Notes and Gleanings. 211 



Trapping the Squash Bug. — I have found the " Ransom Curculio Trap " 

 of more service in catching the stinking squash bug than the Httle Turk, for which 

 it was specially recommended. I lay two or three bits of shingle or thin board 

 near the hill of plants, the ground being a little rough so that the bugs can crawl 

 under them, as they will do every cool night, and on turning over these covers 

 early in the morning the bugs can be easily crushed with the sole of the boot or 

 with a flat stick. 



For striped cucumber bugs and cut-worms I have found no remedy so easy 

 and efficient as sprinkling over and around the plants sawdust that has been 

 saturated .with carbolic soap-suds. I use a pound of the Plant-Protector Soap 

 (as sold by Bowman & Blewett of New York), dissolved in six or eight gallons of 

 water ; this will saturate two or three bushels of sawdust. Care must be taken 

 not to use it dripping wet, as in that case the liquid will injure the plants ; but 

 if only moist or damp it will do no damage, if used in moderation. As a pro- 

 tection from the ravages of cut-worms this remedy is quite valuable ; a little of 

 the sawdust dropped around each plant once in three or four days affording com- 

 plete security. M. B. BatcJiam. 



Leaf Blight in Pear Trees. — W. Cunningham, Summit, Miss., states in 

 the Rural Southland that he has found ^ypsunl, sprinkled freely on the trees 

 affected, early in the morning when wet with dew, to check the disease in some, 

 and completely renovate the foliage in a short time in all. The kinds most sub- 

 ject to leaf blight are Glout Morceau, Seckel, Flemish Beauty, and Swan's 

 Orange. 



Pears in Market. — To show the predominance which the Bartlett has 

 attained as a market pear, Mr. Parker Earle, in his report on pears to the Illi- 

 nois Horticultural Society, says some of the Chicago dealers declare there are 

 but two kinds of pears, — " Bartlett pears " and " Pears ; " and they say the last 

 variety don't amount to much ! Fruit dealers in these parts are not remarkable 

 for pomological knowledge, but they are not often quite so bad as these Chicago 

 gentlemen. 



Grafting Grape Vines. — The Pleasant Valley Fruit and Vine Reporter 

 describes a new method of grafting the grape. Instead of splitting the stock, a 

 double saw is used to cut a groove in one side, in which is inserted a scion, cut 

 by a double bladed knife so as to fit exactly. The stock should be sawed off a 

 little below ground, and after the scion is set the whole should be slightly covered 

 with earth and mulched with sawdust. This plan is known as Wagner's method, 

 and by it Mr. Wagner grafted a vineyard of an acre and one fourth of Catawbas 

 successfully with the lona, several of the vines making eighty and one hundred 

 feet of good well-ripened wood. The operation was performed from early spring 

 to late in June with equal success, but the early grafted made better growths 

 and perfected its wood earlier. 



Sirup from Sweet Potatoes. — It is said that three hundred and fifty 

 gallons of good sirup can be made from one acre of sweet potatoes. 



