244 Success with Small Fruits. 



Mr. H. T. Jones, of Rochester, recommends the following : 



" To one pailful of wood ashes, add one quart each of white hellebore and flowers 

 of sulphur ; mix thoroughly ; apply by sifting on the bushes while the dew is on 

 them. I used nothing else on my plantation of over two acres last season, and want 

 nothing better ; but it must be used daily as long as any worms are seen." 



I have heard that, if applied in a liquid form, a heaping table-spoonful 

 of hellebore to a gallon .of water is a good proportion. 



At the meeting of the New Jersey Historical Society, it was stated by 

 good authorities, as the result of actual experience, that tobacco dust would 

 kill the worms as readily as hellebore. I hope this is true, since the latter 

 is expensive when applied on a large scale, and the tobacco dust can be 

 bought at from two dollars to three dollars per barrel. I shall try it next 

 year. 



I also quote the following from a recent editorial by Mr. Fuller, in the 

 New York Weekly Sun : 



" White hellebore has long been considered one of the most efficacious of all 

 poisons for the imported currant worm, but a New Jersey fruit grower of considerable 

 experience informed us not long ago, that he had found strong tobacco water quite 

 as good as the hellebore, and it was also soon washed off by heavy rains, whereby 

 the fruit was not rendered unfit for use, as when other and more virulent poisons 

 are employed. To make a strong solution, put a half-bushel or bushel of tobacco 

 stems, or even the leaves, into a cask or barrel, and press down and hold in place 

 with a stone or other weight ; then pour on hot water enough to cover the tobacco, 

 and leave it for a few days to steep. After steeping, the cask may be filled up with 

 warm or cold water, and the solution is ready for use. If a half-pound or pound of 

 crude potash is added, or a quart or two of soft soap is stirred in, the solution will be 

 much improved, especially in its destructive properties. After using the first liquid, 

 the barrels may be filled again with water, and left to steep a few days longer than 

 the first time, or some fresh tobacco may be added, to give the solution the required 

 strength. Tobacco water is certainly a cheap insecticide, and will frequently be 

 found quite as efficacious as those that are more costly and troublesome to apply." 



A gentleman from Erie, Pa., writes to me that he has used this remedy 

 for years, with complete success. 



Mr. J. McK. Beattie, of Pictou, Nova Scotia, has written to me of a 

 still simpler method. 



" I notice in the April number of SCRIBNER'S MONTHLY that you intend to use 

 tobacco dust to destroy the currant worms; it will prove effectual; but, as I can 

 give you a far more simple plan, I take the liberty of writing. It is one which I have 

 proved for the past seven years, and never have known it to fail wherever tried. 



