POPULAR GARDENING SUPPLEMENT. 



179 



six inches deep, doing this as the earth is about 

 to freeze up, all will be killed by freezing. 



Kent. 98. Deep phmniiy of infested lands in the 

 fall. 



Rem. 99. Swine will root up and destroy the 

 grubs if turned upon infested laud. 



Melon Vine Borer. See Squash Vine Borer. 



Mignonette Worm. See Cabbage Worm. 



Molasses and Poison. See Remedy 4. 



Mustard Water. See Remedy 100. 



Nicotyl. See Remedies 10, 05 and Fig. 21 



Onion Fly and Mag- 

 got. See Maggots. 



Paraffine Oil. See 

 Remedies 11, 15.5. 



Paris Green. See 

 Remedies 15, 43, 07. 



Petroleum Crude. 

 See Household In- 

 sects. 



Pine Tree Sawfly. 

 See Sawflies. 



Pea Bug or Weevil. 

 This is the well- 

 Icnown bug found 

 in Peas, and which, 

 by the time it is of 

 full growth has 

 consumed a large 

 portion of the grain, Fig.zi. a Nicotyl Vapor- 

 to the great impair- '^^'■■ 

 ment of its value both for food and seed. 



Rem. 100. Soluble Phenijlc. Miss Oraerod, the 

 accomplished Enghsh entomologist, reports that 

 by sowing the Peas along with coal ashes (snnd 

 should do as well) saturated with a tablespoonf u! 

 of phenyle to a gallon of water, the ashes left 

 covered several days before use to become 

 thoroughly charged with the smell, the attack 0I 

 weevil was prevented on the new crop. 



Rem. 101. Turpentine. Peas that have been 

 stung may be rendered bugless by placing them 

 as soon as gathered in jars or other tight vessels 

 adding as much as a teaspoorjful of turpentine 

 to each jar. This will kill the immature bugs 

 very soon. 



Rem. 102. Biitulphide of Carbon. For treating 

 Peas on a large scale it is usual to submit them 

 to the heavy fumes of bisulphide of carbon, an 

 abominable smelling but destructive drug. 



Peach Tree Borer. This is a most destruc- 

 tive insect when allowed to increase for a 

 few years without molestation, and their 

 multiplication should be prevented by all 

 possible means. The eggs are deposited in 

 summer on the base of the trunk, near the 

 collar, where the bark is soft. There they 

 are hatched and bore their way under the 

 bark of the tree, either in the stem or roots, 

 or both, producing an effusion of gum. 



Rem. 103. Probiny the Borer.— Ashes anil Lime. 

 Bank up the soil around the stem firmly eight to 

 twelve inches directly after blooming, taking 

 it away in the middle of the following August- 

 and trace the grub through its holes in the tree 

 and kill it; then place a shovelful or two of 

 wood ashes around the base. Wood ashes or 

 slaked lime may be applied every spring and at 

 the end of summer may be scattered about the 

 tree, both of these articles forming an excellent 

 dressing for the Peach. See 31, 14.1. 



Pear Slug. See Cherry and Pear Slugs. 



Phenyle, Soluble. See Remedies 5, 100. 



Pine Bark Chermes. The appearance of 

 this insect on Pine trees of several kinds is 

 known by little patches of a white wool- 

 like substance adhering to the bark. The 

 iuseet is found beneath this substance which 

 serves as a covering. 



Rem. 104. Crushing irilh a Brush and Cloth. 

 By using a stiff brush on the branches and a strip 

 of cloth to draw rcpeatedl.v backward and f(^r- 

 ward through the a.Kils of the branches, the in- 

 sects can easily be killed. 



Rem. 105. Wliale Oil Soap. A solution formed 

 with a quarter of a pound of soap to a gallon of 

 water and applied with a force pump wouh? 

 destroy the insect. 



Plant Lice. See Aphis. 



Plaster and Plaster of Paris. See Remedies 

 50, 73, 108. 



Potato Beetle. This Insect is now too well 

 knoTVTi to require any description. 



Rem. 106. Early Foisoning. To poison the 

 adults when first they appear and before the 

 Potatoes are tip is an etfectual way of preventing 

 a large share of later trouble. By simply slicing 

 Potatoes thinly and dipping the pieces into Paris 

 green water, and then scattering these about the 

 field, the task is done. 



Rem. 107. ArseniealPnUon ^0.15,^. Apply- 

 ing for a few plants with a whisk, or for more 

 with a flue watering pot or force pump, taking 

 care not to deluge the plants, but only to cover 

 with a light spray. 



Rem. 108. Arsenical Pni.son, Drij Forms. This 

 may be prepared either from Paris green or 

 London purple, both of which appear to be of 

 about equal elhciency. The latter is the cheapest 

 and it has the advantage of being more readily 

 seen on the plants, but it does not accomplish its 

 work so rapidly, for often its eBfects are not ap- 

 parent until the second or third day after its 

 apphcation. Used in a dry form the best results 

 have been obtained when cheap flour has been 

 used to dilute it, although road dust, land plaster, 

 plaster of Paris, etc., are employed for this pur- 

 pose also. The advantage in using flour is that 

 the compound seems to adhere better to the 

 leaves of plants and to be more readily eaten 

 than are the mineral and other substances. Po- 

 tato leaves will safely bear the poison as slightly 

 diluted as ten or twelve pounds of flour to one 

 pound of Paris green or London purple. Some 

 other vegetation will show injury to the leaves, 

 urUess twenty pounds of flour be used with one 

 pound of Paris green, while of this poison even 

 thirty pounds of flour to one of the pure drug 

 will destroy a large proportion of insect pests. 

 In actual use London purple seems less liable to 

 injure the leaves of many plants than Paris green. 

 When the purple is prepared of the strength of 

 one pound of poison to ten of flour it will injure 

 only delicate vegetation. The latter reduced 

 with even seventy pounds of flour will be found 

 to kill nearly all leaf-eating larvae. For general 

 use the preparation of London pur]>le recom- 

 mended and which has given the best practical 

 results, is one jiound of the purple to forty of 

 flour. In using land pliister and plaster of Paris, 

 Instead of flour about 150 pounds of the former 

 should be used to each pound of poison. Dry 

 road dust at the I'ate of one and one-half bushels 

 to one pound of poison, and of ashes two bushels 

 to the pound, have been found to be in about the 

 right proportion for effectually destroying the 

 Potato bug and its larva. In all cases the mater- 

 ials must be thoroughly mixed and should be 

 applied in early morning while the leaves are 

 wet with dew, that it may adhere the better. A 

 simple mode is to tie a muslin bag containing 

 the powder to the end of a stick and shaking it 

 over the plants. A rather better method is 

 that of a tin dusting box having a cover and 

 a finely perforated bottom, or one consisting 

 of light wire gauze or thin muslin turned up 

 over the end and bound on, and the box attached 

 to a handle about three feet long. By then walk- 

 ing along with the box turned over the plants 

 and supported with one hand, tapping it with a 

 small stick in the other hand, the powder can be 

 uniformly distributed. In ease the growth of 

 vines nearly cover the ground the plaster or 

 ashes mixture can be sown broadcast over five 

 or so rows at once with economy of labor. Care 

 should in all cases be taken to keep to the wind 

 ward of the plants to be dusted, in order that 

 the poison may not be breathed. 



Rem. 109. Prepared remedies, such as Slug 

 Shot. 



Potato Worm. See Sphinges and their 

 larva. 



Probing. See Remedies 31, 134, 14.3. 



Promoting Growth as a Remedy. See Rem. 

 14. 



Pumpkin Vine Borer. See Squash Vine 

 Borer. 



Pyrethrum or Dalmation Insect Powder, " Bu- 

 hach." (110.) This remarkable vegetable in- 

 secticide consisting of the finely pulverized 

 flowers of Pyntlirum cineraria-folium, 

 (Another form is known as Persian Insect 

 Powder, from Pyrethrum ro.seiun and P. 

 carneum), has the peculiar property of not 

 being injurious to human beings, bvil 

 stangely enough kills most kinds of insects 

 or spore-breathing creatures. On such the 

 powder appears to have the effect of produc- 



ing a iJaralysis, from whiclx they rarely re- 

 cover, although life may linger for several 

 days. The powder is now produced on a 

 large scale in Califor- 

 nia. Pains should be 

 taken to use the article 

 fresh and pure, and to 

 keep It in air-tight bot- 

 tles or boxes, for its 

 active principle is vola- 

 tile and it loses its 

 strength unless care is 

 taken to keep it in air- 

 tight receptacles. This 

 powder is the insect 

 powder of the stores, 



but in that form it is Fig. 22. The Red Spider 



apt to be weak from <""™"" •""ii'"J>'»'- 

 adulteration, or age and exposure. This has 

 become almost the universal, as It is a most 

 safe and effective remedy against all hotise- 

 hold insect pests as flies, mosquitos, roaches, 

 bed-bugs, etc., all of which it kills, if applied to 

 them in a closed room, by means of a small bel- 

 lows box or otherwise. See Remedies25, 3t>, 51. 



Quadruped Foes to Insects. 111. Remedies 42 

 and 01 refer to the usefulness of Swine as de- 

 vourers of insects. To the Swine may be added 

 the Skunk and the Raccoon, neither of which, 

 however, is to be recommended without a quali- 

 fying clause. The Skunk, while feeding almost 

 wholly on insects, is disposed to attack the 

 chicken roosts and nests, — shut him out from 

 these and he is a harmless and most helpful 

 agent in the insect war. Raccoons devour great 

 numbers of grubs and other worms in the 

 spring, but they have a gi'eat fondness for the 

 Green Corn crop also later In the season. 



Quassia Water. See Remedy 38. 



Quince Curculio. See CurcuUo of the 

 Pltim, etc. 



Radish Fly and Maggot. See Maggots. 



Raspberry Saw-fly. See Saw-flies. 



Raspberry Slugs and Worms. See Slugs. 



Red Spider. (Aca>~iifiteUariu.<<.) This well 

 known minute insect pest is one that is 

 peculiar to dry and warm conditions of the 

 atmosphere. It is not only troublesome on 

 window and greenhouse plants, but often 

 in dry weather greatly so to garden plants 

 and trees. The insects, generally in large 

 numbers, attack plants when they are in a 

 weakened state, from want of sufficient 

 water or other causes, spinning webs over 

 the under side of the leaves, and sucking 

 out the sap. They are not spiders at all, as 

 may be seen by the greatly magnified repre- 

 sentation of one in Figure 22, but belong to 

 the family of mites. 



Rem. 112. n'ater and Moisture. These pro- 



Fig. 23. Plant inclined for Syringing the 

 underside of the teavcs. 



TREATING POT PLANTS FOR RED SPIDER. 

 REMEDY 110. 



