NEW i3NGi:.ANi> fa: 



Published by John B. Rbsseli,, at JVo. 52 A'ortk Market Street, (over the Agricultural Warehouse).— Tkokas G. Fessenee.n, Editor. 



VOL. YII. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1828. 



No. 22. 



HORTICULTURE. 



I'OR THE NEW F.NCLAND FiRHiER. 



ON THE INSECTS THAT INJURE THE 

 APPLE TREE. 



Mb Fessenden — Pardon me for saying, that 

 your exposition in tlie Farmer of the 5th, relative 



to the Coccus or American blight, is not perfectly I "j^^^^^^^^ ^;,. ,^^ 1^^^ f„^ ^^^^^ ,.^^^„„ ^^-^ ,,,^^j j^^^, 

 ^uiderstood by myself, and I fear iiot by other ot- " ' 



your readers. Your Pennsylvania correspondent 

 asks information relative to an insect " about the 

 size and shape of a small grain of coffee, found on 

 the body of the apple tree. The plant lice des 



several trees by the corrosive effects of salt, which 

 was contained in damaged fish applied to my or- 

 chard. 



There is another insect which is seriously inju- 

 rious to the apple tree, which seems particularly 

 to be the dread of European nurserymen and or- 

 chardists. It is called, by Loudon, Salisbury, and 

 other horticultural writers, the Aphis Lanata, or 



cribed by Mr Pebley, are "inform like half a 

 kernel of rye, but not more than a twentieth part 

 as lai'ge, with the flat side sticking to the smooth 

 bark of the tree." Do these gentlemen refer to 

 the same insect ? And is this the insect describ- 

 ed in your quotation from Kjrby & Spence ? I 

 liiiiik not.* I noted ?.Ir Pereet's communication 

 \A\h deep interest, on its publication in your first 



is apjilied to it, no one has satisfactorily explained. 

 Salisburv has figured it, in its different states, as 

 it appears under a magnifying i)ovver, upon a 

 branch and root of an apple tree. It is decidedly 

 different from the i>lant louse described by Mr 

 Perley. The eggs, which cunilot be distinguish- 

 ed but with the assistance of a microscope, are 

 deposited in a white cotton-like substance, in 

 which the insect is enveloped, generally at the in- 

 sertion of small branches, in the chinks of the 

 bark, or at the surface of the ground, especially if 

 there are suckers coming from that point — 

 Wherever the nursery lodgment is made, warts or 



volume, as many of my young apple trees were , rni n j ■ i 



he described, and ,Protuberances ensue. They are small and mdu- 

 'rated upon the stock, but upon the roots are often 

 in bunches or large masses. 1 have seen like ap- 



then suffering from the lice 

 some had been apparently killed by their depreda- 

 tions. They were abundant not only on the 

 smooth bark on the exterior, but on that which 

 had formed under the rough bark that had par- 

 tially peeled from the trunk. I profited by Mr 

 Peri-ey's suggestions, and subsequently by those 

 ■of Mr Wheelbr, and applied strong lye with a 

 brush, in June, with very great benefit, sometimes 

 with, and at othertimes without, the addition if 

 Jiine. I doubl iii^t but strong briiii? v.oulu" .« 

 equally fatal to the insect, but I was fearful it 

 might become injurious to the trees, having lost 



* We believe that our Pennsylvania correspondent, in Hb 

 rommunication, publishefl pa^e 142 of (he current vol. of N. E. 

 Farmer, meant to descrifie two distinct kinds of injects, one of 

 ■uliich we thought might be the same witli that mentioned h/ 

 Mr Peeley. 



Our Pennsylvania friend says (pa^e 142) " the appearanc? 

 [of the insect] to me resembled the blossoms of Timothy, o: 

 some small grass, shaken on the tnmk of ihe tree, when wet wiik 

 dew, and remaining on it. .4fler which they increased in size, 

 to about the big-ness of shot No. 8 cut in two, and a little len:jth- 

 ened ; and fanned a corer adhering to the bark, under which thf. 

 iti^ect, whatever it may he, >was found. '^ 



Again, in the same pasfe, he speaks oHhe insect, (which may 

 be the same, but we should suppose, from the description that it 



pearances upon shrubs and plants in the fields 

 and forests, but never gave them a particidar ex- 

 amination.* This, I apprehend, is the Coccus, or 

 American Blight, described by Kirby & Spence, 

 and is different from that described by Mr Per- 

 ley. We have for two seasons followed the di- 

 rections found in Loudon's Gardener's Magazine, 

 in the Alb.any Nursery, for the destruction of this 

 aphis, by ajjplying oil to their nests, if I may so 

 call the mouldy-like substance in which they are 

 usually enveloped. As these were often found in 

 the incision where a bud had been inserted a few 

 weeks before, we had apprehensions that the ap- 

 plication would prove detrimental : but this was 

 not the case. We succeeded, with considerable la- 

 bor in nearly extirpating them from the stocks in 

 om nursery. Mostof the plant !ice,Ibelieve, belong 

 to the genus Aphis. They are troublesome on the 

 peach, cabbage, &c. and are endowed with singu- 

 lar properties of propagation, by which they multi- 

 ply with incredible rapidity. 



Before I close this communication, permit me 



was of a different species) which was " dark coloured, on the 



body of the tree, about the size and shape of a small grain of to express my regret that your " New Correspon 



coffee with a bristly coat'' $i,c. VV 



both those descriptions apply lo th< 



the manner in which thi^ last mentioned is introduced by 



correspondent, one would be led lo suppose that lie considered '< a minute description" of the diseases which 



We, therefore, cave (pae'e 1,53) Mr Per- _„, a- . j i . ti . 



■ ■ ■ '■ •■' h . I now affect our pear and plum trees. ihat 



must advise us of the 



VVe ran hardly suppose thai jjent" has not thought fit to give us either his name 



the same insect, though from, , . , ,, , , „ . , • i , , , 



leuiioned is introduced by our f"" the title of the " works m which he has read 



them to be the same 



lev's descripliou of lice on apple trees," and observed that 



" The above description of adestrurtive insect, and ihe remedy " minute description," 



prescribed by Mr Perlet may be of use, although the inseci 

 mmjitot he the same wilh that which has annoyed the fruit trees 

 of our correspondent." The appearance whicli " resembled the 

 blossoms of Timothy" of" M." might be ilie " while animalculej 

 resembling a louse, so small they are hardly perceptible to Ihf 

 naked eye" of Mr Peri.ey. 'But it seems improbable tli«l 

 •'■ die cover adhering to the bark under which the insect wis 

 found" would have h>en Ihe same wilh ihe " brislly coal," nun- 

 lioned by " HI." in anolher part of his communication. Rutin- 

 seels present appearances so totally different in their chaufes 

 irom ilie egg to the larva, pupa and perfect slate thai aoiie bit a 

 skillful enlomologist can always delect them in their different 

 disguises. It forluuately happens, however, Ihal ihe same rem- 

 edies are efficacious againsl all or nearly all the species, iBid 

 wc Slave no doubl but either a solution of salt . as recommended 

 liy Mr Pf.rley, a solution of potash, as prescribed hv Hr. 

 Wheei,er, or spirit of tar, as used by Sir Joseph BanHs, 

 would prove equally efficacious against most or all those insids 

 which infest the bark, leaves, stems or fruit of fruit trees, whith- 

 er they are or should be eonsideren as belonging lo the tribes 

 of the Aphis, Coccus, Tinea, &c.— Editor N.E.FAKUERi 



causes, as well as suggest the cures. The gentle- 

 man should not hide his hght under a bushel ; and 

 r, for one, should feel jiarticularly obliged if he 

 would let it shine upon us. Venerating, like him, 

 the writers of" some eighty or ninety years ago," 

 I have carefully examined Philip Miller, as well 

 as more modern work,^, but can find nothing in 

 any of them hke the diseases which we have un- 

 der consideration. But let us not misapprehend 

 each other. I consider the disease of the apple 



'This insect is also described and figured by Loudon, Gard 

 Mag. p. 70^ . The remedy he prescribes 'is " Thoroughly 

 cleaning with a brush and water, together wilh ampiitalion 

 when It has been some time at work." This he says is " ihe 

 only means of destroying this insect ; but even this will not do 

 unless resorted lo at an early stage of Ihe process."^Ei)iToii ' 



and pear, now }>crvading the cuiiiitry, different 

 and distinct from the fire bfight of Europe — that 

 it is confined to no soil — limited to no particular 

 varieties, and confined to no aspect. Your cor- 

 respondent says, this evil does not arise in light 

 sandy soils, not heavily manured. My soils arc 

 ](reci.sely of this kind. It Jirst appeared in them 

 in 1827, upon more than 100 trees, and upon 

 grounds which had received no manure for years. 

 In terming these new diseases J have followed the 

 example of others. I was first acquainted with 

 thein in 1S22, at Kingston, and have marked their 

 progress northward and westward from that date. 

 During tlie hist season I have visited several dis- 

 tricts where tliey are both yet unknown. I men- 

 tioned the Hessian fiy, as on instance of new in- 

 sects coming among us. I might add the bee 

 miller and the locust borer. 



Your " New Correspondent," in suggesting the 

 soils adapted to diftereut fruits, assigns to the St. 

 Germain pear, one that is rich. I beg leave to 

 qualify this, by adding to rich, in the language of 



Miller, Loudon, Coxe and others, warm and dry 



All cultivated fruits, I believe, like a rich soil ; 

 though the fruit of many varieties attain to higher 

 perfection upon a soil that is warm and dry, or in 

 other words upon sands, gravels, &c. Among 

 these are the golden pippin, winesap and other 

 ap])les, the St. Germain pear, and 1 think the 

 peach. The juices are more concocted and high- 

 er flavorOd, on dry, light grounds, though the vol- 

 unic of i)uh> is less. Miller says, that in a moist 

 situation t'- , juice of the St. Germain pear is ajit 

 to be h:<.'sh and austere. The experience of *my, 

 neighborhood shows it. Again — he says the \'er- 

 galeu requires a ricii and the St Michael a gravel- 

 ly soil. I believe the Vergaleu of our nurseries is 

 the St Michael or Doyenne. The Vergaleu of 

 Europe is advertised with us under the name oi' 

 winter Vergaleu, Ice pear, or Poire de Glasse, or 

 Chambrette. The first is in eating in September ; 

 the latter in November and December. 



Albany Xursery, Dec. 7, 1828. J. BUEL. 



QUINCE STOCKS FOR PEARS. 



An article on this subject has lately been pub 

 lishcd in " Transactions of the London HorlicuUu 

 nil Society," by Thomas Torbron, F. II. S. &,c. — 

 The writer observes that " working the best kinds 

 of jiears on quince stocks is an old, though not ,t 

 generally enough adopted custom. The effects 

 of such a union are universally known ; but no 

 one, perhaps, coidd have imagined that the dif- 

 ference in the fertility of quince and free stocks, 

 could have been so much as is shown by Mr Tcr- 

 bron's comparison. In a careful estimate of pro- 

 duce, by measure and tale, as well as by space on 

 the wall, he states that the Gansell's Bergamot, 

 on the quince, yielded at the rate of 15,1 to 1 ; 

 the Brown Beurr6 4,4 to 1 ; the Crassane, 8,2 

 to 1 ; and the Colmar, 2,8 to 1 ; together averag- 

 ing about 7,6 to 1 in favor of the quince stocks. 

 " Such a result deserves the attention of nursery- 

 men and the owners of small gardens. It is to be 

 regretted that the trial was not made from trees 

 of the same age and condition ; those on quince 

 stocks being from maiden trees planted in 1818- 

 20, and those on free stocks from very old trees, 

 cut down ia the same years, but which liad quite. 



^ " 



