November 24, 1906 



HORTICULTURE 



555 



is something like Draccena ensifolium in eflEect. Com- 

 pact in habit, of the densest, brightest green, and a 

 good commercial plant. This is not strictly a new 

 plant, but has been overlooked. 



Pandanus Luzoniensis — An elegant grass-green 

 species differing from P. polycephalus and Porteana, 

 the leaves being narrower and from the base of the 

 plant they are on longer recurved lines. Is a quick 

 grower and will be of coniniorcial value. 



Cryptanthus Benkeri — A bromeliad dwarf, resem- 

 bling very much Dracaena Goldieana and is promising 

 as a jardiniere plant. Some other bromeliads, not 

 named, promise to be of interest. 



Schizocarpus plantaginifolium — What a name ! 

 Looks like old Attacia cristata; may be useful for 

 collections. 



Acanthus montanus — A particularly noticeable spiny 

 plant, with sinuous deep-green leaves and dark stems; 

 as a prickly plant it is Al. 



Tetronema mexicana-^Not a new plant but a little 

 gem of a gesnera and a companion for Primula 

 Forbesii. 



A dozen or more seedling crotons, all of which were 

 attractive, were admired. One, with the habit and 

 shape of old Varicgatum with milk-white markings, 

 is a gem. A bold habited Adolpli Rothschilds, with 

 brilliant markings, and a brilliant gold Weismanni, are 

 both fine. 



Pennisetum cupreum (a new grass?), with plumes 

 four times the size of Ruppellianum and leaves of cor- 

 responding size, both of which are of a deep bronze 

 color — the same shade as metallic alocasia- — will be 

 valuable for the garden and should have been cer- 

 tificated. 



Dried specimens of Eupatorium purpureuni with 

 double flowers from a plant growing eight feet high 

 and as much through ; will be a valuable liardy plant. 



~^lfwjj^ Jkfrr^ 



In the Moth Region 



With the life-b.istorips of the gipsy and brown-tail 

 moths again completed many changes will be made 

 another season in the manner of fighting them. 



The tree wardens are more in favor of spraying 

 than ever before. Men who thought they had thor- 

 oughly cleaned their trees of gipsies during the winter 

 found that many eggs had escaped their notice, being 

 liidden under rocks and piazzas, around fences, in stone 

 walls and in similar locations where it was impossible 

 to creosote tliem. This year I found several egg masses 

 on leaves. These will, in the natural course of events, 

 drop to the ground and escape notice. Hence spraying 

 is the simplest and surest way for it "works all the 

 time," catching the caterpillars as fast as they crawl 

 into the trees to feed. 



Arsenate of lead and Disparene were used in large 

 quantities, many towns using each several tons. Fewer 

 sticky hands and more burlap will be used in fairly 



clean sections another year. It is desirable to catch 

 the caterpillars while they are hiding during the day 

 and tlie burlap alfords them the uecessary shelter, at 

 the same time bringing them down to convenient places 

 where they can be killed. On the other hand the bands 

 keep the caterpillars out of the trees, deflect them onto 

 other foliage, often into hedges or underbrush where it 

 is a good deal harder to find them. Send them into 

 (lie trees and they will surely be caught under the 

 burlaps in a day or two. In badly infested regions a 

 combination of the two still proves the most desirable. 



The brown-tail moths have not been as plentiful this 

 year, fully fifty or sixty per cent, having been killed 

 off in the nests and early stages by a fungus disease, 

 identified as a species of Empusa. Many of the gipsies 

 succumbed to a bacterial disease. Perhaps this is a 

 suggestion of a possible solution of the problem. 



Great headway has been made on the parasite ques- 

 tion. From the Insectary at Saugus, Mass., several 

 thousand parasites have been liberated. This parasite 

 proposition is intensely interesting and while no ap- 

 preciable results are expected for four or five years 

 great reliance is placed on their help eventually. The 

 parasites are imported from Europe and hatched out 

 at the Insectary — "bug-house," as the natives call it. 

 Here the secondary parasites are separated, tiny in- 

 sects which feed upon the moth parasites in the same 

 way that the latter attack the caterpillars. This is a 

 very important part of the work, to destroy the harm- 

 ful varieties in order to make the conditions as favor- 

 able as possible for the multiplication of the beneficial 

 kinds. 



Several different parasites are being reared. The 

 Trachina fiy, which resembles a large house fly, lays 

 its eggs on the back of the caterpillar, and these on 

 hatching give rise to little white grubs that bore into 

 the caterpillar, living and feeding there. The most 

 important, however, are the Pteromalus flies, one-six- 

 teenth of an inch long, resembling midges. These 

 and the Ichneumon flies, — another important class, — 

 lay their eggs inside the caterpillar. These have the 

 advantage that if the eggs are laid just before moulting 

 takes place, they are still with tlie caterpillars, but in 

 the case of the Trachinas are lost, if they do not hatch 

 before the skin is shed. 



Other parasites are the Calosoma beetles, bronze, 

 gold, green and black, which attack the caterpillars 

 and bite them in halves, sucking the juices. They re- 

 semble our Calosomas but have a habit of climbing 

 trees, a characteristic not possessed by ours. 



Many people fear that we shall have trouble from 

 the parasites if the moths are cleaned out, but as they 

 subsist entirely on a "meat" diet, there is no danger. 

 In the case of such a joyous condition as a complete 

 relief from the moths the parasites must either turn 

 to some other species of caterpillars or else die. 



Throughout the entire region much satisfaction is 

 felt in regard to the condition of tlic street trees. They 

 have retained their foliage well and show egg masses 

 and nests only Iiere and there. Back in the woods the 

 conditions are not as encouraging, hut even there a 

 marked improvement is evident. 



Witli continual thorough work and the help of the 

 parasites I believe these two pests will be rapidly 

 brought under control, reduced to the stage where the 

 nld commission left them. 



