170 



IRISH (;ai<1)ENIN(j. 



NOVKMRKR 



flowoviT. r ri'planli'tl ami ivsol iiis vims ;»iui pl.uiis. 

 protevloJ tluMii wilh foncos i>l' taiivtl p i|n'r, ami jilaiiil 

 miiu's oC " liiiir vli*atl> '" ••'•^l *' •<"«' ^v»'' i" " aiomul lliiiii 

 on ewry sidi', ami kmiIi-cI up m\ loins wilii palii-mi- 

 Oiuv moif. 



By that time (ho battaruiiis of llu- air wi-iv lU-soi-ntlinjf 

 on mv tivfs. am! I liaslom'il to Uirn my alUMilioii to 

 tlu-m. Horo I soi-nu'ii moiv lu-lpli-ss than hofotv. It 

 wan as thouirli tho new war ai-roplane hail been per- 

 feeted and the enemy eame llyinir from the blue to 

 discomfit nie. 



The )rypsy inolli, the biowii-lail moth, ami, ai>ove all, 

 the eodlinvr molh, all attacked me from above. The 

 latter flies only by nij,'ht, and does not beijin his depre- 

 dations until honest folks have ijone to bed. Then he 

 jjets in his deadly work, and, it is estimated, rnins half 

 the apple crop of the I'nited States by his nocturnal 

 attacks. 



How cunninj;ly he plans his campai.un against the 

 kinij of fruits ! .No .Napoleon ever better understood 

 the act of harassiniC the enemy. He wails until the 

 right moment, and when he sees the blossoms fallinj^-, 

 he comes flyiiif? by myriads to the orchard. He glues 

 his eggs to the embryo apple or near them. In about a 

 week these eggs hatch, and the little worms wriggle 

 their way into the cup-like blossom end of the apple. 

 Here they hide and feed for several days, then bore their 

 way into the apple to the very core, and the days of that 

 apple are numbered. The apple indeed may live and 

 grow, but it will always be a poor, knurly. wormy, 

 worthless thing. 



But the codling molh is only one of the enemies of my 

 trees. There are the regiments of lice that get into the 

 leaf and curl it up, and the light infantry of the apple 

 maggot, a tiny worm that burrows into the fruit in all 

 directions, and the tent caterpillar that camps on my 

 trees and houses a thousand troops under the dome of a 

 single tent, and the scale of different kinds, San Jose 

 and oyster shell and scurvy, all of which attack the 

 bark. 



Every tree in my orchard, and every part of ihe tree, 

 has its own particular enemy. The cherry has the 

 " May beetle." the "rose bug" and the " brown rot." 

 The pears have the "pear tree slug," and the "pear 

 blight;" the plum has the deadly curculio and the 

 " plum gorger ; " and the peach has the "yellows" and 

 the "peach rosette." 



But not only does every tree have its own enemies. 

 but every part of the tree has its foes. The bark has 

 its borers and its scale, the leaf its lice and curlers, the 

 blossom its moths, the fruit its borers. Each enemy 

 knows exactly the weakest part of the citadel he has to 

 attack. He knows the exact moment when his attack 

 will be most effective. He has the accumulated ex- 

 perience of a thousand ancestors behind him. He 

 never makes a mistake in his manoeuvers, or fails to 

 avail himself of the ps3chological moment. 



What, then, can I, a mere man, do with a thousand 

 watchful, unwearied foes to combat— a mere man, with 

 only one pair of hands and one poor brain to oppose 

 these multifarious enemies ; or, if I do not forget to 

 count my Portuguese assistant farmer, two pairs of 

 hands and two poor brains at the most and best ? 

 Shall I give up the fight and call myself beaten by the 



wiMni, .■mil the molh, and the crow, anil the Wfcil 

 which I h.ive hitherto forgotten to niention. but which 

 is alw.iys n-.idy to spring up .mil take my pl.tnls by the 

 thro.it ami slr.ingli- them? My no means! Hen- 

 comes in the joy of the sliugglc. Here is the deliglil 

 ol" a l.iir light .ind no f;i\our. (Jnarter is neither askiil 

 nor given. I will op|Hise the wisdom and skill ;iml 

 resouices of my kind .ig.iinst worm ;inil weed .iml 

 molh ami bird. 



I ome oni', lonu" .ill ! I defy yi>u to ilo your worst. 

 1 h.ive got my .artillery ready. My battery consists of 

 two sprayers, one for the trers and one for (he plants. 

 .My ammunition i;* of various kinds, but largely consists 

 of Bortlciux mixture. Paris green, arsenate of le.ul. 

 wh.ile oil soap, ami tobacco tea. 



I spray, and spray, and spray again. As often ;is the 

 enemy attacks, I sally out to meet him v%ith my long 

 and deadly tube of poison. I do not wait for him always 

 lo .issume the offensive, but as soon as he shows his 

 lie.id I train my artillery upon him. 



It is ;i tight to the finish. There cm be no tirawn 

 bailie in this war. One or llie other must win. Little 

 by little I finil my enemy g'iving- way. The spraying 

 pump drives the worms out of their fastnesses. The 

 potato bugs give up the fight. They are conquered by 

 Paris green and the sprajer. The cutworms are ovei 

 come by constant watchfulness and frequent replanting. 

 The scale I .ittack wilh kerosene emulsion and whale-od 

 soap. The curculio I knock off and destroy. The tent- 

 worms I burn in their own gauzy tabernacles ; and, lo I 

 when autumn comes, in spite of innumerable foes, foes 

 that creep and crawl and fly and bore, I am the victor. 

 My apples are rosy and fleckless, my peaches downy 

 and delicious, my cauliflowers lift up their great while 

 heads out of their chalices of green asking to be 

 pluckeil, my tomatoes hang red and luscious on their 

 vines, my potatoes are smooth and spotless, my corn is 

 full-eared, sweet and juicy ; and if I am not a better 

 and stronger man for my tussle with Nature and the 

 enemies of my farm, then there is no virtue in war ami 

 no value in the " fighting edge." 



Cutting Down Hkrbaceous Plants.— VVc are con- 

 vinced that considerable harm is often done by cutting, 

 as the custom is, the stems of herbaceous plants soon 

 after they have ceased flowering. Gardeners, in their 

 anxiety to keep up an apjiearance of tidiness in the 

 flower borders, are tempted lo clear aw.'iy all the flower- 

 ing stems immediately they show- the least sign of failing. 

 This is a mistake, as the natural process of the plant is 

 to secure for its perennial storage tissue all the residue 

 food left over from the feeding of the flowers and the 

 maturation of the seeds. .Such food is slowly passed 

 down from the now failing shoots, and if these are pre- 

 maturely removed, the shoots of next year will be 

 correspondingly robbed of readily available nutri- 

 ment. This is not only right in theory but in actual 

 practice as well. Experiments have been tried that 

 prove the point beyond dispute. Therefore, do not 

 be in too great haste lo clear the herbaceous border 

 of its old stems, but allow sufficient lime for this 

 translocation of food. 



