5 
January, 1891. 
OWCHftRD |B1, GRRDE N 
r 
t 
t 
Amateurs of the gentler sex are some- 
times “so fearful that they won’t have any 
Calla Lilies in time for Easter.” If Callas 
seem backward, they may be forwarded by 
using warm water with just a “suspicion” 
ot ammonia added to it. The water should 
be warm enough to feel a little uncomfort- 
able to the hand, and it should be used 
freely. A sunny window will also be 
helpful. 
Euonymus radicans variegatus, sometimes 
called Japan Box, has proven to be an un- 
usually useful 
plant, both in- 
doors and out, 
and should be 
better known 
outside of pro- 
fessional use. 
The variegation 
is beautiful and 
constant. It is 
naturally a 
climbing plant, 
but is so amen- 
able to culture 
that it may be 
grown as an 
edging, and 
_ may, in fact, be 
Euonymus Radicans Variega- . 
tus. Fijj. 1570. trimmed into 
almost any shape. Being hardy and an ev- 
ergreen, it is a good plant for covering old 
tree stumps or other objects that one may 
wish to cover out of sight. It is also a pret- 
ty plant for green-house and window cul- 
ture, and its handsome foliage is useful 
among cut flowers. It is most beautiful, 
however, when allowed to take its natural 
form. 
Some window plants often get too much 
water in midwinter. The lower the tem- 
perature the less water will be needed. If 
saucers are used under the pots, water 
should not be allowed to remain in them, 
except in the case of the Calla, which can- 
not get too much water. 
The green fly is particularly fond of the 
Crocus, and about this time those grown in 
rooms are often “alive with them.” Tobac- 
co smoke is unpleasant in a room. Persian 
Insect powder is effectual but expensive. A 
very useful and not unpleasant combination 
may be found in a cake of carbolic soap and 
a common flat camel’s hair brush half 
an inch or so wide. Make a moderately 
strong solution of the soap in an old tea 
cup or a small tomato can. Moisten the 
brush and sweep it over the flies. They 
will adhere to the brush, and a dip in the 
solution will remove them, when the brush 
will be ready for use again. The solution 
will kill all the flies it touches, whether 
they adhere to the bush or not. It needs 
but a little experience to develop the useful- 
ness of this brush in various ways for kill- 
ing many kinds of insects. — P. B. Mead. 
Renew your subscriptions promptly. 
Conducted by F. J. Niswander, 
Agricultural College, Ingham Co, Mich. 
Blackberry Calls. 
Early in the spring at the time the black- 
berry and raspberry bushes are trimmed 
and pruned, care should be taken to remove 
all galls or abnormal growths that are 
found. The pithy blackberry gall (Fig. 400) 
is perhaps one of the most common. This 
gall is of a brown or blood-red color and 
varies in size from one inch in length to 
three and even four inches. It is usually 
in the form of ridges, running parallel to 
the stem or cane. The number of these 
ridges varies, but most fre- 
quently four or five are met 
with. It is thought that these 
ridges depend to a great 
extent upon the number of 
rows of eggs deposited by the 
female in the canes. This is 
the only satisfactory reason 
now given. Hence those 
galls with five ridges have had 
five rows of eggs deposited 
in the canes. The abnormal 
growth of stem is due to the 
presence of some irritating 
fluid or substance deposited 
by a small, four- winged fly> black berry 
while in the act of laying the Gall. Fig. too. 
eggs. 
The insect that produces the gall, Dias- 
trophus nebulosus, Osten Sacken, is a mem- 
ber of the order Hymenoptera, being the 
same order that the honey bee, ants, wasps 
ar.d sawflies belong to. They are all char- 
acterized by four membranous wings. It is 
a member of the gall producing family 
known as Cynipidte. This family includes 
those insects that, by the result of their 
mode of egg laying, produce galls. 
Just why certain insects produce galls or 
abnormal growths resembling those pro- 
duced by the same species before is not 
known. As examples of galls, I need only 
to mention the large, brownish “oak 
apples ” which result from the oviposition 
of a member of this family. The irritation 
caused by the fluid or other substance 
injected into the opening, causes an extra 
flow of sap to that part, and thus the 
growth is produced. On cutting open the 
pithy blackberry gall, numerous small cells 
can readily be seen in the substance of the 
wood. In these cells the larvae of the 
“ flies ” live until they arc ready to emerge 
as mature insects. Often the surface of 
the galls will have small holes or openings 
in them, as is shown in the figure. These 
are the places of exit of the mature insect 
or a parasite upon it . The mature insects 
are not as numerous as they would be were 
it not for one of the parasitic hymenopter- 
ons, Aulax sylvestris, O. S., which keeps it 
in check. 
The mature insect is of a pitchy-black 
color. The upper parts are smooth and 
glossy. The jaws are somewhat reddish. 
The head is smooth and shining and the 
antennae are reddish like the jaws. The 
antennae of the males consist of fourteen 
joints each, while those of the female have 
filteen. The feet and legs are reddish- 
brown. The larvae are quite small, being 
about eleven-hundredths of an inch long. 
They are of a whitish color and have an 
oval, yellowish spot on each side, just 
behind the head. In March the larvae 
transform to purpae, and in from two to 
four weeks the mature insects appear. 
Another gall, similar to the one just de- 
scribed, is often found quite abundant. It 
is caused by one of these four-winged flies 
and belongs to the same genus as the pre- 
ceding. It is rougher in appearance and 
does equally as much damage. Often 
blackberry and raspberry canes have on 
them what is kn wn as the raspberry gouty 
gall. This was fully described by Professor 
A. B. Cord ley, in the February number of 
Orchard and Garden, Yol. XII., No. 2, 
p. 34. 
The only practical remedy for these gall 
insects is to cut out all infested canes and 
burn them. This destroys the natural 
enemies, but it also destroys all those 
insects that otherwise would mature. This 
method of destroying the galls will greatly 
aid in keeping the pest in check. There 
are no insecticides that can be used with 
safety. The destruction of these galls 
should occupy the attention of every small 
fruit grower as soon as the weather will 
permit. It will be a practical saving to 
those who have trimmed their bushes in the 
fall to look them over again and cut out 
any and all infested canes. 
Clothes’ Moths. 
These pests have been known since the 
time of history. They are a source of great 
annoyance to the housewife and are very 
injurious to woolens, furs, carpets and 
feathers. They belong to the order of 
insects known as Lepidoptera , or, as the 
term signifies, scale wing. The name of 
the order comes from the fact that the 
wings are covered with very minute scales, 
which rub off easily. On account of this, 
members of the order are called “dusty 
millers,” especially those which fly around 
the lamps in the evening. The butterflies 
with their brilliant colors, and the moths 
with their dark and sober hues, belong to 
this order. 
The family to which the clothes’ moths 
belong is known as Tineadce. The leaf 
miners and grain moths also belong here. 
The members of the family are character- 
ized by their small size and their fringed 
wings. Usually the wings fold closely 
around the body and are often cut into and 
are pointed. The palpi or jointed appen- 
dages to the mouth are greatly developed 
and often densely clothed with scales, or 
bear a long protruding tuft of hairs. The 
autennee are long and threadlike. 
