February, 1909 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



pump, various arrangements for distri- 

 buting water etc., (approximately), $40; 

 total, $329. 



SOME RESULTS 



A report was published in 1900 by Pro- 

 fessor Voorhees, Director of the New 

 Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 ^on the results of irrigation for several 

 ; kinds of vegetables made by Mr. 

 Mitchell. These are herewith summar- 

 ized. Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage 

 was irrigated three times in 1899. 



"The net income from the irrigated 

 quarter of an acre was $20.20 or $80.80 



an acre; from the unirrigated, $15.39, 

 or $61.56 an acre. The cost of irrigating 

 one acre of cabbage three times was ap- 

 proximately $2.50. The capacity of the 

 plant was sufficient to irrigate 20 to 30 

 acres of cabbage; thus the profit from 

 irrigation on 25 acres of early cabbage 

 at this rate would have paid for the 

 plant. The yield was small • owing to 

 the character of the soil. The gain was 

 31.3 per cent. A gain due to irrigation 

 of over 30 per cent, when applied to soil 

 of good character would show much 

 greater profits than in this case." 



Foes of Vegetable Crops 



T. D. Jarvis, Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph 



GARDEN insects may be classified as 

 follows: I. Plant lice (aphids), 

 leaf hoppers, plant-bugs, and re- 

 lated insects; 2, cutworms and related 

 ; insects ; 3, miscellaneous caterpillars; 4, 

 [leaf-beettles ; 5, flea-beettles ; 6, white 

 [grubs ; 7, wireworms ; 8, grasshopers 

 fand related insects ; 9, mites ; 10, slugs. 

 Plant-lice (aphids), leaf-hoppers, plant 

 [bugs, thrips and related insects all ob- 

 tain their food by suction. Plant-lice 

 'and leaf-hoppers were excessively abun- 

 tdant in 1908, the dry season having 

 ,'been favorable for their multiplication. . 

 iThe best remedies are soap-suds, kero- 

 Isene emulsion and tobacco extracts ; 

 [clean culture is al.so recommended. 



CUTWORMS AND RELATED INSECTS 



There are many species of cut-worms 

 [and it is impossible to give a descrip- 

 [tion to fit all, but the most injurious 

 tspecies are .soft-bodied, smooth, cylin- 

 |dncal caterpillars, varying in color from 

 jray to nearly black, many of them be- 

 ting plainly striped or spotted. Cut- 

 fcworms feed only at night, remain in 

 t.concealment during the day, hiding in 

 tthe ground or under any rubbish they 

 can find. Poisoned baits are the best 

 remedies against cutworms. Bran mash 

 ['treated with any arsenical poison such 

 is Paris green or arsenic, two or three 

 junces to a gallon of water, and about 

 lone pound of bran per gallon. 



MISOELLANEOTTS CATEEPIIiLARS 



Naked and hairy caterpillars which 



are in the main diurnal — the zebra and 



the corn-ear-worm are smooth and the 



Syellow-bear and the soft marsh are re- 



ppresentative of the hairy type. A spray 



of Paris green or lead arsenate will 



give good satisfaction for these pests. 



LEAP BEETLES 



For leaf beetles such as the asparagus 

 beetles, cucumber beetles, potato beetles 

 and bli-ster beetles, Paris green, lead 

 arsenate and clean culture are recom- 

 mended. Flea-beetles are mostly small 

 insects of a dark color. They have 

 strongly developed hind thighs, which 

 enable them to leap well. The turnip 



flea-beetle and the melon flea-beetle are 

 familiar examples. Arsenicals, Bordeaux 

 mixture and clean culture are recom^ 

 mended for the control of these in- 

 sects. 



WHITB GETJBS 



The parents of white grubs are known 

 as May beetles or "June bugs." The 



Scallion Onions the Kind Not to Grow 



This is not a disease, but a misfortune 



adults attack the foliage of many trees. 

 Fall plowing is the best means of keep- 

 ing these insects under control. This 

 exposes the grubs to the cold and to the 

 weather agencies. Rotation of crops 

 and clean culture are also recom- 

 mended. 



The habits of the wireworms are very 

 .similar to the white grub. They both 

 live under the ground and their natural 

 food consists chiefly of corn, cereals 

 and grasses, but in the absence of these 

 they attack many other kinds of plants. 

 The adults of wireworms are click- 

 beetles. Selection of land for planting, 

 rotation of crops and fall plowing are 

 the most important defensive methods. 

 OBAS8HOPPEB8 



Grasshoppers and related species are 

 general feeders and are sometimes very 



destructive in a season favorable to their 

 multiplication. Breaking up their breed- 

 ing places by plowing up old, dry pas- 

 ture and stubble fields where they have 

 laid their eggs is recommended. 



MITE8-(BED SPIDERS) 



Nearly all vegetables are attacked by 

 mites. They are very minute animals, 

 usually not much larger than a pin- 

 head. On dry seasons, such as the past, 

 they become excessively numerous and 

 do considerable damage. Flowers of 

 sulphur mixed with water at the ratio 

 of one ounce to the gallon sprayed over 

 the plants is the best remedy. 

 SLUGS 



Slugs are soft bodied arthropods, us- 

 ually found in moist places. Salt and 

 lime dusted over the affected plants is 

 recommended. 



Celery and Lettuce 



1. What kind of lettuce is the best for 

 forcmg.? 2. Is it too late to sow celery at 

 the end of February for fall use? 3. What 

 variety is the best for winter crop? 4. What 

 IS the name of the long variety thpy grow 

 at Kalamazoo, Mich.?— N. C, Temiscouata 

 Co., Que. 



I. For a head lettuce, Boston Market 

 is the most popular; for a loose or leafy 

 lettuce. Grand Rapids is best. 2. No, 

 and even a little later will do. 3. Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Thos. Delworth, of Weston, 

 Ont., there is more celery of the Paris 

 Golden variety grown in Ontario than 

 all the other varieties put together, 

 although some gardeners who grow for 

 winter storage prefer Evan's Triumph 

 or some of the other giant green var- 

 ieties. Mr. Charles A. Smith, of 

 Lachine, Que., also recommends Paris 

 Golden for general crop. 4. The celery 

 imported from Kalamazoo to Toronto, 

 usually is of the White Plume varietv. 



Strawberry Culture 



Kindly give some information on straw- 

 berry culture. I have an orchard of pear 

 trees planted 20 by 16 feft apart. Will 

 strawberries do well between the trees?— 

 J. P. M., Haldimand Co., Ont. 



An article on this subject appeared in 

 December issue of The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist. If your pear orchard is young, 

 there is no reason why you cannot grow 

 strawberries there. Of course the best 

 soil for pears is not always the best for 

 stmwberries ; still .several varieties of the 

 latter do well on heavy land. Better re- 

 siilts are secured from old orchards by 

 giving the trees the sole use of the 

 ground. If you have no other land avail- 

 able, however, strawberries could be 

 grown in the old orchard. This would 

 be done at the risk of appropriating 

 plant food and moisture in the soil that 

 otherwise should go towards the growth 

 and production of fruit on the pear trees. 



Our question and answer department 

 was crowded out this issue. Important 

 questions on hand will be answered by 

 mail. 



