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THE GENESEE FARMER. 



223 



water, every evening for a week or two, or from the time 

 the insects are first seen until they have disappeared. 

 It will not hurt even the tenderest leaves of any plant, 

 if applied in a clear state. It is certain death to 

 thrip and fritters, and all the family of aphides, and is 

 very annoying to even the red spider and the rose 

 bug. It will make even a pig sick, although I have 

 seen men chew tobacco. Josiau Salter. 



IN "MY NEW GARDEN." -No. L 



It may be, Mr, Editor, that you will not refuse 

 to walk with me occasionally in viy new garden, and 

 let me tell you of some things suggested by the 

 " working and watching " I perform therein. Any 

 one, with half an eye for the operations of Nature, 

 may find much food for reflection, as well as business 

 for the hands, in such a place. The growth of plants, 

 the operation of manures, the ever active insects, 

 harmful and harmless, the thousand things I can only 

 wonder at, not understand, seem to me worthy of 

 careful study, and I am sorry I am so illy prepared 

 to talk upon them. May I not hope for the assist- 

 ance of yourself and correspondents upon the themes 

 on which experience enables you to throw light, as 

 such may be brought before us in these 6r/</ rambles? 



Asparagus. — Come and look at my bed, made 

 April 30th. I first dug out the top soil as deep as 

 it had ever been plowed, and placed it on one side 

 for returning; then took out a spade's depth of the 

 under soil — removing it entirely — then loosened up 

 the bottom of the pit six or eight inches deep. In 

 quantity then added eight or ten inches in depth of 

 decomposed barn-yard manure, mixing it with the 

 returned surface soil, and placing three or four inches 

 of good garden mould upon the top of the whole. 

 From the old bed, roots were procured and planted, 

 about eighteen inches apart, and I then rounded up 

 my bed slightly and called it complete. I should 

 have mentioned, however, that the soil was loosened 

 up from one end of the pit, so as to form a drain for 

 the same; for in compact soils such an excavation 

 would retain an over proportion of moisture. 



The roots have mostly sent up vigorous shoots, 

 and promise well. I cut none this summer, as they 

 are all needed to promote bottom growth, and pre- 

 pare lor future productiveness. My only care, now, 

 is to keep the soil mellow, and to apply waste brine 

 enough to keep down all the weeds, but in autumn 

 the bed will need a blanket of half-rotten manure. 

 What a " power of roots " an old asparagus bed 

 contains — it seems as though there was one for every 

 shoot removed. 



Peas were planted the same day, and have made 

 a fine growth. The dwarfs seem the most thrifty — 

 they are centainly less trouble to raise, and appear 

 handsomely, either in flower or in bearing. I have 

 forgotten the names of the two varieties, for the seed 

 is some of our own growing. I might have planted 

 peas t\^o weeks before, but thought best to wait un- 

 til the garden was plowed — which wet weather pre- 

 vented until the 29th Bush peas should be planted 

 in double drills, ten inches apart, so as to place the 

 bush in the centre, but leave a space of two feet be- 

 tween each row of bushes. 



Onioks were set and sown that same April 30tb. 

 They are growing, as you see, and a liberal dressing 

 of hen manure, chip-dust and ashes, composted to- 

 gethsr — two part-s of the first to ooe each of the 



last — does not " set them back " in the least. It is 

 a good thing for almost any garden crop, to my 

 fancy — and more about it, hereafter. I do not ex- 

 pect a hirge crop of onions, after sowing so late; 

 yet, if the season is favorable, there will be a hand- 

 some product ot " Large Reds," and not a few fine 

 " Top Seed " onions. 



Hoeing and Weeding take up considerable time, 

 especially in such rainy weather. One can weed at 

 almost any time, but it is better not to hoe when the 

 ground is very wet — it leaves it hard, and, somehow, 

 not so well fitted to the growth of plants. I have 

 my hoe set out pretty well, so that 1 can loosen up 

 the soil about two inches deep, by chopping it up, 

 among my peas and onions. A loose soil is best for 

 either wet or dry weather, for most plants — perhaps 

 for all. 



Bugs and Worms are not wanting in " ray new 

 garden." The daik brown cut worm, the wire worm, 

 and a large beetle, (probably the May-bug,) seem 

 most plenty — but there are others, one of whom now 

 figures in Dr. Fitch's collection. I send you some 

 notice of it in another article. 



Maple Hill, JY. Y. A Country Invalid. 



THE STRAWBERRY PLANT -KS INSECTS. 



A Strawberry Bed was mentioned in " My New 

 Garden " in the April number, as having been planted 

 out last autumn. Let me refer to it again, briefly. 

 May 7th I had an equal space dug up about fifteen 

 inches deep, and placed thereon, eighteen inches 

 apart, sets of Burr's New Pine, Hovey's and Genesee 

 Seedlings, and the Early Scarlet varieties. The sea- 

 son was so backward here, it was equivalent to plant- 

 ing in April, and most of the roots have taken well, 

 and look likely to produce a few berries. Just now 

 some of the autumn sets are throwing out vigorous 

 runners, but I pinch them back — it is too much to 

 expect good fruit and increase of vines at once. As 

 to manure, I placed a quantity of strong drainage 

 mud from the barn-yard upon the bed, suffering it to 

 lie through a shower or two, and then (when dry) 

 raked it off. If the ol)ject is to get fruit instead of 

 vines, we must not have too rich a soil. 



In all " the books '' on strawberries which I have 

 been able to consult, I find no mention of the insect 

 enemies of this plant. I find some of my vines de- 

 stroyed, however, by the large white grub of the May- 

 bug, which eat off the roots below the ground. They 

 are, I believe, rather indiscriminate in their appetites, 

 eating every root which comes in their way, of grain 

 or grass, corn, potatoes or beans, and other garden 

 plants. But the Omaloplia sericea seems to take 

 hold of the strawberry plant alone, eating off the leaf 

 and blossom stems just above the ground — its work 

 resemblitig that of the cut worm upon corn and i.-ah- 

 bage plants. Dr. Fitch, to whom it was submitted, 

 says it is nearly allied to the rose-bug, and it resem- 

 bles that insect in some degree. The specimen cap- 

 tured was a beetle-like insect, three eighths of an inch 

 long, of a dark brown color, and seems to have been 

 the only one on the bed, since no more of its work 

 has been seen thereon, or anything resembling it 



If cultivators of the strawberry would be observant 

 in this respect, we should soon be better acquainted 

 with the insects injurious to the plant and fruit, and 

 know better how to guard against them. 



Maple Hill, June 12. A Country Invalid. ^ 



