56 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



September, 1917 



if Where fall canker worms have in- 

 fested apple trees or where the wingless 

 females are noticed this autumn much 

 may be done to prevent next spring's 

 damage by placing bands of sticky stuff 

 such as tar, printers' ink and "tangle- 

 foot" around the trunks to prevent the females 

 from climbing up to lay their eggs in the 

 branches. Fluffy cotton batting is also use- 

 ful. Late September or early October is the 

 time to do this work. A related species, the 

 worms of which work in the same way, may 

 be similarly dealt with but by applying the 

 bands when the buds swell. Spraying with 

 lead arsenate (six to ten pounds to one hun- 

 dred gallons of water) will control both 

 kinds. 



if Cut worms may be made less numerous 

 this fall and thus less destructive next spring 

 by keeping the ground well cultivated in late 

 and early fall so as to prevent the growth of 

 grasses upon which the creatures feed. Where 

 it is not necessary to have grass none should be 

 allowed to grow. Where it is necessary, 

 poisoned bran is effective because when prop- 

 erly mixed the worms will ' leave grass and 

 other plants for it. A good formula is one 

 ounce of pans green, three pounds wheat bran, 

 mixed dry then moistened with the juice of an 

 orange and enough diluted molasses to make 

 the stuff "crumbly moist." Strew in little 

 gobs beside the grass. 



if If not already done, cut out all 

 fruited and dying canes of raspberry, dew- 

 berry, blackberry and all currant and goose- 

 berry canes older than three years; the former 

 because they will die anyway this winter and 

 only menace the health and well being of the 

 young canes; the latter because they produce 

 fruit inferior in quality and size and less in 

 quantity than do canes a year or two younger. 

 In both cases the danger of infestation from 

 insects and diseases is greater. 



•k Fruit-tree-bark beetles make "pin 

 holes" in the trunks and branches of failing 

 fruit trees. Prevention consists in keeping the 

 trees vigorous and healthy by proper cultiva- 

 tion. If the trees are seriously infested cut 

 them down, burn at once, and replace by new 

 trees from the nurseryman this fall. It is a 

 help to keep the fence rows clean of rubbish 

 and to apply thick coats of whitewash or of 

 concentrated lime-sulphur during late Septem- 

 ber, March, and June. 



it To feed vines and fruits economically, 

 save all bones from the house and those left 

 upon the lawn as canine visiting cards. Bury 

 near grape vines, currant, raspberry and other 

 bushes. No danger of getting too many. Half 

 a peck to a peck will be a good "meal." Be 

 sure to bury deep enough — say 15 to 1 8 inches. 

 Obnoxious cats, dogs, rats, mice and other 

 animals that eke out a precarious existence 

 may be humanely exterminated and buried 

 near fruit trees and shrubs. Such creatures 

 might be obtained from local societies for the 

 prevention of cruelty to animals and thus put 

 to use in nature's way. 



if If the cherry leaves have been eaten 

 out and blistered or browned during early or 

 midsummer by the cherry leaf miner the best 

 thing to prevent damage next season is to 

 plow the orchard or dig beneath the trees in the 

 the garden during late October or early 

 November so as to destroy the larvae which 

 burrow in the ground to hibernate. 



CHECKING THE INVADERS 



Bugs, Worms, Rusts, and Frost 



if Mid-autumn is the time to dig out the 

 peach borer which almost always makes its 

 burrow within six inches of the surface of the 

 ground above, or usually below. Remove the 

 earth gently to the depth of six inches and 

 wherever a collection of peach gum and saw- 

 dust-like "castings" is found, use a penknife 

 to search out and destroy the worm. Don't 

 fear to cut the bark if necessary to find him. 

 You will do less damage than he will. Leave 

 the earth scraped away for a couple of weeks 

 so upon a second examination you may find 

 any that you have missed the first time over. 

 There's no harm in leaving it thus for a third 

 examination, say a month after the first. 

 Before winter fill up the hollows, tramp the 

 earth down hard and then make a cone-shaped 

 mound of earth say six inches high around each 

 tree. Leave this until spring as a protection 

 against mice and rabbits. In early June, an- 

 other mound may be raised so as to compel the 

 peach borer moth to lay her eggs higher up on 

 the trunk than the ordinary level of the ground 

 surface. This she will do usually about mid- 

 summer. The borers are hard to find before 

 September. 



if In many parts of the country, particularly 

 where the soil is heavy and poorly drained, 

 blackberries, dewberries and raspberries' 

 suffer from winterkilling. The damage may be 

 considerably reduced or even prevented entirely 

 by laying down the canes at the approach of 

 winter. The simplest way to do this is to 

 start at one end of the row, and with a many 

 tined "D-handled" fork press the canes down 

 until they reach the ground. To hold them 

 thus the fork need only be thrust firmly in the 

 soil until enough earth has been placed upon 

 them to hold them down. Then the next 

 clump of canes may be laid over the first one 

 and the process of covering repeated. Much 

 greater speed may be attained where three per- 

 sons work together, one pressing and holding 

 down the canes while the other two do the 

 covering. It is usually not necessary to cover 

 the entire canes because enough leaves and 

 other autumn debris is generally caught and 

 held to aid materially in protecting them. In 

 spring when wild berry bushes begin to show 

 signs of life, or preferably not before currant 

 and gooseberry bushes show their first leaves, 

 the earth may be shaken out with a fork, the 

 canes pruned and tied up for the summer. 



if As soon as the asparagus tops begin to 

 turn yellowish and the berries begin to redden 

 they should be cut and placed on the compost 

 pile to decay. Otherwise the seeds will fall 

 upon the bed and give rise to new asparagus 

 plants which are not needed. If the plants 

 have been diseased (rusted) the tops had 

 better be burned without delay. After the 

 cutting a thick dressing of manure to serve 

 both as mulch and fertilizer may be applied. 

 While some people advocate fall setting of 

 asparagus, it is generally best to wait until 

 spring because unless the ground is in ideal 

 condition (especially as to drainage), the 

 fall set plants may be injured. A warm soil 

 and a sunny exposure favor fall setting as well 

 as the production of early spears. Distances 

 between plants and rows vary with individuals. 

 Some people plant 2x2 feet; others 2 x 5 or 6 

 feet so as to utilize the space between rows for 



early maturing crops such as radishes, let- 

 tuce, beets, carrots and cabbage. 



if White grubs, wire worms and 

 other insects whose habits of living are 

 similar may be in part controlled and 

 damage to succeeding crops prevented to just 

 that extent by plowing during mid and late 

 fall because such practise destroys the hiber- 

 nating quarters or so disturbs the creatures 

 that they fall victims to frost. By this prac- 

 tise also much of the food — grass roots — upon 

 which they feed will have decayed by spring so 

 that many will then starve. But since many" 

 are likely to live in spite of all this it is well 

 to delay planting until late and then avoid all 

 crops specially susceptible to these attacks; 

 for instance, strawberries. 



if Do your bit to reduce the number of 

 wormy apples. How? See to it that no 

 "worm" escapes to form a chrysalis. Gather 

 up all the apples that fall prematurely because 

 they contain worms and feed them to pigs, 

 poultry or other domestic animals that will eat 

 them. Failing such sources of consumption 

 bury the worthless fruit and make the balance 

 into sauce or other canned product, being care- 

 ful to burn or bury the parings and cores. 

 Put wire screens on the storage cellar so the 

 moths cannot escape to lay eggs next spring on 

 the early formed fruit. During favorable 

 days examine crevices in the bark of the 

 trees and destroy all hibernating worms and 

 cocoons so found. Indeed, it is a good plan 

 to place bands of burlap around the tree as 

 early in the fall as possible. 



if Two kinds of borers are common in 

 apple trees; the round headed and the flat 

 headed. The former is most often found near 

 the surface of the ground above or below; the 

 latter anywhere on the trunk or main branches. 

 Clean culture and washes (such as lime-sulphur 

 or caustic potash added to soap solution until 

 the mixture becomes creamy) are fair preven- 

 tives. But to make sure a careful examination 

 of the trees should be made in early fall and 

 another two or three weeks later. All 

 borers (discovered by their castings) should 

 be dug out with a knife and killed. 



if The san jose scale is specially de- 

 fenceless during late fall and early winter be- 

 cause the insects are then immature and their 

 scaly coverings are softer and more easily 

 penetrated. Spraying first with a twenty-five 

 per cent, oil emulsion (scalecide, or some 

 such special preparation), during mid to late 

 autumn or with winter strength lime-sulphur 

 solution will prove effective with even rough 

 barked old trees. A second application of 

 either spray may be given with profit just be- 

 fore the buds break in spring; after the foliage 

 appears, the spraying solution must be re- 

 duced to "summer strength." 



if The pear psylla, a tiny sucking insect, 

 hides in crevices of the bark over winter and 

 does much damage both directly by sucking 

 the sap and indirectly by its "honey dew" 

 secretions which are followed by blackening of 

 fruit and foliage. Scrape and burn the bark 

 in November, December or March, and then 

 spray with "black leaf 40" or other commer- 

 cial nicotine preparation, three quarters 

 Rint to 100 gallons and five pounds of soap, 

 liscible oil or scalecide at the rate of one gal- 

 lon to 15 of water is also effective. Spraying 

 must be done when the temperature is above 

 freezing. 



