POPULAR GARDENING SUPPLEMENT 



An Insect Supplement 



TO 



Popular Gardening and Fruit Growing. 



Containing Descriptions of Insects and the Means 

 ' for Destroying Them. 



ACCORDING to the census of 1880 it is computed 

 that the aggregate losses from injurious Insects in 

 the United States equals two himdrcd millions of dollars 

 a year, while able economic entomologists are not wanting 

 who place the loss at least one-half higher. It is esti- 

 mated that the Apple Worm or Codling Moth alone has 

 In recent years destroyed nearly one-half of the Apple 

 crop of the country, representing to our fruit growers a 

 loss that runs high into millions of dollars yearly. 

 But along with the marked increase of injurious insects in late years, there has 

 happily been increased activity also on the part of cultivators and of the National and 

 State Governments, in devising means and remedies for successfully destroying the 

 former. And with excellent results too, for it is most gratifying to note that at the 

 present time hardly a single formidable insect enemy to the horticulturist exists but 

 that there is also some simple remedy known for its destruction, or at least for greatly 

 lessening the force of its damaging attacks. 



It is for the purpose of bringing before the cultivators of the country at this time a 

 summing up of the most approved methods for dealing with our more prominent insect 

 enemies that the present treatise has been published. 



In its preparation we have been fortunate in receiving valued help from Prof. A. J. 

 Cook, of the Michigan Agricultural College, (Agricultural College P. O., Michigan), a 

 gentleman,whose close study and many experiments in the field of our insect foes, as 

 well as in that of the Honey Bee, has made his name widely famous; and also from 

 D. B. Wier, of Lacon, HI. Mention is also gratefully made of the works of such eminent 

 entomologists as Prof. J. A. Lintner, of Albany, N.Y., Prof. C.V. Eiley, Washington, D. C, 

 and of those of Dr. Harris ; besides of the assistance of other practical cultivators and 

 observers. Together, it is believed that the collection of remedies brought within the 

 following pages, possess such value as will enable every cultivator of trees, plants, and 

 flowers to very successfully cope with the multiple foe. 



In conclusion, however, let the fact be impressed that no Insect remedy can prove 

 successful unless it be applied promptly at the proper tune, hence it is urged that what- 

 ever is done in the war against this enemy be done early, vigorously, and with all due 

 persistence. 



Ban. 6. Kernsetie Eifuhef(>u^ It « fully proven 

 that the kerosene sjap ^n(}. mi.vturo when 

 rightly applied will surt;ly kill iilant lice. I (Vxo- 

 fessor Cook) use one quiirt.^f soljt spap, one pint 

 of kerosene oil, and two^ijuai^s of Witter. Thcea 

 are mixed and stirred unfcU a pernijuieiit unijjij > 

 is formed. One quarter pound of whidc oil .soap 

 may replace the soft soap, v^ go^od way to miyc 

 them is to use a j?ood force pul«a>, iuiti>force the 

 liquid back into the vessel cuutaj^ilng it. T^ds. 



Alum Water. See Remedy 5. 



Ants. (Formica). These very common 

 insects are sometimes troublesome not only 

 from their manner of throwing up hills, but 

 also through being destructive to vegetation. 



Bcmedy 1. Trapping with Sunken Bottle in 

 Hills. The advantage of this course Is that no 

 injury can possibly result to the roots of adja- 

 cent plants, as is the case when scalding- remedies 

 are applied. The mouth of the bottle should be 

 even with the surface of the hill, and it should 

 be partly flUed with sweetened water. 



Rem. 2. Trapping 

 tcith Sponge. Obtain 

 pieces of coarse sponge. 

 Dip them in sweetened 

 water and place on old 

 dishes where the Ants 

 abound. When thej^are 

 black with Ants throw 

 them into boiling water, 

 afterwards washing 

 them out and renewing 

 the process till the col- 

 ony is destroyed. 



Rem. 3. Fresh Bone«. 

 By lajnng these where Ants are troublesome 

 they will quickly gather on them. When these 

 are black dip in scalding water, repeating the 

 operation. ' 



Bern. 4. Molasses and Poison. Place a dish con- 

 taining some molasses in which a small quan- 

 tity of arsenical poison or cyanide of potassium 

 has been mixed; or the same may be spread on 

 trees, fences, leaves, and other frequented places. 



Bem. 5, Destroying in Nest. Apply boUing 

 water, hot alum water (prepared by dissolving 

 one pound of common alum in three gallons oi' 

 rain water, and heating) or soluble phenyle 

 water, (prepared by dissolving three spoonfuls of 

 fluid to four gallons of water) freely to the nest. 



Aphis or Plant Lice. It is probable that 

 every kind of tree, shrub, flowering plant 

 and herb has some species of louse of the 

 family of AphididiB infesting it. The com- 

 mon Green, Black and Blue Lice which 

 trouble our house, greenhouse and garden 



Fig. 3. The Hose in the 

 tree top. Applying the 

 kerosene emulsion or 

 otlier poisons. 



Fig. 2. Aphis or Plant Louse Greatly enlarged; an Ant "'vnlking''ttie same. 



plants, those of similar colors infesting the 

 Apple, Cherry and other fruit trees, besides 

 numerous ornamental trees and shrubs, af- 

 ford familiar examples. The past year or 

 two has found the kinds which trouble fruit 

 trees, and especially the Apple, unusually 

 prevalent in many sections, causing on the 

 whole immense damage. 



stirs the mixture so 

 violently that a per- 

 manent mi.\ture is soon 

 formed. This liquid is 

 then diluted with four 

 gallons of water. To 

 use this it should be ap- 

 plied by the use of a 

 good spray nozzle, and 

 powerful force t>ump, 

 which I have found the 

 best for all purposes. 

 This throws a fine spray with great force, 

 and thus is very sure to touch all lice, and 

 yet is so dilute that the plants are not injured, 

 and the fine spray insures economy as well as 

 safety. Of course it goes without sa\nng that 

 the leaves, esjiecially when they roll up, as 

 they often do in such plants as the Snowball, 

 if attacked by the lice, are a serious obstacle 

 in the way of making this application. The 

 liquid must touch every louse. This is more 

 likely when applied with gi-eat force as sug- 

 gested above. Yet even then, though every 

 pains be taken, the lice will not all be reached. 

 The past spring we found that the young Uce on 

 the buds, and even the eggs, just before hatch- 

 ing, were ahke susceptible to this treatment. At 

 this time there was no foUage to interfere, and 

 so it was not difficult to make very thorough 

 work. I recommend, especially to nurserymen, 

 that they leai'n to detect the httle dark eggs 

 which are usually spread thickly in and nT-nut 

 the buds, where they were placed by the mother 

 louse ^he previous fall, and if they are found 

 very common, that he apply the kerosene mix- 

 ture early, just as the buds are swelling prepara- 

 tory to bursting. 



Rem. 7. Oial Tar Fumes. Mr. Crane, a success- 

 ful fruit grower of Lockport, N.T., stjites that he 

 has found the burning of a wad of rags attached 

 to a pole and coated with coal tai', a safe and 

 complete remedy for the Aj^his. Plum trees that 

 were black with this pest were, by a few appUca- 

 tions, perfectly cleaned. The wad should be 

 burned underneath and not too near the foliage. 

 Rem. 8. Tohaeeo Water, Dust, ete. For use 

 on a small scale as about Roses, Geraniums, 

 Salvias, Verbenas, Chrysanthemums, flowering 

 shrubs, etc., the old remedy of whale oil soap and 

 tobacco water, or the more recent and more con- 

 venient one of sprinkling the affected parts 

 with tobacco dust, arc effective. 



Rem. 9. Fumigation until Tobacco. For dealing 

 with this pest in the greenhouse fumigation with 

 tobacco is almost universally practiced. This 

 consists in burning dampened tobacco stems 

 from the cigar maker's two or three times a 



week in all grenhouses 



during the season, to 



serve both as a remedy 



and a preventive. One 



]>ound for each five 



imndrcd feet of glass 



will usually sulfice. A 



simiile wa.v of ut^ing the 



toliacco is to place the 



above quantity on a 



handful of liyUted shav- 

 ings, either on the floor 



or in a fumigator made 



for the purpose, which 



will cause a dense 



smoke. On a cement yj^ 4 The Daisy Pump; 



floor the fire needs no f^r throwing Liquids. 



attention, as it quickly 



dies out, but with a wooden one or with wood 



near by, care will be required to protect it with 



sheets of metal or otherwise. 



Bem. 10. Nieotyl. In the greenhouse and win- 

 dow garden, as well as under low bushes outdoors, 



Xicotyl vapor, produced by steeping toliacco, 



:,tems in water and causing the latter to evapor- 



