414 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
•lune 16 
ease (Empusa aphidae), which often destroys plagues 
of plant lice, no diseased lice have been observed 
upon the peas. 
INSECT ENEMIES OF THE LICE.—Internal hy- 
menopterous parasites were observed among the lice 
last Fall, and parasitized lice were common on the 
WINGED FEMALE LOUSE-PUPA. Fig. 130. 
Crimson clover this Spring, but none have been ob¬ 
served as yet among the peas. It seems quite pos¬ 
sible that the cold Winter of 1898-99 destroyed the 
parasite insects which had previously held this pest 
in check upon the Crimson clover, and thus allowed 
its most extraordinary increase in numbers and ap¬ 
pearance upon peas during the ensuing Spring. The 
Syrphus flies, whose larvae eat the pea-lice so raven¬ 
ously, are very busy among the infested vines, sound¬ 
ing like honey-bees as they buzz around here and 
there depositing their eggs, one to three or four of 
which are found in every colony of lice. Practically 
no larvae have been found as yet in Delaware Helds, 
though they are very common among the badly- 
infested fields of early peas in Maryland. But even 
with the remarkable appetites of these valuable in¬ 
sects—I observed one larva eat 25 Apple plant-lice 
in as many minutes—it is hardly reasonable to ex¬ 
pect them to make much of an impression upon the 
vast hordes of lice. The Lace-winged flies are be¬ 
coming common in many fields, and their voracious 
young larva are just hatching from the eggs. Lady¬ 
bird beetles are found here and there, but not in any 
large numbers. Altogether, it seems hardly probable 
that any material decrease in the numbers of the lice 
will be effected by their natural enemies. 
SPRAYING AND BRUSHING—What, then, can 
the grower do? As yet no spraying mixture lias been 
found to be sufficiently effective to allow its recom¬ 
mendation. 1 had constructed an attachment for a 
kerowater pump by which I was enabled to spray five 
rows of peas at once. The rows were well sprayed, 
and the larger part of the lice were hit, but 15 per 
cent of kerosene evaporated so rapidly in the hot 
sun as to kill hardly any, and 25 per cent was so 
strong that it seemed probable it would injure the 
vines though it killed the lice. Tobacco-Whale-oil 
soap has been used with somewhat better success by 
Maryland growers. Scott & Chisholm, of Baltimore, 
who are the lea'ding manufacturers of pea-vining ma¬ 
chinery, have been hard at work for some time upon 
machines for the mechanical destruction of the lice. 
An air blast was first attempted, by Which the lice 
were to be sucked from the vines into a bag, and 
thus collected, but the “sucker” proved a failure. 
Mr. Scott is now at work upon a machine having re¬ 
volving brushes, which will brush the lice from two 
tows into a pan between them, the machine to be 
drawn by a horse, and brushes geared to a wheel. 
This seems entirely feasible and practicable, if not 
too expensive an apparatus. However, for the pres¬ 
ent season, all are agreed that the only practicable 
means for destroying the lice is that of brushing by 
hand. This will be impossible upon drilled peas, but 
fortunately for the Delaware crop, most of it is in 
rows. Brushing has been and is being practiced in 
several places with considerable success. Boys are 
provided with small pine branches, with which they 
brush the vines, thus readily knocking the larger part 
of the lice between the rows. They are closely fol¬ 
lowed by a cultivator or harrow, which throws many 
lice under the soil, others are so thoroughly dusted 
as to close their breathing pores, and thus kill them, 
while others are literally roasted alive by contact 
with the hot earth. The brushing and cultivating 
should be done late in the forenoon, or afternoon, 
when the soil is dry and hot. It is essential that the 
harrow follow the brushes closely, lest the lice crawl 
back to the plants. When the soil is damp, or when 
the vines are too large, the harrowing is impractic¬ 
able. In that ease the same end may be accom¬ 
plished by drawing a shallow pan—Similar to the 
“hopperdozers” used in the West for grasshoppers— 
between the rows, and brushing the lice into it. 
These pans may be made of cheap galvanized iron, 
and should be about the width of the row, about six 
feet long and three or four inches deep. Each should 
be filled to the depth of three-quarters to one inch 
with water and kerosene. The lice are quickly killed 
upon contact with the kerosene, and there is no 
chance of their crawling back to the plants, so that 
this method is really much more satisfactory than 
following the brushes by harrows. Either procedure 
is cheap, simple, and effective if diligently pursued. 
In several instances badly-infested fields of late peas 
have been vMted, the owners of which were unaware 
that the lice were present. It is important, there¬ 
fore, with this, as with every insect pest, to keep a 
close eye upon the crop, and be aware of its presence 
before it has increased to such numbers as to be un¬ 
manageable. When found to be present, the only 
thing to do is to brush the vines thoroughly every 
four or five, or at most six days, until the crop is cut. 
FUTURE PROSPECTS.—The outlook for the pea 
canner is certainly not encouraging. Considerable 
difficulty was encountered in securing growers to 
plant late varieties this year, and probably not over 
half the usual acreage was sown. Certainly, it would 
hardly seem wise for the grower to plant any but the 
early sorts. The growing of only early varieties 
would necessitate a very large force for the cannery 
for a week or 10 days, with no work during the latter 
half of June, a condition which might lead some 
packers to drop pea canning. Very probably, how¬ 
ever, if only early varieties are grown for a year or 
two, Mother Nature will take care of the Pea louse— 
i. e., its parasites will increase in such numbers as to 
keep it in bounds, and late varieties may again be 
planted. Though certainly a most serious pest, and 
its sudden invasion one of the most remarkable, for 
an entirely new species, on record, it does not seem 
probable that the Pea louse will permanently inter¬ 
fere with pea growing. e. dwight sanderson. 
'Newark, Del. Illustrations from photographs by 
the author. 
A TALK ABOUT LATE CABBAGE. 
Preparing for a Late Cabbage. 
We have a two-acre field now in grass which we wisli 
to put in late cabbage. The field is moist, with springs 
on two sides. Part of it is quite low, with coarse grass 
and ferns growing on it. Our plan is to cut the grass 
early, then haul manure and spread on the stubble, plow¬ 
ing the whole under and rolling down. We want to finish 
with the Acme, mark out and set the plants at the proper 
time. How can this be done to the best advantage? 
You are aware that when the practising physician 
diagnoses a case he sometimes likes to see the tongue 
A SYRPHUS FLY. Fig. 131. 
of his victim, feel the pulse, learn something of the 
habits of the applicant, etc. If I were acquainted with 
the field in question I could stand a better chance of 
making a better diagnosis; however, there are cer¬ 
tain general principles to which it is perfectly safe to 
adhere in the management of one’s business, whether 
in the office or on the farm—modified, of course, by 
local conditions and circumstances. If that field were 
mine, and here, I should plow it as soon as possible, 
roll the plowed surface every night, work it crosswise, 
or diagonally, with a Cutaway harrow, lapping half 
each time, fin'ish with the Acme. There is no question 
but that this particular soil is a most inviting one for 
“big root,” underlaid as it no doubt is with a stratum 
of cold heavy clay, it would be just the kind of soil, 
and cabbage is just the crop to respond very promptly 
to an application of 40 or 50 bushels of fresh-burned 
lime per acre. Lime costs us here at the railroad 
station 10 cents per bushel; with you it might be dif¬ 
ferent. Eight or 10 good loads of barnyard manure 
per acre, plowed under, with a half ton of good cab¬ 
bage fertilizer, analyzing about four per cent nitro¬ 
gen, eight per cent phosphoric acid, 10 per cent pot¬ 
ash, harrowed in, will no doubt bring good cabbage 
without the lime, provided the cultivation is attended 
to. That kind of ground usually requires lots of cul¬ 
tivating. Somehow I think that moist field will b; 
all right this Fall. I say moist, not wet; unless I am 
greatly mistaken, from August on, it will need all 
the moisture it has, or will have. 
A word as to varieties. If I were going to sell my 
crop to a kraut factory, or, what is practically the 
same thing, a Hungarian boarding house, I should 
aim to get a good strain of Late Flat Dutch, but if, 
on the other hand, I catered to a critical domestic 
trade, I could do better with smaller, solid heads 
like Winnigstadt, planted say 2 1 / £x2 1 /2. Gregory’s 
Solid Emperor is a fine strain of the Holland cab¬ 
bage, one year from the imported, that is, grown here 
one year—most of this imported, hard-heading cab¬ 
bage does not seem to like our climate the first year, 
and doesn’t head as uniformly as American-grown 
seed. Johnson & Stokes have a good strain of Winnig¬ 
stadt. I don’t know that it is any better than that 
furn'iShed by Francis Brill. But are you not a little 
late, or is there so much difference in our locality? 
Our plants are showing the rough leaf. We usually 
plant late cabbage about June 20 to 25. We have 
had unusually dry weather the last two seasons, and 
transplanting was difficult, but where I dropped the 
seed, instead of transplanting, and thinned out after¬ 
ward, the cabbage never seemed to mind dry weather. 
I suppose the reason is that when undisturbed the 
tap root remains unbroken, and consequently pene¬ 
trates to greater depths in search of moisture. The 
innovation is so great that I hesitate about urging a 
man who has been accustomed to transplanting, to 
abandon the practice, and drop a pinch of seed where 
the plant is to stand. Cultivate with a wheel hoe, and 
finally thin to one plant. The change is so great, but 
you will have to hurry if you grow your plants for 
transplanting. With favorable weather you can get 
them big enough in five weeks’ time; six would be 
better. Don’t sow too thick. Try the drill on the 
barn floor, or somewhere where you can count the 
seeds; 30 or 40 to the foot will not be far out of the 
way in a well-prepared seed bed. If the weather is 
dry at sowing time, be sure the soil is firmed 
above the seed by rolling down. We have a wheel 
for this purpose made from a belt wheel with four- 
inch face, rigged like a wheelbarrow, but I have 
done an excellent job in this way by putting a mod¬ 
erate-sized stone on the drill and bearing down on the 
handles until the weight was thrown on the little 
roller wheel in the rear, then wheel over the line of 
the row. I don’t know that I have said anything, 
but I am reminded of the remark of a neighbor a 
short time since: “Hello, Mike,” Said he, “come over 
and sit down for five minutes and tell us all you 
know.” M. GAHKAHAN. 
Kingston, Pa. 
KANSAS HORSES.—Twenty years ago, here in the 
West, horses were a mongrel lot, Indian ponies, 
bronchos, some fair blood from the East, and now 
and then a dash of race-horse blood. At that time, 
draft horses from the East and Europe were bred to 
the native mares, good, bad, and indifferent, with 
varying results. In most cases the cross was too 
violent, still the general size was increased. The 
next cross was a great improvement, producing 
horses of good size, fair form, tough and possessing 
some style. The last few years, Coachers were bred; 
whether they will improve the general-class horses 
remains to be seen. This year the majority of farm¬ 
ers seem to agree with the Irishman who said that 
the horse to raise is a mule! The colt shown at Fig. 
132 is a light sorrel, white mane and face. Sire was a 
Brilliante (Black Percheron) dam half Briiliante, half 
Kentucky whip. The colt has a full sister that is 
black as a crow. Now the question is, whence comes 
so much white? “Atavism,” some will say. Prob¬ 
ably so, but the color is a disappointment just the 
same, other ways the colt is all right. He weighed 
800 pounds at one year old. Walter zimmerman. 
It beats me why a manufacturer will charge you a 
price to protect your storekeeper, and the storekeeper 
will not order these goods from the manufacturer. That 
is making a big harvest for a good many shoddy con¬ 
cerns. G. P. 
In Good Company.— The Ruby Queen arrived safely and 
in fine condition. Thanks. Her petite majesty now sits 
enthroned in the rose garden, where, under the motherly 
eye of Maman Cochet, and surrounded by a brilliant circle 
of ladies-in-waiting, Mesdames Jules Grober, Pernet 
Ducher, Caroline Testout, Abel Chatenay and Augusta 
Victoria, she is doing well. May her reign be long and 
illustrious. j. k. h. 
Texas Macaroni.— European manufacturers have been 
testing Texas hard wiieat in making macaroni and other 
A KANSAS COLT. Fig. 133. 
pastes, and it is found of distinct value, when unmixed 
with soft wheat. These manufacturers hope to get an 
increased stock of their raw material from Texas, which 
they can buy cheaper than the Mediterranean product. 
Such a demand will increase the wheat area of northern 
Texas. It is hoped that the manufacture of these pastes 
rnay be established in this country. 
