23G 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 13, 1883. 
many years ago, noticed with what rapidity they pump up the sap by 
means of the rostrum or sucker, and then eject it at the abdomen. 
Abundance of moisture is as essential to their existence as it is to the 
well-being of a frog, and the secretion serves to protect them from 
the sun’s warmth ; also, we may reasonably infer, it guards them 
from other insects that are predatory, and from spiders. If we 
remove this froth carefully we discover under it a soft-bodied grub, 
green above and yellow beneath, with conspicuous, but minute, black 
eyes. The same covering serves A. spumaria for a protection when 
it enters upon the pupal stage of life. By some means the full-grown 
grub forms a hollow under a thickish film of the exudation, which 
dries in the air, and hides the insect till it is ready to emerge as a 
“ frog-hopper.” It is now brown or greenish, dotted over with fine 
spots, and having two oblong white spots on the wing cases. For the 
species in its mature state possesses wings though it seldom flies, 
preferring to run or leap ; the males, indeed, are able to spring 
through the air a distance of several feet, the females are less agile. 
Fig. 44, shows the insects magnified. 
"We have introduced A. spumaria here because the Raspberry, 
whose insect enemies we are about to enumerate, is one of those 
plants that are frequently disfigured by its frothy envelope ; it is also 
common upon other species of Rubus wild and cultivated. In the 
case of some young shoots of various plants the mischief done by 
“ cuckoo-spit ” is so marked that it is advisable to operate upon it. 
Syringing with plain water does good, but more beneficial results are 
obtained by the use of a solution of softsoap flavoured with tobacco, 
or a decoction of quassia ; and of course all “ frog-hoppers ” that can 
be caught in summer and autumn should be killed. 
The Raspberry is visited by more than one species of those weevils 
that infest our fruit trees, both in the open air and under glass. Of 
these its principal enemy appears to be the clay-coloured weevil, 
Otiorhynchus picipes (fig. 45), which has been called the Raspberry 
Fig. 45.—Otiorhynchus picipes, magnified. Fig. 4G.—Bytnrus tomentosus. 
weevil, and also the Vine weevil, since it attacks that plant in hot¬ 
houses ; but 0. sulcatus is a greater enemy to the Vine than is its 
relative. These weevils give trouble in two wajs. The mature beetles 
swarm upon leaves and buds, or they will even gnaw the bark of 
shoots and branches ; while the grubs or larvre by burrowing at the 
roots weaken shrubs, and so infest young plants as to stop their 
growth. 0. picipes resembles others of the group in having a beak 
that is developed on each side into a kind of ear ; the thorax is rounded 
and granulated,. the wing cases light brown covered densely with 
scales, under which are a series of circular markings and dots ; it is, 
however, unable to fly. During May the Raspberry weevil is usually 
observed in greatest abundance, the insects emerging about that time 
from the pupae, which lie underground through the winter. It is the 
habit of the species to conceal itself in the daylight. They creep just 
beneath the earth, or hide in parties amongst the crevices of walls and 
under loose bark, and come forth in the shades of evening. Even then 
they drop from the plants at the least sound or the approach of a 
light. The approved method, therefore, of catching them by cloths 
spread at night under the bushes and boughs, and shaking briskly, 
requires much care or many of them escape. Where they attack 
trees against walls it has been found they enter the soil close to the 
base of.the wall, hence there is advantage in clearing off the top of 
this, or in applying to it a weak solution of petroleum. Miss Ormerod 
suggests that if a band of a mixture of tar and oil were to be run 
round the stem of standards at a suitable height the beetles could not 
possibly ascend the trees. As yet the larvm of 0. picipes has not 
been much noticed in gardens, but it feeds, like others of its genus, 
upon the roots of fruit trees and vegetables through the autumn and 
winter months. This might be dealt with by any of those remedies 
commonly applied to check the ravages of the wireworm, the cranefly 
maggot, and other subterranean feeders. 
Another beetle that is associated with the Raspberry is of a 
different family, rather less in size than the weevil just described. 
Byturus tomentosus (fig. 46) is a slim little creature, with wing cases 
of yellowish brown and short antennre ; it is often to be seen in the 
corollas of various flowers, seeking them presumably for the honey 
they contain. Kirby and Spence, in their work on entomology, 
accused this species of biting through the flower stalks of the Rasp¬ 
berry, but I have not had recent proofs that such is its propensity. 
We suffer most from the larvie, which is too commonly found in the 
fruit during July. It is rather slender for a beetle larva, with a 
flattened head, and two dark spots at the tail, and it lives and grows, 
in its snug concealment, being generally picked with the fruit ; if 
undisturbed it descends from this to the earth when it is adult, I 
believe, to enter the pupa state. Few suggestions have been made of 
any value as to methods of preventing the deposition of the eggs. 
A small caterpillar of a scarlet colour spotted with black, and 
having a black head, does some damage to the buds of the Raspberry. 
This insect, which produces the moth called Tinea corticella or 
variella, is found lurking in the buds from the middle of April to the 
end of May. About the beginning of June the caterpillar spins a 
web among the leaves it has damaged, and the moth soon emerges. 
It is a pretty little creature, with glossy brownish fore wings, upon 
which are some gold-coloured spots ; the hind wings are a darker 
brown. That the caterpillars are hatched in autumn is certain, but 
■we do not know at present -where they hide during the -winter months. 
Birds can discover them in the spring quicker than we can, hence 
their researches amongst the bud3 of the Raspberry. 
Blotches are occasionally observable upon Raspberry leaves about 
July, which, if opened, are seen to be tenanted by a dingy green 
grub or fseudo-caterpillar with numerous minute legs. At the 
beginning of August this is transformed into a four-winged fly, one 
of the sawflies, and named Feenusa pumila. It is a quarter of an inch 
across the wings, which are black ; the body is also black, the legs 
are pale brown. The Raspberry does not entirely escape aphis 
visitations ; its special enemy is feiphonophora Chelidonii, also found 
frequently on the Celandine, and which somewhat resembles the 
common aphis of the Cabbage.— Entomologist. 
GARDEN CHEMISTRY. 
VALUE OF MANURES. 
Few know tow to value manures. We pay £80, or, in some 
instances, as much as £200 per ton for manure which we know to- 
be effective; but whether the same effect could be gained for less, 
or what materials are necessary, hardly any of us know anything. 
Every manure m the market depends for its value, first on the 
nitrogen it contains, and secondly for its phosphates. Some few 
contain the nitrogen in the form of nitrate of potash, which is 
more valuable than nitrate of soda, especially for pot plants; 
but if we allow for the nitrogen and the potash both, it matter's 
not in what form either are if both are immediately available. 
The value of a manure, then, depends first on what is in the 
manure, and secondly the state in which it is in. For instance, 
nitrogen in the form of ammonia or nitrates is available almost 
at once for the use of the plant; but in the form of rape dust, 
bones, horn shavings, or farmyard manure it is not immediately 
available, and is therefore allowed a lower value. Phosphoric 
acid, again, when soluble is worth more than in the form of bone 
dust, and in bone dust than in ground coprolites. 
In order to know what the value of a manure is we must- 
know of what it is composed. If wholly of sulphate of ammonia 
it may be worth £25 a ton, if of sal-ammoniac £31 at least. 
These are the most valuable manures in the market. If of 
phosphates, for soluble bone phosphate nearly £20 would be 
allowed for a ton for the soluble and £12 for the insoluble; for 
soluble mineral phosphate £15, and insoluble mineral £7 10s 
at the manufactory. Standard values have been fixed upon for 
each of the necessary elements or compounds in manure, which 
of course vary from time to time as the market price rises or 
falls, but which form a guide whereby an analyst can state the 
approximate value of any manure after ascertaining its compo¬ 
sition. Thus, if nitrogen be worth £100 per ton, sulphate of 
ammonia containing 20 per cent, of nitrogen would be allowed 
£20 as its value; nitrate of soda yielding 15*5 per cent, would 
