220 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JANUARY 13, 1«33. 



A DISCOURSE 



Delivered before the Massacliuselts Horticultural Society, on 

 tlie Celebration of its fourth Aniiiversar.v, October 3, 1832. 

 By Thaddeus William Harris, M. D. 

 [Continued from page 213.] 



Insects are profusely scattered over vegetation. 

 Several kinds are often found upon one plant. 

 Leaves, blossoms, aud fruits are alive with them; 

 the branches and trunks afford conceahnent and 

 nourishment to thousands of intestine eneiriies, 

 and the roots are sapped and destroyed by them. 

 Our present concern is with some of those which 

 are injurious to the Ivitcheu and flower garden, aud 

 to the fruitery. 



The products of tlie kitchen-parden, thoujrh 

 formerly thej' received less attention titan those 

 of the field, are growing more into general favor ; 

 .1 result owing to the change of purstiits in a por- 

 tion of our population, to the low price of farm- 

 produce, and especially to the recommendations 

 and example of the horticultural societies of the 

 country, aud the improvements which thej' have 

 introduced. 



The pea is universally esteemed one of the 

 most palatable of our vegetables. At its first a^ 

 pearance in the markets it coniDiaiids a hi", 

 price; and its first appearance on tlic isihlj^ i.^ imt 

 only an object of pride to the.gardcni-rf'liiit (dj 

 pleasure to the partaker. Few, howe\Lr, wliil? 

 indulging in the luxury of early pease, aA aware 

 how many insects they unconsciously consume. 

 When the. pods are carefully examined, small, dis- 

 colored spots may be seen within them, each one 

 corresponding to a similar spot on the opposite 

 pea. If this spot in the pea be opened, a minute, 

 whitish grub or. maggot will be discovered. It is 

 the insect in its larva form, which lUBfi uBftn the 

 marrow of the pea, and arrives ari^^wll^pe by 

 the time that the pea becomes drvA It then bores 

 a round hole quite to the hull, wmch however is 

 left untouched, as is also the Mji'^f the future 

 sprout. In this hole the insect pa«;s the pupa 

 state, and survives the winter ;^^ the expiration 

 of which, its last change bein^^fciploted, it has 

 only to gnaw through the thii^^K and make its 

 exit, which frequently is not ac^Kplished before 

 the pease are committed to the grflSd for an early 

 crop. Pease, thus affected, are o^jniiinated bvs- 

 gy by seedsmen and gardeners : and the little iiw 

 sect.'i, so often seen within them in the si)riiig, ai^ 

 incorrectly called bugs, a term of j-cproach indis- 

 criminately applied to many kinds of insects w^ch 

 have no resemblance to each ether in appparajnce 

 and habits. The pea Bnichxis,* for sticli is its 

 correct name, is a small beetle, a native of this 

 continent, having been unknown in Euij)pe before 

 the discovery of Atnerira. Early in the spring, 

 while the pods are yeung aud tender, and the 

 pease are just beglnuing to swell, it makes small 

 perforations in the epidermis or tliin skin of the 

 pod, and deposits in each a minute egg. These 

 eggs are always placed opposite to the pease, and 

 the grubs, when hatched, soon penetrate the pod, 

 and bury themselves in the pease, by holes so fine, 

 that they are hardly perceptible, and are soon 

 closed. Sometimes every pea in a pod will be 

 found to be thus inhabited ; and the injtiry done by 

 the pea Bruchus has, in former times, been so 

 great and universal as nearly to put an end to the 

 cultivation of this vegetable. That it should pre- 

 fer the prolific exotic pea to our indigenous, but 



* Bruchus Pisi. L. 



less productive pidse, is not a matter of surpri.se, 

 analogous facts being of common occurrence; but 

 that, for so many years, a rational method for 

 checking its ravages should not have been practised, 

 is somewhat remarkable. An exceedingly simple 

 one is recommended by Deane, but to bo success- 

 ful should be un^taeally a(Jfpted. It consists 

 tiierely in keeping Mftjeas^in tight vessels over 

 one year before plai^^ them. Latreille recom- 

 mends submitting thern to the heat of water at 

 sixty-seven degrees of Fahrenheit, by which the 

 same results might he obtained ; and if this was 

 done just before the ^ease were to be put into the 

 ground, tlie^woufc then be in a state for immediate 

 planting. Mffiyialtimore Oriole, oj^ hang-bird, is 

 one u\' the natur.-il enemies of the^fiichus, whose 



,Jaw« it -detrc i,j, jiicks from the fRen i)ease, and 

 dcvutirs. How wonderful is the instinct of this 

 bird, whifih untaught by experience, can detect the 

 lurking etJprit within the envelope of the pod and 

 pea: and how much more wonderful that of the 

 insect ; for, as the welfare of its future progeny 

 depends upon the succession of a cro]) of ])ease 

 the ensuing season, the i-ostelluni or sprout of the 

 uea is never injured by the larva, and couscqucnt- 

 lytnt' ptilse wil^geriuiuate, though deprived of a 

 third of its substance. 



f Kuois are iJjtlonbtedly the most important ))ro- 

 ductions.'of fie vegetable garden; and, among 

 these the potato stands first in point of utility and 

 value. I ami not a\^are that it is ever very serious- 

 ly injured by insects, though many appear upon 

 its leaves. The common potato-worm has already 

 been noticed. A small, striped beetle,* of the 

 size and shape of that appropriated to the cucimi- 

 ber, is found in abundance upon the j.-otato ; and 

 its numerous larva\ creeping about under buck- 

 loads of filth, riot upon the luxuriant foliage. Oc- 

 casionally ])Ot!ilo ptttches are ravaged by two or 

 three sjiccies of C'onlharides, or blistering-beetles. 

 It is only in the perfect state that they are injn- 

 riotts to the potato-vine, for the larva' live in the 

 earth upon the sniall roots of varkius kinils of her- 

 bage. Their appearance on the peAno is occa- 

 sional only, for they devour iheJeavcs of several 

 uiher ))lants. These native CaWmaridcs are stic- 

 cessfiijly employed in medicine instead of the 

 r^paiiish Cantharides, and, were not the price of la- 

 lior among us so high might be ]Jroci!red in sulTl- 

 lient quantity to supply the demand in the markets 

 fur this imiiortant medicinal agent. I regret to 

 observe that tire ash-colorod Canlharisf has recent- 

 ly ai)peared in great profusion upon hedges of tlie 

 l]oney-locust,t Vkhich are almdst defoliated by 

 them. For many years past the same insects 

 have invariably attacked the Windsor bean in thi' 

 garden of a friend of mine in this vicinity. , This 

 summer they were neglected ; aud the conse- 

 quence was, that they entirely stripped the foliage 

 from the stalks, so that but a small, and impover- 

 ished crop of beans was gathered, and the pros- 

 pect of a second crop, usually obtained from the 

 suckers after the stalks are headed down, was en- 

 tirely ruined. Should the devastations of the Can- 

 tharides increase, it would become an object to at- 

 tempt to diminish their numbers by collecting them 

 for medical use. 



I am disposed to rank the turnip, as a root, next 

 in value to the potato. In many countries it 

 forms a large part of the vegetable sustenance ol 



' Crioceris trilincala. Oliv. t CatUliaris ci 



\ Gleditschia Iriacanthos. Willd. 



man and of his domestic animals. It is stated thai 

 in England, soon after the turnip appears above 

 grotjaj, a host of little jiimjiing beetles, called h\ 

 the^mers the jTy,* attack and devour the seed- 

 l^MB, so thai on account of this destruction, the 

 llwi is often <||>liged to be resown, and fre- 

 quently with no better success.f The consequent 

 loss sustained in tlie turnip crops of Devonshire, 

 in the year 1786, is estimated, in Young's " An- 

 nals of Agriculture," to amount, at least, to one 

 hundred thousands pounds sterling. In the same 

 country the caterpillar of the cabbage-butterflyj 

 attacks the turnip also in great numbers. Insects 

 allied to these arc found upon the turnip in this 

 country. The leaves, in all stages of their growth, 

 are eaten through and through with numerous 

 holes by a small, black, jumping beetle, a species 

 of Nallica. Some of these insects infest several 

 of our useful plants, such as the horse-radish, the 

 mustard, the radish, the cucumber, &c. The 

 same means for protecting these plants are to be 

 used, because the habits of all the Halticas are 

 similar. It has been recommended to soW a 

 quantity of radish seed with the turnip seed ; for 

 the jumping beetles are found to be so much more 

 fond of the radish than of the turnip leaf, that 

 it will desert the latter for the former. Air- 

 slacked lime, sifted or dusted over plants, in some 

 instances preserves them, and sprinkling with 

 strong alkaline 8olutions§ will kill the insects with- 

 otit injtiriug the plants. 



The native hisect allied to the European cab- 

 bage-butterfly has been already mentioned. Like 

 its coiii;eners, it can subsist upon matiy and per- 

 haps all of the cruciferious plants, among which 

 arc the cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radish, 

 inustatd, aud turnip. It is of a beautiful white 

 color, with dusky veins beneath the hinder wings, 

 and iu size it is larger than the small yellow but- 

 terfly of tlie New England States. Hitherto it has 

 been observed only in the hilly regions of New 

 Hampshire, and ol'tlic northern part of 3Iassachu- 

 setts. There arc two broods iu a season. About 

 the last ofBIay and the beginning of .Tune the white 

 butterfly may he seen fluttering over plantations 

 of cabbages, and turnij) and radish beds, but seems 

 to prrftr the tmniip leaf for the |ilace of depositing 

 its eg#s. ' These are hatched between the .seventh 

 and tUe tenth day. The caterpillars attain their 

 full size in twenty-one days, and are then, on an 

 average, one inch and a quarter in length. IJcing 

 of a pale green color, they are not readily dis- 

 tingu&hed from the leaves under which they re- 

 side, lind upon which they subsist. When they 

 have completed the feeding stage, they quit the 

 plants, and retire beneath pailings, or the edges of 

 stones, or into the interstices of walls, suspend 

 themselves by the tail and a loop aroiuid the body, 

 and become jiupaj. This state lasts eleven days, 

 at the expiration of which the insect comes forth 

 a butterfly, which, during the month of August, 

 lays the foundation for a second generation, iiiiii 

 perishes. The caterpillars of the second brood 

 become pupte or (-hrysalids in the autumn, and re- 



* Haliica niTnomm. F. 



t Kirby & Spence's Introduction to Entomology. Vol. (3d 

 ed.) p. 188. 



X Poniia Brassica. L. 



§ The solution may be made by dissolving one pound of 

 hard soap in twelve gallons of the soap-suds leU alter washing, 

 aud it should be applied twice a day with a water-pot or garden 

 engine. 



