1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARI^IER. 



437 



Calyx tubular-campanulate, at)out 10-nerved, 

 reticulately veined, bilabiate, — the upppr lip flat, 

 dilated, truncate, with 3 short-teeth — the lower lip 

 bifid, segments lanceolate. Carolla with the upper 

 lip erect, vaulted, entire — the lower lip depend- 

 ing, 3-Iobed, middle lobe rounded, concave, crenu- 

 late; tube a little contracted at throat, inflated 

 below it on the under side, with an annulus, or 

 little ring of short hairs or scales, near the base 

 within. Filaments 2-toothed at the apex, the lower 

 tooth bearing the anther. Perennials with few- 

 flowered cymides clustered in imbricated spikes or 

 heads. 



TRIMMING BOX HEDGES. 



What is the best method of propagating, and 

 manner and time of pruning. a. s. b. 



Guilford, Vt., 1868. 



Remarks. — The Box is a delicate European 

 shrub, and may be pruned to any shape to please 

 the fancy. Mr. Copeland recommends that they 

 be trimmed in August, that they may make a new 

 growth befoi'e winter. It is easily propagated by 

 cuttings, but it is well to protect the young plants 

 in dry weather and in winter by a light mulch. 

 There are several varieties, among which are the 

 Dwajf and Tree Box. It was customary in the 

 old English gardens to clip Box trees into the 

 shape of beasts, birds, and other fantastical forms. 

 In his Book of Flowers, Mr. J. Breck, says : — "I 

 noticed in an old garden, a few miles from Boston, a 

 small partei-re, which was laid out in the year 1794 ; 

 the beds were all edged with box, which had for 

 more than 60 years, been regularly trimmed. The 

 edging was about six inches thick, and at least four 

 feet high. The sides were smooth and the top 

 even, without any break in the foliage from the 

 ground to the top. Great attention had been given 

 it by the old lady who was in possession, that it 

 might remain as it was at the time of her husband's 

 decease, many years before. The beds of various 

 shapes were small, so that no plants could flourish, 

 and the only thing of interest about this strange 

 an-angement was, as a relic of olden time. If Box 

 is used for edging, it should, in all cases, be kept 

 low, by regular trimming every year, and kept 

 down to the height of not more than four or five 

 inches ; and when it becomes too thick, should be 

 taken up and re-set." 



POTATO SLUGS. 



Seeing in the papei's of the day frequent refer- 

 ence to the potato bug, which has vexed the west- 

 ern fields, I would like to inquire through your 

 paper, whether the depredations in our vicinity are 

 the same. For several weeks the potato vines 

 about here have been infested with something 

 which seemed to be either a bug or a slug without 

 wings, of a yellowish brown, very slow of motion, 

 many of them with apparently excresences or 

 bunches of a dark green color on their backs, which 

 seemed to me to be the g:erm or egg of a second 

 crop of the same disgusting things. As far as my 

 observations have extended, they have chiefly 

 confined their ravages to the Sebec potatoes, a car 

 load of which was sold here last spring for plant- 

 ing. Terhaps these are more susceptible to dis- 



ease, being very early and delicate. I noticed that 

 these potatoes had the appearance of being dis- 

 eased before planting, and it may be that to them 

 we shall be indebted for another enemy. I have 

 seen no potatoes of this variety that were not at- 

 tacked by these bugs. The vines themselves seem 

 to show the cfifects of their work in different ways, 

 some hills appejiring to have stopped growing and 

 to be diminishing in size; others falling down 

 wilted and decayed, and most of them having very 

 much t6e appearance that they had when the pota- 

 to rot was prevalent, with the addition that the 

 ends of the vines are eaten off. Since writing the 

 above, I find that my Orono potatoes are attected 

 slightly in the same way, but not seriously as yet. 

 Can you give us a, description of the potato-bug, 

 or tell whether this is the same ? w. p. l. 



Newburyport, Mass., July, 1868. 



Remarks. — The "disgusting things" which in- 

 fest your potato vines are a very different beetle 

 from that which is making such fearful havoc in 

 the western fields. 



Yours is the three-lined leaf-beetle, Crioceris tri- 

 lineata, of which Mr. Harris gives the following 

 description and history. "This beetle is about one 

 quarter of an inch long, of ^ rusty buff or nankin- 

 yellow color, with two black dots on the thorax, 

 and three black stripes on the back, namely, one 

 on the outer side of each wing-cover, and one in 

 the middle on the inner edges of the same ; the 

 antenna (except the first joint,) the outside of the 

 shins, and the feet are dusky. The thorax is ab- 

 ruptly narrowed or pinched in on the middle of 

 each side. When held between the fingers, these 

 insects making a creaking sound like the Capri- 

 corn-beetles. They appear early in June on the 

 leaves of the potato vines, having at that time re- 

 cently come out of the ground, where they pass 

 the winter in the pupa state. They eat the leaves 

 of the potato, gnawing large and irregular holes 

 through them ; and, in the course of a few days, 

 begin to lay their oblong oval golden yellow eggs, 

 which ai-e glued to the leaves, in parcels of six or 

 eight together. The grubs, which are hatched in 

 about a fortnight afterwards, are of a dirty yellow- 

 ish or ashen white color, with a darker colored 

 head, and two dark spots on the top of the first 

 ring. They are rather short, approaching to a cy- 

 lindrical form, but thickest in the middle, and 

 have six legs, arranged in pairs beneath the first 

 three rings. After making a hearty meal upon the 

 leaves of the potato, they cover themselves with 

 their own filth. The vent is situated on the upper 

 side of the last ring, so that their dung falls upon 

 their backs, and, by motions of the body, is pushed 

 forwards, as fast as it accumulates, towards the 

 head, until the whole of the back is entirely coated 

 with it. This covering shelters their soft and ten- 

 der bodies from the heat of the sun, and probably 

 serves to secure them from the attacks of their 

 enemies. When it becomes too heavy or too dry, 

 it is thrown off, but replaced again by a fresh coat 

 in the course of a few hours. In eating, the grubs 

 move backwards, never devouring the portion of 

 the leaf immediately before the hend, hut that 

 which lies under it. Their numbers are sometimes 



