AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July 
"2 76 
ably a mere coil of tin, birch-bark, or even paste¬ 
board, if carefully bandied, would serve the pur¬ 
pose, which is to keep the roots from disturbance 
until they can be taken to their new place. 
Itlackherrics an«l Raspberries. 
Every one who has gathered wild Blackberries is 
aware that the stems grow to the bight of sis or 
eight feet, and gracefully bend over at the top. 
The lower part of the cane bears little or no fruit, 
it being nearly all at the top of the bush. The 
same happens on a smaller scale with the Raspberry 
when left to itself. While we cultivate the Black¬ 
berry for the sake of better fruit than the wild 
plants usually afford, we should also endeavor to 
have more of it, and more conveniently placed on 
the bushes. From questions that are asked, it is 
evident that all are not aware that the stems of 
the Blackberry and Raspberry (at least those culti¬ 
vated for fruit) are only biennial. The plant 
throws up from the root, often at some distance 
from the old stems, vigorous shoots, which grow 
rapidly, and by autumn will become ripe and hard 
canes, like the old ones. The old canes, which 
have given a crop of fruit, have completed their 
work, and, though they may remain alive for 
awhile, will all be dead by next spring. When the 
fruit has been gathered, it is best to cut the canes 
entirely away, to give room to the new ones. 
These should have more attention than they usually 
receive; if left to themselves, they will become 
just like the wild plants, straggling, and with their 
fruit all at the top. Not only on acount of the 
greater quantity of fruit, but for the ease in pick¬ 
ing it, should the canes be pruned. Blackberry 
canes should never grow over five feet, and many 
prefer to keep them at three feet high. Whenever 
the green shoot has reached the desired bight, re¬ 
move the top, or growing point, which, being 
tender, may be pinched off with the thumb and 
finger. Soon after this is done, branches will start 
along the stem, and these should also be pinched, 
the lower ones when eighteen inches long, and the 
upper when twelve inches. By a little attention, 
once a week, or oftener, giving the needed pinch¬ 
ing, the Blackberry, instead of being a long strag¬ 
gling shrub, catching at the clothing of all who 
approach it, may be brought into the form of a 
neat pyramidal bush, whici), the next season, will 
be loaded with fruit from bottom to top. The 
same treatment may be followed with Raspberries, 
which are usually kept shorter. One of the great¬ 
est pleasures in gardening is found in training and 
shaping plants, and making them grow as we wish, 
and in nothing are the effects of this more strik¬ 
ingly shown than in the Blackberry and Raspberry. 
Xl»e Red.IIuinped Caterpillar. 
Young Apple and Pear trees, and sometimes 
other fruit trees, are frequently defoliated, or have 
large branches completely stripped of their leaves 
in late summer or early autumn, by the Red¬ 
humped Caterpillar. The eggs are usually depos¬ 
ited in July, in clusters on the underside of a leaf 
near the end of a branch, and the young cater- 
Fig. 1.— RED-HUMPED CATERPILLAR (Notodonta 
concinna). 
pillars eat downward, making clean work of the 
foliage as they descend. The full-grown caterpil¬ 
lars (fig. 1,) are an inch and a quarter long ; the 
general color yellowish-brown, paler on the sides, 
and striped length-wise with slender black lines ; 
the head is coral-red, and on the top of the fourth 
ring is a bunch or hump of the sam e brilliant color ; 
there are several short black prickles along the 
top of the back. The caterpillar tapers towards 
the tail, and this end is always elevated when it is 
-at rest. When full grown, all the caterpillars of 
the same brood descend to the ground at the same 
time, seek a hiding place under leaves, or just 
below the surface of the soil, where they form 
cocoons, and assume the chrysalis state (fig. 2), in 
which they remain until the 
following June, when the per¬ 
fect insect issues as a small, 
neat-looking moth, of a gen¬ 
eral light-brown color. The 
fore - wings are dark - brown 
aloug the inner margin, with 
a dark-brow'n spot near the 
middle. The wings expand from an inch to an 
inch and three-eighths. If these caterpillars are 
noticed when first hatched, they will be found 
all near together, and may be readily destroyed. 
'Thinning' Hie Fruit. 
In articles last spring!, we gave all that need be 
said in favor of thinning fruit, and cited some 
instances to show the profit of the operation. 
Those who thinned peaches, pears, and apples, 
soon after the fruit had set, though at the time 
they thought they were thinning severely, now 
that it has increased in size, are surprised at the 
abundance of fruit on their trees. It is rarely that 
even the experienced remove enough at the first 
thinning ; novices never do, and it is often neces¬ 
sary to go over the trees again when the fruit is 
half grown or more. At this time we can see, 
what is not manifest when it is small, any imper¬ 
fection in the form of the fruit. Pears, especially 
those which grow in clusters,will become one-sided 
by the crowding, and this should be kept in mind 
at the later thinning, and the least perfect re¬ 
moved. In this, as well as all other operations on 
trees, some thought should be put into the work. 
Those who are intending to compete for premiums 
at the autumn shows, should not lose sight of the 
fact that thinning is a direct and legitimate means 
of producing “the best six” or “best twelve” 
specimens of pears or other fruit. Those who 
have an eye to the prizes offered for grapes should 
begin preparing for them now, and not let three 
clusters grow where a single one would be better. 
Sticks ami String's. 
“ Its all sticks and strings” said Hood’s funny 
Mrs. Gardiner, in speaking of the Dahlia, yet sticks 
and strings properly employed are most useful in 
the garden. If people will grow Dahlias, they 
can not hope for success without them. It is very 
disheartening to grow a Dahlia up to a point where 
its swelling buds give a promise of bloom and have 
a sudden stonn break off its largest branches. 
Long green sticks with white heads are offered for 
sale as Dahlia stakes. The idea evidently is to put 
one of these to each Dahlia and tie the plant to it. 
Aside from the fact that these sticks are especially 
conspicuous, they give the support just where it 
is not needed. Every one who has grown Dahlias 
knows that the main stalk takes care of itself, and 
that it is the breaking down of the side branches 
by the winds or from being heavy with rain that 
disfigures the plant. If, instead of putting one 
green stick with a white top to a Dahlia, we place 
to each main branch a short stake to which it can 
be tied in such a manner as to relieve the weight, 
then a good work will be done. The stake need not 
be green, or any other color, if properly used it 
need not be visible at all and a stake from a tree or 
shrub with its natural bark will answer every 
pui-pose. At this time there will be other plants 
besides Dahlias that will need stakes, especially 
Gladioluses and Tuberoses, both of which become 
top-heavy as flowering time approaches, and the 
timely aid of a stake is essential to success. Ordi¬ 
nary brush will answer quite as well as painted 
stakes, for if a stake shows, it is too large. The 
most unpretending stakes, if they have the one 
requisite—strength—are the best. As to strings, 
Bass-bark is the regular gardener’s tying material, 
that from a Russian mat being preferred, though 
the bark from our own Bass-wood is quite as good. 
But every one cannot easily get Bass-bark, and it is 
possible to keep a garden in order without it. The 
excellence of Bass-bark consists in its being a soft 
and yielding material; it is strong enough for most 
uses, yet it will yield and break if the growth of 
the plant requires it. If we could have but one string 
in the garden, it would be cotton twine. Bass- 
bark i§ better for some uses, but on the whole, if 
confined to one, cotton twine, of the best sort is 
preferable. This is a twine without any starch or 
size. That commonly used in the grocers’ and 
other shops is poor stuff made stiff with size. On 
the sea-board we get at the ship-chandlers’ stores 
what is known as “sail twine,” very soft, and 
wonderfully strong. No doubt such twine can be 
found elsewhere. As next to this cotton twine 
we have found a jute twine, not so strong as the 
cotton, but very soft and cheap. In the absence of 
other ties, we have used worn cotton cloth, such 
as a sheet or part of a worn out shirt; this is easily 
tom into strips of convenient width, and while the 
material is strong enough for most purposes, it 
will break away if the stem increases in growth. 
The Apple-Maggot. 
Besides the well-known Apple-worm, or Codling- 
moth, there is in some localities, especially in the 
older States, the Apple-maggot. It differs from 
apple-maggot (Trypeta pcmionella). 
Perfect Insect; Larva and its burrows; Pupa. 
the Codling-moth in many respects ; the parent 
insect is not a moth, but one of the two-winged 
flies. It is not, like the other, an imported insect, 
but a native which has long inhabited our wild 
apples and the haws, or fruit of our thorns, and is 
found in cultivated fruit, here and there, all over 
the country. The engraving shows an infested 
apple, and the insect in its different stages; the 
perfect fly, with its transparent wings, being shown 
above, while the maggot and pupa are given below. 
The excavations in the apple show that the larvae 
enter at no particular place, and do not, as in the 
case of the Codling-moth, seek the core. The 
destruction of the infested fruit by feeding it to 
pigs, or making it into cider for vinegar, is one of 
the obvious means of preventing its increase. 
A. Hint in Time about Ivy. 
Those who have given any attention to deco¬ 
rating their rooms with living plants, are aware 
that there is none so useful for this purpose as 
the European Ivy ( Sedera ). Instead of waiting 
until falling leaves remind us of house-plants, and 
then grubbing up and potting an Ivy, it is better 
to prepare the Ivies now. This plant is always 
pleasing, whether used around a window-frame, 
over a door-way, run over the frames of pictures, j 
or, as we have seen it, carried completely around 1 
the cornice of a room. It will endure much neg¬ 
lect, and will amply repay all the care that may be ' 
given it in washing the dust from the leaves, and 
good culture generally. But we do not now speak 
of its culture, but would only say a word about 
starting it. It is most easily propagated. Procure 
branches two or three feet long or more ; take any 
wide-mouthed bottle or jar; place some earth in 
it, perhaps a quarter full, add water to nearly fill , 
the vessel, and, removing the lowest leaves, put I 
the ends of the Ivy branches in this thin mud. | 
Set the whole in a shady place out-doors, or on 
the piazza, and add water to supply that which j 
evaporates. In a few weeks the stems will have I 
abundant roots, when they may be potted, and by i 
autumn be much better for use in the house than : J 
