxera ornot ? Do you think a strong solution 

 of tobacco water would be injurious to the vines ? 

 If not, I think where they could be reached with 

 it, it would kill them while in this state. Please 

 advise me what is best to do, and oblige." 



[There was a large quantity of Phylloxera on 

 these roots and a small beetle in addition. We 

 sent the box to a prominent coleopterist on ac- 

 count of these beetles, but he evidently over- 

 looked them, as he reported " nothing but phyl- 

 loxera." Please send some more sometime. 

 "VVe never saw roots eaten out b}^ a beetle as 

 these were. Perhaps the tobacco might do. Try, 

 and report. — Ed. G. M.] 



Seedling Gooseberry.— C. P., Beaver Dam, 

 Wis., says : " I send you by this mail a specimen 

 of a valuable Gooseberry, claimed to be a seed- 

 line; raised in Vermont and brought to Wiscon- 



sin about twelve years since, hut the originator 

 had persistently refused to let .so much as a cut- 

 ting go out of his hands, but after his death, one 

 year ago, I purchased the entire stock from his 

 widow, and now find on llieir bearing that I have 

 several varieties, some of them worthless, some 

 fair specimens, this, however, is the best and 

 largest of the kinds. I had noticed this one 

 carefully for several years, while in the hands of 

 the originator, and never discovered any signs of 

 mildew on it, while all the English varieties 

 thus far tested have mildewed more or less every 

 year, so 1 conclude this must be an American 

 seedling. Please give me your opinion. I re- 

 gret that the berries are not ripe, but the proba- 

 bility is if not sent at this stage of growth they 

 would not be sent at all, as we are tormented 

 with fruit theives so that it is very difficult to 

 get a specimen of any new or valuable fruit left 

 until fully ripe." 



[These are of the English race of Gooseberries, 

 and, as we said of Mr. Rowe's seedling, if it 

 continues free of mildew it will be a valuable 

 addition. All experience so far has been against 

 the English Gooseberry and in favor of the 

 American in resisting mildew. Xow and then 

 when an English kind finds its roots in a cool 

 place it does very well. It is by no means un- 

 usual to see occasional plants of English Goose- 

 berry free of milde\v.] 



Forestry. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



FELLING TREES. 



BY MARGID DIGRAM, PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



As the cutting down and the removal of trees 

 are as much the work of the forester as their 

 planting, and the after care of their growth, I 

 thought the following remarks regarding an 

 idea suggested during a trip West six months 

 ago, might be a legitimate contribution to your 

 department of Forestry. 



In many cases, very especially where the 

 ground on which the forest stands is needed for 

 tillage, or for growing the ordinary crops of 

 the farm, it is desirable not only to remove the 

 trunk of the tree with the foliage which shades the 

 ground, but also the stump which, if left, stands 



in the way of the plough and harrow and so 

 causes much loss of time in passing around it. 

 There are patented articles for extracting the 

 stump after the trunk has been cut away, but 

 the employment of which requires considerable 

 outlay either in their purchase, or hire, or in 

 pay of men skilled in their use. 



What I here propose calls for nothing in ad- 

 dition to the woodman's axe excepting one or 

 more lengths of stout rope. The tree in fact by 

 my method lifts its own roots, the axeman's 

 duty being simply to cut the diverging branches 

 of the root. AVhilst the cutting was being done, 

 a rope would be attached to some point well up 

 the trunk, by means of which the fall would be 

 facilitated and a direction given to it. After 

 the felling of the tree a large saw would make 

 a clean separation of trunk and roots, and this 



