360 



THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



These insects seem to attack the red currant more generally, 

 yet the black variety, and even the gooseberry, is not exempt 

 from its blasting work. Not only do the broken stems, so weak- 

 ened as to be unable to stand upright, but also the sickly ap- 

 pearance of the foliage tell of this insect's presence and work. 

 Bending the stocks will also generally give the needed informa- 

 tion, as the affected ones bend more readily. The hollows in 

 stocks cut across will inform us of their previous or present 

 work. 



REMEDIES. It has been suggested that we catch the moths. 

 I think this is not a practical remedy. The moths are so small, 

 so quick, so wasp-like, that I should despair of this ever becom- 

 ing generally practiced. I would suggest letting the bushes 

 sprout up pretty freely, and then each spring practice heavy 

 pruning, taking pains to cut and burn the feeble and limber 

 stocks. This should be done about May 20th; if later, some of 

 the earlier moths might escape, if earlier, the pruner could not 

 discriminate so wisely between healthy and diseased stems. 



Imported Gooseberry Saw-Fly. Nematus ventricosus, 

 Klug. Family, Tenthredinidce. Order, Hymenoptera. This 

 gooseberry (or currant) slug is a fearful devastator, often com- 

 pletely defoliating the bushes the 

 first year that it appears. 



NATURAL HISTORY. The yellow 

 >. female saw-fly (Fig 36, #), about 



* \ the size of the house-fly, with 



black head, meets the smaller male 

 (Fig. 37, a) which has more black, 

 and commences laying her whitish 

 transparent eggs along the veins 

 underneath the leaf, about the 



If Y first f May. These hatch in 



I three or four days, and the green 



twenty-legged " worms " (Fig 37, a) 



FIG. 36. 



dotted with black until the last moult, when they are entirely 

 green, commence immediately to feed on the leaves. These 

 larvae eat voraciously, and soon become full grown, being then 



