Insects and Preventives 



the most serious damage by boring into the flower buds just before the blooms 

 open. The worms usually attack the flowers after the plants are in the green- 

 houses and during the early fall and winter ; they are generally brought into 

 the greenhouses, either upon the plants when dug from the field, or in the 

 soil where fresh sod is used in the compost heaps, and in the latter case, the 

 damage done is sometimes serious. Usually, they appear in such small 

 numbers as to cause the grower little annoyance, but may become a serious 

 pest if fresh sods are used in making up the compost pile, or if weeds are 

 allowed to grow upon the carnation soil heaps during the summer time. 



When cut worms are once brought into the greenhouses, the only remedy 

 is to hunt them during the night with a lantern. They feed upon the buds 

 during the night, and hide either under the foliage or conceal themselves 

 by boring into the earth at the base of the plant. With the aid of a bright 

 lantern, they will be detected upon the flower buds in the act of feeding, 

 and can easily be destroyed ; or they may be dug from the earth during the 

 day time. 



Carnation Stalk Borer 



This insect is usually present in all carnation fields, but except in rare 

 instances it is not a serious pest. It injures the plant by boring into the 

 pith of the stalk, and in some cases will kill very young plants. Upon mature 

 plants this borer generally injures but one branch, and the damage in the ma- 

 jority of cases is done before the insect is discovered. When carnations are 

 planted upon newly-ploughed ground, the stalk borer may become sufficiently 

 numerous to do considerable harm ; but under ordinary circumstances it 

 injures so few plants as to cause the grower no concern. If the carnation 

 fields are properly prepared, by ploughing under the sod in early August of 

 the preceding year, and frequently ploughing during the fall, the ground 

 being left in a roughened condition at the last ploughing, so that frost will 

 thoroughly act upon all of the soil that has been stirred, very little damage 

 will be done by either the stalk borer or the cut worm, as by this treatment of 

 the land almost all of these insects contained therein will be destroyed. 



In conclusion, it may be well stated that the best method of fighting 

 insect pests is by preventive measures. No insect injurious to the carnation 

 should ever be allowed to take possession of the plants. It is far more easy to 

 prevent the propagation of insect pests than it is to destroy them, once the 

 plants are thoroughly infected with them. 



