214 



THE GARDENEirS MONTHLY 



[July, 



me briefly refer to certain theories first pro- 

 pounded by Prof. A. C. Cook, and that have 

 been extensively promulgated durins; the past 

 two years. As to the relation of phylloxera and 

 grape-rot I took occasion last Spring to protest, 

 in the New York Tribune, against the supposed 

 connection between the two, and it will not be 

 out of place to repeat the reasons : "Already in 

 1871, when I first announced the presence of 

 phylloxera on the roots of American vines, and 

 explained the injury which it caused, there were 

 writers who, not content with the simple facts, 

 went much further and asserted that this little 

 insect must also be the cause of mildew, rot, etc. 

 Prof. Cook has jumped to similar false conclu- 

 sions, and has, during the present Winter, promul- 

 gated befdi-e various societies his belief that the 

 phylloxera is the cause of black-rot in gi-apes. 

 This is sensation, not science, and it is to be 

 deplored, coming from the source it does. The 

 phylloxera occurs in most grape-growing sec- 

 tions of the country east of the Rocky Mount- 

 ains, and will quite naturally be found on vines 

 on which the fruit has rotted. But an experi- 

 ence covering several years, and the examina- 

 tion of hundreds of vines with rot of fruit and 

 without it, enables me to deny the assertion 

 that the insect is more numerous on the former 

 than on the latter. The phylloxera disease has 

 its own peculiar characteristics, which are at 

 once distinguished from other vine diseases by 

 those understanding it. There are also very con- 

 clusive reasons for discarding the views of Prof. 

 Cook. 1 — In France, where the phylloxera has 

 been so very destructive, the black-rot has not 

 accompanied nor followed it. 2 — The rot, so 

 far as I have observed it, is no worse on the 

 susceptible than on the more resistant varie- 

 ties, while many cases might be adduced of 

 healthy vines, and those least affected with the 

 insect, sufiering most from rot. 3— On account 

 of the three successive wet summers of 1875, 

 1876 and 1877, in this part of the country, (Mis- 

 souri,) the phylloxera has been less numerous 

 and less injurious than at any time since 1871, 

 and many vines that were suffering near to 

 death have recuperated. Yet no year since the 

 time mentioned has black-rot been worse than 

 it was last (Summer. " 



the threshold of the open door. The two largest 

 ants that I am sure I ever saw were in a fierce 

 contest apparently for mere individual prowess. 

 There was nothing about them to fight for ; 

 there were no other ants about, and they were of 

 the same species, and about the same size. 

 They wrestled like athletes and stood up to it 

 for a square fight. Neither one seemed to gain 

 any advantage, nor was either one likely to be 

 maimed, as always occui's when black and brown 

 ants contend. Impatient with waiting I stepped 

 forward, when they both erected themselves and 

 stared at me for a moment and then darted ofi" 

 to the same retreat. There was every appear- 

 ance of a quarrel in their tussel, which they had 

 manfully agreed to settle a la Gambetta. 



The most interesting ant study I have ever 

 enjoyed was a few years since, when I fortu- 

 nately came upon a colony moving to a new 

 abode. They came up from the earth in a pro- 

 cession that lasted for certainly more than two 

 days. A part of the way they traveled on the 

 top of a rail fence. Many of the . ants were 

 loaded with larvpe, others seemed empty-handed, 

 or empty mouthed rather. Sometimes a large 

 number came in close procession, then there 

 would be a break for a few moments, or single 

 ants would at intervals appear. The caravan 

 again entered the earth after traversing a space 

 of some twenty rods, over brush, stones, and 

 into a thicket of blackberries and young growth 

 of birch and hemlock. It was a species that 

 tunnel without raisins a mound. 



EDITORIAL NOTES 



A FORMIC DUEL. 



BY EEV. E. P; P. 



Going one da)' last Summer to my barn, I was 

 startled by finding a genuine duel in progress on 



Preserving the Natural Colors of 

 Flowers. — According to the Breslauer Gewerhe 

 Zeitung, the natural colors of flowers and plants 

 intended for herbaria may be preserved by dip- 

 ping them from time to time in a boiling solu- 

 tion of eight grains of salicylic acid in three- 

 quarters of a pint of water, afterwards carefully 

 drying them between sheets of blotting-paper. 



Chinese Botanical and Horticultural 

 Literature. — A writer in Der Devtsche Garten 

 states that the imperial library of China con- 

 tains 15,000 works on the cultivation of flowers 

 and botany, whereof about 500 are devoted to 

 the Rose alone. Such quantities of Roses are 

 grown in the Emperor's gardens that the sale 



