Additional Notes on Insects. 473 



To COLOR PEARS. Josiah Hoopes, the well known West Ches- 

 ter, Pa., nurseryman, says that to give a high color to pears " all 

 that is necessary will be to spread a blanket on the floor of a cool 

 room, and then thinly and evenly place the fruit on the floor. A 

 second blanket must be spread over them, and in a short time the 

 effect of this treatment will be apparent in the most golden colored 

 Bartletts, and rich, ruddy-looking Seckles imaginable. Pears per- 

 fected in this manner rarely have the mealiness of their naturally 

 ripened companions ; nor do they prematurely decay at the core, 

 as when left on the trees." 



GRAPES OVERBEARING. Do not allow grape-vines to overbear. 

 Many a young vineyard has been injured, if not ruined, by carry- 

 ing too much fruit. Novices often delight to show how many 

 grapes they have on their young vines, and to tell how many tons 

 per acre their new vineyards have yielded. Thin out the bunches 

 as soon as they have set, and let the crop be small. It will be all 

 the better in quality, and the vines will preserve their health and 

 vigor. 



GRAPE SEEDLINGS. Novices sometimes complain that the seeds 

 of grapes do not grow when planted. It is important that they 

 are not allowed to become much dried, and that when planted, the 

 surface be kept moist. A correspondent of the Rural New Yorker 

 says that formerly not a fourth part of the seeds which he planted 

 germinated and grew. Accidentally covering part of the bed with 

 leaf-mould and rotten leaves, he found they grew freely and abund- 

 antly under this mulching. He then made an entire bed of rotten 

 leaves and mould, watering the bed after the seed was planted, 

 every other day. Nearly all grew and made vigorous plants. The 

 varieties planted were Catawba, Isabella, Concord, Clinton, Dela- 

 ware, Ives, etc. 



ADDITIONAL NOTES ON INSECTS. 



THE APPLE WORM, OR CODLING MOTH (p. 147). This insect 

 has become the most formidable enemy of the apple in the United 

 States. It does much damage to the pear, but does not attack 

 stone-fruit. In many orchards it ruins nearly the whole crop, and 

 is now penetrating into States beyond the Mississippi. The moth, 



