74 
April, 1891. 
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/ ORGHRRDtet GARDEN \ 
family of sawflies to which also belong the 
strawberry slug and pine tree saw fly which 
were described in previous numbers of 
Orchard and Garden. 
The mature insects are four winged “ flies” 
and the two sexes (Fig. 1. a. male; b, female) 
differ in size and color, the male being 
smaller than the female and about the size 
of a common house fly. He is almost en- 
tirely black having a few light yellowish 
spots on the upper side of the abdomen 
while the underside is nearly all yellow. 
The female has a honey yellow abdomen 
which is much larger than that of the male. 
During the warmer parts of the day these 
insects are very active, flying about among 
the currant and gooseberry bushes, but in 
the evening they are sluggish in their move- 
ments. The female shortly after pairing 
with the male begins to deposit her eggs. 
First, with a small saw like apparatus, she 
cuts a small groove on the veins and midrib 
of the leaves, usually on the under side of 
the leaf. Into the grooves she inserts her 
ovipositor in order to deposit the eggs. The 
eggs are placed in rows and resemble a 
string of small white beads. Usually those 
leaves nearest the ground are selected as the 
more suitable place for oviposition. Last 
season eggs were found on the black as well 
as on the red and white varieties of currants. 
As the eggs reach maturity they become 
larger which may be due to the absorption 
of moisture or the enlargement of the em- 
bryo. When the larvae are first hatched 
th *y are of a dirty white color and are quite 
small. As soon as they commence eating 
they become green which is undoubtedly 
due to the food taken into the alimentary 
canal. They begin their career of devasta- 
taiion by eating small holes in the leaves. 
They feed in flocks when first hatched. 
They grow rapidly and soon separating go 
to all portions of the bushes. After moult- 
ing or casting their skin for the first time 
they are of a bright green, mottled or dotted 
with black. (Fig. 2. a.) After the last moult 
they become light green, the head and tail 
ends having a yellowish appearance. The 
larvae do the most d image when about one 
half or two-thirds grown, as it is at this pe- 
riod of their growth that they are the most 
voracious. Usually they will strip a bush 
of its foliage in from two to three days. 
When the larvae have attained their full 
growth they seek for a suitable place in 
which to transform to the pupa stage. This 
is usually beneath the rubbish and debris be- 
neath the bushes. Often they spin their co- 
coons, which are brown, oval and of papery 
texture, and attach them to the twigs of the 
bushes which they have denuded of their 
leaves. Late in June, or early in July, the 
mature flies escape from their coooons and, 
after mating, deposit their eggs for a second 
brood. The flies of the second brood appear 
from time to time so as to produce a suc- 
cession of the insects in all their stages. 
Dr. Lintner of New York has reared a 
parasite from the larva of the saw fly. The 
soldier bug also destroys many of the larvas 
by piercing them with its sharp beak and 
then sucking the juices. One of our com- 
mon wasps, Polistes annularis, is a great aid 
in checking the ravages of the larva?. Many 
are killed and eaten by this wasp. 
The artificial remedies consist in the ap- 
plication of such poisons as will be eaten by 
the larvae; Paris Green and London purple 
are used extensively in the proportion of 
one pound of the poison to 150 to 200 gallons 
of water. Powdered hellebore is perhaps 
as good and can be applied in a much larger 
proportion as it is a mild vegetable poison. 
One ounce of the powder to an ordinary 
pail of water will form a mixture strong 
enough to destroy the larvae. It is often 
necessary to make a second application as 
at the time the first is made the eggs may 
not all have hatched. The liquid should be 
applied by means of a suitable spraying 
apparatus. The cyclone nozzle if attached 
to a rubber hose and then fastened to a stick 
can be used to great advantage. It is neces- 
sary to make the application of the poison 
on the leaves nearest the ground, and with 
this nozzle the lowest leaves and branches 
can be reached. 
Conducted by Martha Clark Rankin, 
Gloversville, N. Y. 
April. 
There are few wise housekeepers who 
have finished their house cleaning by the 
first of April. With our changeable climate 
and frequent cold winds, it is unsafe to sub- 
ject the members of the household to the 
danger of draughts and chills, inevitable in 
a thorough cleansing of rooms. 
It may safely be asserted that no man 
ever appreciated either the necessity for this 
annual purification or its benefits; and 
young housekeepers are inclined to think 
their husband’s view of the matter the true 
one. If the house is kept in proper order 
all the time, it will surely never be in a con- 
dition to require this thorough and complete 
overturning, they say. 
But a few years’ experience generally con- 
vinces even the most skeptical of women 
that, in spite of care and watchfulness, the 
end of a long winter shows the house much 
less fresh and clean than it was at its be- 
ginning. The freshness and beauty of all 
Nature make changes and a thorough reno- 
vation in-doors seem a’l the more desirable; 
and we finally admit the wisdom of this 
almost universal spring custom. 
If all the directions for house-cleaning 
that have been written in the last few years 
could be collected, they would fill many 
volumes; and, after all, most women can 
plan the work in their own homes much 
better than any one else can do it for them. 
Consequently we shall leave the undertak- 
ing mainly to the good judgment of our 
readers, though we cannot forbear to caution 
them in regard to two or three points. 
Don’t have the whole house in confusion at 
once; don't attempt too much in any one 
day; and don’t fail to provide abundant 
meals, served at the regular hours. 
The Best Medicine. 
There are many semi-invalids who con- 
sume quarts of medicine in the hope of re- 
The Currant Slug. Fig. 2. 
gaining health, when what they really need 
is fresh air and out-door exercise. They 
have not learned that, for scores of com- 
plaints, there is no better medicine than 
ozone. 
Surprising as it may seem, those who 
have investigated the matter declare that 
American country women spend less time 
in the open air than any other class of per- 
sons: and that one who can enjoy, without 
fatigue, a walk of four or five miles is so 
much of a curiosity as to be a topic of con- 
versation throughout the neighborhood. 
This fact being known, the second need not 
occasion much wonder, — namely that these 
women suffer, more often than others, from 
insanity, consumption, and cancer. Through 
breathing impure air, the lungs become 
clogged in their action and the blood im- 
poverished; then disease must surely follow. 
Why is it that, even when their know- 
ledge of physiology shows them the neces- 
sity for out-door exercise, sensible women 
still fail to take it? It is largely, we think, 
from the lack of an object for their walks. 
Let them once become interested in some 
bi anch of Natural History, and they will find 
enjoyment in being out doors, even though 
they have no errand at store or house. 
