Insctts and Diseases. 163 



thin dusting of white hellebore upon the leaves. It may be pro- 

 cured of druggists, and applied by means of a dredging-box with 

 fine orifices. Care should be taken not to inhale the poisonous 

 dust. As soon as the worms devour the leaves with this thin pow- 

 der they perish ; and where the work has been well done, thousands 

 have entirely disappeared in a day. The greatest vigilance is requi- 

 site to begin this dusting before serious damage is committed ; and 

 a watchful eye should be kept upon the bushes for several weeks 

 afterwards, and the remedy repeated if a second brood appears. 



The entire defoliation of currants and gooseberries for a single 

 summer greatly injures the bushes ; and if continued for successive 

 years, destroys them. 



The Thrips. The following account is given by Fuller : " These 

 are very minute insects, scarce exceeding one-sixteenth of an inch in 

 length. They are usually of a pale greenish-yellow color, or nearly 

 white. They attack the under side of the leaves of the grape, and 

 their presence is soon shown by the pale green or yellow spots 

 which appear upon the* upper side. The thrips seldom attacks the 

 vine in the open air, confining itself mainly to those that are grown 

 under glass, or against a wall or building. Sometimes thrips will 

 attack the fruit when it is nearly ripe, but usually they confine 

 themselves to the leaves. Syringing the vines with a strong solu- 

 tion of tobacco-water is one of the most effectual modes of getting 

 rid of this little pest." 



Grape- Vine Flea Beetle ( Haltica chalybea). This is a small shin- 

 ing beetle about one-sixth of an inch long, usually of a steel-blue 

 color, but often varying from green to purple. It feeds on the buds 

 of the vine, eating out the interior, and sometimes attacks the 

 plum. It never appears in very large numbers, and hand-picking 

 appears to be the surest way of destroying it. It is also caught by 

 placing a small, deep tin vessel, containing a little molasses, with its 

 mouth up against the vine, and driving it down into the vessel by 

 placing the hand above. See also Appendix. 



DISEASES. 



Blight. A most formidable difficulty in the cultivation of the 

 pear, is the blight, known in its modifications, supposed or real, by 

 the names fire-blight, insett-blight, frost-blight, and frozen sap- 

 blight. The causes may be various, but the appearances are the 

 same a sudden withering and turning black of the leaves on cer- 

 tain limbs during rapid growth, and while the rest of the tree 



