On BligJit. 339 



Mr. Baron mentions a currant tree as being infested with 

 aphides. In seasons when " honey dew " (the excretions of 

 aphides, it is said) abounds, aphides will usually be found 

 abounding on the under side of the uppermost leaves of cur- 

 rant trees. I may, however, here mention, in justice to in- 

 sects, that my father has long been of opinion that insects are, 

 in many instances, guiltless of being the first occasion of a 

 diseased appearance in plants, of which they are generally 

 deemed the original cause, in consequence of their being 

 found coupled with the effect. For an instance, he finds the 

 uppermost leaves of his currant bushes get injured by frost 

 while young, and such leaves, as the shoot lengthens and 

 they become expanded, exhibit a crumpled and, on their 

 upper side, reddened appeai^ance. As the season advances, 

 and warmth increases, aphides resort to the cavities of these 

 crumples on the lower face of the leaf, and, by midsummer 

 and afterward, every crumpled leaf is the home of a host of 

 aphides, which, it is doubtless, now increase that disease 

 which first induced them to resort there. My father's prac- 

 tice in this and every such case is, to remove totally all leaves 

 so affected, by cutting at once off the top of the shoot which 

 bears them, and then to destroy the aphides by any ready 

 means, as crushing, scalding, or burning. — J. D. 



These various notices on the A^his lanigera registered, 

 we now resume the observations of Rusticus on 



OtJier Blights of the Apple. — " Now for the moth. This 

 is a beautiful little creature, its wings are studded with silvery 

 shining specks, as though they were inlaid with precious 

 gems. It is the most beautiful of the beautiful tribe to which 

 it belongs, yet from its habits not being known, it is seldom 

 seen in the moth state, and the apple-grower knows no more 

 than the man in the moon to what cause he is indebted for 

 his basketsful of worm-eaten windfalls in the stillest weather. 

 To find the moth in the day-time, the trunks of the apple 

 trees should be carefully looked over ; or, if your orchard 

 be surrounded by a wooden fence, it may frequently be found 

 sitting against it, with its pretty wings neatly folded round it. 

 Towards evening, in fact just at sunset, it begins to move, 

 and may then be seen hovering about the little apples, which, 

 by the time the moth leaves the chrysalis, the middle of June, 

 are well knit, and consequently fit for the reception of its 

 eggs, which it lays in the eyes, one only in each, by intro- 

 ducing its long ovipositor between the leaves of the calyx, 

 which form a tent above it that effectually shields it from the 

 inclemency of the weather, or any other casualty. As soon 

 as the egg hatches, the little grub gnaws a hole in the crown 



z 2 



