1887. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



149 



STRIPED BEETLE ON CUCUMBERS, SQUASHES 



AND MELONS, {Diaf>rotica vittata.) 



This is a well known, small destructive in- 

 sect which makes its appearance as soon as the 

 leaves begin to expand, and a number of 

 broods are produced during the coui"se of the 

 season. It is to the young plants that the in- 

 sect is most injurious, and the gi'eat secret in 

 dealing with it is to begin the treatment posi- 

 tively in advance of the insect's appeaa'ance. 



38. Plastkr on Ashes, ktc, and Kkrosknb.— To 

 two quarts of plaster, wood ashes, or flour of bone, 

 add one tablespoonful of kerosene, rubbing 

 the mixture between the hands until the oil 

 is well distributed. Sift or hand sprinkle 

 this over the plants as soon as the first 

 leaves appear, repeating it a few times 

 until all are through the ground, and also 

 later if this be required. 



BLACK SQUASH BUG, {Anasa tristis 



De Geer). 

 About the last of June throughout the 



North, these troublesome bugs appear 

 on Squash-vines, and lay their patches 

 of eggs, which soon develop into trouble- 

 some broods. A most striking char- 

 acteristic of the insect is its offensive 

 odor when handled or crushed. As the 

 eggs are not all laid at one time, the 

 young appear in successive broods. 



39. Plaster AND Kerosknk.— Same as SS. 

 40 Trapping.— By laying shinglesabout 



the hills the bugs, after feeding in the night, 

 may be found collected on the underside 

 of such. Proceeding to the patch early in the 

 morning with a pail containing some kerosene, 

 the shingles should be gently raised and the insects 

 jarred or brushed into the kerosene, returning the 

 shingles again for successive catches later. 



BORERS OF THE SQUASH, MELON, AND PUMPKIN 



VINE, {Melitta curciihitce Harris.) 

 This wonu, which seems to be on the increase 



representation of one in figure 13, but belong 

 to the family of mites. 



47. Water and Moisttirk.— These provided 

 with persistence are complete specifics. As the 

 insects exist on the underside of the leaves, the 

 beet way to destroy them is by repeated forcible 

 syringing. In the case of pot plants there is some 

 danger of getting too much water to the soil and 

 roots, hence the methods of preventing this sug- 

 gested by figures 18 and lit are useful. With 

 garden plants there is little danger of excessive 

 moisture at the root from syringing. 



48. Sui-PHUR. Where plants are confined, as in a 

 greenhouse, the fumes of sulphur arealsoemployed 

 as a remedy. This, however, must be provided with 



molasses and vinegar The odor, it is said. wUI 

 draw them quite a distance, and in their attempts 

 to feed they readily become caught and drown. 



REPLIES TO INQUIRIES. 



287. Arranging Trees, etc. In general the 

 growths should fur best effect be arranged some- 

 what in groups, with each class together, and these 

 located mainly towards the margin of the lawn. 

 Some groups of shrubs, plants, etc , as well as of 

 trees if the place is large, might be brought in at 

 intervals along the brook, but these also to be in the 

 main kept towards the sides rather than centrally. 

 As for vases, while some might prefer to 

 place them on the center of the grass plot, 

 our taste is for keeping this entirely clear of 

 any kind of embellishment, and these should 

 also be set towards the margin. 



808. Kings in Wood Indicating Age. 



The statements of the best botanists are 

 uniformly to the eflfect that as a rule the 

 rings of growth in trees of temperate lati- 

 tudes are annua! rings and indicate the age 

 of the tree. Apparent or partial exceptions 

 to this rule sometrmes occur from an inter- 

 ruption to the growth of the tree by a 

 protracted drought followed by liberal rains 

 and a renewed growth of wood, which cir- 

 cumstance might cause an appearance of 

 two poorly defined rings in one season's 

 growth. The same appearance may be pro- 

 duced by the insect defoliation of trees. 

 There are also a few well known instances 

 Fig.i9. Cluth Shield having ^^ certain woody vines and shrubs in which 

 draw string in edge: to be the arrangement of the woody matter is 

 placed over pot. anomalouS. The statement which has been 



TREATING POT PLANTS FOR RED SPIDER. REMEDY 47. made within a few years in contradiction of 



the common view cannot be said to have 



F/f7.18. Plant inclined for Syringing th^ 

 dersidc of the leaves. 



caution, as excessive fumes will also kill the plants. 

 A safe course is to put flowers of siUphur on tin or 

 iron plates and set in the sun near or under the 

 plants. Applying a wash of sulphur mLxed with 

 guano or lime and water to the hot water pipes is 

 another common mode of applying sulphur. ; 



ANTS, {Formica.) I 



These are sometimes very troublesome in the 



J ■ ■ \ A ^ 1 ^ i^ +v.« I erai'den, not only annoying us by their manner 



and m some seasons is very bad, works in the o"^'^'^"j , .„ , .^ , .^i. . ^ • j 



•^ I of throwing up hills but also through being de- 



structive to vegetation. 



49. Trapping with Sunken Bottle. The advan- 

 tage of this course as suggested by one of our read- 

 ers. L. M. Walling. Mitcliell Co., Kansas, and shown 



vine mostly near the root, often causing the 

 plant, after it is nearly grown and set with 

 fruit, to suddenly wither and die. Upwards 

 of a hmidred borers have been taken from a 

 single vine. 



41. Coal Tar.— Placing Corn cobs dipped in 

 coal tar among the plants about the first of July is 

 known to greatly lessen the attacks by borers. 



42. Cutting Out.— This, on a small scale, is a 

 successful remedy. In practice one may soon 

 become quite expert in discovering the location of 

 the borers and digging them out with a knife point. 



43. Layering. A Mr. Milton, in the Ohio Far- 

 mer, says that the best remedy he has found for 

 this pest is to go through the patch with a hoe when 

 the vines have attained a length of two or three 

 feet and throw a large hoeful of earth on the first 

 or second joint from the hill. The vine will form 

 new roots from this joint, which will enable it to 

 perfect its fruit should the borer kill the old root. 



CUT WORMS, {Aijrotis, etc.) 

 Of these destructive worms, which have the 

 habit of leaving their places of concealment in 

 the soil at night, coming to the surface and cut- 

 ting off almost every kind of newly set vege- 

 table and flowering plants, there are now 

 known to be many species. Those of the 

 genus .4f/ro^(.s', being mostly thick, greasy- 

 looking Caterpillars of some shade of gray, 

 brown or green, variously marked, are the best 

 known and well to be looked upon with dread. 



44. Shielding the Stem.— By encircHng each 

 plane that is set with a bit of tar paper, or even 

 other paper, as shown in figure IT, its ravages may 

 be prevented. The paper should extend upw£H*ds 

 several inches from a poii?t just beneath the sur- 

 face of the soil. 



45. Fall Plowing or Digging. 



46. Hunti.no AND Killing.— By closely examin- 

 ing the surface of the soil in the morning, in the 

 vicinity of their spoils, their place of retreat may 

 usually be discovered, and the worms be killed. 



THE RED SPIDER, {Acai^is teUarius.) 

 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. The 

 insects, generally in large numbers, attack 

 plants when they are in a weakened state, from 

 want of sufficient water or other causes, spin- 

 ning webs over the under side of the leaves, 

 and sucking out the sap. They are jiot spiders 

 at all, as may be seen by the greatly magnified 



in figure 20, is that no injury can possibly result to 

 the roots of adjacent plants, as is the case when 

 such remediesaspouringboiling water or turpentine 

 on the hillocks is practiced. The bottle should be 

 partly filled with sweetened water. 



60. Trapping with Sponge. Obtain pieces of 

 large coarse sponge. Dip them in sweetened water 

 and place on old dishes where the Ants abound. 

 When they are black with Ants throw them into 

 boiling water, afterwards washing them out and 

 renewing the process till the colony is destroyed. 



51. Fresh Bonks By laying these about where 

 Ants are troublesome they will quickly gather on 

 them. When these are black dip in scalding water, 

 repeating the operation. 



52. Poisoning. Place a dish containing a mix- 

 ture of molasses and Paris green or London purple 

 where the Ants have access to it. 



THE CORN OR BOLL woRM,(He?io(/iis armigera.) 

 This pest, so destructive to the Cotton and 

 Corn-fields of the Southern States, has in recent 

 years made its appearance as an injurious in- 

 sect in the North. Fig. 14 represents the worm 

 at about its ordinary size. It 

 not onl> attacks growing Com, 

 devouring the soft kernels in 

 patches, as weU as the same 

 when somewhat hardened, but, 

 as Dr. Lintner suggests, it 

 shows itself destructive to many 

 other plants. It bores into the 

 fruit and stems of the Tomato ; 

 it eats into the pods of Peas 

 and Beans, and burrows into 

 Squashes, Peppers, Pumpkins, 

 as well as into the stems or 

 Gladiolus, etc. While it is not 

 certain that this worm will go 

 on increasing its ravages 

 throughout the North, it is so destructive wher- 

 ever it obtains a hold that it is well deserv- 

 ing of consideration here. 



53. Hand-picking. Experience in the South has 

 shown that if the first brood of the caterpillars are 

 collected and destroyed their ravages may be con- 

 trolled. Their presence can be discovered either 

 wlien at work on the surface, or else, as in the case 

 of Corn, by the holes eaten into the husks. 



54. Attracting by Odors and Drowning. Where 

 the insect occurs abundantly it is very successfullj- 



much weight. It would require a great many seem- 

 ing exceptions to break down a rule which is based 

 upon extensive observations on this subject record- 

 ed. It IS desirable that investigations should be 

 made, and so far as it is possible, through corre- 

 spondence and other available means, this depart- 

 ment will endeavor to obtain information on the 

 subject. Commissioner Colman, Dept. of Agricult- 

 ure, Washington^ D. C. 



304. Gooseberries for Profit, In reply to c. M. 

 W., I would say that all the large handsome Goose- 

 berries sell at from %'i to S3. 50 per bushel in New 

 York. But such ones are about as scarce a fruit in 

 our market as one can name. Each season in look- 

 ing over the horticultural papers we see these extra 

 large ones offered for sale, but we see none in our 

 market. Even the common varieties when free 

 from rust and of a fair size sell from S'2 to S9.50 

 per bushel. For years past we have been glutted 

 with some little furzy trash called Gooseberries, but 

 no one wants them. Even the bakers say they 

 would not pick them over if given to them. This 

 fruit carries well if ventilated. C. W. Idell, Com- 

 mission Merchant, New York. 



317. Raspberries Ailing. The trouble described 

 strongly suggests the Raspberry root borer, Aegeria 

 rubi Riley. This insect works in the lower part of 

 the canes and in the roots, often causing the death 

 of the canes. The appearances often indicate that 

 the trouble is due to the cold of winter, when it is 

 really due to the borers. Little can be done towards 

 the destruction of the insects other than laying 

 bare the roots and cutting out the infested portions. 

 If examination should show that the borers are 

 really the cause of the difficulty thev can be re- 

 moved, and if the young canes start vigorously I 

 see no reason why the plantation may not remain, 

 though, of course, no crop can be produced this 

 season. E. S. (Joff, X. Y. Experimental Farm. 



318. Pruning Raspberries. If he will take a 



Fig. 20. Trapping Ants with a Bottle of Su 



\S'ater. Remedy^. 



ride with us from our place to Palmyra and keep 

 his eyes open he can have this question answered: 

 one plot a party had partly trimmed out last season 

 soon after it was through bearing, but something 

 interfering when this was partly through, he left 

 the other and it was not trimmed till this spring. 

 The part of the plot trimmed last fall has much 

 larger and more stocky plants and will yield this 

 season at least one third more fruit. If any one can 

 prove the contrary, we would like to know. A. M.P. 



344. Apples on Wild Crab, vve see no good 



dealt with by attracting the moth to a mixture of I reason for such a union. A. M. P. 



