152 THE HOME ACRE. 



similar treatment and cultivation, but they also 

 have a common enemy, that must be vigilantly 

 guarded against, or the bushes will be defoliated 

 in many localities almost before its existence is 

 known. After an absence of a few days I have 

 found some of my bushes stripped of every leaf. 

 When this happens, the fruit is comparatively 

 worthless. Foliage is as necessary to a plant as 

 are lungs to a man. It is not essential that I should 

 go into the natural history of the currant worm 

 and moth. Having once seen the yellowish-green 

 caterpillars at their destructive work, the reader's 

 thoughts will not revert to the science of ento- 

 mology, but will at once become bloody and im- 

 placable. I hasten to suggest the means of rescue 

 and vengeance. The moment these worms ap- 

 pear, be on your guard, for they usually spread 

 like fire in stubble. Procure of your druggist 

 white hellebore, scald and mix a tablespoonful 

 in a bowl of hot water, and then pour it in a full 

 watering-can. This gives you an infusion of about 

 a tablespoonful to an ordinary pail of water at its 

 ordinary summer temperature. Sprinkle the in- 

 fected bushes with this as often as there is a worm 

 to be seen. I have never failed in destroying the 

 pests by this course. It should be remembered, 

 however, that new eggs are often hatched out 

 daily. You may kill every worm to-day, yet find 



