AMERICAN BLIGHT. 



AMERICAN CRESS. 



ed, rises up in excrescences and nodes all 

 over the branch, and deforms it; the limb, 

 deprived of its nutriment, grows sickly ; the 

 leaves turn yellow, and the part perishes. 

 Branch after branch is thus assailed, until 

 they become leafless, and the tree dies. 



Plant lice (Aphides}, in general, attack the 

 younger and softer parts of plants ; but this 

 insect seems easily to wound the harder bark 

 of the apple, and does not always make choice 

 of the most tender branch. They give a pre- 

 ference to certain sorts, but not always the 

 most rich fruits, as cider apples, and wildings, 

 are greatly infested by them ; and from some 

 unknown cause, other varieties seem to be 

 exempted from their depredations. The 

 Wheeler's russet, and Crofton pippin, have 

 never been observed to be injured by them; 

 and the insect is so fastidious in its selections, 

 that it will frequently attack the stock or the 

 graft, leaving the one or the other untouched, 

 sh< uld it consist of a kind not to its liking. 

 This insect is viviparous, or produces its 

 young alive, forming a cradle for them by dis- 

 charging from the extremities of its body a 

 quantity of long, cottony matter; which, be- 

 coming interwoven and entangled, prev* 

 young from falling to the earth, and completely 

 envelopes the parent and the offspring. In 

 this cottony substance, we observe, as soon as 

 the creature becomes animated in the spring, 

 and as long as it remains in vigour, many 

 round pellucid bodies, which at the first sight 

 look like eggs, only that they are larger than 

 we might suppose to be ejected by the animal. 

 They consist of a sweet glutinous fluid, and 

 are not the eggs but the discharges of the in- 

 sects. In the autumn, the winds and rains of 

 the season partly disperse these insects ; and 

 we observe them endeavouring to secrete 

 themselves in the crannies of any neighbour- 

 ing substance. Should the savoy cabbage be 

 near the trees whence they have been dis- 

 lodged, the cavities of the under sides of its 

 leaves are commonly favourite asylums for 

 them. Multitudes perish by these rough remo- 

 vals, but numbers yet remain ; and we may 

 find them in the nodes and crevices, on the 

 under sides of the branches, at any period of 

 the year, the long, cottony vesture being nearly 

 all removed ; but still they are enveloped in a 

 fine short downy clothing, to be seen by a mag- 

 nifier, proceeding apparently from every suture 

 or pore of their bodies, and protecting them in 

 their dormant state from the moisture and 

 frosts of our climate. This insect in a natural 

 state, usually awakens and commences its 

 labours very early in the month of March ; and 

 the hoariness on its body may be observed in- 

 creasing daily; but if an affected branch be 

 cat in the winter, and kept in water in a warm 

 room, these creatures will awaken speedily, 

 spin their cottony nests, and feed and discharge 

 as accustomed to do in a genial season. [For 

 further particulars relating to the habits of 

 these and other similar insects, see Aphis and 

 Aphidt'ttns.] 



Remedies. A considerable number of me- 

 thods have been proposed for getting rid of the 

 insect in question. White-washing, or wash- 

 ing with lime-water, has been tried, but is not 



so efficacious as the application of any gluti- 

 nous substance, which may cover the insects 

 and dry over them. Double size or glue, 

 liquefied by heat, and applied by means of a 

 brush, particularly in March, when the insects 

 begin to show more cottony than in winter, is 

 a very effectual remedy, if no crevice of a tree 

 is left unsized. This, however, may be dis- 

 solved by the rain, and therefore a varnish is 

 recommended by Mr. Knapp, as follows : " Melt 

 about three ounces of resin in an earthen pip- 

 kin, take it from the fire, and pour it into three 

 ounces of fish oil ; the ingredients perfectly 

 unite, and when cold, acquire the consistence 

 of honey. A slight degree of heat will liquefy 

 it, and in this state paint over every node or 

 infected part in your tree, using a common 

 painter's brush. This I prefer doing in spring, 

 or as soon as the hoariness appears. The sub- 

 stance soon sufficiently hardens, and forms a 

 varnish, which prevents any escape, and stales 

 the individuals. After this first dressing, should 

 any cottony matter appear round the margin 

 of the varnish, a second application to these 

 parts will, I think, be found to effect a perfect 

 cure. The prevalence of this insect," adds 

 this author, "gives some of 'our orchards here 

 the appearance of numerous white posts in an 

 extensive drying ground, being washed with 

 lime from root to branch; a practice, I appre- 

 hend, attended with little benefit. A few of 

 the creatures may be destroyed by accident ; 

 but as the animal does not retire to the earth, 

 but winters in the clefts of the boughs, far be- 

 yond the influence of this wash, it remains un- 

 injured, to commence its ravages again when 

 spring returns." 



All oily or resinous substances, however, 

 being prejudicial to trees, Mr. George Lindley 

 recommends vinegar as a wash for young 

 trees ; and, as less expensive for old trees, a 

 sort of paint, composed of one gallon of quick- 

 lime, half a pound of flowers of sulphur, and a 

 quarter of a pound of lamp-black, mixed with 

 boiling water to the consistence of whitening 

 for white-washing, and laying it on rather 

 more than blood warm with a brush. This 

 should be done in March, and again in August 

 when the winged insects spread from tree to 

 tree. 



Mr. Couch, as a cheap and certain remedy, 

 recommends three quarters of an ounce of sul- 

 phuric acid [oil of vitriol], by measure, to be 

 mixed with seven ounces and a half of water. 

 It should be applied all over the bark by means 

 of rags, the only parts excepted being the pre- 

 sent year's shoots, which it would destroy. 

 This destroys moss and lichens, as well as in- 

 sects ; and if applied in showery weather, will 

 be washed into every crevice in which they 

 can harbour. 



AMERICAN CRESS (Lepidium virgini- 

 cum). From xf-r/r, a scale, on account of the 

 form of the seed-vessel. For the winter stand- 

 ing crops, a light dry soil, in an open but warm 

 ; situation, should be allotted to it, and for the 

 summer, a rather moister and shady border is 

 to be preferred. In neither instance is it re- 

 quired to be rich. It is propagated by seed, 

 which must be sown every six weeks from 

 March to August, for summer and autumn, but 



