56 



dead in a few hours. Constant inspection of the bushes is, however, required in order 

 to apply the remedy at once whenever a new brood makes its appearance ; a few days 



neglect will often result in the complete stripping 



of the foliage of the bush. 



Another mode of counteracting the attacks 

 of these worms is hand-picking. This can be 

 done most effectively before the eggs are hatched, 

 as they are deposited along the ribs on the under 

 side of the leaves, as shewn in Fig. 12. By turn- 

 ing over the lower leaves of the bush the lines of 

 white eggs can readily be seen, or the presence of 

 the young worms may be discovered by the little 

 holes eaten through the leaf, as shown in the same 

 wood-cut. If the leaves, with the eggs or young 

 larvse, are gathered and destroyed at this stage, 

 before the worms have grown larger and scat- 

 tered over the foliage, an immense deal of damage 



may be easily averted. 



Fig. 12. J J 



The other great pest of the currant and gooseberry is the Currant Span-worm 



(Eujitchia ribearia, Fitch), a well-known and often very destructive insect. In the 



caterpillar state it can be at once distinguished 

 from the worms of the Saw-fly by its paler and 

 more yellow colour, and by its habit of arching 

 its body into a loop when moving from place to 

 place. The accompanying wood-cut (Fig. 13) 

 represents the caterpillar in this and other 

 attitudes, and illustrates its mode of suspend- 

 ing itself by a silken thread when disturbed or 

 alarmed. When full grown the caterpillar is 

 about an inch long, of a whitish colour, with 

 stripes of yellow running lengthwise and a 

 number of black dots on each segment. It is a 

 native insect and attacks the wild currant and 

 gooseberry bushes in the woods as well as the 

 cultivated varieties in gardens ; it is also 

 especially partial to the spicy-scented Flowering 

 Currant, which is so frequently grown in 

 gardens for the sake of its pretty fragrant 

 blossoms. It generally occurs in large num- 

 bers, and if let alone will soon make sad work 

 of the foliage of any bush it attacks, but 

 fortunately there is only one brood in the 

 year, and it is in consequence by no means so 

 great a pest as the Saw-fly. 

 The moth, Fig. 14, is a pretty pale yellow creature, with its wings adorned with 



several dusky bands or spots, which vary very much in different 



specimens. It usually appears about the end of June, and 



may be seen in numbers flitting about the affected bushes in 



the daytime. It is a wise precaution to catch and destroy as 



many as possible before they have time to deposit their eggs 



for the next year's crop of caterpillars. 



It is unfortunate that powdered Hellebore, which is so 



simple and effective a remedy for the Saw-fly worms, is not 



sufficiently powerful for the certain destruction of these hardier 



creatures. If it is used, it must be made of twice or thrice the usual strength. Paris 



