356 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
related. The selection should be made while the 
stalks are standing, and if necessary, give the chosen 
ears special advantages for early and perfect matu¬ 
rity, by removing the “suckers,” or anything else 
that would deprive the stalk of making the best 
growth. The stalk can be easily marked by some 
straw or cloth tied around it. So soon as ripe, the 
seed ears should be husked, and placed in a safe 
place. It is a good plan to hang them in bunches 
by their husks to the ridge-pole of the corn house, 
thus providing good and safe keepiug for the corn. 
Xlie Care of Celery. 
Celery is one of the plants which make a rapid 
growth in this month of cool nights and warm 
days. The plants that have been growing in their 
own way, will need to have their outer leaves 
straightened up, and the growth of the plants di¬ 
rected upwards. This is done by an operation the 
gardeners call “ handling.” The soil between the 
rows of celery is loosened, and drawn towards the 
plants with a hoe ; the leaves are to be brought to 
an upright position with one hand, and held thus 
by pressing the soil firmly to their base with the 
other hand. This is a very different operation from 
that of “ earthing up ” for blanching ; its object is 
merely to bring the plants into a proper shape for 
future treatment. Indeed, for the celery to be 
used in winter, this is all the attention it needs 
until it is stored in trenches, as it undergoes the 
blanching in those. To prepare celery for early 
use, it must be banked up ; in two or three weeks 
after the handling process, the earth from between 
the rows is banked up against the stalks, covering 
the whole, save a few inches of the longest leaves, 
and leaving a steep smooth wall of earth. On the 
large scale this is done by men working with 
spades, one on each side of the row. In three or 
four weeks after thus earthing, the stalks will be 
blanched and ready for use. Only as much as will 
be used or sold within a short time are earthed up 
during this month, and the early part of next, as 
the plant is still growing, and the stalks will soon 
become hollow and useless, if growth continues 
after earthing. The celery will be much better if 
allowed to grow until checked by cool weather 
at the end of the season, and then placed in boxes 
or trenches, to blanch for later use. 
Chrysanthemums for tlie Window. 
It seems strange the Chrysanthemum receives 
comparatively so little attention in this country. 
In England there are numerous societies devoted 
solely to the promotion of its culture, and the 
competition to secure the prizes is active. The 
plant is occasionally seen in our gardens, but not 
so frequently as it should be, considering its great 
variety of brilliant colors, and its flowering among 
the very last things of the season. Indeed they 
continue in bloom so late, that a severe frost is apt 
to cut them down before their season of beauty is 
over. For those who wish the best results from 
the plants in house culture, they should be started 
for that purpose and cultivated in pots from the 
outset. The English, with their prize plants, not 
only do this, and take great care in cultivation and 
pruning, but in order to get the finest and largest 
flowers, remove all but two or three buds from 
each stem. Those who are so fortunate as to have 
Chrysanthemums in the garden, can prepare a part 
of them for blooming in the window. They make 
a brilliant show, and their time of blooming may 
be greatly prolonged. The plants may be taken up 
and potted as soon as the buds are fairly formed ; 
if the clumps are large and much crowded, thin 
out the weaker stems, giving the plants a rich soil. 
They will wilt and look rather sorry at first, but by 
placing them in the shade a few days, they will 
soon recover. Should they be attacked by a black¬ 
ish plant-louse, as they often are, the free use of 
tobacco-water will clear them. When the plants 
have recovered, set the pots where they will be 
sheltered from heavy winds, and give proper atten¬ 
tion to watering. They need not be taken in until 
there is danger of severe frost, and should then be 
in a room, the windows of which can be opened 
on mild days. By avoiding close confinement and 
too much heat, the bloom may be greatly retarded 
and also prolonged. After the flowering is over, 
cut the stems completely away, and put the pots 
in the cellar, taking care that the roots do not get 
so excessively dry during winter as to kill them. 
The Melon-Worm, and Pickle- 
'Worm. 
It would appear that a particular culture only 
need to be started in a locality to bring in a num¬ 
ber of heretofore unheard of insect enemies. A 
marked illustration of this is afforded by the Cran¬ 
berry. The Cranberry can only be profitably culti¬ 
vated in localities having certain natural advan¬ 
tages. In these few places, large areas are devoted 
to this one plant, and as a consequence, a number 
of insects, heretofore unknown, have made their 
appearance and diminish the growers’ profits. It 
is not only with such local crops as the Cranberry 
that these invasions occur, but let some crop that 
has heretofore been grown in a small way, without 
THE MELON-WORM. 
molestation, be largely cultivated in any locality, 
and insects will be sure to enter their protest, and 
insist that they shall be taken into account when 
the grower reckons up his profits. It is only within 
a few years that certain persons, in Georgia and 
other Southern States, finding that it would pay 
them better to grow Melons for the northern mar¬ 
kets than it would to cultivate cotton, that we 
have heard of “ The Melon-worm.” It is no new 
insect, but it is only since Melons have become 
abundant and have been raised by many acres, that 
it has become troublesome. Just as our greatest 
Potato pest, the Colorado Beetle, only became 
known when it was supplied with abundant food, 
so this enemy to the melon-grower has only been 
annoying as melon fields have become numerous. 
The insect was described as a native of this coun¬ 
try over a hundred years, ago, but it was then 
known only to scientific entomology. Within a 
few years it has demanded the attention of the 
practical entomologist. The melon-grower in the 
Southern States finds that the leaves on his prom¬ 
ising plantation appear to be troubled. An exam¬ 
ination shows that the fruit is also attacked; 
worms have eaten into the growing fruit, as many 
as half a dozen on each one, making unsightly 
holes, and causing general devastation. The worms 
are of a light yellowish-green color, somewhat 
translucent, and are about an inch and a quarter 
long. They feed upon the leaves, the vine, and 
the young fruit indiscriminately, causing destruc¬ 
tion wherever they go. When full grown, they 
make their chrysalides upon the leaves of the 
Melon, or on the flexible leaves of any other plant 
near at baud. They coil up the leaves by means of 
a web, to form a shelter, where they undergo their 
transformations,and finally issue as a very handsome 
moth, the scientific name of which is Phacellura 
hyalinitalis. The engraving represents the different 
states of the insect—the larva, the pupa within its 
coiled leaf, and the perfect insect, or moth. The 
moth, long known in cabinets for its beauty, has a 
spread of wings of about an inch ; these are of an 
iridescent, pearly whiteness, except a narrow black 
border. The body and legs are also white and glis¬ 
tening, while at the very end of the body is a curi¬ 
ous movable tuft of feather-like appendages, of a 
pretty buff color, tipped with black and white. 
The uumber of broods of this moth in a season is 
not well known, but it is ascertained that the in 
sect passes the winter in the chrysalis state. The 
Melon-worm has completely ruined plantations in 
Florida, Georgia, and in other Southern States, its 
ravages in some localities being so disastrous as to 
cause some to abandon Melon culture altogether. 
Remedies. — It has been suggested to plant 
Melons very early, so that they may ripen, and be 
out of the way of the most destructive brood of 
worms. As the first brood no doubt feeds upon 
the leaves before the fruit sets, it is suggested that 
especial attention be given to this first brood by 
hand-picking and the use of insecticides, among 
which Pyrethrum is regarded as likely to be of use. 
As occurs with other insects when they becume 
abundant, some natural enemies to the Melon-worm 
have already appeared in the form of parasitic flies, 
which deposit their eggs in the body of the worm. 
The Pickle-Worm. —In Southern Illinois, in 
parts of Missouri, in Michigan, and in other locali¬ 
ties, where the Cucumber is largely cultivated for 
pickling, a caterpillar is troublesome, which, from 
the fact that it was first noticed within Cucumbers 
after they had been preserved, has received the 
name, “ Pickle-worm.” As extended Melon cul¬ 
ture made known the Melon-worm, so that of the 
Cucumber brought the Pickle-worm into promi¬ 
nence. It is a native insect, which, until compara¬ 
tively recently, had been' known only in cabinets. 
Though called Pickle-worm, it does not confine its 
attacks to the Cucumber, but feeds upon Melons 
also. The worm is variable in appearance, being 
translucent and yellowish-white, resembling in 
color that of the flesh of the Cucumber, on which 
it feeds. The length is about half an inch ; the 
head is honey-yellow, and the rings of the worm 
are marked with black spots, each of which bears 
a fine hair. Like the Melon-worm, this makes its 
cocoons on the leaves, and undergoes its changes 
in about 10 days. The perfect insect is a moth, 
and belonging to the same genus as that of the 
Melon-worm. This is Phacellura nitidalix, which is 
described as being “ of a yellowish-brown color, 
with an Iris-purple reflection.” The body of the 
moth below is of a beautiful silvery-white; the 
end of the abdomen in the male, has a very large 
brush of flattened scales, some of which are 
whitish, others orange and brown ; the smaller 
brush of the female is black. The treatment 
for this is the same as that for the Melon-worm. 
Plants for Cold Frames. 
The seeds to produce the plants of Cabbage, 
Cauliflower, and Lettuce, to be wintered in cold 
frames for the early crops of next spring, must be 
sown this month. Market gardeners find that the 
date of sowing is a matter of great importance. If 
sown too early, the plants may run to flower next 
spring ; if too late, they will not be strong enough 
to winter well. The time best for one locality, will 
not answer for another, and allowance must be 
made for difference in the seasons. Near New 
York the 15th is the usual time of sowing ; one suc¬ 
cessful gardener, with all his experience, does not 
trust to a single sowing, but makes two, one on the 
12th, and another on the 16th. These dates may 
not be best for localities further inland, and each 
one must learn by experience, and the loss of a lit¬ 
tle seed, which is the best date for him. 
Apples for Export. 
From reliable sources we learn that the apple 
crop will be very poor in England this year, and 
not over-abundant on the continent of Europe. A 
short apple crop in England, means a demand for 
American fruit, to the profit, if not of our orchard- 
ists, at least to our shippers. In former years, 
American apples have met with a ready sale at pay¬ 
ing prices in England, but within the last two or 
three years, the trade has been less profitable. It 
is the old story over again, that good fruit in good 
