THE CURRANT-BUSH BORER. 501 



times renders a whole crop utterly useless. It con- 

 sists of tufts of brownish strings of spores, "in a 

 sac which opens above." It covers not only the 

 fruit, but often the leaves and young wood. Dr. 

 Berkeley represents it, in its first stages, as similar 

 in many respects to the grape mildew. Sulphur, as 

 applied to the vine, will prove an effectual remedy, 

 if used during the first part of its growth. 



§Vm. — DISEASES OF THE CURRANT 



1. The fall of the Leaf — Phylloptosis. Page 428. 



2. The Currant-bush Borer — Aegeria tipulformis : 

 Linn. " The moth is blue-black ; the under side 

 of the feelers, the collar, the edges of the shoulder- 

 covers, and three very narrow rings on the abdomen, 

 are golden yellow." It deposits its eggs during the 

 latter part of June, at the axil of a leaf ; and, when 

 the larva is hatched, it bores to the pith, which, 

 with the bordering cells, it consumes for a great 

 distance. The limb becomes very weak, the foliage 

 sickly, and the fruit small. AVhenever a branch 

 exhibits these mtii-ks, and, upon examination, a 

 borer is found to be at work, the diseased part 

 should be cut off, with the borer, and the whole 

 burned, to prevent their multiplication (Harris). 



