AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



205 



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For application when the plants are heading 

 up nothing is more efficacious, or more easy 

 of application, than Persian or Dalmatian 

 insect powder. As it is practically harmless 

 to man, and the higher animals, it can be 

 applied by a bellows, at any stage of the 

 plant's growth, and, if of a good grade, it is 

 certain death to all insects which it strikes. 

 Many southern groAvers say it is the only 

 effectual, and at the same time, perfectly safe 

 cure for the Cabbage Worm. 



There are three kinds of insects which 

 attack the roots of Cabbages after being 

 planted out in the field to head. One is a 

 species of Wire Worm, that imbeds itself in 

 the stem, for which, we regret to say, we can 

 suggest no remedy that will not at the same 

 time kill the plant. Another, of a dull gray 

 color, resembling a caterpillar in shape, is 

 known by the popular and expressive name 

 of Cut-worm, based upon their practice of 

 eating off the young plants at the level of the 

 ground. They are the larvse of several species 

 of NoctuidxE, and ai'e nocturnal in their habits, 

 lying just under the surface of the ground 

 during the day, and feeding at night. They 

 hatch out early in spring, and feed on grass, 

 weeds, etc., and when the ground is cleared 

 and the plants set out, their enforced fast 

 makes them doubly dangerous. The following 

 extract from a communication to Garden and 

 Forest may be of service to many : 



"Various means have been tried to keep 

 them from the plants — lime, salt, gas-tar and 

 a variety of other repellants have been em- 

 ployed, all with a variable, usually small, 

 degree of success. Later, as the habits of 

 the worms became better known, traps were 

 prepared for them. Holes were driven with 

 a dibble, around the newly-set plants, and the 

 Cut-worms wandering about fell into them, 

 and, being unable to climb up the smooth 

 sides, perished there. Traps were set in the 

 form of chips and short pieces of board, which 

 proved convenient hiding places for the larvae, 

 and there they could be readily found during 

 the day and destroyed. Still later, balls of 

 grass and succulent leaves were scattered 

 about the fields, and there the worms congre- 

 gated, and were easily destroyed during the 

 day. More recently, the grass balls were 

 poisoned, by being soaked in a pail of water 

 into which a teaspoonful of London Purple 

 had been stirred, and the Cut-worms were 

 thus killed without the labor attendant upon 

 a daily visitation of the lures. The trapping 

 system with the aid of poisoned lures has, on 

 the whole, proved most satisfactory ; but, as 

 in the case of all applications of insecticides, 

 the element of time is a most important 

 factor, and in many cases really determines 

 success or failure. 



"There is comparatively little success from 

 lures placed after a field has been set out 

 and where vegetation has started, since the 

 worms will prefer young, growing plants, to 

 the lures, and after the larvae become full 

 grown and ready for pupation, lures, of 

 course, fail in attracting more than a very 

 few belated specimens. The proper time for 

 a Cut-worm campaign is just after the ground 

 has been prepared for the crop to go in it, and 

 while it is clear and free from vegetation — if 

 possible only a day or two before planting — 

 the poisoned lures should be spread about 



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liberally, and the vast majority of all the Cut- 

 worms in the prepared ground will be attracted 

 and destroyed. It is, of course, not likely 

 that the destruction will be complete, but the 

 percentage of plants lost will be very much 

 lessened, and will be insignificant in compari- 

 son to the damage that would have been 

 otherwise caused." The other is the 



Cabbage Maggot. One of the most destruc- 

 tive insects we have to contend with in growing 

 Cabbage or Cauliflower is the Cabbage Mag- 

 got. The only remedy is prevention — which 

 requires close observation. Just as soon as 

 the Cabbage or Cauliflower becomes well 

 rooted in the open field after planting out (in the 

 latitude of New York usually about middle 

 of May), close attention will show a small 

 black fly hovering around the plants that 

 deposits usually about twenty eggs, of a 

 whitish color and about the size of a pin's head. 

 Before the eggs hatch out each plant must be 

 fingered around so as to displace them from 

 the stem. This is quickly done, and it is, we 

 believe, the only known remedy to save the 

 crop. 



The CuRcuiiio or Plum WEEViii. This little 

 beetle is one of the greatest orchard pests, 

 attacking not only the Plum, Cherry, Peach and 

 other stone fruits, but also doing serious dam- 

 age to the Apple. Its attacks are followed by 

 great deformity in the fruit. The Apples are 

 often stung many times and become so gnarled, 

 distorted, and scarred as to be wholly worth- 

 less. An almost certain remedy is to use a 

 tablespoonful of London Purple or Paris Green 

 to six gallons of water, syringed on the trees 

 every other day for fifteen days, beginning 

 the operation as the flower begins to drop, as 

 it is just w^hen the fruit is forming that the 

 insect deposits its egg. No danger need be 

 apprehended from the small quantity of the 

 poison used, as it will be all washed from the 

 fruit long before it ripens. Another remedy, 

 which will effectually save a crop in the dis- 

 tricts infested by this insect, is to jar the 

 tree in the morning or in cool days, first 

 spreading sheets under the trees to catch the 

 weevils, after which they may be burned. If 

 this is begun as soon as the Plums are formed, 

 and persisted in every few days until they are 

 ripe, a large share of the crop may be saved. 

 This may be thought to be paying rather dear 

 for a crop of Plums, but it is really the only 

 way it can be secured. Many years ago the 

 crop of a Plum orchard under my charge, 

 numbering over a hundred large trees, was 

 saved by this process, while all other Plums 

 in the district, where the jarring of the trees 

 was not resorted to, were completely des- 

 troyed. This plan was recommended nearly 

 half a century ago, and no other practicable 

 method has been presented until the recent 

 use of London Purple or Paris Green, applied 

 as already described. 



The PhtlijOXEra, which has been so des- 

 ti-uctive to the Grape vine in Europe, is, fortu- 

 nately, mostly localized with us thus far, and 

 its ravages have been far from alarming, 

 though many feel apprehensive of the future. 

 Its depredations, which are of a deadly nature, 

 are confined chiefiy to the roots, and thus far 

 no certain means for its destruction have 

 been discovered. The Phylloxera has, in a 

 few places, been found quite destructive to 



