1881 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
489 
then uprooting the clumps by means of a fork 
may be practicable, if the plants are not too 
abundant. If this would be too great a task, 
then it will be necessary to break up the field, 
harrow out the plants, and grow one or two 
smothering crops of Buckwheat, to be turned 
under; then sow to grain, and seed down 
anew. A consideration of the points above 
indicated should allow one to decide intel¬ 
ligently upon the best course to pursue. 
Notes from the Pines. 
It is sad to witness the destruction caused 
by the drouth in all this section. Many 
plants are killed outright, and the fallen 
leaves are thick upon the lawn, having been 
hastened to a premature ripening. To leave 
this desolation of drouth, and in a few hours 
" reach New England, was like passing to an 
entirely different country. There rain has 
been so abundant, that vegetation has a 
spring-like verdure, and the lawns have a 
perfection that is most pleasant to look upon. 
If we do not have abundant rains before 
winter, to fill the soil, and that season is a 
severe one, the destruction of trees, etc., that 
will follow is not pleasant to contemplate. 
Among the many new plants introduced 
in the course of a twelvemonth, in any de¬ 
partment of horticulture, only a small share 
prove of real value. After a thorough trial 
it may be that but one or two of the intro¬ 
ductions of a year find a permanent place in 
our collections, the rest have a brief day, and 
are not again heard of in the catalogues. 
One of the plants of recent introduc¬ 
tion, that has apparently “ come to stay” is 
Hyacinthus candieans, 
or as the European journals have it of late, 
Galtonia candieans. This was figured in the 
American Agriculturist for February 1881, 
page 65, and my experience with it since, more 
than confirms the favorable account there 
given. The remarkable thing about the 
plant is, its hardiness, as no one would ex¬ 
pect a bulb from the Cape of Good Hope to 
endure a New York winter. Strong bulbs 
throw up stems three and four feet high, the 
upper portion of which, for a foot or more, 
bears a pyramid of large, gracefully droop¬ 
ing, bell-shaped flowers of the purest white. 
This is an excellent thing to plant among 
low shrubs, where the cluster of flowers 
shows above the foliage of the shrubs with 
fine effect. The flowers open gradually from 
below upwards, and if a stem be cut when 
the lower ones begin to open, and placed in 
water, the blooming will continue, and the 
cluster will remain an object of beauty for a 
week or more.... I mentioned a few years ago 
The Destruction of the Fine Lawns 
of Prof. C. S. Sargent, Brookline, Mass., by 
the White-Grub, which so cut off the grass¬ 
roots that the turf could be rolled up like a 
rug, in large sheets. Many acres of lawn had 
to be made anew. This season the lawns 
were attacked in places, large portions here 
and there showing the characteristic brown 
color. During a visit to this place in Septem¬ 
ber last, I looked from the window of my 
room early in the morning, and saw a most 
interesting sight. Upon one of these brown 
patches in the lawn were 80 or more crows 
in a high state of excitement, and their antics 
in “going for” the grubs were most amus¬ 
ing to witness. The wonderful part of the 
performance is that they should know just 
where to find the grub, when it is hidden 
below the surface; what sense, whether of 
hearing or smell, guides them to the right 
,spot, I cannot say, but this much abused 
bird is most efficient in destroying the grub. 
Unfortunately it does not get at work until 
the grub is near the surface, and has well 
nigh accomplished its mischief. Not only do 
the crows destroy, but robins and blackbirds 
come to their aid, and though too late to pre¬ 
serve the lawn, their services in reducing the 
number of future beetles are of great value. 
Upon the same place, the grubs have made 
Havoc with the Potato Crop. 
In a field of some three acres a large third 
of the whole crop was injured and rendered 
useless for any purpose except immediate feed¬ 
ing to the pigs. In some cases a grub made 
its way into a large tuber, and eating around 
and around would leave only a shell. The 
voracity of these creatures is enormous. The 
birds appear to pay no attention to the grubs 
in the potato field, probably because these 
are at their work too far below the surface. 
Are These Pests Increasing? 
It is certain that we did not hear so much 
of their ravages 15 or 20 years ago as we now 
do. Whether it is because the insects are 
multiplying more rapidly, or because more 
persons make their troubles known, it is diffi¬ 
cult to say. The only way that their numbers 
can be essentially reduced is to attack them 
in the beetle state ; concerted action in this 
matter of all in a neighborhood would no 
doubt greatly diminish this serious affliction. 
Not long ago the American Agriculturist 
described and figured some beetle traps, in¬ 
vented in Texas. In view of the fact that the 
only hope of diminishing, if not destroying 
this serious drawback to horticulture lies in 
attacking the beetle, Prof. Sargent has been 
at work of late upon a trap which promises 
better results than any I have before seen. 
Taking a French trap as a basis, this has 
been modified in various particulars, especial¬ 
ly in catching the insects in water instead of 
in bags, as in the French trap. The en¬ 
graving will show the construction of the 
affair. It consists of a central lantern, about 
15 inches square, in which is placed a kero¬ 
sene lamp with a large burner ; the sides are 
of glass, and provision is made for the en¬ 
trance of air from below, and for its exit 
above. In front of each side is a flaring re¬ 
flector, like the lower part of a pyramid 
placed horizontally ; at the lower side of each 
reflector is an opening, about two inches 
wide, and running the whole length of the 
side, and close to the glass. The affair is in- 
tented to stand upon a tub or barrel, contain¬ 
ing water. The reflectors cast such a power¬ 
ful light for a long distance, that the beetles 
are attracted, and in their endeavor to reach 
the light strike against the glass with great 
force, and drop through the openings in 
the reflectors into the water below. 
On the first appearance of the May—or June-, 
bug in the spring, every gardener and fruit 
grower should set to work and destroy every 
beetle possible. When one enters the house 
it shows that large numbers are not far off 
The Japanese Creeper. 
This plant was first introduced as Arnpclop- 
sis Vietchii, but it was found to have an older 
name, and is properly A. tricuspidata. A? 
our native Ampelopsis is known as Virginb 
OUTLINES or JAPANESE CREEPER LEAVES (reduced). 
Creeper, Japanese Creeper seems to be an 
appropriate name for this. The rapidity with 
which it has spread, and the extent to which 
it has been planted since its introduction, 
are testimony to its great excellence. Not 
only in the suburbs of Boston is it to be seen 
on every place, but in the city itself, espe¬ 
cially in the newer streets at the Back Bay, 
house after house is completely draped by it. 
One of the finest exhibitions of it is on the 
gateway of Forest Hills Cemetery, that ex¬ 
tended structure being so completely covered 
by it that none of the stone work is visible, 
and it clings so closely that the details of the 
Architecture are not lost. So generally is it 
planted in the city and vicinity that else¬ 
where it is often called “ Boston Ivy.” When 
first planted the leaves are very small, an inch 
or a little over in length, and irregular in 
shape. After the stems are three or four 
years old, leaves are produced which are so 
unlike the earlier ones that they might read¬ 
ily belong to a different plant. They are 
three or four inches long, nearly as broad, 
with leaf-stalks of equal length to twice as 
long. The leaves are entire except at the 
end, where are the three strong-pointed lobes 
that give its specific name of tricuspidata. 
The texture of the leaves is very firm, and 
they are of much darker green than the small 
ones. In autumn colors this vine quite equals 
our own Creeper. It clings to stone, brick, 
iron, and wood with equal facility, grows 
rapidly, and is to be commended to those 
who wish to plant a vine of the kind. Its 
small early foliage was figured in these pages 
in October 1878, page 384. The engraving- 
shows the two kinds of leaves, reduced in 
the same proportion. To save room the long 
leaf-stalk of the larger leaf is not shown. 
