EDITOKS TABLR 



Letter from Ohio. — Throughout the West this has been a remarkable eeason for drouth, having 

 had less rain in the same length of time than I have known for a number of years, and th^ pres- 

 ent month (December) being more regularly cold than usual. The mercury has fluctuated 

 between 46 "^ and 30 - , on two occasions falling to 10 ® , and witli all this, but little or no snow. 

 Our wells, springs, and cisterns have not yet recovered from the drouth of the summer and fall — 

 scarcity of water at this season being a very unusual thiug. 



The Apple crop with me has been pretty abundant, but for the last four years the fruit, from 

 so-rae unaccountable cause, has been scabby, and the larger proportion, consequently, unsaleable. 

 To what this is owing is beyond me to say ; but I suppose it to be mainly attributable to the 

 cold rains we have had for the last four years, during the period of inflorescence. The impreg- 

 nation being imperfect, the fruit, of course, becomes knotty and one-sided. The Illinois theory 

 of its being caused by the orchard being in grass, or " grass-fed," as they term it, is, as far as my 

 experience goes, entirely fallacious; fori have been unable to discover the slightest difi"erence 

 between the trees thus treated and those in cultivated soil. Neither can it be traced to the want 

 of manure, mulching, or trimming, all of which I have thoroughly tried. If we are so fortunate 

 next year as to be favored with pleasant weather while the trees are in bloom, with an after crop 

 of fair fruit, I shall be pretty well confirmed in the above named supposition. I have asked the 

 opinion of many fruit-growers, but they appear to be as much in the dark as myself. 



The "Borer" is also becoming fearfully destructive; for the last year or two I have observed 

 a great many young trees almost entirely destroyed. He does not, with me, confine his depreda- 

 tions to the collar of the tree, but entei's from six inches to two feet from the ground, and some- 

 times into the limbs. He is veiy severe on the Quince, and almost always attacks it on the south 

 side. It is truly astonishing to see how rapidly they will work with their small forceps, the 

 power enabling tliem to do this, residing, #s I conceive, in their immense head, which is about 

 three times the size of the body. The largest one I ever caiiglit was ojily about three-eighths of 

 an inch in length — many not being more than one-eiglitli of an inch, of which I have found up- 

 wards of thirty on one tree. I suppose this is the Sajjperda. I have never been so fortunate as 

 to see the beetle, which, it is supposed, travels at night, and know of no remedy for this jiest, 

 unless scrubbing the trees once or twice with soft-soap during the month of June will do. 

 Downing says they may be destroyed by inserting a flexible wire into their holes when Wioy have 

 retired into the body of the tree to hybernate ; — but tlieir course is so tortuous that 1 find them 

 not easy to reach. A friend once told me that greasing the trees would prevent the beetle from 

 depositing her eggs ; but, having once killed a number of j'oung Apple trees by greasing to keep 

 off the Rabbits, I have been afraid to make the experiment. I am now trying the remedy recom- 

 mended by Professor Harris, viz : putting a small piece of gum camphor into their holes, and 

 plugging them up. They have been fearfully destructive during the present drouth. 



The Woolly Aphis {Aphis lavginera) is increasing rapidly in this country, being worse on the 

 roots than on the branches and causing them to become knotty and almost as brittle as glass. I 

 generally apply a few unleached ashes to the roots when transplanting, which stops their progress 

 for a time at least. Diluted suljihuric acid is recommended, but I fear if it is made strong enough 

 to kill the insect, it may destroy the tree. I fear, moreover, that this insect is going to be very 

 troublesome and hard to eradicate ; for they appear to be getting worse every year. We have 

 had little or no Canker-worm for several years ; nor have we been much troubled with Caterpil- 

 lars. The Curculio and Applc-moth have been quite as bad as ever — about one-half of the Apj)le 

 crop being usually injured by the moth — Plums (and Apricots and Peaches when we have them) 

 never escaping the Curculio. If there is a remedy for saving Plums, why is it kept so long from 

 the public? I am sure that of all the fruit-growers in the United States — and their name is 

 legion — there is not one who would not cheerfully contribute five or ten dollars for Mr. Mat- 

 uEw's benefit, should his remedy prove eff"cctive. Here liave I been cultivating Plum trees for 

 last thirteen years, without gathering as much as a peck of fruit from nearly forty trees in 



