barter's (Ponthlg. 



43 



coveries to himself or not as he may think proper. 

 — Ed.J 



WASPS AND HORNETS. 



BY A FENDLER. 



In an article entitled "Insects in the Orchard," in 

 the December number of the Gardener s Monthly, 

 page 364, the experience of cultivators is wanted 

 with regard to the topics it contains. 



As to wasps and hornets, I had some experience 

 last summer, and can most cheerfully testify to their 

 great usefulness and industry in destroying caterpil- 

 lars. They have been long known to me, but I must 

 say, very superficially. What I had hitherto consid- 

 ered as neutrals, if not as enemies, proved to be 

 most diligent and faithful assistants in picking oiF 

 the caterpillars from my tobacco field. 



One of the most tedious kinds of work in raising 

 a crop of tobacco is the turning over of every leaf 

 in search of the caterpillar, known by the name of 

 horn worm, or tobacco- worm, so very destructive to 

 that crop. These worms can be found of all sizes, 

 from that of a sewing-needle's point to that of a 

 man's finger. From about the 10th. of June to the 

 end of the tobacco season, say, the middle of Sep- 

 tember, they are at work in dev> -uring the leaves 

 ot the tobacco plants. Last summer, although 

 these caterpillars w<.re hatched in unusually large 

 numbers and to an alarming extent, yet, rapidly as 

 their growth is, they never reach a size of more than 

 an inch in length. The cause of this singular phen- 

 omenon, I soon found to be a number of hornets, 

 and orange colored wasps dispersed over the field, 

 and busy from morning till night during the months 

 of July and August in searching for tobacco worms 

 on the lower side of the leaves. Whenever they found 

 one they took hold of him with their mandibles, 

 worked him up into a small ball and then carried 

 him off. In this way the wasps check the develop- 

 ment of the caterpillar. 



Later in the season, in September, when the 

 nights turn cool, the wasps are busy only during the 

 the warmer part of the day, hence many of the cater- 

 pillars have a chance of growing to full size, even if 

 the tobacco is being wormed by hand. When they 

 have reached the length of somewhdt over an inch 

 they become too heavy for the wasp, and are rejected 



Whether the latter render their services to man 

 from motives of self-interest or otherwise is quite 

 immaterial to me ; these little creatures, by their 

 efficient and voluntary aid, imposed upon me a duty 

 of gratitude which will not allow me to pry into 

 their motives. They will always find in me a friend 



ready to protect them, no matter whether theymeant 

 to benefit me or themselves. Most likely they had 

 the preservation of their own offspring in view, and 

 thus work even for the horticulturist's future 

 benefit. 



Some years the wasps seem to be less numerous 

 than in other years. In this part of the country one 

 acre of tobacco, in order to be properly wormed, 

 requires most of one person's time and attention 

 throughout the growing season, if he has no assist- 

 ance. Last summer, 'assisted by wasps, the acre of 

 tobacco I planted, did not require more than three 

 wormings, leaving me plenty of time for other work. 



An article on the habits and natural history of 

 this particular tribe of insects by one of our ento- 

 mologists could not fail to be of much interest to 

 the horticulturist. 



PUZZLES IN GRAPE CULTURE. 



BY J. S., GENESEO, ILL. 



I hke the grape talk in a recent Monthly. I like 

 Fuller, his book, and all he says about grapes better 

 than any one else. Two objections he and others 

 talk about, whether four inches is deep enough to 

 to plant grapes, i.e. the top roots covered four inches 

 or more ; I know no reason why any part of the stem 

 should be in the ground, more than the roots should 

 be above the ground. 



Pinching-in or shortening laterals : I have tried it 

 some, but dont think " it pays;" I cannot see any 

 good reason for it. 



Summer pruning induces fruitfulness and loss of 

 vigor and health in the vine. It is common now for 

 vines to produce fine fruit while young ; as they grow 

 older rot and mildew appears. 



Some trees and vinos are from the first more hardy 

 and vigorous than others, and are not so soon weak- 

 ened or injured by summer pinching. 



I get Pears and Apples, &c., sooner by summer 

 pruning ; but though slowly, it injures the trees 

 more or less, and the effect is also transmitted by 

 grafts. I will continue the practice with Pears, &c. 

 But grapes bear enough, without summer pruning, 

 and they have done so for me every season this forty 

 years. A few vines that I tried pinching on for 

 some 5 or 6 years showed speck and rot, mildew, &c. 



I have a Clinton vine now eleven years old in my 

 door-yard, so tramped that no grape grows in twenty 

 feet of it it ; goes up 8 or 9 feet then spreads so that 

 it bears fruit torty-five feet apart, and full all over ; 

 no two of my vines in cultivated ground bears as 

 much, and its berries and bunches are larger than 

 common, ripe and sound, every- year. 

 I had a Catawba in Ohio in a similar situation, only 



