August 25, 1897.] 



Garden and Forest. 



337 



grown and ready to pupate, a period of peculiar weather 

 favored a disease which attacked the larvae and pupae to such 

 an extent that only scattering- beetles here and there escaped. 

 It was a true epidemic disease, and so fatal that it was 

 almost impossible to get together a small collection of adult 

 beetles for which I was asked by a correspondent. Very few 

 beetles were seen during the winter in their ordinary hiding- 

 places, and the janitors of the College buildings informed me 

 this spring that where they had been in the habit of sweeping 

 up quarts in previous years, they then saw only an isolated 

 beetle here and there. So few beetles were seen early in the 

 spring that I decided to omit the first spraying of the trees on 

 the College Campus, and so few eggs were laid that, as an experi- 

 ment, I decided to omit spraying altogether. When the larvas 

 hatched, however, it was seen that there were a great many more 

 insects than had been counted upon. The trees on the Cam- 

 pus remained in fairly good condition, although some branches 

 here and there showed a considerable proportion of eaten 

 leaves ; but in other parts of the city European Elms showed 

 just as much injury as they had manifested during previous 

 years. Under ordinary conditions, thorough spraying will kill 

 a very large percentage of the insects that would otherwise 

 come to maturity ; but even under the best treatment a small 

 percentage will survive, and that percentage will be sufficient 

 to stock the trees during the season following. We have only 

 one brood of the insects in New Brunswick, and in times past 

 we have not found two annual sprayings any too much to keep 

 the insects in check on the trees surrounding our institution. 

 I consider it a poor plan to adopt the suggestion that only 

 one-half the trees in a city be sprayed each year ; but on the 

 other hand, I think that it one part of the city was thoroughly 

 sprayed twice one year it could be protected by a single spray- 

 ing the second year. The recommendation is always to make 

 a spraying when the adults appear, so as to prevent them 

 from laying eggs as far as possible. The second spraying 

 should be made when the eggs are all hatched, to kill the larvae 

 and prevent their development to beetles. If that be done 

 thoroughly one year it would be necessary the year following 

 to make only the second spraying to kill off the larvae. In a 

 season like the one through which we are now passing, the Elm- 

 trees support insect injury very well, because there is an abun- 

 dance of moisture to enable them to repair damages. I fully 

 expect that spraying will have to be thoroughly done on the 

 trees near our buildings next season, because there have been 

 many more beetles developed this year than were permitted to 

 come to maturity for several years past, when active measures 

 were taken. . . ... 



Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N. J. J 0/1)1 it. bmitll. 



Critical Notes on the Loganberry. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — It has been a good season to discover imperfections in 

 this new fruit as grown here in the east, and we have a short 

 list of them to record. It is possible that some of these may 

 be false accusations, and that when we understand the pecu- 

 liarities of the plant better we shall know that they are the 

 result of improper treatment, rather than natural traits, but for 

 the present it is only fair that they should be noted as faith- 

 fully and given as much publicity as the good qualities that 

 were observed last year. 



First, all of the canes that were not covered last winter 

 winter-killed nearly to the ground. 



Second, the canes that were covered with earth about the 

 middle of January were apparently injured considerably before 

 that time, but the plants that were covered about the 20th of 

 November wintered admirably. 



Third, even where the canes were not injured, the fruit did 

 not mature well this year. There was every indication that 

 the few plants that we had would yield a large crop of excel- 

 lent quality, until about the middle of June, or when the earliest 

 berries began to turn red ; then it was noticed that the leaves 

 on the fruiting canes were blighting, and later this developed 

 into a blast that extended to the berries, and they began to show 

 brown spots, which, upon examination, proved to be where 

 the pulp had dried down upon small groups of seeds, and 

 usually it was the seeds near the hull at the base of the berries 

 that were affected. This trouble was attributed to the exces- 

 sively wet weather, and this theory is supported by the fact that 

 Black Cap and other early Raspberries appeared to suffer 

 severely from the same cause, although they showed the 

 effects differently. 



Fourth, some of the Loganberry-plants seem to be either 

 diseased or to lack constitutional vigor. The leaves of such 

 plants are small and light-colored and the growth puny, while 



other plants growing beside them are exceedingly vigorous. 

 We have noticed these plants in every lot of the Loganberry 

 planted, and have not been able to find a satisfactory reason 

 for their condition. So far as observed by us, such plants 

 never amount to anything. 



The young plants propagated from hard-wood cuttings last 

 winter have exceeded our expectation in vigor of growth. 

 Already they have outgrown the seedlings of the same age, 

 and are hard in pursuit of the stolons that started into growth 

 much more freely than they did in the spring. 



We still are inclined to believe that the Loganberry may be 

 profitably grown for market in New England,' at least in small 

 quantities, although we are free to confess that we are disap- 

 pointed in the behavior of the plants here this season. 



Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station. L. F. Kinney. 



Electricity in Vegetation. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — There is little doubt that nature makes an important use 

 of electricity in the growth of vegetation, the blossoming of 

 flowers and the ripening of fruits. The method of electric 

 appropriation and action is as yet not fully understood, but the 

 secret will be revealed to man during the coming years. Just 

 as science is proving that the nerves of the human body show 

 polarity under the action of electric currents, so it is shown 

 that there are currents of electricity in all parts of vegetables 

 except those which are insulated with dry bark, etc. In flowers 

 the currents are more feeble, but in the succulent fruits and 

 certain cereals they are of considerable strength, depending 

 upon the season, being greatest in spring-time when the plant 

 is rich in sap. 



Atmospheric magnetism is seen in tree-growth. Branches 

 on the edges of groves are drawn outward by the electrical 

 attraction of a highly oxygenated atmosphere and that of the 

 unshaded earth. Artificially electrified soil increases plant- 

 growth, as every one is aware. Some curious experiments 

 have already been made in electrical-plant culture, and results 

 have been obtained which warrant their continuation, although 

 they have not yet reached that point of permanent scientific 

 development which insures a fruitful transformation of fields 

 and market-gardens by means of artificial electrical stimulus. 



It has long been known that fruits exhibit electrical condi- 

 tions, and that in puncturing them at their electrical poles and 

 closing the circuit, it has been possible, by means of special 

 mechanism, to study the magnetic variation. The ascending 

 sap of trees and the cortical sap (which, as is well known, have 

 not the same chemical composition) react upon each other, 

 giving marked electrical phenomena. From the pith to the 

 cambium the envelopes are electrically less and less positive; 

 from the cambium to the epidermis they are more and 

 more so. 



What is to be' the future of patient experimentation along 

 these lines ? Already in hot-houses fruits are forced by strong 

 electric illumination. Possibly by reinforcing this external 

 action with the passage of an electric current in soils charged 

 with chemical products marvelous results shall be obtained— 

 fruits and flowers magically improvised, forests created as by 

 a fairy wand out of denuded deserts. Such improvisation has 

 nothing improbable about it in view of the experiments which 

 have already shown the mysterious and powerful influence 

 exerted by electricity and magnetic currents upon vegetable 

 life. 

 Chicago, ill. Rosa G. Abbot/. 



[A pleasing speculation — but prophecy is quite unsafe. — 

 Ed.] 



Recent Publications. 



An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United Stales, Canada, 

 etc. By Nathaniel Lord Britton and Hon. Addison Brown. 

 Vol. II. New York, 1S97. 



The second volume of this notable work completes the 

 Choripetalae and includes the Gamopetalae through Men- 

 yanthaceas. The success which it has attained justifies 

 the wisdom of the great undertaking. As an exposition of 

 views that are undoubtedly gaining ground it must needs 

 take a peculiar place in the "future study of the flora with 

 which it deals. Whether these views will meet with gen- 

 eral acceptance in their entirety or not, it is an advantage 

 to have them so ably presented. If the analytic as opposed 

 to the synthetic method of treatment of plant forms seems 

 sometimes carried to the extreme, we cannot close our 



