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POPULAR GARDENING SUPPLEMENT. 



I thought that an inviting field to purposely 

 spread the disease. All that was necessary 

 was to gather a number of the diseased bugs, 

 put them into tight-fitting tin boxes, and mail 

 them to regions infested by C'hmch-bugs. 

 Arrived at their destination, the contents of i 

 the boxes could simply be thrown in any field | 

 known to be infested with such bugs. This ! 

 was done, and eighteen diflferent places in 

 southern Minnesota were made centers of 

 distribution for this disease. And as it 

 seems, with remarkable good results, as the 

 disease has killed off the bugs to such an ex- 

 tent that careful search in a majority of 

 places failed to produce a single living speci- 

 men, whilst the traces of the disease were 

 found everywhere. The disease spread so 

 rapidly that even Corn growing near Wheat 

 fields crowded with Chinch-bugs were entirely 

 protected, and no bugs had entered them in 

 all the places visited by myself. It is possi- 

 ble that the disease was there already, un- 

 known to any one, and that I simply re-intro- 

 duced its germs. Be this as it may, one 

 thing is certain, viz.: the disease has been 

 there, and consequently the spores of the 

 fungus producing it are there also, and 

 remain there, to act whenever the conditions 

 are favorable, and I firmly believe that our 

 farmers need not entertain any fears of 

 Chinch-bugs for the near future. 



The Tdrp Web-worm. 



Mr. Herbert Osborne, in his "Report 

 npon the Insects of the Season in Iowa " to 

 the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, gives an ex- 

 cellent account of the ravages of this worm 

 (Crambus exsiccatus, Zell.) which is the larva 

 of a light-ash-colored moth about one-half 

 inch long, and having wings that expand 

 about one-and-a-quarter inches. It attacks 

 both grass and corn, doing vastly more dam- 

 age to grass than to corn, though its work is 

 much more noticeable in the latter, since it 

 will completely destroy fields planted in sod. 

 infected by young worms. 



In grass-land the larvfe form a web-lined 

 burrow about half an inch below the surface, 

 extending it as the larvae grow to a length 

 of four or five inches, nearly straight and 

 opening at the surface of the sod. The 

 grass in the immediate vicinity of these bur- 

 rows is cut off at the surface of the ground, 

 but generally the roots and crown are injured. 

 The injury to corn results from planting in sod 



There are two broods in the year, the 

 adult moth of the spring-brood appearing in 

 June. These deposit eggs which hatch in 

 eight days. The larvse require from five to 

 seven weeks to become full-grown. The 

 pupa-stage lasts from twelve to fifteen days, 

 the fall brood appearing in August. 



To prevent attacks in corn to be planted 

 in land previously in grass, plow the grass 

 under at such time, as this will prevent the 

 egg being deposited in it. In the fall, this 

 should be done before the first of September; 

 in spring, before the first of June. 



Mr. Osborne does not give a remedy for 

 their attacks in lawns, except that the striped 

 ground-squirrel might be utilized to keep 

 them in check. Perhaps the application of 

 kerosene emulsions, followed by heavy 

 sprinklings, which would drain the emulsion 

 into the ground, would destroy them, as 

 their burrows are so near the surface. 



[A lawn in Western New York has been reported to 

 us as being effected in a manner which would suggest 

 the presence of the above worms. Said lawn proved a 

 great attraction to fowls; they scratched it over from 

 end to end. Whether the plot will again be attacked is 

 not yet known. — Editoks.] 



An Enemt to the Parsnip. 

 Prof. Eiley has recently discussed an enemy 

 to Parsnips, in Insect Life, to which the name 

 Parsnip Web-worm has been given. The 

 larva webs the flower heads together, devour- 

 ing and destroying the immature blossoms. 

 When about full grown they bore into the 

 hollow stems, where they pupate and in due 

 time emerge as moths. As to remedies, 

 Bethune suggests that whenever the young 

 caterpillars appear on the flowers, the 

 umbels may be dusted over with powdered 

 white hellebore, repeating the operation oc- 

 casionally. Should the flowers be destroyed 



before they are noticed, cut off and burn all 

 affected stalks before the moths emerge from 

 the pupiB. The larvae are easily disturbed, 

 and may be dislodged from the flowers and 

 collected in pans and burned. It is called by 

 entomologists Depressiiria heracliana. 



Insect Lore of New England. 



PARTI.\L REPORT ON PAPER, AND DISCUSSION BEFORE 

 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Prof. C. H. Fernald, a prominent fruit 

 grower in Maine, told me that he was accus- 

 tomed to employ a boy to climb his Apple trees 

 and destroy the tent caterpillars as soon as 

 they appeared, but he was obliged to send the 

 boy several times, as new tents were formed 

 after the destruction of the old ones. Later 

 on his father took the hint from these obser- 

 vations, to send the boy to destroy the cater- 

 pillars only early in the morning or late in 

 the afternoon, and then the work was effect- 

 ual for the caterpillars were all in the tents 

 when the boy crushed them. 



To Destroy the Codling Moth. 



If we estimate the cost of showering an 

 Apple tree to be ten cents, which I have no 

 doubt is twice as much as the actual cost 

 would be, I believe it would then prove to be 

 the cheapest and most effectual way of de- 

 stroying all leaf-eating species, and the 

 most effectual method thus far suggested for 

 the destruction of the codling moth. The 

 experiments of Prof. Forbes, conducted with 

 great care through two seasons, resulted in 

 the saving of seventy-five per cent, of the 

 Apples which would otherwise have been 

 injured by the codling moth; and when we 

 take into account the fact that by the same 

 application numerous other insects were de- 

 stroyed, we must admit that spraying the 

 trees, even at ten cents apiece, is an exceed- 

 ingly profitable investment. 



The common Squash bug has proved very 

 troublesome in various parts of the State 

 This insect does not consume the surface of 

 the leaf, but forces its tubular mouth-parts 

 down through the epidermis and draws its 

 food from the inside of the leaf, and is not 

 effected by poisons on the surface. It is 

 necessary, therefore, to use some substance 

 that will effect it otherwise than through the 

 digestive system, and for this purpose pj're- 

 thrum has been found to work admirably. 

 This sub.stance may be used as a powder, 

 and dusted on by means of bellows prepared 

 for that purpose, or it may be used in solu- 

 tion in water, which is believed to be the 

 most economical and eflicient method. The 

 bulk of the powder is dissolved in the water, 

 to which it at once imparts its insecticide 

 principle. No stirring is necessary, but it 

 should be applied in a very fine spray ; the 

 finer the more economical is its use and 

 the greater the chance of its reaching all the 

 insects. This solution should be used when 

 first made, for it gradually loses its power 

 when it is allowed to stand. 



O B. Hadwen said that he had used pyre- 

 thrum in solution to destroy insects. He 

 mixes it with warm water and stirs it up 

 with a whisk broom and showers the plants, 

 and thinks this is, perhaps, better than a 

 pump. It wiU destroy Currant worms. 

 Insects can be kept in check by constant at- 

 tention He was once much trot:bled with 

 borers in his Apple trees, but conquered them, 

 and now they do not trouble him. He picks 

 off Rose bugs and throws them into a dish of 

 soapsuds. Prof. Fernald suggested, instead 

 of the soapsuds, water with a little kerosene 

 on top. The oil would fiU the breathing holes 

 of the insects and destroy them. 



Daniel T. Curtis said that cimker worms 

 were very abundant on his trees, and he put 

 a tablespoonful of Paris green into a tub 

 holding five or six pailfuls of water, and 

 sprayed his trees on the windward side and 

 underneath in the evening, and hardly a leaf 

 had the parenchyma eaten through. For the 

 codling moth he used it when the petals of 

 the flowers had just dropped and the Apples 

 just begtin to form, and got ten barrels of 

 fine, perfect specimens from two trees. 

 Since then he had used it on almost every- 

 thing, but always at night, and had had no 



trouble from any insects. He used a Vose 

 pump. He had used pyrethrum on Roses, but 

 never saw a Rose bug wliere Paris green had 

 been used. He puts half a teacupful of the 

 latter into a pail of hot water and stirs 

 thoroughly and dilutes it afterwards. A 

 smaller quantity will answer for slugs. He 

 thinks sifted coal ashes excellent on Squashes. 



William C. Strong thought picking off Rose 

 bugs too tedious. They had forced him to 

 give up growing grapes. He has a good 

 deal of grass ground, which favors their in- 

 crease. Picking must be done morning, 

 noon and night, and Sundays. 



He did not believe in picking, but if one is 

 going to do it, Spircea sorbifolia is the best 

 trap; it will be covered with them. He has 

 bushels instead of quarts. 



.Alfred Paul thought that the sudden dis- 

 appearance of insects might be caused by 

 parasites. He had noticed such a disappear- 

 ance of the Cabbage worm. Rose bugs were 

 very numerous with him, but three years 

 ago they suddenly disappeared. Some years 

 ago, the larvae of the May beetle were so 

 abundant that the turf where they had cut 

 off the roots could be raked off. This con- 

 tinued for two or three years and then they 

 entirely disappeared. He had noticed the 

 same thing with regard to the tent caterpillar. 



Prof. Fernald said that in Maine a few 

 years ago a species of moth in prodigious 

 numbers was destroying the Evergreen for- 

 ests in three or four of the western counties, 

 so that the owners cut down their trees by 

 the acre to save their lumber. It was of 

 the same family as the codling moth, and had 

 been so rare that only three specimens were 

 known in all the collections of the world. 

 Prof. Fernald published an account of its 

 history in the "American Naturalist" and 

 collected specimens from which all sorts of 

 parasites emerged. The next year there 

 were no more ; the parasites had destroyed 

 them. This great abundance gave the para- 

 sites a chance to multiply, and it will be sev- 

 eral years before the cycle comes round 

 again. On his father's farm, at Mount 

 Desert, the Cabbage worm was so abundant 

 as almost to force him to give up the cultiva- 

 tion of Cabbages. But Prof. Fernald found 

 I some pupaj under clapboards, from one of 

 which he bred forty-two parasites. These 

 he sent to his father, and in a few years 

 there were no Cabbage butterflies to be seen. 



The Mabgderite Fly. 



This little European insect, only recently 

 found in this country, and resembling some- 

 what the little flies so abundant about fer- 

 menting horse-manure, attacks plants of the 

 order of Compositje, apparently giving the 

 preference to Double White Feverfew, and 

 Daisies (Marguerites), but not despising Heli- 

 anthus multiflorus. Cinerarias, etc. The 

 fly lays its eggs singly under the skin of the 

 leaf, and wart-Uke specks form over the 

 eggs. In a few days' time little white grubs 

 are hatched, and at once commence devour- 

 ing the leaf. The perfect insect is developed 

 in about two weeks. It is thought that there 

 are at least three successive broods during 

 the autumnal and winter months. 



Remedy. — None is known except examin- 

 ing the plants at brief intervals after the 

 first recognition of the attack, and picking 

 off and burning every infected leaf. 



Remedy fob Onion Maggot. 



Prof. Cook says that the Onion and Radish 

 Maggot are one and the same, and advises 

 plantiug a few radishes, cabbages or turnips 

 near the onion plot. The maggots, prefering 

 the latter to onions, will there congregate, 

 and the infested plants may then be pulled 

 up and destroyed. 



Remedy for Radish Maggot. 

 To raise a crop of radishes free from mag- 

 gots. Prof. Cook also advises to grow them 

 m a frame covered with muslin. A heavy 

 application of ashes from a burned rubbish 

 heap put on the surface and raked in, and 

 seed sown immediately afterwards, has al- 

 ways seemed to keep the patch entirely clear 

 of the pest. _ .i^._«.. ^ ....... 



