178 
September, 1889. 
ORCiL ft. re D teiG R R D E 
cate. August 7th, 1889. Col. Pearson was 
commissioned by the Secretary of Agri- 
culture to visit the grape regions about 
Keuka and Senet a Lakes in Western 
New York, to investigate the cause or 
causes which were des royingthe grapes, 
particularly about Hammondsport, ‘‘at an 
alarming rate.” The vineyards on the 
West shore of Keuka Lake were found to 
be “quite generally infested by Downy- 
mildew. Powdery-mildew and Gray or 
Brown-rot: but few vines were entirely free 
from these fungi.” Black-rot was also 
fotmd present, but oidy in a slight degree. 
The Colonel sa\ s: “Passing among thous- 
ands of vines I found not more than a doz- 
en grapes and as many leaves infected by 
Black-rot. It is probably the first invasion 
of the fungus. Gray-rot on the clusters is 
not universal. One vine may be found with 
75 per cent, of its fruit infected. The vine 
next to it may be healthy, or showing only 
partial disease.” The same Mildews and 
Gray-rot were found more general in the 
vineyards on the East shore of the lake. and 
at several points near the foot of ravines 
much Black-rot and Anthracnose were dis- 
covered “prevailing to an intensity almost 
rivalling that of these diseases in New Jer- 
sey, and evidencing that these fungi have 
been here existent in previous years.” 
In the Seneca Lake vineyards the loss 
from Gray-rot and Antiiracnose, in tLe 
worst diseased localities, is estimated to 
amount to fully 50 per cent. Here also 
Black-rot was present "but as in the vine- 
yards on Lake Keuka it is evidently only 
just begun.” 
It appears from Colonel Pearson's report 
that in the vineyards he visited, embracing 
some 19,000 acres, the disease which is de- 
stroying the crop is the Gray or Brown-rot 
and not Black-rot. In 1887, in company 
with Prof. Viala. we visited the same region 
and found at that time all the diseases seen 
by Col. Pearson. But that year (1887) the 
season was dry and the vines were compar- 
atively free from disease. It was only here 
and there that were found an occasional 
berry or cluster attacked. It was Brown-rot 
that was then most common; the Black-rot 
fungus we found on the West shore of 
the Lake and also at Pleasant Y alley but if 
we remember rightly (we have not our notes 
with us), it was only upon berries already 
invaded by the Peronospora. However this 
may be, Black-rot was present then as now 
in a mild degree. Brown-rot was the chief 
pest, and it appears to us that Col. Pearson's 
statements go to confirm our theory that in 
the North the enemy which grape growers 
have most to fear is Brown-rot and not 
Black-rot. It is only farther to the South 
that the latter assumes the character which 
has justly gained for it the title of a “verit- 
able scourge.” 
For a successful treatment of Brown-rot 
we would refer our readers to the experi- 
ments of Mr Geo. M. High, of Middle Bass, 
published in the Orchard and Garden for 
December 1888. 
Two Destructive 1 iirraui Horens, 
The currant grower should look carefully 
through his bushes this fall and cut out and 
burn all the hollow canes. These may be 
recognized by their squarely broken tips 
showing an absence of the pith, their shriv- 
eled and sickly appearance, or by being 
broken or bent over unnaturally. Their 
hollow condition is due to the presence of 
one or both of our very destuctive currant 
borers, one a beetle, Psenocerussupranotatus, 
and the other a moth, JEgeria tipuliformis. 
These will be found in the larval or pupal 
stages in whichever case they will be fotmd 
in the pith having eaten their way during 
the larval stage from the tip of the stem, or 
axil of a bud, where the egg was laid dur- 
ing the summer. These insects in the 
larval stage mas be recognized one from 
the other, by noting that the legs and 
antennae of the beetle lie folded on the 
under side of the body and are easily dis- 
tinguished, the whole being nearly white. 
The moth lies in a crustaceous covering or 
pupa case, which has a yellowish tinge. 
Before going into the pupa state, these 
larvae each bore a hole through to the 
external bark but not through it. This is 
to permit an exit in the spring. In the 
case of the beetle, this hole and that in the 
center of the stem for a short distance 
above and below the larva are plugged up 
with chips thus forming a closed cell in 
which the insect's transformations take 
place. In the case of the moth, the plug- 
ging with chips is, I believe, never done, 
the pupa case serving sufficient protection. 
The beetle goes through its last transfor- 
mation and leaves the stem in May, while 
the pupa of the moth works its way to the 
opening previously made when the case 
splits along the back, thus permitting the 
escape of the mature moth during the early 
part of June. 
The beetle is from three to five sixteenths 
of an inch long, of a gray color with a 
transverse white spot across each wing 
cover near the posterior end. The Anten- 
na? are nearly as long as the body and 
spreading. The moth is truly a beautiful 
object. It is from three eights of an inch 
to one half an inch in length the male being 
the smaller. In color, it is dark having a 
decided blue iridescence and several golden 
bars across the body. Its wings are partly 
transparent. This moth may be seen dur- 
ing June and July flying about the currant 
bushes, frequently alightir.g upon the 
leaves, its wings remaining spread as when 
in flight. 
FI ea Heellen iiiremtiiia lta<li*li and Beet. 
My attention was early this summer 
called to the very destructive flea beetles 
which were doing so much damage to the 
leaves of the radishes and beets about Lansing 
Michigan. Having a large bed of radishse at 
my disposal. I determined to study the beetles 
mode of action and if possible find an 
effective remedy for their destruction. The 
bpetle working on the radish is known as 
Phyllotreta vittata. It is oblong in form, 
black in color with an irregular yellow 
stripe upon each wing cover extending 
longitudinally from the thorax to the tip of 
the body. Just back of the anterior end 
of the wing cover, the stripe has a lateral 
projection and another near the posterior 
end of the wing cover. The hind femora 
are greatly developed permitting the insect 
to jump twelve or eighteen inches which it 
does as soon as disturbed. As soon as the 
leaves are formed both of these beetles may 
be found on their upper surfaces, often 
twelve or twenty on a single leaf. Their 
mode of action is to eat out a round cavity 
on the leaf surface continuing to make it 
deeper until a hole the size of a pinhead 
through the leaf has been formed. The 
leaves of the bed in question became com- 
pletely riddled with the holes thus made. 
I found the cabbages infested in the same 
manner. Here the thickness of the leaf 
seemed to prevent the completion of the 
holes, the many little pits showing instead. 
It will be understood that while these 
beetles were both found more or less on 
different garden plants, each seemed to 
have a single one for which it showed a 
preference. 
The other beetle referred to is closely 
allied to the P. vittata. It is somewhat 
larger, body black, the antennae and lower 
limbs being somewhat lighter. The wing 
covers contain longitudinal rows of inden- 
tions and there is a fine white pubescence 
beneath. It too is a flea beetle having the 
actions of P. vittata. It closely resembles 
the cucumber flea beetle, Crepidodera cucum- 
eris but is larger and does not have the 
transverse indention on the posterior thorax 
which that beetle has. One very noticeable 
feature was that on adjacent rows of rad- _ 
ishes and beets, the Phyllotreta vittata while 
nearly covering the leaves of the radishes, 
was scarcely represented upon the leaves of 
the beets, while in the case of the black flea 
beetle, just tne reverse was true. The 
black flea beetle was found later in large 
numbers on the potatoes. 
As remedies, I tided dusting the leaves 
thoroughly with ashes, plaster, finely pow- 
dered tobacco, gas lime, and London purple 
and ashes mixed. The leaves were also 
sprayed with kerosene emulsion, and London 
purple (1 lb to 100 gals, water) but no decid- 
ekly good results were obtained from the 
use of any of these remedies. The use of 
ashes was found more destructive to the 
foliage than the beetles. I finally made a 
tea of tobacco, by boiling throughly two 
double handfuls of finely cut refuse tobacco 
in two or three quarts of water and diluting 
to make a common pailful of the liquid. 
This was forcibly sprayed upon the leaves 
of the infested plants of all kinds; and 
through numerous applications under dif- 
ferent circumstances, was proved a success- 
ful remedy. — F. H. Hillman, Reno, Nev. 
