JULY 10 
in a hot day. An admirer of the Rural, 
who writes us on the same subject from 
Woodbrige, N. J., is advised to use white 
hellebore (poison) dusted on the plants when 
wet. It will kill the worms without fail and 
none ever adheres to the fruit to be of any 
danger, even if dusted on just as the cur¬ 
rants are ripening. 
Copperas and Lime for the Potato Beetle. 
—B. F. P mi.T. rps, a former correspondent of 
the Rural from Colebrook, Ashtabula Co., 
Ohio, recommends to us copperas and lime 
as a safe, sure and cheap destroyer of the 
Colorado potato beetle. Mr. Phillips says : 
“I used five pounds each of copperas and 
slaked lime, dissolved in twenty gallons of 
water, and applied it with a whitewash 
brush, effectually destroying the enemy. 
A trial of the same mixture, with twice as 
much water, did the work equally well.” 
ilia field was alive with the beetles and their 
lava' before the application. The mixture 
improves the growth of the potato vine, and 
it certainly cannot do any harm. The cop¬ 
peras is itself a manure, operating somewhat 
as gypsum, or laud plaster. Our agricul¬ 
tural exchanges are requested to pass this 
item around. 
New Insect Destroyer. —8. J. Lyman of 
Montreal, Canada, claims to have invented a 
compound of soap and phosphorus which is 
applied to plants, not only killing all insects 
but cansing the plants to grow with much 
greater vigor. It is said to be as effectual 
against the Colorado beetle as Paris green, 
and without the danger attending the use of 
that poison. 
ago have not been surpassed by any later in¬ 
troduction. The old single French crimson 
still furnishes as pretty buds as the newest 
perpetual moss, and who wants a moss rose 
except when in bud ? The old Crested Prov~ 
ence has never as yet had a pretended rival, 
but stands alone the very Queen of its spe¬ 
cies. And as I look over the old sorts, like 
George the Fourth, with deep crimson petals, 
or La Tottrterelte , Madame Hardy, Persian 
Yellow, and similar “ old sorts/’ I begin to 
find myself wishing for more of the same, 
although novelties are abundant, and one 
might think, from the descriptions given, as 
far superior to these old and still unsurpassed 
favorites. A sight of the old Cabbage. Rose, 
Village Maid end White Bath would be like 
gathering old coins from the ruins of Her¬ 
culaneum or Pompeii. 
Our rose growers have gone road of late on 
the Bubjeet of novelties or new sorts, and no 
matter how good or poor they may bo, there 
is a season of ‘'puffing when a new batch 
is brought forward to be treated in the same 
manner without the least regard to merits. 
We want more select lists of the very best 
and well-tried sorts, with each fully de¬ 
scribed, in order that the amateur may 
spend his money judiciously and at the same 
time get its value in good roses, whether 
they are new or old. For my part, I have 
become tired of purchasing new roses, which 
are inferior to many old varieties. The pay¬ 
ing of high prices for such things is not half 
as provoking as the discovery that you have 
nursed and petted a plant which is wholly 
unworthy of the attention and labor be¬ 
stowed. A bold stroke in this direction is 
certainly required, not only in roses but in 
all other classes of florists' flowers, and the 
man who will do this thoroughly and ju¬ 
diciously will be entitled to the thanks of 
thousands who annually purchase scores of 
new sorts only to be thrown aside when their 
value is determined through a dear-bought 
experience. 
BEDDING • OUT BEGONIAS. 
The Begonias as a genus are not well 
adapted to open gai'den culture, eveu in 
summer, in our variable climate ; still, in 
certain positions they sometimes succeed 
passably well. Having quite a number of 
the showy sorts, like the Begonia Rex, and 
the now large silver-leaved varieties, I have 
made a bed for them against a large rock 
facing the east, where they will receive the 
morning sun hut be slightly shaded during 
the middle of the day. Thus far the plants 
look well, and upon the ■whole it is one of 
the most showy beds in my garden. The 
Begonias are so readily and rapidly propa¬ 
gated from cuttings of the leaves, that there 
need be no lack of plants after one has come 
into possession of a single specimen of a va¬ 
riety or species. 
If I succeed iu my bedding : out experi¬ 
ments this season, I shall extend operations 
in the same direction next ; but we have to 
proceed slowly and not place too much con¬ 
fidence in our successes, for frequently some 
change in the season upsets all previous cal¬ 
culations, and this brings to mind a confes¬ 
sion I have to make in regard to 
HARDY BLACKBERRIES. 
I have declared over and over again that 
the Kittalinny and Dorchester blackberries 
were perfectly hardy in my grounds, and 
after passing through the severe winter of 
'72-8 (when the mercury dropped to 26° be¬ 
low zero), coming out almost uninjured, I 
concluded their reputation for hardiness was 
pretty well established. The past winter has 
not been ext remely cold but long-drawn out, 
and it is only in the lust few weeks that we 
could discover its full effect* upou plants. 
At first I thought all my blackberries had 
passed through safely, but a failure to bloom, 
as well as the prevalence of dead canes 
among the old standard sorts, forces me to 
somewhat modify my opiuion in regard to 
them. Among all the various sorts in my 
gjounds, the Western Triumph , a compara¬ 
tively new variety, has passed through the 
winter unharmed. It is also a lucky coinci¬ 
dence that it is a first-rate sort, not much, if 
any, inferior to the Kittatinny. This win¬ 
ter-billing of the older sorts may never occur 
again, but once is sufficient to establish an 
exception to a general rule; hence, to be 
strict in such matters, one must “make a 
note of it,” 
THE COTTONY MAPLE LOUSE 
DAILY EURAL LITE. 
I send you by mail a section of a soft 
maple branch, covered with some kind of an 
insect enveloped in a substance resembling 
cotton. Some of the trees are covered with 
these insects from the lowest to the highest 
branches. The tree from which the speci¬ 
men was taken stands on Iowa Avenue in 
this town, and there are several other trees 
equally as badly affected. You would great¬ 
ly oblige myself and others by giving the 
name of this insect and how to destroy it, as 
we fear they will destroy all the maple trees 
in this vicinity. A few have already found 
a lodgment upon some of the sugar maples 
In this neighborhood.—P. W. H., Muscatine, 
Iowa. 
We do not know as this insect has ever re¬ 
ceived a common name, but it may be ap¬ 
propriately termed “The Cottony Maple 
Louse,” as its covering ^resembles very fine 
cotton. Its scientific name is Leoaniutn 
acericola, and is closely allied to the L. 
Maclurm, which attacks the Osage Orange, 
They are both destructive and widespread 
specid, demanding vigorous measures to 
check their ravages. "Where only a few are 
found an application of alcohol is a quick 
and certain method of destroying, but upon 
large trees tills might be rather expensive. 
Strong ley will also destroy them, and prob¬ 
ably a weak brine might do the same, hut 
we have had no experience with the latter. 
Hot water will also kill them, and unless put 
on in too large quantities it will not Injure 
the trees. We would also suggest that you 
experiment with various solutions, and re¬ 
port the result for the benefit of others who 
may soon bo called upon to fight this pest. 
Try lime water or fresh slaked lime, applied 
when the trees are wet; soap suds, carbolic 
acid, hot water, brine and alcohol, and see 
which answers best and is the. cheapest. 
From the Diary of a Gentleman near New 
York City, 
THE VIRQIllA AS A LAWN TREE. 
June 21.—A noble specimen of the Virgilia 
upon my lawn, planted some twelve years 
ago and now in bloom, reminds me that this 
beautiful denizen of our forests is still quite 
rare, even iu grounds where ornamental trees 
are a specially. It is true that our nursery¬ 
men have kept this tree for sale, and an oc¬ 
casional specimen may be found planted iu 
private grounds where they are, as a rule, 
crowded iu among other trees or shrubbery, 
which prevents full development and an un¬ 
folding of their natural beauties in form, 
foliage and flowers. 
When planted singly with an abundance of 
room for development, the Virgilia is one 
of the most graceful and ueatest of our native 
forest trees. It forms a broad head, some¬ 
what of a wineglass shape, with the ends of 
the branches slightly drooping during the 
time of most rapid growth in summer, be¬ 
coming erect as the. wood ripens in autumn. 
The wood is of a light, yellowish color, hence 
one of its common names—Yellow Wood. 
The bark is smooth, resembling in this respect 
the beech, not cracking open or becoming 
corrugated, like the elm or chestnut, as the 
trees attain age. The leaves are composed of 
seven to eleven broad, oval leaflets, three to 
four inches longand of a bright, glossy, green 
color. The flowers are small and of a eream- 
wliite color, delicately fragrant, and borne in 
a long, pendant panicle. 
The habit of this tree is really all that one 
could desire for the lawn or other ornamental 
purposes. The foliage is abundant, appear¬ 
ing quite early in spring and holding on until 
frost, at which time every leaf drops, and I 
have known specimens to be defoliated in 
two hours' time, during a clear morning fol¬ 
lowing a frosty night. As soon as the leaves 
are all off, they may be raked up and re¬ 
moved and there will be no more “littering” 
the lawn from this source. But with many 
of the oak, chestnut and similar trees planted 
on lawns, one must be continually at work 
for weeks during the autumn months, raking 
up leaves if anything like neatness is to be 
secured about ids grounds. 
The Virgilia ii readily grown from seed, 
which resemble somewhat those of the com¬ 
mon locust (Roblnia Pseudaencia) but shglit- 
ly larger. The seedlings are of rather slow 
growth for the first few years, but soon be¬ 
come vigorous and shoot up rapidly ; two to 
three feet in a season is not unusual. 
This tree is found most abundant in the 
forests of Es stem Kentucky and from thence 
further South. It was first described by the 
very inaccurate French botanist, Rafan- 
esque, who named it Cludrastis tinctonia. 
But a few years later another and far more 
thorough botanist of the same nationality, 
Michaux, described it under the name of 
Virgilia lute a; therefore, according to the 
rules of priority, the first must stand, 
however hard and unmeaning it may be. 
But the name which Michaux (pronounced 
Me-sho) gave to this tree—i. e.. Virgilia —is 
the one most in use among horticulturists, 
probably on account of its euphony and easy 
pronunciation. 
ABOUT SOME OLD ROSES. 
June 52.— I wonder if it is not possible to 
produce a “mania” for collecting and eul- 
IMPROVING COMMON SHEEP, 
A. B. Hundley of Springfield, Ky., asks 
us which is the best cross on the common 
cheap ewes—whether a Cotswold. or South- 
dowu buck should be used. We presume the 
common ewes of Kentucky are the same as 
elsewhere—light weight Merinoes—and have 
no hesitation in recommending either a Cots- 
wold or Leicester buck. Such a cross will 
give lambs of large ize—nearly as large as 
those of full bloods though, of course, not so 
valuable for breeding. Small Merino ewes 
bearing these large lambs need better feed 
than if they only had to nourish one of their 
“scrub” offspring ; but it will pay well to 
give this extra feed in growing lambs for 
the butcher. Saving the ewes of this cross 
for breeding and crossing again with full 
blood bucks will make a three-quarter grade 
lamb which will be as good for the butcher 
as full breds. This is an easy and compara¬ 
tively cheap method of improving our com¬ 
mon breeds of sheep, and we wonder it i3 
not more generally adopted. The three- 
quarter grade Cots wolds have an excellent 
wool for combing—better even than the full 
bloods in some respects. These three-quarter 
grades can only be procured by crossing as, 
if bred among themselves, they will vary 
considerably, some reverting to the fine 
wool and some to their long-wooled ances¬ 
tors. Possibly by careful selection of the 
three quarter beds having the best combing 
wool and breeding for that point a true 
combing wool breed might be established 
which would perpetuate its own character¬ 
istics. In the meantime, there can be no 
doubt that securing a pure-bred coarse wool 
buck, either Cotswold or Leicester, will 
make a great improvement in size of lambs 
and be a paying operation wherever sheep 
are kept. 
— F. G. 8. of Brookdale, Rice Co., Kan., 
who writes us on the same subject, will find 
his questions answered above. We are very 
glad to know that this subject is attracting 
attention among Western readers of the 
Rrral. 
ONE OF OUR FRIENDS-THE PERILLUS 
We introduce to Rural readers this week 
an insect, the PeriUus circamcinetus, which 
is found in some sections on potato vines. Tt 
prays upon the larva of the 
Colorado potato beetle, but, 
i WHiT unfortunately, also on other 
T insects, 
i, some of them not 
yjlfiHV I nox ‘ ous * The Canada Farm- 
er £ ,ves the following dc- 
/ f y description of the insect: —In 
color the Pcrillus is a deep 
chocolate-brown, with broad margins and 
bauds of creamy white. It attacks its prey 
with its beak, upon which it transfixes its 
victim. This being done, it plants itself 
firmly on its feet, with the beak raised and 
the victim spitted upon it, holding it aloft 
while it extracts the contents of its body. 
The line by the side of the cut shows the 
length of the insect, natural size. 
CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY WORMS 
Will you please inform me what kind of 
a worm the tuelosed is '( They have visited 
our eurraut and gooseberry bushes for the 
last three years, and they strip the bushes 
of their leaves. We have tried every remedy 
we can think of—such as stone lime, shell 
lime, laud plaster, carbolic acid, ana have 
even picked (hem oil with our fingers, but, 
still they bother us. If you can give us a 
remedy that will either drive them away or 
kill them, l will be obliged.—H. W. Glover, 
Southold , N, V. 
The worms inclosed were “smashed” 
past recognition, but we know to what in¬ 
sect you refer, as it has been destroying cur¬ 
rants and gooseberry bushes in Central New 
York for the past twenty years or more. 
Dust the bushes with powdered white helle¬ 
bore (Keratrum album), to be had at almost 
auy druggist’s. This is sure death to the 
worms, as they eat the poison while devour¬ 
ing the leaves upon which it is sprinkled. Of 
course the fruit will also be injured for future 
use, unless pretty thoroughly washed ; but 
better lose the fruit than the plants. 
Long Wools a Failure. — “A Pennsyl¬ 
vanian,” a champion of ihe Merinos, writes 
us a letter veiy severely criticising a corre¬ 
spondent who some weeks ago advocated 
Long Wools. He says that thousands of dol¬ 
lars have bee a spent id Pennsylvania for 
coarse wools at high prices, and that the in¬ 
vestment has been a loss. Many of the sheep 
have died, und those remaining are worth 
much less than what was paid for them. He 
evidently regards the whole thing as a 
swindle. It. is quite possible that inferior 
stock has been bought at exorbitant prices ; 
but there is no reason why careful selections 
of Long-Wool sheep, with good care and 
plenty of feed, should not meet fair returns. 
The Long-Wool sheep need better feeding 
than the common Merino, because its ances¬ 
tors for generations bank have been accus¬ 
tomed to hieh living. For a sheep to rough 
it in all weathers, and to pick its own rood 
winter and Bummer, there is nothing q ul \C 
equal to the American Merinos, but this is 
treatment no sheep should be subjected to. 
ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES 
To Kill Currant Worms.—K. K., a clergy¬ 
man of SO years, writes us that severe jarring 
of cuirant bushes at noon in a clear day will 
cause currant worms to drop on the ground, 
and not one in fifty will regain the bush. 
This he claims is more efficient than poison, 
and with less labor. He has tried this 
method three years, and saved his fruit. 
Shake the bushes twice the first week and 
once a week afterward. The experiment is 
worth trying. Probably in sandy soil enough 
dirt would adhere to the bodies of worms 
falling in it to destroy them, especially 
Hardy Apples. —The Minnesota Farmers’ 
Union recommends the WealtLy apple, a 
new variety introduced by Peter M. Gid¬ 
eon of that State, as a perfectly nardy apple 
notwithstanding tbe past severe winter. It 
is said to be as delicate in flavor and hand¬ 
some as any of the Eastern apples, and this 
matter of perfect hardiness is one of great 
importance in many sections where all apple 
trees have been supposed to be sufficiently 
hardy. 
