850 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



quantities, this treatment to be repeated every week or two as long as it continues. Another 

 remedy said to be effectual, is to sprinkle the vines just before the buds begin to start, with a 

 solution of sulphate of copper (blue stone or vitriol). By planting the vines sufficiently far 

 apart and giving good culture, there will be little trouble with this difficulty. For mildew in 

 gooseberry culture, it is well to have the bushes set where they will be partially protected 

 by shade during the heat of the day. Careful pruning so as to keep the branches about six 

 or eight inches apart will also prove beneficial. Sprinkling the bushes with weak lime water, 

 also scattering lime, salt, and sulphur upon the ground quite liberally under the branches is 

 also highly recommended. Heavily mulching with coal ashes is also said to be quite 

 effectual. 



Twig Girdler. This insect is troublesome in some sections, it being known to girdle 

 a number of trees of different kinds, such as the pear, apple, peach, plum, persimmon, elm, 

 hickory, etc. Professor Riley says of it: &quot; Both sexes of the beetle feed upon the bark of 

 the hickory, but only the females, so far as we are aware, girdle the twigs. 

 After partly girdling a particular twig, she lays a number of eggs in the distal 

 portion that has been killed, each egg usually inserted just beneath a bud. 

 The twig usually, though not always, breaks off by the force of the wind 

 during winter, and the larvae flourish upon the dead wood as it lies upon the 

 ground, burrowing just beneath the bark, and when very numerous leaving 

 little else than the outer bark. The beetles do this work in the fall of the 

 year. The young larva hatches and works a short distance into the twig 

 before winter sets in, and continues working through spring and summer, 

 transforming to pupa only towards summer. Some writers have stated 

 that two years are required for its development. While this may be true 

 farther north, it is not true of the latitude of St. Louis, where we have 

 reared the insects repeatedly from the egg. 



Spraying or washing the branches with strong soap-suds mixed with kero 



sene oil will prove effectual in destroying the insect; also by picking up and GUL 



burning all the twigs that have been broken off at the point girded, will be girdling; b, point 



the means of destroying a large number of the larva. 



J sorted; c, form of 



Rose Bug. The rose bug frequently does great damage by eating the s irdle; e &amp;gt; egg - 

 blossoms and leaves of grapes, apples, etc., as well as those of the rose. The best means of 

 driving it away, is to apply Pyrethrum powder, either in solution or in powder. This is a 

 very simple, economical, and efficient remedy; the bulk of the powder is easily dissolved in 

 water, and may be applied with a large atomizer in fine spray in the proportion of a quarter 

 of pound of the powder to three or four gallons of water. This solution is most effectual 

 when first made, and looses strength the longer it is kept, consequently it is always best to 

 use only that which is fresh made, or has not been mixed longer than a day or two. When 

 applied in a powder, it may be mixed with five or six parts of wheat flour, and lightly sifted 

 over the vines. This powder can be procured of any druggist, and when properly applied is 

 a very efficient means of exterminating many kinds of beetles, worms, etc., from plants. 

 Hand-picking of these bugs is sometimes resorted to, but it is a slow and tedious process. 



Rot. The rot is sometimes very damaging to grapes. Like mildew, it seems to be 

 caused by a parasitic fungus, and warmth and moisture combined are essential to its develop 

 ment. It has been found that all varieties of grapes are liable to its attacks at all stages of 

 the growth and maturity of the fruit; some varieties, however, appear to resist the attacks 

 better than others. It has been found by experiment in covering the bushes when small 

 with thin paper bags or mosquito netting, and keeping them on until the close of the season, 

 that this difficulty is prevented, which proves that the infection takes place by way of the 



