﻿NOXIOUS INSECTS. 



. CUKRANT AND GOOSEBERRY WORMS. 



The Currant and the Gooseberry, though not among the choicest 

 of our fruits, yet possess, with their peculiarly sub-acid or their spicy 

 flavor, qualities which make them invaluable for the manufacture of 

 jellies and conserves, and render them most grateful and healthful in 

 the hot summer months. Their cultivation is somewhat neglected in 

 Missouri, and though more general farther north and east it has there 

 fallen ofi" within the past twelve or fifteen years, principally on account 

 of the increase of those insects which injuriously aflect the plants. 



Those, therefore, who desire to successfully grow the Currant and 

 Gooseberry must familiarize themselves with, and learn how to effec- 

 tually deal with the insect enemies which attack them. Chief among 

 these are several so-called "worms" which prey upon the leaves, and 

 by repeatedly defoliating the bushes, not only prevent the fruit from 

 maturing, but eventually cause the death of the plant. In some sec- 

 tions the injury has been so serious that the culture of these fruits has 

 been abandoned. 



It is the common but misleading practice for writers in our horti- 

 cultural journals to refer to any of these insect enemies of the Currant 

 and Gooseberry as the Currant Worm or the Gooseberry Worm, as 

 though there was but a single species inj urious to these plants ; whereas, 

 in reality, there are quite a number of species that affect them in 

 stem, leaf and fruit. As a rule each requires a different mode of treat- 

 ment, according to its habit; but I shall here consider only the three 

 principal leaf-feeders, which may all be destroyed by one and the 

 same means. 



These three species formed the subject of an editorial article pub- 

 lished some years ago in the American Entomologist (Vol. II, No. 1) 

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