3 36 



BUGS, INSECTS, ETC.— REMEDIES FOR. 



it is, however, especially recommended 

 that all yellow or diseased onions (or 

 other bulbs and roots) should be at once 

 removed from the beds, with as much of 

 the roots and fibres as possible, and burnt 

 or otherwise destroyed immediately. 

 GRAPE-ROOT BORER. —The most 



Fig. 



Male Grape Root Borer. 



known as THE Grape-root Borer. It 

 bears a very close resemblance to the 

 •common Peach Borer, both in habit, and 

 in the size and general appearance of 

 the larva, but it is a somewhat larger 

 •insect and the moths differ materially. 



Unlike the Peach Borer which makes 

 its abode quite near the surface, this borer 

 lives exclusively under ground, and unlike 

 the Gigantic root-borers which hollow out 

 . and bore up along the heart of the roots, 

 it confines itself almost entirely to bark 

 ^and sap-wood, and the effects of its work 

 . are consequently more fatal to the vine. 

 Roots attacked by it look "as if a drunk- 

 en carpenter had been diligently scoop- 

 ing away the sap-wood with a quarter- 

 inch gouge.". 



Remedies. — It has been ascertained by 



• observation and experiment that the Scup- 

 pernong grape-vine — which, according to 

 ^Gray, is a cultivated variety of the South- 



• ern Fox Grape (vitis vulpind) — is never 

 ; attacked by this borer, and consequently 

 that other varieties grafted on to the 

 '•Scuppernong share its immunity from at- 

 tack. This is a very easy mode of pre- 

 venting its ravages in the more Southern 

 States where the Scuppernong flourishes ; 

 and if this borer should ever become very 

 numerous with us, it may be deemed ad- 

 visable to introduce that stock here. At 

 present we have no other pi eventive than 

 mounding, and the insect is so compara- 

 tively scarce that we have not yet had an 

 •opportunity ot testing whether such 

 •mounding would work as well as it does 

 with the Peach Borer. When it is once 



common root-borers of the Grape-vine in 

 the West are those which we have termed 

 Gigantic Root-borers, namely, the larva? 

 of two large beetles (Prionus laticollis and 

 P. imbricornis). The insect now under 

 consideration is a moth and not a beetle, 

 and has for a number of years been 



Fig. 29. — Female Grape Root Borer. 



ascertained that the borers are at work on 

 a vine, they may be destroyed by clear- 

 ing away the earth and applying hot 

 water to the roots. 



COTTON LOUSE.— The cotton louse 

 and the rust are also prone to attack the 

 plant in its infancy. Brisk cultivation and 

 a top dressing of ashes and plaster of 

 Paris are the best remedies for both. Rust 

 is generally the worst in soils of moderate 

 depth, which have been planted in cotton 

 for a number of successive years. Rota- 

 tion of crops, and a liberal application of 

 manures, especially those that are rich in 

 potash and phosphoric acid, will, in nine 

 cases out of ten, relieve the cotton field 

 of this malady. It is not until the plant 

 has nearly reached its growth, and in 

 many cases begun to whiten for the har- 

 vest, that cotton is liable to the onset of 

 its three most destructive enemies. These 

 are the boll-worm, the cotton-worm or 

 caterpillar, and the army-worm. 



BEAN WEEVIL. — A weevil which 

 appeared about ten years ago in Rhode 

 Island, and is now found in some parts 

 of New York, Illinois, and Missouri. It 

 infests beans in the same manner as the 

 pea-weevil infests peas, except that sev- 

 eral larvse usually enter the same bean. 

 It is about half as large as the pea-weevil, 

 and of a tawny gray color. It is re- 

 garded as indigenous to this country, 

 and as likely, if not checked, to extend 

 itself through the country, and prove as 

 destructive to beans as the pea-weevil has 

 to peas. The same preventives may be 

 used as for destroying the pea- weevil. 



