Island Greening -will be no sweeter grown 
upon a Sweet Bough, stalk than on its own 
roots. 
PHRYGANEA, 
the Plum Curculio, and differs principally in 
being somewhat larger, more opaque-white, 
aud in having a narrow, dusky dorsal line, 
and a distinct laternal tubercle on each joint. 
When full grown, which is in a month or 
more from the time of hatching, it leaves the 
fruit through a smooth cylindrical hole and 
burrows two or three incites into the ground. 
Here, singularly enough, it remains all 
through the fall, winter aud spring months 
nlontofogtral 
On the inclosed card I Kive you a representa¬ 
tion of some insects in the chrysalis state, 
brought from Australia, twelve years ago. In 
passing into this state the miller collects about 
twenty slicks, the diameter of which is about 
the size of a long darning needle; and they vary 
in length from an inch to two Inches. A part of 
jt protrudes at the top, and fas ter is itself upon 
the bark of a tree, as represented. The sticks 
adhere with great tenacity, us does the insect 
also, to the hark. Ami the marvel is as to how 
it munuges to surround itself with this body and 
(hen elevate Itself upon the tree. Perhaps you 
can ti ll n.i how this is done? — Lakoy Scnder- 
lam ), QuineUi 
We cannot give the specific name of the 
insect from a mere pencil sketch like the 
one received, hut presume it is one of the 
many species of Phryganea. These insects 
belong to the Heuroptem, an order, as its 
name implies, of nerve-winged insects, our 
common Dragon-fly (Afischna comtrieta — 
Say,) being a well known example. The 
Phryga/nea , like many others of the same 
order, are insects that frequent low marshy 
grounds and lay their eggs near or in the 
water, where they hatch, and the larva de¬ 
scends below the surface, swimming or 
crawling about until fully grown. They 
spin a very fine cocoon .covering the outside 
with sticks, or some similar material. 
The P. romhia make a much smaller co¬ 
coon than the one shown, and instead of 
placing the slicks lengthwise, they are stuck 
oil in almost every conceivable direction. 
rlA'Mffiiitai.P , . .Liu i.iu 
VINEYARD NOTES. 
DAILY EUEAL LITE, 
SNOUT-BEETLES 
Whitewash vs. Paint. 
C. L. Janney, Waynesville, O., in August 
last, made the following statement: — “A 
person residing near this town is the owner 
of a Concord vine, that is causing a good 
deal of comment hereabouts. The vine is 
planted near the east corner of his wood- 
house and trained on it twelve feet, then 
along the end of a porch six feet, then along 
the side of the porch and house some twenty 
feel—all on the cast of the buildings. The 
wood-house is whitewashed, and the grapes 
have nearly all rotted on it. The porch and 
dwelling arc painted white —there is not a 
rotten grape to he found on the vine that is 
trained on the painted part. The vine is as 
full as it can hang of very large bunches; 
has not been pruned any this year. 
(irnpi'N iliat do not Ilrar Fruit. 
.Joitn Slope of Michigan writes the 
Farmers’Club that he has grape vines that 
blossom annually and do not bear fruit, 
while other vines near by do produce fruit. 
He asks if others have observed the same 
thing. Mr, Fuller says he knows a vine a 
hundred years old that always blossoms, 
and the bloom yields a sweet perfume re¬ 
sembling mignonette; hut it has never borne 
a grape. The fertilizing organs are wanting 
in the flowers and will not produce fruit. 
From the Diary of a CJentlemaii near New 
York City. 
April 3.—Planted several new varieties of 
raspberries, among which were a few of tlie 
“ Ilergtine seedlings.” It requires pretty 
strong faith in the reports of committees to 
induce one to purchase every new thing that 
is offered for sale. Every time I purchase a 
new plant that turns out to be worthless, or 
even no better than some old sort, I resolve 
never to be caught again; but, like “Rip 
Van Winkle,” I “don’t count this time,” 
and always forget the resolve by the time 
another is offered. For the past, twenty 
years I have been purchasing new varieties 
of raspberries, and I should be a little chary 
in telling, if asked, how much money I have 
thrown away upon trash. There is, how¬ 
ever, one consolation to be derived from ex¬ 
perience in these things, we learn something 
even if our education is rather costly. 
There is still room for improvement among 
our native raspberries, and it is to them we 
must look for varieties that will give general 
satisfaction, Foreign sorts and seedlings 
therefrom must he laid aside except in par¬ 
ticular localities and for amateurs. 
April 4.—The rain came down in torrents 
this morning and the prospect of doing any¬ 
thing in the garden was so poor I concluded 
to go to the city and visit the “ Farmers’ 
Club” of which I have heard so much. Be¬ 
fore I got half way to the city it cleared off 
pleasant and warm and I regretted leaving 
home; lor there is so much to do at this time 
of the year. I reached the Club room at 1 
o’clock, prompt, and took a hack seat, for, to 
tell the truth, I felt a little ashamed of being 
caught idling away the hours that could 
have been spent to some purpose at home. 
However, alter a little I began to feel recon¬ 
ciled, for there were two or three hundred 
men,all doing the same thing; and, although 
the assembly is called a “Farmers' Club,” 
there seemed to he precious few farmers iu 
the crowd. It. may he that these were all 
retired farmers who, having become rich 
growing potatoes and corn, now spend their 
time telling other folks here to do ns they 
have done. There was one set of men there 
that had a good deal to say, who reminded 
me of stool pigeons, always flapping their 
wings to call others into a trap, but. were 
mighty careful not to go themselves. Them 
was a Mr. G. who talks much about Texas 
as being the only place really desirable to 
live iu, and still be remains in New-York ; 
also a certain doctor somebody, formerly 
from Boston, who seemed to he dead in love 
with Kansas, and owned ever-so-muny hun¬ 
dred acres of land there, which he wanted 
all the young men in the country to go and 
sec, if they did not purchase. A professor 
from North Carolina pul in a good word for 
his Stale, while a Dr. T., from New Jersey, 
said Salem County was a paradise in com¬ 
parison with any other locality, however 
beautiful. I confess to having got a little 
confused in trying to make up my mind 
which way to go, ibr I thought everybody 
was going, too, or had sold out and was on 
the point of emigrating. But upon taking a 
second thought 1 remembered that the names 
of these talking emigrants hud appealed, 
weekly, iu tlie Club reports for 1 don’t know 
how many years, and as their example was 
just as likely to be as good as their advice 1 
would follow it and hold on to the old home¬ 
stead. 
April 5.—Had begun to think about plant¬ 
ing cabbage and cauliflowers, but the cab¬ 
bage butterfly ( Pierie raped,) appeared in con¬ 
siderable numbers, to-day, and these are dis¬ 
couraging signs. It is to be feared that this 
imported pest of the cabbage tribe will he 
more numerous this season than last; if so, 
then cabbage culture will become a poor 
business, unless some cheap aud efficient 
preventive is discovered. 
April 6.—Weather getting warm, and the 
grass looks green on lawn and in the pasture. 
Some of my neighbors have turned out their 
cows to get a bite of fresh grass, but I think 
there is nothing gained by such a practice, 
for cattle soon lose their taste for dry fodder 
after tasting green, and they are likely to 
1 suffer in consequence of an insufficient 
supply. 
April 7.—That little gem of early spring, 
the Liver-leaf, ( Uepaticatriloba,) came into 
full bloom to-day. Its deep blue flowers 
peeping through the dry, brown leaves, is 
always a welcome sign of spring. 
April 8.—The warmest day of the season. 
Mercury marked 88° in the shade, at five 
o'clock P. M. Butterflies aud beetles about 
in great numbers; over thirty species of the 
latter were caught while working in the gar¬ 
den among the shrubs and trees. Several 
species of Curculio were taken, and among 
them one of a bright red color, and about 
half the size of the common plum curculio, 
( Conotrachelus nenuphar.) I shall have to 
send this to the Entomologist of the Rural 
New-Yorker for a name. 
15 V CUAS. V. RILEY. 
[Read before the IU. State Horticultural Society.! 
[Continued from page 220, April 8.J 
Tlie Qiiiuee Curculio,* 
(Comtrachclue craUtgl , Walsh.) 
How it I)iH'cr» 1'rotu ilie Olliers, 
Tuts insect has been called the Quince 
Curculio by Dr, Trimble, and though it 
breeds in other fruits, the name is a good 
one, as it will enable us to distinguish it. at 
once from our other fruit snout-beetles. I 
1 have had die beetle in my cabinet for sev¬ 
eral years, but knew nothing of its habits 
till a year ago last fall. It breeds very 
abundantly in our common haws, and I 
raised a number of them the present season 
from the fruit of the Pear or Black Thorn, 
(Cratcegus tomentom.) 
Though belonging to the same gcuns as 
our Plum Curculio, and having very much 
the same form, as may he seen by referring 
to the figure, (Fig. 9,) yet it differs remark¬ 
ably in its habits from both of the preceding 
weevils. It is, like them, an indigenous spe¬ 
cies, and its original fruit was evidently the 
Wild Ilaw, which iu the West it yet seems 
to prefer to the cultivated fruits. But in the 
East it has become very injurious to the 
Quince, and, as we might naturally expect, 
also attacks the Pear, and especially the 
Lawrence aud other late varieties. Dr. 
Trimble, at a late meeting of the New 
York Farmers’ Club, (Oct. 22, 1870,) gave 
the following account of its injuries in New 
Jersey the present year: 
Yesterday five or six hundred were taken 
from ilie bottoms ol two barrels of quinces, 
iiltbouKh Mi one quinces hud been mil tiered four 
days before. A friend of mine lias u quince 
orchard of 5586 trees. Those trees this season 
should average seventy or eighty quinces to a 
tree, milking morel bun twenty thousand, Upon 
a most on refill suture h, I was nimble to Urn) one 
specimen perfect, or clear of one or mure 
blemishes caused by the punctures of this in¬ 
sect. Frequently four, five. Or HlX Kt'UbS Will 1)0 
found in a single quince. Mr. Goldsmith, the 
owner, keeps this orchard in first-ram order; 
he has faithfully kept oul the borers, so fatal to 
the quince trees; has fertilized very freely, and 
the cultivation is perfect. He told me yester¬ 
day that Ids crop ihls year is lliiny hnrrels, 
which will yield him about $■ 126. Hud iliis insect 
let him alone, he should have had at least one 
hundred liurrels. worlh from fBOO to iJ.lHJO. 
Many Ol' Ids tutor pears, including the Seekle and 
Laurence, lmve Buffered greatly, though not to 
the same extent as his quinces. A few days ago 
ho emptied a barrel of eullings, chiefly Laureuco 
pears, and in and near I he hoi bum <d that barrel 
were found at. least -too of these grubs. A mouth 
ago I vtailed the orchards attached to one of i lie 
beat nurseries in I’eunsylvimia, aud i found tlie 
sad evidence of the prosenoa of this inseel 
enemy. Even the Seek to pears, though very 
abundant, wet*almost worthless; inter Varieties 
still worse. Mr. Ftn.r.EH tells mo that ho has seen 
this season, in Western New Vorli, the same con¬ 
dition nl fruit ill a well known nursery, even 
the Duchess pears almost totally destroyed. This 
l'ruit enemy seems yet confined to localities, but 
is spreading rapidly. 
Tills beetle was first very briefly described 
by Mr. Walsh, in a note in the Prairie 
Farmer for July 18,1803, page 37, from spe¬ 
cimens found by him on the Hawthorn, but 
until I bred it Ibis spring nothing was known 
of its larval history. I* is a somewhat larger 
insect than the Plum Curculio, has a com¬ 
paratively longer snout, and is very bread 
shouldered, thus tapering just the opposite 
way to the Apple Curculio. Its general 
color is a tolerably •uniform ash-gray, mot¬ 
tled more or less with ochre-yellow, dusky 
and whitish, and it lias a dusky, somewhat 
triangular spot a» the base of the throat, 
above, and seven distinct narrow longitudinal 
elevations on the wing-covers, with two rows 
of punctures between each. 
This beetle differs further from the others 
in the fact that it docs not appear even iu 
the latitude of St. Louis till about the first of 
June, aud I have had its lame of the previ¬ 
ous year in the ground in May when the 
newly hatched larvae of the Plum Curculio 
were already. working destruction in the 
fruit. In some of the more Northern States 
it would not appear till the middle of July. 
Iim Trnntiforniations and Habits. 
This snout-beetle does not make a crescent 
like the Plum Curculio ; but like the Apple 
Curculio, makes a direct puncture for the 
reception of its egg, the hole being somewhat 
larger than that of the latter, and the bottom 
of the cavity similarly enlarged and gnawed, 
so as to form a neat bed for the egg. The 
egg is very similar to that of the Plum Cur- 
culio, and hatches in a few days after being 
deposited. In all probability it also swells 
and enlarges somewhat before hatching. 
The larva works for the most part near the 
surface of the fruit and does not enter to the 
heart. It is of the general form of that of 
* CONTORACHKtrS cnAT.I’GI, wai.sh —harm — 
Average leiitfJi, when full kvowii, 0.32inch ; fourund 
a-lialt tinh's ns Iona as wide, and straight ; opaque 
whitish, with a narrow, dusky dorsal line, yenemlly 
obsolete on thorax, and a very tow-short hairs. Dis¬ 
tinct lateral tuhoiflcs on nil the points. Head ru¬ 
fous with nmurithtos alack, excopt at base, and dis¬ 
tinctly two-toothed nt up. 
Puvii —Average length, 0.2S Inch. Snout machine 
a little beyond elbow of middle tibia*and tarsi; with 
two stout rutous thorns near till) or brio of anteuiue, 
two more at bum and somnltmca others marc towards 
its tip, I toad and t uorax also armed with such 
thorns, and also two to each elbow of the femora 
and tibia* Whig oases with rows of short rufous 
bristles along the elevations bet ween the stria). Ab¬ 
domen cylindrical, the basal joint with a central 
sontellaT brlstleloss iuberclc. aud two others, one 
each sido of It, each bearing a bristle: the other 
joints conically tiiborclcd laterally, each tubercle 
licarina a stout bristle, and each joint hearing dor- 
sallv about four Other bristle* Oh tis posterior sub- 
margin. Terminal Bubstgraeiu squarely out oil, aud 
bearing two stout inwardly-curved brown thorns. 
Figure 9. 
without changing—no matter whether it left 
the fruit :ib early as the first of August or as 
late as tlie first of October. This is the 
peculiar feature of the insect, namely, that it 
invuriably passes the winter in the larva 
state, and does not even assume the pupa 
slate till the fore part of May, or a few days 
before issuing as a beetle. In this respect it 
resembles the nut-weevils which infest our 
Hickory nuts, Hazelnuts and Acorns. In 
higher latitudes than that of St. Louis there 
is evidence that some of the late hatched 
larvae do not leave the haws they infest till 
frost overtakes them, but pass the winter 
within the fruit us it lays on the frozen 
ground. The pupa differs only from that of 
the Plum Curculio in the greater length of 
the proboscis. 
It will be remembered, perhaps, that Dr. 
Fitch supposed the Plum Curculio was two- 
brooded, and those who have read his “ Ad¬ 
dress” on this insect will readily perceive 
that he based this opinion on finding what 
he took to be its larvre in the tender bark of 
it pear twig late iu the fall, and on finding 
what he similarly mistook for such larvae in 
haws in winter. Of course we know posi¬ 
tively now that the Plum Curculio does not 
so breed in pear twigs, and it is very evident 
that what Dr. Fitch took to he Plum Cur- 
culio larva? in such a twig were the young of 
some other insect, or perhaps even the eggs 
of some leaf-hopper ( Tetligonut) which are 
generally placed in the position described by 
him. But. though this first error of l)r. 
Fitch’s has been explained away, the second 
never has till now, when we mny assume, 
with great reason, that the larva) which mis¬ 
led the Doctor and which were found in 
haws in winter time, were in reality the 
larvte of our Quince Curculio. Ilow easily 
are fallacies exploded, and errors corrected, 
even years after they are committed, by a 
few well tested facts ! 
The two former Curculios which we have 
been considering have a beetle existence of 
between nine and ten months, during most 
of which lime, or as long as the weather is 
sufficiently mild, they feed in the manner 
described. The present species lias a beetle 
existence of not more than two months, and 
as though aware of the short term allotted 
to it for enjoyment, it endeavors to make tlie 
best use of its time. Consequently, we find 
it more ravenous than either of the other 
species, and it is really astonishing how 
much this insect eats. It excavates immense 
holes for food, often burying itself in them 
completely; and I have known apples fur¬ 
nished to these beetles iu confinement to 
have their substance so completely devoured 
that nothing but the rind was left. Two 
years ago this fall there was scarcely a quince 
that came into the St. Louis market that was 
not marred by numbers of large gougings, 
and, though I was then inclined to attribute 
such holes to the gnawing of grasshoppers, 
I feel pretty well convinced at present that 
the work might with more justice have been 
attributed to this Quince Curculio. 
The question will naturally arise, since 
this insect breeds in the Haw, the Quince, 
and the Pear, whether it will also breed in 
the closely allied apple ? So far as my ex¬ 
periments go, they indicate clearly that it 
will not; for, although the beetle will cat 
and greatly disfigure apples when no other 
nourishment is at hand, yet a number which 
I confined to a large branch of an apple tree 
on the 14th of June, last, absolutely refused 
to deposit eggs, and died three weeks after¬ 
wards. 
Keniodies. 
Very fortunately, this insect drops ns 
readily, when alarmed, as does the Plum- 
Curculio, and the jarring process will he 
found just as effectual in catching it, with 
the additional advantage that the jarring 
need only be carried on for about teu weeks 
of the year—namely, from about the first of 
June to the middle of Aitgnst in this lati¬ 
tude. Moreover, in accordance with its late 
appearance, we find that, according to Dr. 
Trimble, whenever it attacks pears it pre¬ 
fers the late ripening varieties. Again, it is, 
like the Plum Curculio, nocturnal in its 
habits, and secretive during the day; so 
that the Ransom process will undoubtedly 
prove effectual with it if used at the right 
season. All fruit that falls should he de¬ 
stroyed, and as we know that the larva hi¬ 
bernates in the ground, many of them will 
be injured and destroyed by late stirring of 
the soil. 
c (i)arbcnxr 
GARDEN NOTES, 
I’lnutiiiff Cablmce Seed Where Cnbbnares 
are to Crow. 
An Indianian in May plants his cabbage 
seed in hills where he wauts the cabbages to 
grow, just as lie does beans. Ho gets good 
crops and better cabbages than when he 
transplants them. 
Sweet l’otato Culture. 
A Western woman, H. B. R., Buchanan, 
Mich., gives the following as the mode prac¬ 
ticed by many Western gardeners: 
“ Select the sunniest side of your garden, 
and if the soil is a little sandy so much the 
better. Have the ground well prepared, and 
made tip into long ridges, leaving a space of 
about eighteen inches between them. Set 
the plants from ten to twelve inches apart.. 
Water them frequently, if the season is dry. 
They need little hoeing, bnl the ground must 
he kept clear of weeds. Should the ridges 
become washed by rains, they must Ire care¬ 
fully made up again. Sweet potatoes may 
he planted from the 1st to the 10th of June. 
Should the vines become too luxuriant some 
of them may be cut off. If the season is 
favorable, they are usually full grown by 
the last of September.” 
Are Cucumbers Profitable ? 
A subscriber asks if the raising of cu¬ 
cumbers aud salting them for market can 
be made a profitable business. We know 
of many gardeners who do make this kind 
of business profitable, but we presume they 
have made ii a study, anil learned by ex¬ 
perience how it is done. It is sheer folly 
for any one to expect that they can take up 
any specially in gardening or fanning, and 
be certain at the beginning of being success¬ 
ful in the end. Gardening and farming are 
trades that must be learned by practice, and 
not theoretically. All the books ever written 
on these subjects, no matter how carefully 
studied, will never make a good gardener or 
farmer; aud yet no man can become emi¬ 
nent, or even stand second-rate, iu either 
profession, without the aid of books. 
Cucumber culture is a profitable business 
with those who know how and are iu a 
favorable locality. 
The P. flavicornis covers its cocoons with 
small shells. The cocoons with purpoe in¬ 
closed, are som etim es attached to stones or 
pieces of hark*.Vs shown iu our illustration, 
and after remaining there a few weeks the 
perfect insect emerges, and goes on its mis¬ 
sion of reproducing the species. 
THE H00GEBERG GRAPE 
A gentleman residing in Pleasant Valley, 
near Hammondsport, N. Y., received a pack¬ 
age by U. S. Express, a few days since, which 
proved, upon opening, to contain grape vine 
cut tings, called “ White Delaware.” 
The recipient is ignorant of the quality of 
this grape, both iu fruit and vine. He in¬ 
tends grafting it. upon Isabella stocks, aud 
thus to obtain tlie fruit at once. By the way, 
tliis mode of propagation and changing a 
vineyard is rapidly growing iu public favor, 
because offering an opportunity for improv¬ 
ing the quality with little loss of quantity of 
production. There are points that interest 
grape growers here, that they would like to 
have settled by some of the Rural New- 
Yorker’s friends soon; they tire these: 
What is tlie quality of the “ White Dela¬ 
ware ’’ grape ? and what the lmhit of its vine ? 
And will this, or any good grape, be reduced 
in excellence of fruit, by being grafted upon 
the stock of an iuferior sort? Any one con¬ 
nected with the horticultural department of 
your valuable paper, will serve the interests 
of vine and wine growing in this portion of 
New York, at least, by giving an early reply 
to these inquiries.—A Grower. 
The grape referred to by our correspon¬ 
dent is the Hoogcberg, aud, being a seedling 
of tlie Delaware, some one has taken the 
liberty of attaching to it this old aud popu¬ 
lar name. The bunch is longer and not so 
compact as the Delaware; berries about the 
same size ; color very light greenish-white, 
perhaps the nearest white of any of our na¬ 
tive sorts. Pulp tough, with u sprightly, 
subacid flavor ; ripens late, and is probably 
of no value anywhere north of the latitude 
of New York city. We would advise “ A 
Grower ” to he careful how he indulges in 
“ great expectation ” of value. 
In regard to grafting vines, we believe that 
many weak-growing sorts may be greatly 
improved in vigor and productiveness by 
being worked upon strong growing stocks. 
The quality of the fruit will not be affected 
by the slock, except as it is diminished or 
increased in size, according to the vigor or 
weakness of the roots. Tlie same rule holds 
good with grapes as with apples, aud a Rhode 
That “Curious Vegetable/’ 
In Rural New-Yorker, April 8 , you 
figure a “Curious Vegetable.” It is not 
strange to me. The name by which it'is 
known in the West Indies is “ Chou Chou;” 
the scientific name yon can get in Webster. 
At the end opposite the stem is a cleft from 
which the young vine grows when the fruit 
is mature. It is a common market vegetable 
in Jamaica, and is cooked and eaten as a 
turnip is with us; the differences are all in 
favor of the “ Chou Chou." It also makes a 
nice pickle, and is known in England in that 
shape. The vine is easily grown, and, like 
all gourds, likes a rich soil—T. B. Pickton, 
Akron, Iowa. 
The true name of the vegetable referred 
to is Sechatm edulo, aud the common name 
Choclio. it is a native of the West Indies 
where t here are several species. Thu Jamaica 
Cbocho is S. americanum of Ducandahle; 
another species is found in Mexico, viz:— S. 
palmatum. All this is well understood and 
explained by our bontonist, but what we 
particularly want to know is how they are 
cultivated, the fruit preserved, cooked, etc., 
etc. The sprout referred to as emerging 
from a cleft at the opposite end from the 
stem springs from a seed, which germinates 
within the fruit and pushes the young sprouts 
through the cleft. 
