January 22, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



45 



I have a Sweet Gum tree which is particularly affected by 

 the rose-bugs. At the height of their invasion this tree was 

 occupied by millions of the insects, and at quite a distance 

 from it they could be heard like the humming of a mighty 

 swarm of bees. Looking upward one might see the bugs in 

 the air, drifting like snowflakes from all quarters toward this 

 tree. The ground around it, over the space of a half acre, 

 was yellow with them. 



I write these details to give the inexperienced some idea 

 of what an overwhelming visitation may be made by Macro- 

 dactylus when he sets forth to get a living. Of the fungus 

 foes to the vine, we have (thanks to the French discovery of 

 the uses of the copper sulphate solutions) henceforth but 

 little to fear. I now am confident of ability to control grape- 

 mildew and grape-rot, but before the rose-bug I am power- 

 less. I have a large vineyard, but if they come next year as 

 they did last summer I have serious doubt of harvesting any 

 grapes. 



I have found one mercurial drug which destroys the insect 

 pretty promptly, but it is dangerous to the operator and to 

 the plant. I would hesitate to risk its use, and will not 

 recommend it. Besides, of what avail is it to kill the advanc- 

 ing hordes of this hungry host which pours on in ever- 

 increasing multitude ? I think that our protection must be 

 found in some chemical which will be offensive to and thus 

 repel the insect. But I have not found this yet, though I 

 have tried many. In 1887 I fancied that the spraying with 

 copper sulphate solutions was repellant to the bug, and so I 

 reported it. That year they promptly forsook the vines 

 sprayed with Bordeaux mixture. This year they did not, or 

 perhaps the constantly arriving bugs kept up the depredation 

 on the vine. If each took but a mouthful and passed on, it 

 was enough to devour every blossom. 



A sure and safe way to kill the insect is to jar them from the 

 plant and kill them on the ground with a paddle. This may 

 be done early in the morning, when the insects seem torpid. 

 After nine o'clock they fly when disturbed, and thus escape 

 damage. Last summer I found a way to overcome this.diffi- 

 culty, and shall resort to it next year with a slight hope of 

 better success. Of good insect powder (pyrethrum or 

 buhach) make a solution, one ounce of the powder to 

 two gallons of water. First wet the powder to a paste 

 before mixing with all the water, and spray the vines 

 with this mixture. The bugs will be paralyzed, fall to the 

 ground and lie helpless for a time. Have men to pass along 

 both sides of the trellis to jar the vines and kill the bugs. 

 The insect powder does not kill them ; it only stupefies, and 

 they will finally recover and fly away. But meanwhile they 

 will be still for a while at any time of the day, and thus we 

 may war upon them more destructively, and by constant 

 attention, almost day and night during the rose-bug epi- 

 demic, a portion of the fruit, on a limited number of vines, 

 may be saved. The invasion usually lasts about four weeks. 

 As our territory becomes more densely cultivated the par- 

 asitic insects and fungi will spread as do infectious diseases 

 through dense populations. In time our viticulture must be 

 greatly modified. To manage large plantations of vines in 

 this way will be impossible, and grape-growers will be lim- 

 ited to as many as they can fully protect. 



Vineland, N. J. A. W. PearSOtl. 



[Colonel Pearson's statement of the problem is accurate, 

 and, from all evidence, the account of injury done is not 

 at all overdrawn. The insect passes the larval state in the 

 ground, feeding on roots of grasses, etc., and is not inju- 

 rious in that stage. It then resembles a small white grub. 

 In spring the beetles emerge and pair freely. They are 

 especially fond of flowers, and not only those of the 

 Grape, but almost all others attract them, and are in- 

 jured. The habits of the larva render it next to impossible 

 to reach the insects in that stage, and the imagos appear in 

 such numbers that, even if all were poisoned one day by 

 a single mouthful, that single mouthful would mean the 

 crop of grapes. A modification of Colonel Pearson's remedy 

 seems the best thing yet proposed. On a light frame of 

 convenient size stretch a piece of muslin so that it shall sag 

 in the middle. Early in the day send a man each side of 

 the trellis with such a frame and jar the beetles from the 

 vines. At intervals dump the collected beetles into a pail 

 of water with a thick scum of kerosene floating on it. Not 

 only from Grapes but from all other favored plants, should 

 the beetles be collected. This is essentially a case where 

 co-operation is necessary, and all interested should unite 



andsystematically fight these pests, not for one season alone, 

 but year alter year, so as to keep them down to harmless 

 limits. 



In Germany thousands of bushels of cockchafers are 

 annually collected, and thus only are the trees in many 

 localities saved from complete defoliation. The Govern- 

 ment there pays a small bounty, and collecting is com- 

 pulsory. A common interest here should unite the farmers 

 and lead them to do what there is no legislation to compel. 

 Entomologists may yet find some weak point in the 

 existence of this species ; but for the present the suggestions 

 above are all that can be made. — Ed.] 



Perennials from Seed. — I. 



'INHERE seems to be some doubt among amateurs as to 

 ■*■ the feasibility of raising hardy plants from seed, and, 

 judging from advice given in some horticultural papers, it 

 would appear that this, the most natural method of increasing 

 one's stock of perennials, was but indifferently understood. 

 When it is taken into consideration that seed is the medium 

 which Nature has provided, and by means of which nearly all 

 plants naturally spread and perpetuate their species, it only 

 remains to take into consideration the surroundings in which 

 the plants are found, such as climate and position, to enable 

 even the uninitiated to succeed in raising these plants from 

 seed. To American cultivators the one great difficulty en- 

 countered at the outset is the means of obtaining good and 

 fresh seed of plants of this description, as there does not 

 appear to be any one yet who has taken up this branch of 

 business and made a specialty of it ; for, as a rule, none but 

 the commoner kinds are catalogued, and these are easily and 

 cheaply purchased, while the more rare and expensive kinds 

 are no more difficult to raise from seed, and a good, thrifty 

 plant raised in this way is far more likely to become estab- 

 lished than a miffy or minute imported plant. Nothing is 

 more certain, however, than that when the demand comes, 

 the supply will be equal to it. 



During the past two months we have sowed over 400 kinds 

 of seed, many of them being seeds of plants which cannot be 

 obtained in any other way. Of those sown about one-fourth 

 have yet to germinate, and this is just about the percentage 

 of perennials which do not come as easily from seed as 

 annuals. With these even it is only a question of time and 

 careful attention in the matter of watering in some cases, 

 while with such as are indigenous to alpine regions, judi- 

 cious freezing is needed to bring about germination with the 

 advent of spring sunshine. Of those plants whose seeds are 

 usually long in germination, a large number are included among 

 the Ranunculacea, such as Trollius, most of the awned Ane- 

 mones and Clematis. In the same list belong species of Iris, 

 which have round seeds, Dictamnus, Alstromerias, most 

 Liliaceous plants, and some of the Fumariacea, as Corydalis 

 and Dicentra. This rule, covering certain families, is by no 

 means a hard and fast one, as for instance, we sowed seed 

 of the pretty Algerian Ranunculus bullatus, and it germinated 

 in a week, while the seeds of R. Lyallii, probably the finest of 

 the genus, which we have recently received from New Zea- 

 land, may require two years before they appear from the 

 time of sowing. At least this time was required in the only 

 instance of which one can find record where these plants were 

 raised from seed. This is an exceptional case, of course. 

 We name the above kinds as extreme cases, so that there 

 need be no disappointment at delay. The best time to sow 

 seeds of perennials, when it is intended to do so on a large 

 scale, and where a good, light structure and fire heat arc at 

 disposal, is, without doubt, as soon as good, fresh seed can be 

 purchased from the growers, or, in other words, any time 

 during the winter or early spring months. 



There is a two-fold advantage in sowing as early as possi- 

 ble, in that it not only enables one to devote the necessary 

 attention to the young seedling plants at the proper time and 

 when out-door work is at a standstill, but also that the plants 

 may be strongly established in pots when the time arrives for 

 transferring these to their permanent quarters in the open 

 ground, where many of them will llower the first year, or 

 within twelve months from the time of sowing. We are 

 aware that it is usually thought best to sow seed of all kinds 

 in spring, when increased light and sunshine may be relied 

 on to accelerate growth, and this is so when one has not 

 control over the conditions necessary to ensure germination 

 and a subsequent continuation of growth, as in a well-heated 

 house. Should a hot-bed or cold frame be the only facilities 



