62 Editor's Letter-Box, 



T. A. D., Worcester, Mass. The grub referred to in our November number, 

 as destroying strawberry plants, is the larva of the well-known June-bug, or 

 Dor-bug, described in Packard's Guide to the Study of Insects under the name 

 of Lachnosierna fusca. This insect, in its perfect form, is of chestnut-brown 

 color, with yellowish hairs beneath, and nearly an inch in length. It is well 

 known as flying into our houses in the evenings of June, and is very injurious to 

 tlie leaves of fruit trees. The larva is a fleshy grub, white, with a brownish 

 head, and, when fully grown, nearly as tliick as the little finger. It is eaten 

 greedily by crows and fowls. The beetle is figured in Harris's Insects (p. 30), 

 and the larva and pupa by Packard (p. 455). We have not tried salt to destroy 

 these grubs, but since we cut the paragi-aph referred to from the Rural World 

 we have seen somewhere else a statement corroborating it. 



We are indebted to J. E. M., of Portsmoutli, R. I., for the following replies 

 to queries in our January number : — 



" On our sea-coast tlie Austrian pine does well, and so does the Scotch fir. 

 To make the straw stay in place on strawberries I use dirt. A shovelful dropped 

 in about four places, at a distance of three feet, is about right. " 



R. Y. A. There are two varieties of the Rose Acacia, or Moss Locust, as it 

 is sometimes called. They are both well-known ornamental shrubs. One 

 variety grows six or more feet in height, with rose-colored flowers in small, 

 loose clusters. The other grows about two feet in height, and the flowers are 

 of deeper color and the clusters larger and more compact. Botli are propagated 

 by suckers, which they send up freely, the former, indeed, so freely, and at such 

 distances from the parent plant, as to be sometimes a little troublesome in small 

 gardens. 



O. O. We have before now remarked that we do not generally ad\-ise white- 

 washing the trunks of fruit trees, as it is injurious by forming a crust which ex- 

 cludes the air ; neither do we like the looks of it. Still, when the bark of trees 

 is found to be injured by the sun's rays, whitewashing may serve a good pur- 

 pose by reflecting them, and under such circumstances we would advise its use. 



Mrs. S. E. B., Clear Creek, Texas. The pretty flower which you send is 

 quite interesting, as we seldom see flowers from your state. It belongs, how- 

 ever, not to the everlastings, but to the Rumex, or dock family, and is named 

 Eriogormm toirientosum. We should be very glad of seeds or roots of any of 

 your native plants. 



S. W. T. The white dust on j-our pea \nnes is mildew. In this country it is 

 so injurious to late-sown peas that it is useless to attempt to keep up a succes- 

 sion of peas through the season, as is done in England. That skilful cultivator, 

 T. A. Knight, says, " The cause of this disease is a want of sufficient moisture 

 from the soil, with excess of humidity in the air, particularly if the plants are 

 exposed to a temperature below that to which they have been accustomed. If 



