1882.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
295 
Insect Enemies of the Currant and 
Gooseberry. 
Few are aware of the importance of the 
Currant and Gooseberry crop. In some lo¬ 
calities, not far from New York City, notably 
in Connecticut in one direction, and on the 
banks of the Hudson in another, large areas 
are devoted to these berries, especially to the 
Currant. The Gooseberry, always of some 
of the native kinds, is marketed green, while 
the Currant, to some extent, marketed un¬ 
ripe, is generally offered in the ripe, or 
fairly colored state. The grower of the 
Currant has a great advantage over those 
who send the Strawberxy and Raspberry to 
market, in the fact that the fruit is not 
readily perishable; if not sold to-day, it may 
be to-morrow, and will keep, if need be, for 
several days. In some neighborhoods in 
Connecticut, the Currant has for many years 
been an important crop. As is usually the 
case, when a plant is grown largely in a 
locality, various insects find it out, and suc¬ 
cess in Currant culture largely depends upon 
a successful war against insects. Growers 
talk about the Currant-worm, while ento¬ 
mologists recognize ■ several, at least three, 
which attack the crop, either one of which 
may be destructive in eastern or western 
localities. One of these insects, which, as it 
prefers the Gooseberry to the Currant, though 
it often attacks the latter, is the Gooseberry 
Span-worm (Eufitcliia ribearia). This worm 
is the larval state of a small native moth. 
It was thought by Dr. Fitch, who first 
noticed it, to belong to the same genus with 
the European insect, and he described it as a 
species of the same genus (Abraxas); but Dr. 
Packard, finding that it belonged to a differ¬ 
ent genus, has described it anew, and named 
it, in honor of its discoverer, Eufitchia 
ribearia. It differs from all other insects 
upon our Currants and Gooseberries, in being 
what is known as a “ Measuring ” or “ Span- 
worm,” on account of its method of travel¬ 
ling by loops. When the worm is alarmed, 
it at once lets itself down by a thread, and 
hangs thus for awhile. This habit may be 
taken advantage of to destroy it while the 
worms are still young; the bushes may be 
jarred by means of a forked stick, and the 
stick may be used to pass along just above 
the suspended worms, to bring them to the 
ground, where they may be crushed. This 
insect is a native, and the pupa as well as 
the moth and the larva are shown in fig. 1. 
When the Currant-worm is mentioned in 
the Eastern States, probably the Imported 
Currant-worm is referred to, as it is this 
which has proved to be the most serious 
pest to the Eastern Currant grower. It does 
its mischief in the larval or “worm” state, 
but the perfect insect, instead of being, as in 
the preceding, a moth, is a Saw-fly. The 
perfect insect is shown in fig. 2; the male, 
a, being much smaller, as well as unlike in 
appearance to the female, b. The larva is 
shown in fig. 3, b representing the charac¬ 
teristic dots upon one of the rings, much 
enlarged. The eggs of this are laid by the 
insect, which comes out of the ground in 
early spring, upon the underside of the 
lowermost leaves of the bush, usually near 
the larger veins. The young worms, as soon 
as hatched, feed upon the leaves, riddling 
them with holes, and when full grown and 
about three-quarters of an 
inch long, drop to the 
ground, and under the 
fallen leaves, or just below 
the surface, they fortn 
cocoons, from which, in 
the course of a few weeks, 
the perfect insects appear, 
usually early in July, to 
lay eggs and repeat the 
same destructive round. 
Their second brood enters 
the pupa state, and remains 
in this condition until the 
following spring. This in¬ 
sect, when it has establish¬ 
ed itself, is most destruc¬ 
tive, and were it not for an 
effective remedy, Currant 
culture would be ahnost 
impossible. Fortunately 
there is for this Currant- 
worm, and for all others 
that prey upon the leaves 
of the plants, a most effici¬ 
ent remedy in powdered 
White Hellebore. Some 
journals have mentioned the use of Hellebore, 
without specifying the kind. White Hellebore 
(Veratrmn album ) is the kind, and not Black 
Hellebore ( Helleborus niger), which is a very 
different plant, and can not be substituted for 
the White. As poisoning the Colorado-beetle 
has become a regular part of potato culture, 
so the poisoning of the Currant-worms must 
be a regular thing in Currant and Gooseberry 
culture. It is a very common sight to see 
Currant bushes denuded of eveiy leaf, and 
the half-grown fruit drying upon the naked 
bushes. This could have been prevented, no 
matter by which of several insects it was 
caused, by the timely use of White Helle¬ 
bore. The powder, as sold at the drug stores, 
is greenish-yellow, and if accidentally taken 
into the nostrils, causes the most violent 
sneezing. Some advise the dusting of the 
powder upon the leaves, but this, aside from 
the inconvenience caused by its entering the 
nostrils, is not the best way to employ it. 
For several years we have used the follow¬ 
ing : Place a heaping tablespoonful of the 
powder in a bowl or basin that will hold a 
quart or more; gradually add to this, boiling 
Fig. 1.— THE gooseberry span-worm ( Eufitchia ribearia). 
water, stirring constantly until every particle 
of the powder is thoroughly wetted, gradu¬ 
ally adding more water, and stirring until a 
quart or so has been added; turn this into a 
pailful of cold water, stir well, and apply to 
the bushes. The application may be made 
with any kind of garden engine or syringe, 
Fig. 2.— THE CURRANT WORM FLY. 
or even with a watering-pot, the object being 
to thoroughly wet the leaves. If at the end 
of a week or less any worms are found to 
have escaped, a second application must be 
made. Rarely are more than two applica¬ 
tions needed; if a second brood appears, 
it should be treated in the same manner. 
But, “ Is not Hellebore poisonous?” will be 
asked. It is poisonous, but there is no dan¬ 
ger from this use of it. The rains will wash 
off all that may adhere to the berries; if 
there have been no rains, any of the powder 
adhering to the berries will be seen, and in 
preparing the currants for the table, such fruit 
will be rejected as soiled. 
Besides the insects that attack the leaves, 
there is a borer, also imported, which injures 
the stem. The parent insect, of the same 
genus as the Peach-borer, lays her eggs singly 
near a bud, and the young larva makes its 
way directly to the center of the stem, feed¬ 
ing on its pith and causing much injury. 
The diminished growth will show that there 
is trouble, even if the weakened stem does 
Fig. 3. —THE IMPORTED CURRANT WORM. 
not break away. In the fall pruning, all 
such stems may be readily detected, and 
should be cut off and burned. Some advise 
growing the currant bush in the form of a 
tree, with a single stem. Were it not for 
the borer it would be advisable to adopt this 
manner of training. When there is but one 
stem, the borer is quite sure to attack it soon¬ 
er or later, and make an end of the plant. 
