364 



• • GARDENING, 



Aug. 15^ 



they have grown to an uncommon large 

 size. The maggots were verj' bad in 

 spring, so much so that we didn't expect 

 to have much of a crop left, but we lifted 

 the young plants where thej- were thick 

 and transplanted them, and these as well 

 as those that were left in the seed rows 

 have made remarkably large bulbs. The 

 tops are beginning to fall over, and in a 

 few weeks thej' will be ripe enough for 

 harvesting. We are going to plant straw- 

 berr es after the onions. In curing the 

 onions don't leave them out for long ex- 

 posed to the hot sunshine, as it greens 

 th • skin, especially of white ones. 



Parsley — Our winter parsley sowed 

 last month in a cold frame is up nicely 

 and thinned, and by the time frost sets in 

 we expect it will be large enou h for 

 picking. If a frame is too much for you 

 to carry over winter and a boxfuf will be 

 enough, lift the roots now, shorten them 

 a little and shorten the tops too, and 

 transplant inio the boxes. By the time 

 frost comes they should be nice, veil- 

 rooted, well-leaved plants. 



Peas.— Between the 1st and liOih of 

 August we make two or three sowings of 

 early round peas and get them in fair 

 condition before frost. Very few of the 

 wrinkled marrow peas are of any use 

 here for fall sowing. 



Parsnips, Sai.sifv AND Scorzonera.-AU 

 that we can do with them is to keep them 

 clean and well cultivated and pull out 

 any that are running to flower. 



Sim.nach.— Be sure you have a piece of 

 empty ground in store forwinler spinach, 

 but that <• e don't need to sow till Sep- 

 tember. To keep up a succession from 

 now on sow a little once a fortnight in 

 moist good ground. Dry or sandy land 

 is a poor place for spinach in summer. 



Potatoes.— .\fter the stems of the 

 potatoes die off altogether of course 

 growth of the tubers ceases, and as they 

 (lo no more good in the ground we may 

 as well lift them and store them past in 

 barrels set in some dark cool place. Have 

 some long holes cut in the staves of the 

 barrels to admit air; if kept too close the 

 tubers are sure to spoil. Late potatoes 

 can stay in the ground for some time ^et. 

 We have sown winter turnips and fall 

 ]5eas and planted Scotch kale in the 

 ground emptied of early potatoes. 



Tomatoes are making a great growth 

 and bearing well. But it is well to thin 

 out some of the young growth and 

 shorten back some others so as to give 

 the young fruits a better chance to ripen 

 up. Don't thin out too much at once 

 though, else the sun mav scald the fruit. 



Turnips for winter were sown a week 

 ago, and are now up and needing thin- 

 ning. By timely thinningand good culti- 

 vation yellow or white turnips sown as 

 late as August 1,5 give us nice roots before 

 November. 



LETTUCES IN SUMMER. 



I note with surprise that in speaking of 

 the best varieties of lettuce for summer 

 (page 32S) you do not mention Hanson 

 or any of the Cos varieties. The latter 

 with me. even when advertised as self 

 closing, always require tying. When this 

 is done they arc excellent. 



Amherst,' Mass. A. D. Morse. 



In answer to the above, as we cannot 

 have the pleasure of showing you the let- 

 tuces growing, we will open our note 

 book and quote from it. The notes were 

 taken by v.s on the spot, July 10. I'.arden 

 patch, good moist land, cool bottom. 

 The seeds ol the following varieties were 

 sown Mav 11 in short rows, and the 



plants when big enough to handle were 

 transplanted into rows 18 inches apart 

 to stay there to mature. 



1. Thorburn's Market Gardener's Pri- 

 vate Stock— Yellowish green, somewhat 

 crumply, Salamander type, well headed 

 but not hard. None has bolted. Been 

 using it since a week. The best of all and 

 most tender. 



2. Big Boston— Large, yellowish green, 

 somewhat crumply, larger than 1; none 

 has bolted; hearting, but not hard; qual- 

 ity tender. A very fine lettuce. 



3. Perfected Salamander — Color and 

 appearance like 1, but a little mure open 

 than it; quality tender. Put it second on 

 list. 



4. Yellow-steded Butler- Not unlike 

 the preceding three; fit for use some days 

 ago; doesn't heart solidly; a few have 

 boiled, but the majority have kept well. 

 Quite tender. 



5. Grosse Paresseuse— Large, flatfish 

 shape, pale green, doesn't heart well; a 

 few have bolted, but not many. No good 

 for this time of year. 



6. Deacon — Pale green, gathers to a 

 head, but not hard; not one has bolted. 

 A nice appearing lettuce and worth grow- 

 ing, every head being a useable < ne. But 

 it isn't tender. 



7. Golden Ball (from U. S. Ag. Dept.) 

 — Can see no difference between it and 

 Deacon (6). 



8. Perfect Gem — Dark gieen, smooth 

 leaves; gathers to a head; in the style of 

 Deacon, but more solidly and compactly 

 gathered together. Heart yellow. Fairly 

 good (|uality. Verj' even; not one has 

 bolted. A very desirable lettuce. 



9. Earlv Paris Market — All have 

 bolted. A fine early lettuce but no good 

 for summer. 



10. Boston Market — Some what coarser 

 than 9 .\11 have bolted. No good for 

 summer. 



11. Golden (Jueen — A nice, compact, 

 small lettuce, good for early, but worth- 

 less for midsummer; all have bolted. 



12. Mignonette — A small, crinkl3-- 

 Icaved, deep green, bronze tinged l.ttnce 

 forming a hard yellow head. For earlv 

 it would be good. As most of it has 

 liolted we would not use it for summer. 

 Quality a little bitter. Its deep green 

 outside color detracts from its attract- 

 iveness. 



13. Black-seeded Simpson — Large, pale 

 yellowish green; well gathered together 

 but not hearted; quite even; inner leaves 

 tender and of good quality. Very few 

 have bolted. 



14. Early Curled Simpson— A little 

 darker than 13, otherwise much like it, 

 perhaps has gathered into a better head. 

 None lias bolted. Of fine quality. 



15. Hanson — Large, pale green, crimpy 

 fringed edges, gathers to a soft leafy 

 head. None has bolted. Inside of heart 

 quite tender. .\ good lettuce. 



16. Improved Hanson — II anything a 

 little flabbier than the plain Hanson (15), 

 and all on the eve of bolting. Less in- 

 clined to heart than the other. 



17. Denver Market— Pale green, (|uite 

 crinkly, gathering to a leafy head. None 

 bolted. All a littL- sun scalded on edges. 

 Of good quality. 



18. Iceberg — Pale green, wavy, crinkly, 

 crimped but not so deeply as Hanson, 

 gathers to a loose head. Inner heart 

 leaves of good qualitj- and not bitter. 

 Sunburned a little. Very few bolting. A 

 good but not very attractive lettuce. 



19. New York — Large, dark green, 

 leafy and somewhat flaliby, not hearting 

 very well, and many beginning to bolt. 

 Earlier sowings gave much more solid 

 heads. 



20. Trianon Cos— Tall, close gathered 

 leaves, but nothard, needs tying together; 

 quality good and not bitter. None bolted. 

 Has done remarkably well. 



Conclusions— Golden Queen, Boston 

 Market and Early Paris Market are no 

 use for summer work. Grosse Paresseuse 

 is too big and coarse. Among cabbage 

 lettuces we would grow Market Gar- 

 dener's Stock, Yellow-seeded Butler, Per- 

 fect Gem and Deacon; and among loose 

 leafy hearted lettuces Hanson, also Cos 

 in ground as cool as this, but not in light 

 soil. 



Insects. 



fl PLONflCIOUS CflTERPILLflR. 



I send you by this mail a worm that is 

 not only large, but the first I ever saw of 

 its kind here. It had deliberateh' marched 

 across a nine foot porch up into a six 

 foot tall fuchsia and was slaying the 

 leaves more like a young colt than a 

 worm. He was rather pugnaciors and 

 objected to being captured. E. O. N. 



Trac3' City, Tenn. 



The caterpillar sent for examination is 

 that of Thyreus Abhottii, one o the 

 Sphinx or humming bird moths— large 

 insects that fly at twilight, as large or 

 larger than the humming-bird, and take 

 their food in the same manner on poised, 

 rapidly vibrating wings. The full-grown 

 caterpiller. although about three inches 

 long, is not repulsive in appearance, as it 

 has a beautifully marked glossy eye like 

 spot near its hinder end, in place of the 

 curved horn that usually indicates the 

 Sphinx larvjE. But if disturbed by hand- 

 ling or even by a gentle poke of a stick, it 

 at once becomes belligerent, so lar as is 

 necessary lor its own protection Bend- 

 ing its ends together it suddenly releasi s 

 them, throwing itself to the other side, 

 repeating this operation as often as it 

 deems expedient. These movements, to 

 render them the more alarming, are ac- 

 companied with crackling, crepitating 

 sounds. It illustratesone of the many and 

 varied methods given to the animal king- 

 dom fortheirprotection from theirnatural 

 enemies, and in this case, peculiarly effect- 

 ive for the purpose. No one but an ento- 

 mologist would dare to take the cater- 

 pillar in his hand, and doubtliss many 

 birds and insects are repelled by its 

 remarkable movements and voice. 



]. A. LiNT.NER. 

 Keene Vallev, N. Y., lul'v .SI. 1895. 



AN INSECT ATTACK ON MAPLES. 



Novice, Wisconsin, writes: "For the 

 past two summers some kind of an insect 

 or worm has att.-icked the tops of my 

 cut-leaf maples, causing the center shoots 

 to fall over and wither. Can you pre- 

 scribe a remedy?" 



I do not recall an insect attack corre- 

 sponding to the above. If the borer or 

 the girdler, or whatever it may be, were 

 sent for examination it could probably be 

 named and a remedy pointed out. Possi- 

 bly specimens of the impaired tips might 

 serve for identification of the depredator. 



L A. LiNTNER. 



BLISTER BEETLES. 



.\ New Jersey correspondent asks: 



"How can I rid my China asters of the 



black bugs which appear when the asters 



begin to flower, and often destroy them 



[continued on rAGE3(5G.] 



