POPULAR GARDENING SUPPLEMENT. 



17.5 



sap that nourishes them. Concerning the 

 Bark Lice or Coccus on Apple trees, the 

 young shoots of which in many cases are 

 completely covered with them, Professor 

 Cook says he has known whole orchards to 

 languish because of this pest. The young 

 lice appear about two or three weeks after 

 the Apple blossoms fall, insert their little 

 beaks— really suction pumps— and soon suck 

 the sap and vigor from the trees. By Au- 

 gust the full formed scale is seen, under 

 which are stored 80 or more small white 

 eggs ^vhich will hatch the following June. 



Ecm. 22. CarhoUc Acid and Soft Snap. A 

 strong solution of soft soap is the old and reliable 

 remedy. Professor Cook has improved on this by 

 the addition of crude carbolic acid, making the 

 mixture as follows: One quart of soft soap to 

 two gallons of water heated to the boiling point, 

 when one pint of crude carbolic acid is added, 

 stirring the solution well at the same time. This 

 should be applied early ia June, and agpln some 

 months later, \rith a cloth or scrubbing brush, to 

 aU affected parts. 



Han. 23. Wliiskey for Mealy Bugs and Others. 

 Applied to the insects ^vith a brush, this is an 

 effective remedy. Alcohol diluted with a little 

 water answers the same end. 



Rem. 24. Fir-tree Oil. This is one of the most 

 recent and highly px-aised remedies for all species 

 of Coccus. The oil is mixed with water at the 

 rate of one fourth pint of the former to two and 

 a half gallons of water and syringed over the 

 plants about once a week. For strong-gi'f)wing 

 Dracenas, Crotons, etc., a somewhat larger pro- 

 portion of the oU might be used. 



iie(?i. 25. Pyrethrum Tea or Decoction. Prof. 

 E. W. Hilgard found that a tea simply prepared 

 from the uuground flowers of P.vrethrum, when 

 spra.'ied from a fine rose, to be eflicieut even 

 agaiiL«t the armored scale-bug of the Orange and 

 Lemon, which fell off in two or three days after 

 the apphcation, while the young brood are al- 

 most instantly killed. The tea should be made 

 with Viriskly boiUng water covered over closely 

 to prevent evaporation, but not boiled, as that 

 would seriously imiiair its strength. 



Rem. 26. Fi.4i brine. This article has proved 

 effective, the oil with which it is charged doubt- 

 less jienetrating the scale and killing the eggs 

 beneath. 



Bean Weevil (Bruchus obsolctits). This 

 insect is becoming quite troublesome in 

 some sections. As the beetles do not all 

 emerge from the beans until spring, they 

 are liable to be planted in the seed and the 

 evil thereby be continued and increased. 



Rem. 27. Keeping over the Seed. If the beans 

 intended for seed be tightly tied up instoutpaper 

 bags and be kept until the second year, there 

 ■\rill then be no living beetles within them, and 

 they will be equally valuable for seed. If, how- 

 ever, they have been badly perforated they 

 should not be used for planting, as many of 

 them would not germinate. For other remedies 

 see Pea Weevil. 



Bisulphide of Carbon. See Remedies 102, 

 11.5, 120. 



Birds that Destroy Insects. (28) Besides the 

 kinds named under remedies 41, 46, 47, 9t), 

 as destructive to certain pests, the following 

 are to be classed among the most helpful 

 kinds in the general warfare against insects: 

 Robins (cut, and other earth worms) Swal- 

 lows, Night Hawks, Purple Martins, (moth- 

 Catcher) Pewees, (striped Cucumber bugs) 

 Wood Thrush and Wrens, (cut worms) Cat 

 Birds, (tent caterpillar) Meadow Larks, 

 Woodpeckers, Crows, (wireworms) Blue- 

 throated Buntings, (canker worms) Black, 

 red-winged birds, Jays, Doves and Pigeons, 

 Chippys, (strawberry pests) Quails, (chinch 

 bugs, locusts) Whip-Poor-Wills, (moths) 

 Hawks, except Cooper's, all night birds. 

 Owls, etc., Tanagers and black-winged sum- 

 mer Red birds, (curculios) Nut Crackers, 

 Fly Catchers, Chimney Swifts, Indigo Bird, 

 Chipping and Song Sparrows. Black Birds, 

 Mocking Birds, Titmouses, Vireas, Orchard 

 Orioles. 



Blister Beetles. Of these there are a num- 

 ber of species, known as the Ash-gray, the 

 Margined, the Striped, etc. 



Rem. 29. Beating Down. This should be done 

 into a pan of water, soap suds or oil. 



Borers. (Sec Peach Borers, Currant Bor- 

 ers, and Sugar Maple Borers.) There are 

 three species of beetles that do serious in- 

 jury to all parts of our country by boring 

 into the Apple and other trees. The big or 

 llat-headed borer, which cuts out a wide 

 space just under the bark on the southwest 

 side of the tree, and in case of small trees 

 entirely girdling the trunk, and two species 

 of beautiful longicorn or long horned 

 beetles, Saperda Candida and Saperda cre- 

 tata, which bore through and through, and 

 keep feeding for three years. The first of 

 these three work only one year, and seem 

 most destructive to trees that are not quite 

 up to the standard in vigor. Thus newly 

 set trees are specially susceptible to the at- 

 tack of this beetle. All three of these in- 

 sects lay their eggs in June and July, and 

 all may be best treated in the same way and 

 at the same time. 



Fig. 10. Butterfly ufthe Cabbage Worm. 



RemedifS 35 and 38. 



Rem. 30, Preventing Egg-laying. My experi- 

 ence has met with excellent success by use of soft 

 soap. I rub the trunk and mam branches with 

 this, early in June, and again three or four 

 weeks later. If I can make but one application, 

 I use the crude cai-boUc acid and soft soap rem- 

 edy No. 23. With this, and ungloved hands, and 

 uncovered arms, I, by use of a cloth, rub the 

 whole trunk and large limbs of the tree, using 

 care not to sprinkle the foUage. In case the 

 acid is very strong it might kill the foUage. 

 This is applied to the trees two weeks after the 

 blossoms fall.— Professor Cook. 



Rem. 31. Probing for the Borers. See 103. 



Rem. 32. Coal Tar Paper— Bands of paper thor- 

 oughly saturated with coal tar, and eighteen 

 inches wide, tacked around the base of trees 

 troubled by the Boot Borer have proved success- 

 ful. 



Rem . 34. Coal Tar Direct— Mr. Chas. E. Thesher, 

 cif Shawnee Co., Kansas, recently wrote to the 

 Prairie Farmer as follows: " I have lost one or- 

 chard by the Round-headed Borers. In another 

 orchard I am having better luck, keeping them 

 out with coal tar. I apply with a brush to the 

 tree up J8 inches, after first looking for any 

 borers then in the tree. It has no bad effect. As 

 the tree grew, open spaces of new bark appeared 

 up and down the trunk. Next year I filled these 

 up. That year the bark under the tar loosened 

 more or less, exposing healthy new bark. Next 

 year I scraped off the rough loose scales and put 

 on a new coat. That, or someth'ng else, has kept 

 out borers. Any way it don't kill the trees." 



Buhach. See Pyrethrum. 



Cabbage Maggots or Club Root. See Mag- 

 gots. 



Cabbage IForm. (Picris rapha^). This 

 worm, produced from the eggs of the white 

 Rape Butterfly, represented by Figure 10, is 

 a most injurious pest to Cabbage in most 

 places, and especially in small gardens. 

 They come in two broods, the first Butter- 

 flies being seen in May, the second in Au- 

 gust, and the progeny of the latter causes 

 the most trouble. Either the same or else a 

 very similar worm also devours the Mignon- 

 ette and some other plants. 



Rem. 35. Pyrethrum or Buhach— Liquid Form. 

 A tablespoonf ul of the pure powder to two gal- 

 lons of water, applying it by sprinkling with a 

 watering pot, or better yet, by force with a 

 pump Here, as in all cases where we use liq- 

 uids to destroy insects, especially if as in this 

 case it kills by contact, we must apply with 

 great force, so that the liquid will spatter every- 

 where and so touch every insect. 



Rem. 36. Pyrethrum— Dry Form. One part of 

 the dry powder mixed with fort)' parts of finely 

 sifted wood ashes, dusting this over the Cab- 

 bages. If the mixture is i)reparcd a day or two 

 before using, keeping it in a perfectly tight ves- 

 sel in the meantime, it will ha\'e even a better 

 effect than when used freshly mixed. 



Rem. 37. Hot Water. Sprinkle the plants with 

 hot water with the aid of a watering can and hose. 



Rem. 38. Quanta Water. An infusion of one 

 pound of Quassia to one third barrel of water is 

 recommended for killing the Caterpillars and 

 preventing subsequent attacks. The same 

 remedy has been used with success for plant lice 

 and other insects. 



Canker Worm of the Apple, Elm, and Some 

 Other Trees. (AniKopterijx vernata Peck.) 

 — \\Tiile this insect is not of frequent occur- 

 ence outside of the New England States, it 

 is of the utmost importance to fruit growers 

 and others that it be not permitted to in- 

 crease and extend until it shall become es- 

 tablished. Its sluggish wingless female 

 moths rise from the ground and creep slow- 

 ly up the trunks of Apple, Elm, and less 

 abundantly many other trees, cliiefly in 

 March, but also later, and somewhat in the 

 fall, laying their eggs in clusters on the 

 bark, these being secured by a grayish var- 

 nish. The eggs usually hatch about the 

 time the Red Currant is in blossom, and 

 the Apple leaves begin to grow. The little 

 worms attac'K the tender leaves near by, 

 first piercing them with small holes, which 

 later become larger and more irregular, 

 and at last nearly all parts but the midrib 

 and veins will be consumed. When young 

 they are generally of a blackish or dusty 

 brown color, with a yellowish stripe on 

 each side. When fully grown, at which 

 time they measure one inch or less in length, 

 they usually assume an ash color on the 

 back, and black on the sides, below which 

 the pale yellowish line remains. They vary 

 in color somewhat, however, being at times 

 found of a dull greenish yellow, or of a clay 

 color, and even green. 



Rem. 39. Banding. Banding the trees with 

 strips of heavy paper or cloth, coated with tai- or 

 printer's ink, early in the spring, to prevent the 

 ascent of the wingless females, is an old and ef- 

 fective remedy. It has been found that the 

 residuum of kerosene oil is one of the best reme- 

 dies that can be used on bands, it being both 

 cheaper and lasts longer (about six days) than 

 ink or tar. The latter articles must be frequent- 

 ly renewed. Traps made of tin and muslin to 

 prevent the ascent of the worms are also in use. 



Rem. 40. Arsenical Poiaons. The spraying rec- 

 ommended in Remedy 15 for the Codling Moth on 

 Apple trees answers at the same time to destroy 

 the young Canker "Worms. On Elm and other 

 trees this same remedy may be applied for its 

 destruction. 



Rem. 41, Birds. The Cedar bird devours large 

 numbers of Canker worms; a hundred caterpillars 

 have been found in the stomach of one of these. 

 Next in usefulness according to Dr. Lintner, 

 come the Indigo bird, the Chickadee, the black 

 billed Cuckoo, Yellow Bird, the Summer Warb- 

 ler, the rose-breasted Grosbeak, the Blue Bird, 

 the King Bird and the Robin, in the order named. 



Rem. 43. Swine. By allowing swine to run in 

 the orchards in the spring many will be destroyed. 



Carbolic Acid. See Remedies 22, 159. 



Caterpillars. The remarks which here fol- 

 low will apply to most kinds of Caterpillars 

 that infest fruit and shade trees, shrubs, 



Fig. 11. Caterpillar of IHiife T-ussock Moth, Rem. 43, 47. 

 etc. But to the well-known Caterpillar of 

 the white-marked Tussock Moth {(^rfpjia 

 leiicostirjma), aiul which is shown feeding 

 on a leaf in figure 11, special attention is 

 here called. It is more commonly familiar 



