The Rescue of an Old Place 



deadly, so that it is almost as discourag- 

 ing as hand-picking. 

 Muscle A distinguished horticultural authority, 



worth more i_ i 1-1 i i 



than faith, who takes very little stock in my new dis- 

 coveries, declares that muscle is worth 

 more than faith, and shows me perfect 

 roses, as large as his fist, to prove it. 

 This is all very well if you are lucky 

 enough to have unlimited muscle at your 

 command, as in an arboretum for instance, 

 where every rose-bug has a man to catch 

 him, but both hand-picking and insecti- 

 cides are alike failures in a private family 

 with one factotum. What the world de- 

 mands is a warning of some kind that the 

 chafer who runs may read, a something to 

 convey to his insect-mind or nostrils the 

 information that " no rose-bug need ap- 

 ply," and whoso can make this discovery 

 palpable to the enemy will have his for- 

 tune in his red right hand. 



The legends connected with the rose- 

 bug are numerous. They tell us that he 

 will not molest a Grapevine or a Rose 

 bush close against a house, though he will 

 devour the Virginia - creeper against the 

 lattice of your veranda. He is supposed 

 186 



