JULY 4 
to take into consideration. Looking over our 
losses this Spring, we say, “ It has been a hard 
"Winter,” as if that was an apology. But 
when every third Winter is “hard,” and our 
dearly bought treasures grow small and beau¬ 
tiful y less, it is discouraging to the most en¬ 
thusiastic. 
Just now I have been looking mournfully 
at a row of new grape3 purchased last Spring 
from a well known New Jersey nurseryman. 
Jefferson and Prentiss are both dead, while in 
the same row, and with the same treatment, 
Salem,Wilder and Vergennes are in leaf. I am 
particularly sorry for Prentiss; it was my 
only vine. I wanted to fruit it, and when 
these grape-vines sell at $1 50 to #2 each, it 
proves the truth of the little girl’s verse. 
Highland is dead; so is Lady Washington. 
Well,it has been a hard Winter. For the first 
time in seven years’ fruiting, the Clarke Rasp¬ 
berry is damaged; so is the Brim kle’s Orange, 
and among flowering shrubs sad havoc has 
been made. It is the mildness of the Winter 
that, by a strange inconsisteucyjeststbe hardi 
ness of plants. A so called “haidy" Japan 
Honeymekle procured from the same firm, 
has left nm nothing this season but the ticket 
that marks the place where it once exi-ted. 
Why cannot we be contented with the old 
Concord among grapes, and let the new ex¬ 
periments alone! But we cannot. I know that 
it is bmnau nature, and also, that by thus 
proving aud testing one learns what will 
live in a certain locality. But with me, if I 
counted the cost it would prove a dearly- 
bought experience—much anticipation but 
little realization. Is there any silver lining 
to these horticultural clouds? Annie L. Jack. 
Province of Quebec, Canada. 
The Hovey and Manchester Strawberries 
Not Identical. 
My attention has been called to the question 
whether the old Hovey Strawberry is bein' 
introduced anew as the Manchester. This 
matter was quite largely and seriously dis¬ 
cussed at a meeting of the Leavenworth Hor¬ 
ticultural Society last week. Having formerly 
cultivated the Hovey quite largely, I was ir. 
dueed to visit a plantation of Munehesters 
set out this season, where I found them grow¬ 
ing remarkably well, sending out strong run¬ 
ners and many of them large trus es of fine 
perfect berries quite unlike the Hovey, The 
shape of the truss and the form and color of 
the f-uit are quite different from those of 
Hovey. The color of the Hovey when fully 
ripe is a dull dark red, whereas the Manchet- 
teris bright and lively. There need be no 
question about the difference. John Burr. 
Leavenworth, Kansas, 
Planting Lima Beans. 
In an editorial item in Rural of May 13, 
you “ believe it to be a mistake to plant Lima 
Beans two inches deep ’ The growth can be 
much forwarded for the season by sprouting 
the beans in any old vessel with a few inches 
of rich mold. Cover the bottom of a pan of 
a^ykiadwith the fine soil; drop the beans 
upon it, any side up, and silt over them an inch 
of soil. Keep moi<t and in the sun, sheltered 
from cold winds, for a week, then sift them 
out caretully, and the beans will be ready for 
the proper planting. The first of June in this 
climate is early enough for Limas. Plant 
right side up and two inches deep, a a. b. 
Newburgh, N. Y, 
tMarket gardeners will not agree to the 
above. Limas sprout in the ground in five 
davs with the weather we usually have in the 
middle of May. Eds ] 
Dwarf or Bush Beans require to be sown in 
drills, about two inches deep, the drills being 
from two and-a-half to three feet apart accord¬ 
ing to the fertility of the soil—the poorer the 
soil, the closer they can be planted. When 
up, thin out so that the plants stand three 
itches apart at hast. They require to be 
well cultivated, care being taken not to hoe 
them when wet with dew or raiu, as dust or 
dirt scattered on them while wet will cause 
the fruit and leaves to rust and thus greatly 
injure the crop. d. 
Cntomoioi^icrti, 
ROSE BUGS. 
How to Prevent Them from Destroying 
Grapes. 
Presuming that many of the Rural’s 
readers will be glad to know hovV the Rose 
Bug or Rose Chafer can come upon us New 
Euglanders in such numbers so instantaneous¬ 
ly, w itbout being seen in any other form than 
that of a lull-grown pest, I preface the results 
of some experiments In preventing their rav¬ 
ages on grape blooms and y^ung grapes, with 
au extract from the Library of Universal 
Knowledge: 
“It emerges from the ground about the 
second week in June, appearing iD swarms, 
remaining a little over a month. The males 
then die, and the females reenter the earth, 
lay their eggs, and come again to the surface 
and die. The eggs, which are about one thir¬ 
tieth of an inch in diameter, hatch in about 
20 days, when the larvae commence to feed 
upon tender roots, attaining about three- 
fourths of an inch in length by Autumn. 
They have six short legs, a pair to each of the 
first three rings behind the head, la October 
they descend into the aartb beyond the reach 
of frost, and hibernate until the Spring, when 
they gradually come to the surface, and are 
in May transformed into pup®, which in June 
become beetles, dig their way to the surface 
to feed upon the rose and other plants, and 
again go through changes above described.” 
When I first cultivated grapes, quite a large 
number of rose bushes had previously been 
grown iu a flower garden, that annually drew 
myriads of Rose Bugs to feast upon their blos- 
variety, have been dead some time. I don’t 
know whether this has ever been recom¬ 
mended or not. I have practiced it for seven 
years. h. 
Plainfield, Mich. 
A Remedy for the Rose Worm, 
A remedy for this pest is a mixture of coal 
tar and gypsum in the proportion of one 
pound of the former to 100 pounds of the latter 
carefully mixed. 
I make the compound by taking the tar 
and a small portion of the plaster, and put¬ 
ting them on a smooth floor, or slate or stone, 
aud working them together with a hoe until 
well mixed. Then more plaster is added, 
and mixed as before, and so on until all is 
th roughly united. Tnen it should be 
passed through a coarse sieve (a fine raolder’s 
sieve is best) which will take out the lumps. 
The-e must be worked up with more of the 
sifted gypsum, until all will pass through 
Plan for Marking Polled Cattle. (See Page 434 )—Fig. 197. 
soras, and the “spread” of roses being inade¬ 
quate to the demands of the feasters, it is very 
natural that my young grapes were made 
into a Rose-bug dessert. This was doubtless 
very p'easant to the bugs, but it was some¬ 
what annoying to me, and I decided not to 
keep an “ open house” for the Rose Bugs any 
longer. But to close the doors was no easy 
job. 
At first the grape-vines were covered with 
sheets and mosquito cloth, but this was too 
expensive and laborious. A mineral fertilizer, 
the product of some New Hampshire mines, 
was called an insect destroyer, and a success¬ 
ful use of it led me to try other mineral-', 
until 1 found that plaster-of Paris, air-slaked 
lime and other white powdered minerals were 
equally efficacious in keeping off the bugs. 
It is not judicious to use an insect destroyer 
to keep away the b igs, for fear that the poi¬ 
sonous qualities may injure those who eat the 
grapes; therefore, it is better to use only 
preventives of the Rose Bug's ravages, and 
to do this the matter must be atteuded to 
early—just as soon as the foreruuners make 
their appearance. If the grape-vines are not 
already wet with dew or rain, carefully and 
thoroughly wet each leaf, and par iculariy 
each bunch of hlooras or young grapes; then 
take lime, powdered gyp»um, or whatever 
mineral you are going to use, aud dust it over 
the whole foliage, and if kept covered so long 
as the Rose Bugs remain, or until the grapes 
attaiu the size of large peas, the crop is safe 
from the enemy. If the bugs are plenty, 
“eternal vigilance” aod the application of 
the mineral dust after each windy or rainy 
day are the price of grapes. G. R. d. 
Pittsfield, N. H. 
PEACH BORERS. 
From extensive observation I conclude that 
nine-tenths of the peach trees that die in this 
vicinity are killed by borers. 
People h°ve read so much about the “yel¬ 
lows” of late, however, that if a tree looks 
sickly or dies, it has the yellows sure. Not 
long since a neighbor called on me and stated 
that his peueh trees had the yellow's, 1 was 
alarmed to hear it, and went at once to ex¬ 
amine the trees. Going up to the first tree 
1 came to, and g’ ttiug down on my knees, I 
drew away the mulch and weeds, and what 
did I fiudl Large quantities of gum and saw¬ 
dust, mingled with dirt, and covering the 
ground for quite a distance about the base. 
The trees w. re literally honeycombed, and 
were being eaten alive by borers. Now when 
a tree gets as far gone as that, it is useless to 
try to save it. Dig it up, set a good healthy 
tree in its place, and see that no borers are al¬ 
lowed to get a foothold. 1 believe that the 
fellow' who first remarked that au “ ounce of 
prevention is worth a pouud of cure" had a 
’•level" head. It is much easier to keep borers 
out of a tree than to get them out. My 
method, which hu< proved very successful, 
is as follow s: When I set out a tree I give its 
base, for six or eight inches above the roots, 
a good coat of wax made hs follows: Four 
pounds of resin, one pint of raw linseed oil, 
one-fourth pound of beeswax. Set the tree 
ordinarily deep, then throw a shovelful of 
leached ashes around each tree, taking care 
that the waxed portion extends two inches 
above the soil. If of the right consistency the 
wax will not crack as the tree grows. Every 
Spring go over the orchard, removing the 
soil about the tree to the depth of a few 
inches, and give another coat of wax, put on 
warm with a swab. Then throw on au an¬ 
other shovel of leached ashes, etc. Trees so 
treated have never been troubled by borers, 
while others, standing near and of the same 
a common "meal sieve. If all the small par* 
tides of the tar are * ot completely combined 
with the gvp urn, it will be liable to injure 
the leaves of the rose. e. w. k. 
Remedy for Squash Bugs. 
J. G., Grand Rapids, Mich., and others, re¬ 
quest a remedy for squash bugs. Here is a 
safe and sure one that I have used for years 
with perfect success-. To make one barrel of the 
preparation, use half a bushel of fresh hen ma¬ 
nure. Put this into the barrel and fill up with 
water, leaving room to stir and mix thorough 
ly. When l put seeds in theground I prepare 
the mixture. The older it is the better. N>tir 
every three or four days, and keep covered to 
prevent evaporation. When the vines are 
large enough, apply the liquid with a coarse 
sprinkler. Stir the contents of the barrel 
thoroughly each time you apply it, and keep 
the barrel filled up with water. Bear in mind 
that this is a powerful fertilizer, and be care¬ 
ful not to use too much at a time. I usually 
apply it two or three times a week, or as often 
as the bugs make it necessary. It is also a 
sure remedy for cut-worms. 
To Keep Squash Vines free from Bugs. 
My method of doing this is, simply as soon 
as l find vines infested, to hoe them well, pul¬ 
verizing the earth finely and drawing it up 
closely around the leaves. I do this daily 
until they leave, which they will usually do 
the first working. Should they return after 
a few days, which they sometimes do, I repeat 
the operation. By this plan I not only have 
my vines well worked, but frighten off the 
bugs to the vines of some of my less enterpris¬ 
ing neighbors who don't read the Rural. Tnis 
plan has never failed for me, and I hope the 
Rural readers will give it a fair trial. 
Faquier Co., Va. w, l. r, 
--» ♦ ♦- 
Remedy for Squash Bugs. 
I have found the following a sure preven¬ 
tive ot the attacks of squash bugs, cucumber 
beetles, etc., on my gardea vines; Saturate 
a piece of cloth or old rags with kerosene, and 
tie to a short stick, or draw them through a 
split made in the top of the stick to fasten 
them, and iusert the stick in the hdls or near 
the vines, and the “bugs” will soon disappear. 
After a shower, aud, usually, once in a 
couple of days, the rags will need to be satu¬ 
rated anew. It is worth a trial. J. V. L. 
Deckertown, N. J. 
Remedy for Cut-worms. 
Several years ago I was troubled very much 
from Cut worms eating my cabbage plants. 
I dissolved a little copperas in water and 
sprinkled the plant with it, and had no 
further trouble with the worms. J. c. a, 
Jonbesoro, Tenn. 
-- 
Remedy for Currant and Rose "Worms 
—For the beueflt of the numerous readers of 
the Rural I offer the following remedy for 
the above pe ta and believe it will also be 
found effective against the squash bugs:— 
Take one pound of quassia; put it into 12 to 15 
gallons of water over night, and next day 
sprinkle the infested plants with the solution. 
Ruth Sieberth. 
-*-»-•- 
Remedy for Peach Insect Enemies.—I 
have used sulphur with great success when the 
leaves are injured by insects and curl up. 
After a few applications of flower of sul¬ 
phur the tree presents a healthy appearance 
and the leaves become smooth and glossy. 
Apply the sulphur when the leaves are wet 
with dew. L. H. w. 
Marshall Co., W. Va, 
435 
_% r b ovmiltuvo t._ 
CULTIVATION OF THE FOREST-NO.14, 
DR. JOHN A. WARDER. 
Care and protection. Foresters should be 
naturalists. Forest Jires to be avoided. Laws 
and penalties. Freventices. Education of 
the Youth: enlightened public opinion. 
In different countries the words cultivation 
and culture have ddEorent meanings attached 
to them, and it may be well to explain how 
they are employed, lu most of the great 
forests of Europe the words are used to indi¬ 
cate a thorouglr oversight of the management 
of the forest, and extending to the trees such 
care as they may need from time to t.rne. 
Very little labor ’in ihe way of what we 
should consider cultivation of the soil is there 
practiced. In the previous articles upon prep¬ 
aration and planting, the reference to ttie 
manner of doing the work there will explain 
why so little of what we call earth woi king 
or cultivation is practicable, so, also, ihe plans 
recommended lor our owu preparation and 
planting, especially where forests are to be 
established de novo on the regions of open 
champaign couutry, in which a thorough 
taming of the soil was urged to destroy the 
herbaceous vegetation of the grasses aud 
perennial weeds, cannot fail to have sug¬ 
gested that thorough cultivati in of ihe soil 
would be practicable, and necessary to en¬ 
courage the rapid aud healthy growth of the 
young trees. This is what we understand by 
cultivation. 
This care will be the more absolutely neces¬ 
sary in all fertile soils that have become in¬ 
fested with numerous annual weeds, which 
spring abundantly aud grow so rankly as soon 
to overcome the mox’e tardy growth of most 
woody plants. Tue remarkable vigor of some 
of these intrude!s upon our agricultural crops 
may be cited as evidence of careless or even 
of neglectful farming; nevertheless, t~e fact 
remains that weeds do wonderfully abound, 
and it has been assumed as a law that our 
agriculture results largely in the destruction 
of the perennial plants, aud ia the increase of 
the annual and herbaceous plants; every day 
observation coufirms the statement, and the 
more highly the soil is fertilized, either by 
nature or art, so much the more weedy be¬ 
come the fields. The aunual plants charac¬ 
terize the era of cultivation, whether they be 
the valuable crop- of the farmer or the weedy 
pests that so annoy him, and which require 
so much of bia labor for their eradication. 
A reference to the previous numbers, es¬ 
pecially to tboseon “Preparation” and “Plant¬ 
ing,” will remind the reader that thorough 
culture or tillage of the soil was recommended, 
wherever it is practicable, by {lowing the 
whole space devoted to the tiees. This being 
done, the ground is in good condition for their 
proper cultivation, and the planting instraight 
rows enables us to accomplish this double 
operation—the destruction of the weeds aud 
the keeping of the soil in the best tilth—in the 
condition that is most favorable for the young 
plants, and which will greatly advance their 
growth. 
This cultivation may all be done by a care¬ 
ful workman using a light plow or cultivator, 
so that very little will be left for the hoe. 
On rough ground where the plow cannot be 
used, the weeds must be kept iu check by the 
more laborious use of the hoe, and iu some 
casesaBhort brush scythe, if carefully bandied, 
may be employed to cut taeinduwn when they 
appear aruoug the trees. For intruding 
bushes, the scythe becomes very useful to 
cripple such undergrowths, which may have 
their uses as nur^e-plants, but must be subor¬ 
dinated during the early years of the planta¬ 
tions. Of this character aiv the uative elders 
and the blackberry bushes which often come 
as unbidden guests in plantations that are 
made in our best lands. They are true 
nurses provided by nature. 
Tae complete cultivation of the soil, where 
practicable, is the most desirable treatment 
for our young trees, and it should be thor¬ 
oughly done whether the rows be close or 
wider, aud with intercultural crops between, 
and it shoul l be continued for two. three or 
more years, or until the ground is fully oc¬ 
cupied and shaded by the tree plants. The 
intervening spaces cannot long be utilized by 
subsidiary crops, as the shade will soon di¬ 
minish their productiveness. Some of the 
slower-growing sorts will require cultivation 
for a longer period. The great desiderata lu 
is, as soon as possible to turn the trees over 
to the care of Nature. When we have suc¬ 
ceeded in completely shading the ground, the 
forestal conditions most favorable for tree 
growth soon make their appearance. There 
will be a coating of fallen leaves that mulch 
the surface, retaining the precipitated mois¬ 
ture, aud keeping the soil in that loose, mel¬ 
low coudition that the feeding ou supeificial 
rootsseems to require. This ultimatum being 
attained, the cultivation may be thrown as’de 
and the plantation can be handed oyer to Na- 
