194 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



crease, then the number of beetles wintering 

 over will be large and the damage to the 

 spring shoots will be serious. 



There are two or three practicable reme- 

 dies for the prevention of the destruction of 

 the shoots by the grubs of the beetle : i. 

 Cut all asparagus plants about the first of 

 May and cut the new shoots regularly every 

 few days. By the adoption of this plan the 

 beetles are forced to lay their eggs on the 

 new shoots, and as those are cut every few 

 days further development of the grubs is 

 prevented. 2. Permit some of the shoots to 

 grow as traps upon which the beetles may 

 lay their eggs, but destroy these every week 

 and allow other stalks to act as traps to take 

 their place. In this way the beetles are not 

 allowed to develop, with the result that their 

 numbers will decrease as the season ad- 

 vances. 



It is very important that these new ar- 

 rivals be well looked after, and prevented 

 from spreading to other counties from Lin- 

 coln and Welland. From a study of the 

 spread of the common asparagus beetle it 

 would appear that it has followed the water 

 ways into the interior of the country, although 

 it has undoubtedly been distributed occasion- 



ally by ordinary commercial means, viz., by 

 railways, nursery stock, etc. Moreover, it 

 is more likely to spread westward along the 

 shore of Lake Erie than eastward along the 

 shore of Lake Ontario, for the same climatic 

 reason that the San Jose Scale takes more 

 kindly to the Lake Eirie counties than to the 

 Lake Ontario counties. 



In conclusion, two very interesting fea- 

 tures may be mentioned in connection with 

 the invasion of the Province by these aspar- 

 agus beetles : i. The two species have ar- 

 rived at the said time, although the common 

 asparagus beetle reached the United States 

 twenty-five years before the 12-spotted 

 species, and, as a rule, the former species 

 has preceded the 12-spotted in the invasion 

 of the States to the south of us ; and 2, The 

 12-spotted species was the more abundant 

 form last season in the Niagara district. 

 Every report dealing with the depredations 

 of the two species in the United States makes 

 the assertion that the common form was al- 

 ways the more destructive and abundant. 



Wm. Lochhead, 

 Professor of Biology. 

 Ontario Agricultural College, 



Guelph, April 20, 1900. 



Japan Plums. — Mr. C. M. Hooker, of 



New York, recently sent a lot of cold-stor- 

 age Duchess pears to London, which re- 

 turned $13 to $14 per barrel. The Japan 

 plum, Wickson, is reaping golden opinions 

 on the shores of Seneca Lake, N. Y. Some 

 extra fine fruit produced by heavy thinning 

 brought $3 per 15-pound case in New York 

 city, or $12 per bushel, when Lombards were 

 bringing but 50 cents per bushel. The 

 Wickson has had the reputation of being a 

 shy bearer, and Mr. Willard has hitherto 



condemned it for that reason. He has now 

 more faith in its productiveness. Red June 

 and Burbank are the best market varieties 

 of Japan plums for this section. Abundance 

 is of fine quality, but not as good a shipper 

 as the other two. Canned Burbanks are 

 second in quality only to Reine Claude and 

 French Prune. October Purple has been a 

 disappointment to most growers thus far. 

 All Japan plums need heavy thinning to be 

 of good size. Thinning also lessens the rot. 

 Countrv Gentleman. 



