37 



8 



Garden and Forest. 



[August 7, 1889. 



Keyne's collection were specimens of the new Climbing 

 Niphetos, which seems to dit'ter from the well-known favorite 

 only in its climbing habit of growth, and which will prove a 

 valuable quality, especially in house culture. The novelties 

 at this exhibition, it will be seen, were comparatively few, and 

 it was remarkable, not so much for new things as for old. 

 The conference was held on two days, but, as none of the 

 papers will appear in print before the journal of the society 

 is issued, we shall have to wait an indefinite time for them. 

 What to me seemed the most important outcome of the confer- 

 ence was the introduction to the notice of rosarians of a grand 

 new rose, Rosa gigantca, a native of India. Dried specimens 

 were exhibited, which showed what a large size the flower 

 attains. It measures five inches across, and is pure white. It 

 is satisfactory to know that seedlings liaN-e already been raised 

 at Kew, but so far no one seems to know whether it will be 

 hardy enough for open-air culture. Even if not, it will make 

 a beautiful green-house plant. IV. Goldring. 



London. 



Entomological 



The White Pine Weevil. 



[Pissodes Strobi, Peck.) 



THIS insect causes considerable damage in gardens and 

 on grounds where evergreens are grown for orna- 

 mental purposes; not only White Pines are attacked, but other 

 species of Pine and Spruce suffer equally. A letter recently 

 received from Warren County, New Jersey, describes the 

 injury so well that I reproduce parts of it. "Many of my ever- 

 0-1-eens— Spruces especially — are much infested by a borer 

 which seems to deposit its eggs at the base of the new shoots 

 and leaders, and spreads downward, killing all of the tree that 

 is above it. . . . In this section every White Pine has lost 

 its leader. I don't think I have seen a single exception. Is 

 this done by the same insect that attacks the Spruces, or is it 

 a different one ? It is most provoking to see one's best and 

 most promising trees cut down in this way." . . . 



The letter was accompanied by specimens of infested Spruce 

 twigs, which show-ed the characteristic work of the White 

 Piiie "weevil, Pissodes strobi. The insect is a well-known one, 

 and its history was first made out many years ago by Dr. Harris, 

 who thought it required more than a year to come to maturity. 

 Dr. Fitch afterward gave a very full account of the species, giving 

 it a period of one year 10 undergo its transformations. Other 

 writers have mentioned the insect at intervals, until most 

 recently Dr. Packard has written on the subject and has re- 

 corded the species from April to September, his dates leaving 

 little margin for intervals. Dr. Packard gives one brood for 

 the species, the generalized account being that the imago 

 appears in spring' or early summer and oviposits soon after. 

 From my collecting and observations, I believe there are in 

 the latitude of New York two broods annually. The first of 

 these issues as imago early in spring, say the latter part of April, 

 or early in May, ovipositing in May, the larvae of the second 

 brood coming' to maturity the latter part of July, the imago 

 issuing during early August and ovipositing during that 



month. 



about one-third of an inch long, 

 with a horny, yellow head, 

 slightly curled as it lies in 

 its cell. When full grown 

 it forms an oval cell either 

 just under the bark or in 

 the pith, and changes to a 

 white pupa, and very soon 

 afterward to an imago. 

 The imago is an oblong- 

 oval and rather narrow 



White Pine Weevil enlarged: <z, larva; /^ pupa, weevil, about a quarter of 



an inch long, of a dull, dark chestnut color, with two dots 

 on the thorax, the scutel and a short irregular band back 

 of the middle of the wing-covers white, the wing covers 

 also variegated with a few patches of tawny yellow. The 

 eggs have not as yet been described. They are deposited 

 in the leaders and other small twigs and l.)ranches^sometimes 

 also on the trunks of old trees — at very short intervals. The 

 larvae eat very little more than twice their own length into the 

 woodor under the bark, and asingle, comparativelysmall shoot 

 will harbor thirty to forty of them. Of course the smaller 

 twigs thus interrupted in growth, and damaged, die, and the 

 shape of young trees is spoiled, unless the owner believes — as 

 some do — in small, bushy^ trees, in which case they are no 

 serious drawback, since the\- seem never to kill larger branches 

 or trees. 



The larva is a white grub. 



No satisfactory remedies for borers have yet been discovered. 

 Their mode of life is such that they are at no time in posi- 

 tion to be attacked by insecticides. This weevil has its 

 parasites that keep it in check somewhat, and some of our 

 smaller birds seek out the Iarva> and pupa- under the bark, 

 and feed upon them-. The only way of checking their ravages 

 when the)' appear in parks is to trim out and burn all the 

 infested branches and twigs very early in spring, and again 

 about the middle of July. In this way the larvae will be pre- 

 vented from coming to maturity, and there will be no imagos. 

 So long as there are other unpruned trees about, this remedy 

 is palliative merely;' but still, so many will be destroyed that 

 a much larger proportion of leaders will escape, and the injury 

 will be consideralily reduced. 



RutgersCollege, July 25th, 1889. Jolin B. Smith. 



Cultural Department. 



Shrubs with Conspicuous Fruit in July. 



IN the early part of July there is usually no lack of shrubs in 

 flower, many of which begin to bloom in the latter part 

 of June. In the first week or two of July some of the Spiraeas 

 continue to give a more or less abundant show of flowers. / - 



Spinva 5cr(?'z/o/zrt and the Steepleb.ush, (.S"/z'r«'rt tomentosd) coxn^ ,-va"'v'-»^» 

 into their fiest condition then, and they are accompanied by 

 the fragrant Swamp Rose {Rosa Carolina) and by the odor- 

 less but very showy Prairie Rose {Rosa setigera). 



The Common Elder {Sainbuciis Canadensis) is the most 

 conspicuous native white-flowered shrub, and it is followed by 

 the rarely seen Siuartia pentagyjia, by the St. John's Worts 

 (Hypericums), and by the Pepiper_bush {Clethra alnifolia), which 

 joins the procession just in time toTTe counted a July bloomer, 

 but will continue to open its fragrant blossoms throughout 

 August. These are among the most conspicuous of the shrubs 

 which flower about Boston in July, but as flowers become 

 scarce, ripening fruits, or those that assume rich colors, come 

 daily more and more into notice. The list of shrubs with 

 showy or highly colored fruit in this month is short. There 

 are many fruits which ripen, Ijut most of them are insignificant 

 in quantity, or inconspicuous, or, in some cases, so concealed 

 by dense foliage that they are rarely observed. 



The Early Elder {Sauibuciis racemosa) is one of the earliest 

 to fruit of the tall, growing shrubs. Two groups of these plants 

 growing side by side in the Arboretum present distinct varia- 

 tions in time of ripening and in color of fruit. The plants of 

 one lot, originally collected in the western part of this state, 

 had begun to ripen fruit by June 12th, and at the end of two 

 weeks the berries had all been eaten by birds. This fruit was 

 of the ordinary type, bright red, in somewhat loose cymes. 

 The other group of plants, obtained from a New York nursery, 

 did not ripen its berries until several days after the birds had 

 eaten the last one of the first fot. These berries were very 

 handsome, bright coral red, in close compact bunches, and they 

 reniained on the bush until about the middle of July, when the 

 robins ate them. 



Although these berries attracted the attention of all who 

 saw them, there is probably no fruit so much remarked upon, 

 at this season, as that of a form or species of bush Honey- 

 suckle at present known as Lonicera Ruprechtiana. In many 

 respects this species greatly resembles the common Tartarian 

 Honeysuckle, but the' flowers differ in size and shape, while 

 the fruit of some individuals at least is incomparably superior. 

 This fruit begins to ripen about the end of- June, and up to the 

 end of July the plants are beautiful objects. The shining dark- 

 red berries, hanging in pairs on each stalk, almost literally 

 cover the branches, which droop nearly to the ground under 

 the weight. 



Another Asiatic species, Lonicera Morroiuii, also bears an 

 abundance of handsome fruit on a background of lighter 

 colored leaves than the last. The fruit of this species is said 

 to be poisonous, but toward the end of July, when it has be- 

 come very ripe, robins and catbirds eat it as freely as they do 

 the fruit of L. Ruprechtiana. Some forms of the common 

 Tartarian Honeysuclcle also have claims to attention for their 

 beautiful fruit, which is found to vary from dark red to orange 

 on different plants when grown from the .same lot of seed. 

 When a plant of any of these Honeysuckles bears exception- 

 ally beautiful fruit, it should be propagated by cuttings or 

 layers, or in sonie other way than by seeds, if its special 

 characteristics are to be preserved. Some varieties of the. 

 well-known Lonicera Xylosteum are exceedingly handsome, 

 with shining, dark cherry-red fruit, which remains on the 

 bushes throughout the month and often through August. 

 Occasionally plants are found which are unusually prolific, 



