May 26, 1881. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
419 
appearance ; but allow me to supplement your reply to 1 W. D. M.’ 
by adding that when he discovers any leaves perforated, which is 
the first sign of the larva having come to life, to pull all such 
leaves off and destroy them. If ‘Comber’ desires to test this 
plan he will not regret the time given in going over the trees, as 
so much depends on getting quit of the first hatching. 
“ As a guide for him to know the insect (Nematus Ribesii, or 
Sawfly), if he will refer to page 431, vol. xxii., or page 515, 
vol. xxv., of our Journal, he will find a full description with wood- 
cut illustration of the same. I have looked over the Journal since 
1870 and find questions asked respecting this destructive insect 
in almost every volume ; and the remedy given, with one or two 
exceptions, is to dust the trees with hellebore powder, which, 
being a poison, 1 think is not very desirable to use. 
“ P.S.—If ‘ Comber ’ wishes to see what has been written in 
our Journal respecting the insect in question let him refer to the 
following vols.—viz., vol. xviii., page 104 ; vol. xxi., page 16; 
vol. xxii., pages 431 and 510; vol. xxiii., page G7; vol. xxiv., 
page 477 ; vol. xxv., page 515 ; vol. xxvi., page 516 ; vol. xxvii., 
page 14 ; vol.xxviii., pages 436, 472, and 435 ; vol. xxix., pages 91 
and 136; vol. xxxi., page 68; vol. xxxvii., pages 76 and 295; 
vol. xxxviii., pages 317 and 422.—K. K.” 
We are obliged to “ K. K.” for his diligent research ; and as 
all old readers have not preserved the back numbers, and as we 
have had many new subscribers of late, we reproduce the figure 
of the sawfly and remarks referred to, also the figure of the 
Currant fly and grub, in reply to “ A Kentish Inquirer,” who 
desires some particulars respecting them. 
“ The green caterpillars which so soon strip off a Gooseberry 
bush’s leaves are the larvae of a sawfly. The cross lines show the 
natural size of this sawfly. This insect, which has been named by 
entomologists Nematus trimaculatus, Nematus Ribesii, Tenthredo 
Grossulariae, and Tenthredo ventricosa, comes forth in the course 
of April. Its body is yellowish brown ; its antennae nine-jointed 
and brown ; the crown of the head, eyes, three large spots divided 
by a light line on the back, and a large spot on the breast, are all 
black ; the body or belly is orange ; the wings reflect the colours 
of the rainbow ; and their nerves, with a large spot on the front 
edge of the fore wings, are brown ; the legs are brown also. The 
female lays her eggs along the principal nerves on the under side 
of the Gooseberry leaves, and less frequently on those of the Red 
and White Currant. The eggs are hatched within ten days, and 
the arrival of the caterpillars maybe known from the leaves being 
eaten through into numerous small holes. These caterpillars are 
pale green, with one ring at each end yellow ; the head, tail, feet, 
and rows of spots on their sides being black. Successional broods 
are hatched from the beginning of May until October, but it is 
during May and June that they are usually most abundant and 
destructive. Some of these descend into the earth from cocoons, 
and bring forth fresh flies at the end of the summer ; but the 
later broods of caterpillars remain in their cocoons throughout the 
winter, and give birth to the earliest spring swarm of sawflies.” 
We have also received the following note from our entomological 
correspondent supplementary to his remarks on page 188—• 
“ To what has been already stated in regard to the caterpillar 
of A. grossulariata I wish to add a remark accidentally omitted— 
viz., that it will occasionally feed upon a variety of plants in a 
garden, should scarcity of food lead it to wander from the species 
it prefers. I have found it upon the Rose, but usually it is reluc¬ 
tant to travel far. Another circumstance about it that is notable 
may be added—the insect is common ‘in the open,’ feeding often 
enough along the hedges and the borders of woods. Hence in 
country places gardeners are exposed to the arrival of moths into 
enclosed grounds which have not been bred there. Comparatively 
little damage appears to be done by the caterpillars during the 
autumn, hence they commonly escape notice then. Miss Ormerod 
of Isleworth recommends forking up the earth and sprinkling in 
lime as the best remedy for this and the sawfly also.” 
As to remedies, we know that the plan recommended by “ K. K.” 
of promptly gathering all the perforated leaves is a safe one, but 
too tedious for many cultivators in thisreduction-of-labour period. 
For preventing the caterpillar Mr. Diggles wrote as follows last 
March on preventing the Gooseberry caterpillar. “Boil some 
white hellebore powder in water and place it in a tub or garden 
engine, adding sufficient boiling water to syrioge all the trees ; 
when it is cold apply it on a dry day, to dry on the leaves as soon 
as the trees are in leaf immediately after blooming, and before 
the fruit has grown. One application is sufficient for the season, 
and does not injure the fruit. One pound of white hellebore 
powder is enough for sixty trees, and is best applied with a hand 
syringe. I have tried this plan for years and found it to answer.” 
And Mr. William Taylor thus refers to his mode of extirpating 
the pest—“ Hellebore powder, I observe, is strongly recommended 
by some of your correspondents for destroying caterpillars, but 
I will not run the risk of poisoning my employers, who eat Goose¬ 
berries very freely. The only safe and effectual remedy tried for 
caterpillars inside the Gooseberry house was fir-tree oil, and that 
was applied four times during the season, drenching the bushes 
all over by means of a syringe with a bent nozzle, at the rate of 
half a pint of the oil to three gallons of water. It is rather 
expensive to use in so large a way, but I do not expect to have so 
much trouble again, and I am in hopes of getting rid of the enemy 
altogether. One dressing was given after the Gooseberries were 
ripe, and that did not injure them, although applied during sun¬ 
shine, the taste passing off in two or three days ; but some Currants 
in the same enclosure were injured by using it on them after they 
were ripe, though it did not harm them in the earlier stages. I 
find that different samples of water make a very great difference 
to the efficacy of this insect-killer : that which is soft and has 
been exposed a long time to the air being the best, while bard 
water is almost useless. As a rule, I think the whiter the water 
turns when the oil is put to it, the more efficacious it is likely 
to be.” Mr. Laxton shakes the bushes violently, or rather strikes 
the branches sharply, so as to dislodge the caterpillars ; and when 
they are on the ground he covers them with soot, thus destroying 
the pest and manuring the trees by the same operation. 
The Currant-shoot Grub. —Everyone acquainted with old 
gardens must have frequently noticed that one or more of the 
branches of the Currant trees tenanting them have suddenly 
withered and died without any apparent cause. In such cases, if 
the wood of the branch be split down the centre the pith will be 
found all consumed, the tube where it had been blackened, and 
nothing remaining but the excrements of a caterpillar, which may 
also be caught at his work of destruction if the examination is 
made so soon as the branch first shows symptoms of withering. 
This caterpillar is fleshy, whitish, with four yellowish brown spots 
near its head. It is the larva of the Currant fly (Sphinx tipuii- 
formis, Sesia, or JEgeria, or Bombecia tipuliformis). The parent 
moth is beautiful, and may be seen at the end of May and early 
in J une during hot sunshine, either settled on the leaves of the 
Currant, or flying around the flowers of the Syringa and Lilac. 
It is about three-quarters of an inch across the wings when these 
are quite opened ; the prevailing colour is bluish black, with 
various parts yellow ; the antennas black ; the breast with a yellow 
line on each side ; the abdomen, or lower part of the body, has 
three yellow rings round it in the females, and four in the males ; 
the fore wings are barred and veined with black ; it has a brush 
of fine scales at the end of its abdomen, which fan it can expand 
as it pleases. The Red, White, and Black Currant, and we think 
the Gooseberry, are all liable to its attacks. It lays its eggs in 
April in openings of the bark of a young shoot, and the caterpillar 
immediately it is hatched penetrates to its pith, and eats its way 
