December, 1890. 
217 
rpfc H RRD 
'RND GRRDEN 
^ for preserving the Green Gage is probably 
best. I would also speak a good word for 
the peculiar Peach tomato. With us it is 
wonderfully productive and withstands the 
changes of weather almost as well as the 
little plum and pear shaped sarts. It is the 
sweetest of all tomatoes and for preserving 
into what the ladies call tomato “figs” is 
excellent. While worthless from its soft 
character for market it is well worth a place 
in the home garden. 
AN EXPERIMENT WITH CORN. 
It is a well known fact that south of the 
Potomac, river the northern early sweet 
corn is utterly worthless. With a view of 
breeding up a sort suited to this latitude 
and earlier than sorts we have, we jdanied 
a number of early sorts of northern field 
corn mixed indiscriminately for the purpose 
of crossing naturally. We were surprised 
Sto find that so far as the general appearance 
of the ears goes there was little if any cross- 
ing. Each sort still looks distinct. What 
the result from planting them next year 
will be we are anxious to see. We hope 
however to get from those which did best 
this year some that may develop good qual- 
ities as an early corn for southern planting. 
Earliress is the main thing sought for, the 
ordinary white dent corn grown south is 
far sweeter than any field corn grown 
north. 
Further notes on vegetables and berries 
at the N. C. Station will be given in Janu- 
uary. — W. F. Massey. 
Conducted by F. J. Niswandkr, 
Agricultural College, Ingham Co. Mich. 
The Snowy Tree Cricket. 
(Ecanthus nivevs. 
The raspberry canes received from Mr. 
Frank Pickard, Neenali, Wis., are injured 
by the snowy tree cricket, CEcanthus ni- 
veus Harris. This insect (Fig. 1 male, Fig. 
2 female) has been reported as doing great 
damage to the canes of raspberries, black- 
berries, grapes and even the twigs of fruit 
trees. The insect is a member of the order 
Orthoptera or, as the name indicates, straight 
winged insects. To this order belong the 
grasshoppers, locusts, crickets and such in- 
sects as have the wing covers straight and 
membranous. 
The young crickets appear about 
the first of May. 
They are of a 
greenish - yel low 
or white color and 
are very active, 
jumping at the 
least alarm. Dur- 
ing the day they 
conceal them- 
selves beneath the 
dense foliage of Fi "' 2 - 
plants. “While young,” Dr. Riley says, 
“ they feed entirely upon plant lice, eggs of 
other inserts and other delicate anifhal food, 
and if they can get nothing better, will ex- 
hibit their cannibalistic propensities by de- 
vouring the weaker individuals of their 
own kind.” Miss Murtfeldt of Missouri has 
proved beyond a doubt that this feature 
with regard to their food habits is charac- 
teristic throughout their entire life history , 
contrary to the report that they do great 
injury t c grape clusters by gnawing off the 
berries cr cutting into them. Miss Murt- 
feldt placed several of the twigs containing 
ihe eggs into a glass jar and, after t he eggs 
had hatched, tried to induce them to eat 
grapes. Several scon died, and seeing that 
something different was required, she gave 
them leaves and twigs on which were plant 
lice. On the lice as a diet they “waxed 
fat and grew strong.” After attaining 
nearly their full size, she gave grapes and 
other fruits, but these were not eaten at all. 
At no time during their career would they 
partake of such food. 
The mature insect is of a pale yellowish 
color, and the female (Fig. 2) is furnished 
with a long ovipositor with \v hich she 
punctures the cams of raspberries, black- 
berries and the twigs of trees and shrubs 
which have a soft pith. Into the branch 
this long ovipositor is thrust in order to 
furnish a nidus for her eggs (Fig. 3). Gen- 
erally, two eggs are placed within each 
puncture. The punctures extend in an 
irregular row along the branch ( see Fig. 3). 
This series of punctures weakens the branch 
and thus causes it to break off quite easily, 
or they may be so severe as to cause the 
death of the twig beyond the injury. It is 
yet a question whether or not it is policy to 
destroy this insect. From their carnivorous 
habits one can readily see the amount of 
good they would do; 
yet, on the other hand, 
they no doubt cause 
serious damage to the 
plants. On the whole, 
it is perhaps best to 
destroy them. 
The best remedy is 
to cut out the canes 
and punctured twigs 
and burn them. This 
should be done in the 
fall, after the eggs 
have been deposited, 
or early in the spring, 
before they have 
hatched. This has 
proved successful in 
every instance where 
practiced. There are 
no insecticides that 
would do the least 
amount of good. It 
has been suggested 
to shake the bushes Fig. 3. 
and then kill the mature insects, before 
they can get away, by crushing: but this is- 
a laborious and expensive method and at- 
tended with questionable success. 
Cockroaches. 
Cockroaches, Croton bugs, or “ black 
beetles,” belong to the order Orthoptera. 
This order is characterized by their straight 
wing covers and their incomplete transfor- 
mations, i. e., they, during their larval 
stage, resemble more or less the mature 
insect. The insect, as soon as it emerges 
from the egg, bears a striking resemblance 
to its parent. This is not true of those in- 
sects whose transformations are complete, 
such as butterflies, flies and beetles. 
The cockroaches are members of the fam- 
ily Blatidee, and are among the most com- 
mon insects found in this country They 
are disgusting and annoying from the dis- 
agreeable odor they emit from their bodies 
whenever disturbed. They are nocturnal 
in their habits, that is, they roam about 
only at night in search of their food, and 
during the day lie concealed among 
debris, in cracks and in any place that will 
offer the least possible chance of conceal- 
ment. The coloi of the members of this 
family varies from a dark brown to a black, 
which colors are just suited to their mid- 
night raids. They are widely distributed 
over the earth, and are found in most all 
out-of-the-way places, but more especially 
around steam pipes, in closets, under the 
bark of trees and logs, and on board ships. 
The damage they do is considerable, as 
they are not confined to any special diet, 
but, on the other hand, they are omnivor- 
ous, feeding on anything that will furnish 
the least possible amount of nutriment. It 
is said that they will even devour each 
other. 
Unlike most insects, they do not deposit 
their eggs singly, but all are enclosed in an 
egg case and are deposited at the same 
time. The eggs are placed in an egg case, 
which is a brown, pod-like-shaped sac, con- 
taining a row of eggs upon either side. 
The egg case generally protrudes from the 
abdomen of the female for some time or 
until the young are ready to emerge from 
the eggs ; then the case is dropped. It is 
said that the parent assists in liberating the 
young from the case. The number of times 
that the insect moults or changes its skin 
varies with the species ; ordinarily this 
takes place about four times. The antennae 
are long and thread like, generally reaching 
beyond the wing covers. 
The cockroaches commonly found in this 
country are Periplaneta Americana, the 
American cockroach ; Periplaneta Orient- 
alis, the Oriental cockroach, and rhyllodro- 
mia Germanica, or German cockroach, or, 
as it is more commonly known, the “Cro- 
ton bug.” “It owes its last name to the 
fact that it was first noticed in great num- 
bers at the time of the completion of the 
Croton system of water- works in New York 
City.” There is no definite limit placed 
upon the life of this insect, and climate, 
temperature, food and other conditions 
often determine its period of existence. 
They relish any kind of food, such as bread, 
fruit and sugar. Last summer, while using 
syrup to capture moths and other insects, 
