1880 .] 
193 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
capital discovery has been made that all varieties 
of American grapes are not equally injured by 
Phylloxera, and that while it is almost impossible 
to cultivate 6ome, on this account, there are others 
that may be regarded as Plujlloxera-proof. This dis- 
Fig. 3.—ROOTS OP THE GRAPE. 
covery and its practical application, in the produc¬ 
tion of varieties that produce good fruit above 
ground, and can in their roots resist the destruc¬ 
tive little louse, have given new life to grape-cul¬ 
ture in this country. Already several varieties are 
now known that do both, and still others are soon 
Fig. 4.— WINGLESS FEMALES. 
to be expected. Not only has the influence of this 
discovery revived the hopes of our vineyardists, 
but it is likely to prove the salvation of grape- 
culture in Europe. Thousands, if not millions, of 
our Phylloxera-proof vines and cuttings have gone 
abroad to be used as 
stocks in their vine¬ 
yards, upon which, 
by grafting, to estab¬ 
lish their grapes on 
invulnerable roots; 
and as Phylloxera has 
already appeared in 
California, where the 
European grape is 
so largely cultivated, 
the vineyardists 
there must soon 
adopt the same 
measure of safety. 
Thus America,which 
sent the insect which 
at one time threaten¬ 
ed to make barren 
the vineyards of 
Europe, has afford¬ 
ed the only practical 
relief. The engrav¬ 
ings here given are from the Missouri Reports of 
Prof. C. V. Riley, whose labors in relation to this 
injurious insect alone would accord to him the high¬ 
est rank as a scientific and practical entomologist. 
Another Orchard Lamp. 
In March last we gave in an account of the North 
Texas Pomological Society a description of a lamp 
adopted by the Society, to be used in trapping 
night-flying insects. After that paper had gone to 
press, we received from the Secretary, T. Y. Mun¬ 
son, Esq., a letter, stating that he-had been experi¬ 
menting with the different lamps that had been 
presented to the Society, with a view of learning 
which was the most economical of oil, and would 
best hold its flame in the wind. He sends a draw¬ 
ing of one which he finds preferable to the lamp 
figured in March, and which he had selected as 
probably the best without having tested it. The 
apparatus here given has a common brass hand- 
lamp, with a slotted burner; it has no chimney, 
but is provided with a cylinder of brass (c)open at 
both ends, placed over the burner to shield it from 
side gusts; the cylinder is perforated around the 
lower margin, to allow of better ventilation aud 
prevent heating. The lamp stands in a pan of wa¬ 
ter upon which a little oil floats. A stationary 
double shade (s) is attached to the pan. Mr. M. 
estimates the cost of the whole at §5 per dozen.” 
This wholesale destruction of insects is a matter 
that needs careful observation and study, and in 
presenting one of the methods by which it is pro¬ 
posed to accom¬ 
plish this, we by 
no means give 
it full approval. 
In catching in¬ 
sects the light 
attracts and the 
water drowns 
all night - fliers 
alike; many thus 
caught will no 
doubt be injuri¬ 
ous, others will 
be, so far as 
known, without 
any direct rela¬ 
tion to our fruit 
and other crops, 
while others still 
may be positive- an insect lamp. 
ly beneficial as 
destroyers of other and harmful insects. It be¬ 
comes a problem whether the capture of beneficial 
insects is not a greater injury than the taking of 
the noxious ones is productive of good. Experi¬ 
ments are needed before this matter can be de¬ 
cided, and it is likely that the results will be 
very unlike in different localities and in different 
seasons. We hope that the wide-awake Texan 
pomologists will aid in settling this question. 
An Asparagus Bed. 
If any farmer were to read the directions given in 
the older works for making an Asparagus bed, he 
would at once conclude that Asparagus was a 
luxury not for him. A pit was to be dug, and 
oyster shells or brick-bats put in for a foundation ; 
then numerous loads of manure were to be buried 
by trenching, and so much circumstance attended 
it that ordinary persons were frightened at the 
labor and expense. But of late years our garden- 
books do not copy English methods, and in noth¬ 
ing is the change for the better seen more distinct¬ 
ly than in Asparagus culture. Any one who can 
set out tomatoes can plant an Asparagus bed. The 
first thing is, to get the plants ; good strong plants 
a year old may be had of most seedsmen. If one 
prefers, he can raise the plants ; the seed is to be 
sown in a rich bed just as beet seed is sown ; make 
rows 15 inches apart and an inch deep, distribute 
the seed evenly, and cover; when the plants are 
well up, thin to three inches, and keep clear of 
weeds all the season ; the plants may be set next 
fall or the following spring. Those who buy the 
plants will gain a year; they are usually advertised 
in our columns. For family use the distance of 
planting varies. Where there is a plenty of room, 
rows three feet apart, with the plants a foot distant 
in the row, is better than nearer. Choose good 
garden soil, and set the plants so that the crowns 
will be at least four inches below the general sur¬ 
face. At planting, give each root a spadeful of 
fine manure or compost, and trust to annual raa- 
nurings to keep the plants in a productive condi¬ 
tion, instead of the old method of manuring once 
for all future time. During the season keep the 
bed well cared for, the soil loose and free from 
weeds. As a general thing, the plants should grow 
two years before cutting. There are several new 
varieties now offered. Smalley’s Defiance, Giant, 
and the Colossal are the most prominent ones. 
A Ticket or Label Holder. 
Those who exhibit fruit, wish visitors to know 
whose it is, and those who visit exhibitions wish to 
know whose and what the fruit is. Yet every one 
who has had much to do with exhibitions, is aware 
that after a dish is handsomely 
filled with specimens, there 
seems to be no place for the 
ticket. If put upon the fruit it 
hides a portion of it, and dis¬ 
figures what would otherwise 
be a handsome object. If the 
card is laid upon the table it is 
very apt to be displaced either 
accidentally, or by those persons 
who use their fingers to aid 
their eyes. The necessity for 
some contrivance to attach the 
ticket to the plate and to the 
dish led to the invention of one 
several years ago by our friend, 
E. W. Buswell, Treasurer of the 
Massachusetts Horticultural So¬ 
ciety. Now another contrivance 
for the same purpose comes to 
us from Mr. Peter Rudell, Grand Fig. 1 . —bhow- 
Rapids, Mich., who, without any 0AEI> holder. 
knowledge of the other, has contrived the device 
shown in the engravings. The affair is made of 
brass wire, which has considerable elasticity, and 
is bent in the shape shown in figure 1, by which it 
will be seen that the wire is all in one piece, and so 
bent as to afford at one end a clamp to clasp the 
edge of the dish, while the other holds the card or 
label, which is placed between the ring and the 
straight piece of wire shown as crossing the ring. 
If desired to hold the card still more securely, that 
end may be made sharp and bent at right angles to 
form a small point to penetrate the card. A card 
once put in place in this holder is secure against 
removal by any passing wind, and is held up 
where it is seen to the best advantage, by all 
who wdsh to be informed of that which the label 
is to represent. With a bit of wire of a size 
a trifle larger than the one shown in figure 1, 
one can, by following the engraving, soon learn 
the bends necessary to give it the proper form. 
Figure 2 shows the way in which the affair is 
used ; it holds the label well away from the fruit, 
allowing both that and the fruit to be seen. Mr. 
R., by freely giving them this little invention, has 
placed exhibitors of fruit and managers of exhibi¬ 
tions under obligations to him. Now that the 
Fig. 2.— the card-holder in use. 
spring shows are at hand, those in charge of them 
should provide a supply of these useful and con¬ 
venient affairs, as Strawberries are, of all fruits, 
the most easily disfigured by having large paste* 
board labels laid upon them in the ordinary way. 
