TfiE Canadian Horticulturist. 



247 



cerning them. It appears that it is not a 

 fungus at all, but a disease, due to climatic 

 influences which has been long known by 

 French vineyardists. In Bulletin 8 of 

 the Botanical division of the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, we find the following 

 description of it : — 



This is a disease which the French have 

 named Broussins, the Germans Krebs, and 

 the Italians Malattia dci tubercolt. The first 

 name, " Broussins," meaning excrescences, 

 is descriptive of the disease, and is the one 

 we will adopt. Prof. Viala, in his work on 

 the Maladies de la Vigne, pp. 441, 442, has 

 clearly described the disease in question. 

 His description is very complete, and the 

 cause to which he attributes the malady 

 appears most reasonable, and we cannot do 

 better than to translate in full what he has 

 written : 



" Under the action of the frosts of autumn 

 and winter, and especially those of spring, 

 peculiar malformations are developed upon 

 the roots, the root crown, the side branches 

 and the shoots left after pruning. Upon the 

 roots they appear as little nodules the size 

 of a pea, more rarely as large as an egg, 

 which are soft and spongy when moist, but 

 firm and hard when dry. They have a 

 warty surface, being formed of smaller 

 nodules, which run together where they 

 unite with the root. Upon grafts the adja- 

 cent layers of generative tissues sometimes 

 multiply to an unusual extent, giving rise to 

 a spongy swelling, having the form of Brous- 

 sins. But it is especially upon the young 

 branches and side shoots that these forma- 

 tions are most frequent. ' Broussins ' usually 

 appears at the insertion of the shoots upon 

 the side branches, but they also occur over 

 the whole length of the inter-node or even 

 several successive nodes, entirely changing 

 their normal appearance. There are formed 

 several masses of irregular excrescences, 

 composed of a large number of shapeless 

 nodules. The wood thus covered is often 

 enlarged to four or five times its proper dia- 

 meter. The bark is torn and often stretched 

 in narrow strips over the irregular groups of 

 nodules. The latter are soft and spongy, 

 but become very hard when dry." 



BARREN STRAWBERRY PLANTS. 



66. Sir, — In the year 1887 I bought one 

 dozen strawberry plants, the It^ska and Jessie 

 kinds. I planted and secured all the plants 

 possible from them. In the fall I had about 

 one hundred plants which I set out ; they 

 grew, and I had a fine bed of them, but no 

 fruit. My soil is a clay loam, well cultivated. 

 I applied plenty of wood ashes, but no use. 

 Please say what is the reason ? I am send- 

 ing you a sample of what they are at pres- 

 ent ; they stand full of bloom ; ought to 

 have one hundred quarts off this bed. Please 

 answer in the next Horticulturist number. 

 — J, Gakton, Toronto, /une 21, i8go. 



We fear there is a tendency with the 

 Jessie to become unfruitful after the first 

 year of bearing. Will any of our readers 

 give their views ? — (Ed.). 



THE FOUR-STRIPED PLANT-BUG. 



67. Sir, — Enclosed find some striped flies 

 that are destroying all my currant bushes, 

 and in fact nearly everything in the garden. 

 The leaves of the currant and gooseberry 

 bushes look as if a fire had passed over them. 

 I think they had first attacked the Spear- 

 mint. They are also very bad on the sun- 

 flowers, and were even on a few hills of 

 potatoes that were near the currants. 



Do you know what they are, and what 

 would be best to use to get rid of them ? — 

 W. S. Short, ^22 York Street, London. 



These insects have come to hand in good 

 order, and been mounted for our cabinet. 

 Scientifically they are known as Poecilocap- 

 sus lineatus, and are thus spoken of in Prof. 

 Saunder's work on " Insects Injurious to 

 Fruits:" This is a bright yellow bug, 

 about three-tenths of an inch long, with 

 black antennae and two black stripes on 

 each side of its wing covers, the outer one 

 on each side terminating in a black dot. It 

 punctures the young leaves of the currant 

 bushes on both their under and their upper 

 surfaces, causing small brown spots, not 

 much larger than pin-heads, but these are 

 sometimes so numerous and closely placed 

 that the leaves become completely withered. 

 The insects are very active, and when 

 approached drop quickly to the ground or 

 fly away. They begin to feed in May or 

 June, and continue for a month or two, often 

 disfiguring the bushes very much and retard- 

 ing their growth. When very troublesome 



