8o 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[March, 



Catawbas, on which the fruit was ripe also. This 

 the owner attributed to the fact that he had let 

 grass and weeds grow, instead of keeping the 

 ground plowed and clean, as is the system gener- 

 ally. It was quite evident the vines were deterio- 

 rating rapidly ; two-thirds of them were dead. We 

 went to digging again, and sure enough there we 

 found Phylloxera, giving its own color to the roots, 

 it was so numerous. All we afterwards examined 

 were more or less attacked. In going over a plan- 

 tation set out last spring many were dead, most of 

 them just alive. The ground was in good condi- 

 tion. I was asked what I thought was the matter. 

 It seemed to me that the young plants got infected 

 from pieces of roots from an old plantation which 

 stood there lately, which would indicate that the 

 ground would require a good rest before planting 

 with vines again. 



I have been greatly troubled with the Phylloxera 

 on the foreign grape vines here in the houses, and 

 must confess it has the best of me as yet. How- 

 ever, I have not lost hope ; and if all who are 

 fighting it would publish their efforts it might be 

 conquered. I have tried hellebore dissolved in 

 water, strong enough to kill earthworms ; also salt 

 of the same strength, and tobacco water made by 

 steeping the stems, and using it as strong as is 

 customary. All of these were applied at the rate 

 of twenty gallons to the cubic yard. Holes were 

 made a few inches apart, with a round stick to let 

 it get down. The vines were not injured, but it 

 did not kill or drive away the pest. Only one 

 kind was used on a vine. I then tried crude pe- 

 troleum, and it killed the vine. Well, I presume 

 you would like to know what next. I took away 

 the soil from the roots for some distance, gave 

 them a good wetting, and sprinkled air-slacked 

 lime and soot, equal parts, on and around them, 

 and filled in with fresh soil. The vines made a 

 good growth last summer, and had some fruit. 

 Some of the bunches were seventeen inches long, 

 and well proportioned. I was so well satisfied 

 with the last experiment that I have treated 

 another house the same way. 



[In connection with these very timely, sugges- 

 tions of Mr. Rhind it may be as well to note that 

 suctorial insects cannot be successfully destroyed 

 by the poisons which destroy those feeding in the 

 usual way. The potato beetle dies from Paris 

 green, because it eats the poison with the leaves it 

 feeds on ; but we may cover an aphis with Paris 

 green when feeding on a plant without doing the 

 insect any injury, because it sucks the juice from 

 the interior of the plant. Whatever is employed 



against the Phylloxera must be that which will 

 destroy it in some other way. 



It may also be noted that though the Phylloxera 

 is a fearful scourge to the grape grower, it is often 

 charged with trouble which properly belongs to 

 fungus. During the last two years we have seen 

 many cases where this mistake has been made. We 

 have noted at least two distinct forms of fungus 

 operating on grape vine roots, the effect of which 

 in interfering with the healthy growth of the vine, 

 is precisely the same as when it has been attacked 

 by Phylloxera. In the one case the young grow- 

 ing fibres are attacked, usually in spots. Some- 

 times entirely girdling the young growth. The 

 brownish and destroyed tissue can be seen with a 

 good eye, or better, by a pocket lens. 



The other fungus parasite covers the surface of 

 the older as well as young roots with a blackish, 

 warty excrescence. It is more often seen on vines 

 one or two years transplanted, and in such cases 

 the vines do not grow to any extent, and fre- 

 quently dwindle away altogether. — Ed. G. M.]- 



THE CODLING MOTH. 



BY CHAS. D. ZIMMERMAN, BUFFALO, N. Y. 



In the July number of the Monthly, page 208, 

 is an extract from the Canadian Horticulturist, 

 referring to the codling moth, which says : " I set 

 two traps on the 20th of last August, and caught 

 over one thousand moths in one night. The trap 

 is a glass lantern set in a tin pan of water, an inch 

 or more deep." 



It would be interesting to know if the moths 

 caught were Carpocapsa pomonella. In my ex- 

 perience of several seasons' collecting, mostly in 

 large orchards with both light and sugar, I have 

 never seen C. pomonella at either. Nor have I 

 ever seen one about my lamp at an open window, 

 where apples and codling moths abounded in the 

 near vicinity. The only instances in which C. 

 pomonella appeared to be attracted by light, were 

 on the inside of cellar windows, where they tried 

 to make their escape to the open air. 



In placing a lamp on one side of a breeding 

 cage, in which a number of C. pomonella were con- 

 fined, they invariably sought refuge on the op- 

 posite side, and often concealed themselves, while 

 other species of moths would approach the light. 



Many different forms of the trap (which, accord- 

 ing to Downing, was first discovered by Victor 

 Adouin, of France), are recommended by horti- 

 cultural writers for the destruction of the codling 

 moth, which, if my observations are correct, can- 



