130 
June, 1889. 
OR CH RR D ^rnd \ G Pl R DEN 
Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 
A rsenioa I Poisons A galnut Seale 1 usee Is. 
We notice in several papers that “there 
is no use in trying to kill such insects as 
the Chinch Bug, Squash Bug and Plant and 
Bark-lice with Paris green or London pur- 
ple". (We quote from the Indiana Farmer 
of May 4th). While this statement is in 
general correct it may be of interest to 
state that during 1887. at Prof. Riley's sug- 
gestion, Mr. Koebele experimented upon 
the value of arsenic as an addition to kero- 
sene emulsion for Scale-iusects, and after 
conparative tests found that it exerted an 
unquestionably beneficial influence. In 
other words a larger proportion of the scales 
were killed by the emulsions to which arsen- 
ic had been added than by the emulsions 
alone. 
So also Air. Alwood experimented in 1887 
upon the Hop Plant-louse, under Prof. 
Riley's direction, and ascertained that the 
arsenical mixtures alone killed a certain 
proportion of the lice. They will act then 
independently of their introduction into the 
alimentary canal, either by absorption or as 
caustics, so that the statement just quoted 
must be somewhat modified. The oily 
mixtures are however much more efficacious 
against this class of insects. 
Pari# Greeu for the Apple Maggot. 
The apple crop of the New England 
States is said to suffer almost as badly from 
the attacks of the Apple Maggot or “Rail 
Road Worm,”* as it is sometimes called, as 
from the Codling Moth. It is therefore 
interesting to know that it is stated on the 
authority of a practical experimenter that 
orchards sprayed with Paris green for the 
Codling Moth in Connecticut were remark- 
ably free from the ravages of the Apple 
Maggot. In view of this treatment we 
notice that the exact date of oviposition of 
the Trypeta (the adult of the Apple Maggot) 
is not recorded, nor is it stated that there 
is any particular point of the apple upon 
which the egg is preferably laid, although 
it is probable that it is simply stuck to the 
skin and not inserted, in which case the 
Paris green spray will operate as it does 
with the Codling Moth. Prof. Comstock 
observed in 1881 that the adult flies issued 
from May 28th to July 6th but his observa- 
tions were made upon indoor specimens at 
Washington and cannot be relied upon as a 
true indication of the dates of issuing in the 
orchards in New England. The probabili- 
ties are, however, that an application of the 
arsenicals at the same time as for the Cod- 
ling Moth will find many of the maggots 
hatching and will destroy them. These 
* Why Rail Read Worm? Is It because it spreads 
along the lines of the Rail Roads? 
Apple Maggots Occur west to Illinois but 
are known as pests only in the Eastern 
States. 
It may not be amiss to quote here Walsh’s 
words written in 1867 in reference to a 
Connecticut statement to the effect that a 
certain proportion of the apples were so 
full of maggots that they were worthless 
"except for cider or for hoys.'’ Walsh sajs: 
“I hope cider drinkers will make a note of 
the fact that maggoty apples can be conver- 
ted into excellent cider. They would prob- 
ably not like to eat the maggots bodily ; but 
they smack their lips after drinking the 
pressed juice of millions of these tender 
young larvae. Yet, as the old saying is, 
•One may as well eat the devil as drink his 
broth’!” 
Ants in Door Yard#. 
It often happens that a common species 
of Black Ant — Camponotus pennsylvanicus — 
breeds so enormously in door yards as to be- 
come not only a pest to cult ivated flowers 
and fruit trees but also a household pest. 
It seems very certain that aside from the 
large area of soil rendered almost useless 
by their burrowings and continual com- 
minutions they are largely x'esponsihle for 
the distribution of Plant-lice. We have 
seen flower beds completely destroyed in a 
few days and a case which was called to 
our attention sometime since is interesting. 
The occupants of an old residence were so 
annoyed by the entrance of vast numbers 
of this pest into the house that it became 
scarcely habitable. In this case it was dis- 
covered that the main colony had built a 
very large mound in the back-yard and 
from this as a center other smaller colonies 
had started out until the entire land at the 
front side, and back of the house was porous 
with their nest openings. The use of bisul- 
phide of carbon had previously been recom- 
mended for destroying such ants and we 
decided upon the use of a little improve- 
ment and the plan was carried into effect 
much as follows: A large horse blanket 
was saturated with water and placed over 
as much of the main nest as it would cov- 
er, a tablespoonful of the bisulphide hav- 
ing first been poured into each of some 20 
holes. The blanket was allowed to remain 
for ab >ut 15 minutes and was then removed. 
A long-handled torch was then made with 
a rag saturated with kerosene tied at the 
end of a broom, which was ignited and the 
vapor at the mouth of several of the orifices 
was exploded. For the next 15 minutes 
successive pops were noticed at the mouths 
of many of the orifices, at many in fact in 
which the substance had not been poured, 
showing that the vapor had thoroughly 
permeated through the subterranean gal- 
leries of the nest. The object of exploding 
the vapor was to drive it further through 
the intricate ramifications of these galleries. 
The experiment was entirely successful and 
the numbers of the ants were greatly lessen- 
ed from that time. This method can, there- 
fore, without doubt, be adopted with per- 
fect confidence in its results wherever ants’ 
nests occur abundantly in such situations. 
A lady friend, who is an amateur gar- 
dener, discourages the ants by persistent 
hammering on the ground with a heavy ^ 
mallet, packing the ground tight. She 
does this preferably just after a rain and 
has great faith in its efficacy. The proper 
time to operate with the bisulphide is just 
after sun down, when most of the foraging 
parties will have returned to their nests. 
Tlie Raspberry Root-gall. 
We received from Mr. Lovett some 
time since a sample of a large swelling up- 
on the roots of the common raspberry. He 
had noticed that they contained a number 
of worms. A glance at these specimens 
showed that it was the common Raspberry 
Root-gall which is produced by a Cynipid 
fly known as Diastropkus radicum. The 
galls vary in size from those of the shape 
and size of a pea to those two inches or 
more in length aMd nearly an inch in diam- 
eter. They are of very irregular shape and 
contain few or many larvae according to 
their size. They are not confined to the 
roots proper but are sometimes fc und upon 
that portion of the stalk which is below the 
surface of the ground. They are nearly al- 
ways more or less abundant and can hardly 
be called very injurious. There is no rem- 
edy so far as we know at present, but from 
the fact that late experimenters have dis- 
covered that many of the gall flies are di- 
morphic it seems very likely that it will 
some day be discovered that an alternate 
form of this species breeds above ground, 
and this once discovered, the remedy will 
be plain. 
A direct quotation is frequently better 
than a re-hash or a condensation. The 
American Garden for May 1889 says: “L. O. 
Howard finds tlie free use of a stream of 
hydrant water the best remedy for rose slugs 
and similar pests.” (The italics are ours.) ^ 
To those who read the article upon which 
the statement is based (see April No. of Or- 
chard and Garden) comment is unneces- 
sary. To others we may state that we 
simply wrote that we found that a strong 
stream of water from a hose washed off 
rose slugs and aphids: washed away ants’ 
nests and discouraged English Sparrows 
from building their nests in our vines. We 
stated that it must be a very strong stream , 
did not call it the “best remedy” and did 
not claim that it was “efficacious for all 
similar pests.” 
Supposed Immunity ot tlie Kelsey Plum 
from the Curculio. 
We had the pleasure of examining some 
days since a handful of Kelsey plums, a 
variety which has been claimed to be cur- 
culio-proof, and out of the 15 examined 
every one contained one or more ol the 
crescent stings of the Plum Curculio. More- 
over every one examined contained a 
healthy living larva. This particular lot 
was grown by Mr. J. N. Harris of Griffin, 
Ga. 
