THE CULTIVATOR 
165 
(Sarirett anfr tl)£ ©rrijarfr. 
1, canker worm’s eggs—2, a full grown worm—3, chrysalis— 
4, female—5, male—6, male with its wings spread; at the right 
hand the section of a tree with a trough upon it. 
Respected Friends —I forward thee a cut of the 
Canker worm in its various stages, and my patent appara¬ 
tus for preventing them from ascending trees, which has 
been very successfully used in three of the New England 
states for several years; and where they have been put on, 
in some instances the orchards have produced a thousand 
bushels of apples in one year. I make the troughs of a 
strip of sheet lead, four inches wide, bent in the form of 
the figure 2, with the foot cut off, and inverted; thus 
forming a trough and roof of the same piece of metal, 
and bending it to conform to the shape of the tree, and 
soldering the ends together. It is made so large as to 
leave the space of one inch between the trough and the 
tree, which is filled with hay, straw, seaweed, or any 
other substance that will prevent the insects from passing 
between the trough and the tree, and will be easily com¬ 
pressed by the growth of the tree; the ends of the sub¬ 
stance used to pack with, must be cut off, to prevent 
them from hanging over and forming bridges for the in¬ 
sect to pass the trough. Any substance that will absorb 
the oil and hold it in contact with the bark of the tree, 
should not be used for packing the space between the 
trough and the tree. The trough is held in its place by 
tacking three or more nails into the tree for it to rest up¬ 
on. After the packing has been put in, the top ends should 
be daubed with a little tar to stick them together, taking 
care not to let the tar get upon the trough or the tree, 
and then it may remain for years without further care, or 
until the tree grows so as to burst open the trough, when 
a small piece of lead may be soldered in at a trifling ex¬ 
pense, and the trough will serve another term of years; 
and thus the troughs may be increased in size as the trees 
grow, so long as there is any use for them, and when the 
lead is taken off, it is worth two-thirds of its original 
cost, There is not much doubt but that the troughs will 
always be wanted, as the canker worms have been in 
some neighborhoods for the last fifty years, according to 
the authority of the oldest inhabitants. 
Codfish oil, or what is termed liver oil, by the dealers 
in the article, is said to be best to put in the troughs, as 
it will remain the longest without drying, and for that 
reason is never used for painting, and is about as cheap 
as any fish oil, being fifty cents per gallon. These 
troughs should not be filled more than one-third or one- 
fourth full of oil. It is now well known, that a part of 
the canker worms leave the ground in the autumn, be¬ 
ginning about the last of the ninth month, (Sept.) and as¬ 
cend the trees and deposit their eggs. They continue to 
to ascend the trees from the time abovementioned, until 
the first or middle of the fifth month, (May,) following, 
whenever the weather suits them and the ground is thaw¬ 
ed so that they can escape. 
I have a number of certificates in my possession, signed 
by a large number of intelligent gentlemen, who have 
used my troughs successfully, who certify “ that it is the 
cheapest, and most effectual, and more durable than any 
other method they have any knowledge of, and requires 
less care and attention.” I have deposited a sample of 
the troughs at the office of the Cultivator. 
Thy friend, truly, J. Dennis, Jr. 
Portsmouth , R. I. 8 mo., 25, 1842. 
FRUIT TREES. 
Messrs. Editors— Respecting the piling of stones 
around peach trees, whether they will have the effect of 
keeping worms from the tree, I know not: but this I do 
know: they will afford an excellent harbor for mice that 
will eat the bark, and in a very short time do more da¬ 
mage than all the worms could possibly do them. I have 
frequently seen tan, chips, long dung, &c. piled around 
the bodies of fruit trees; depend upon it, this is all 
wrong; they serve only as a harbor for vermin. Keep 
the sward from around the roots, and spade in short dung, 
and my word for it, it will answer a much better pur¬ 
pose. N. Warrington. 
Springfield, Burlington co. N. J. Aug. 8, 1842. 
THE TOMATO. 
The Wayne Sentinel, published at Palmyra, in this 
state, informs us that “ripe Tomatoes, grown upon a 
last year’s plant, which as an experiment had been pre¬ 
served through the winter in a box, and set out in the 
garden in May, were picked by one of our citizens early 
in August. This is a simple and cheap, if not new mode, 
of obtaining an early supply of this valuable and delicious 
vegetable, and will no doubt be enlarged upon hereafter. 
Another experiment successfully made by the same indi¬ 
vidual, may be new to others, as it is to us: that is, the 
propagation of the Tomato plant by cuttings. They take 
root in a few days, if set out in a hot bed; or they will 
readily grow in open ground, after the weather becomes 
warm in the spring; and in this way, by taking cuttings 
from an old or bearing plant which has been preserved 
through the winter, the vegetable may be much advanced, 
and an early supply obtained with little trouble.” 
CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. 
The horticultural readers of the Cultivator, may re¬ 
member that in a former volume, we gave an account 
of a new seedling Strawberry, produced by Mr. Hovey 
of Boston, which for productiveness, size, and flavor, 
promised to be one of the very finest varieties of this 
delicious fruit. As it had never failed to fruit abundant¬ 
ly in the original bed, Mr. Hovey concluded that it would 
never fail to do so; but contrary to his expectations, ma¬ 
ny of the plants, sold to the cultivators of this fruit in 
different parts of the country, proved entirely barren. In 
the July number of Mr. Hovey's Magazine, is an inter¬ 
esting letter from N. Longworth, of Cincinnati, Ohio; 
explaining the cause of this, and in connection with the 
remarks of Mr. Hovey on the letter, giving information 
of much use to the strawberry cultivator. Mr. Long- 
worth says: 
“I saw a bed of Hovey’s seedling strawberry, last 
spring, in a gentleman’s garden in New Jersey. There 
were no other kinds near them, and there was not a per¬ 
fect fruit on the whole bed. It was out of blossom; but 
I cannot be under a mistake when I say that your straw¬ 
berry is, in common with the Methven Castle, Hudson, 
and all other good bearers that produce very large fruit, 
defective in the male organs, and must in your variety 
amount to a complete separation of the sexes, and require 
other plants, perfect in the male organs near them. I 
have kept the male and female Hudson in separate com¬ 
partments for twenty years, to enable me to make a suit¬ 
able selection in putting out new beds; those never had 
either produced a perfect fruit. * * * From 
the appearance of the vine of your strawberry, I antici¬ 
pate a very large fruit; but I shall not risk it without a 
male Hudson near, except it be a single plant for an ex¬ 
periment. The moment I can see the blossom I shall be 
as well satisfied, as after cultivating it for years. 
“ I have been surprised to find no English gardeners 
that understood the true character of the strawberry. 
There is no strawberry that produces abundantly and ve¬ 
ry large fruit, where the male and female organs are per¬ 
fect in the same blossom. In some varieties only, it 
amounts to a complete separation of the sexes; in others, 
those abounding in the female organs never produce a 
perfect fruit. Those abounding in the male organs, 
sometimes produce a fair crop, and where a few fruit 
only, it is often very large. * * * In all 
the monthly white varieties of the strawberry that I have 
ever seen, the male and female organs are perfect in eve¬ 
ry blossom, and as a natural consequence, the fruit is ne¬ 
ver large. The small Virginia Scarlet produces about 
half a crop of delicious fruit, but it is always small. I 
add a sketch of a male and female strawberry. 
Female flower — Fig. 95. Male flower Fig. 96. 
“ The question has been started in England, whether 
all strawberries are mere varieties, or whether there are 
different species. I consider this question settled by the 
fact that the Hautboy strawberry, and some others, can¬ 
not be impregnated by the Hudson, Virginia Scarlet, or 
our native strawberry.” 
In a P. S. of May 16, 1842, Mr. Longworth adds:— 
“ My plants [Hovey’s Seedling,] are now in blossom, and 
young fruit. I have plants, with males of the Hudson va¬ 
riety near them, and not a blossom will fail to produce a 
perfect fruit. As an experiment, I placed a vigorous 
plant where it could be impregnated by no other variety, 
and the result is, what the blossom satisfied me it would 
be; it will not produce a perfect fruit. But this is a vi¬ 
gorous and hardy variety, and my present impression is, 
that it will prove superior to Keen’s seedling in all re¬ 
spects. In my opinion its being defective in male or¬ 
gans increases its value, but it is necessary that those cul¬ 
tivating it should be informed of it, and plant a few vines 
perfect in the male organs, near them.” 
There is no gentleman in this country, whose opinions 
on matters connected with the cultivation of the straw¬ 
berry and grape, and we may perhaps add, fruits gene¬ 
rally, is more entitled to confidence, than Mr. Long- 
worth’s. Cultivators of the strawberry, have been long 
aware that there were fertile and sterile plants, but Mr. 
Longworth was the first to point out in a clear and satis¬ 
factory manner, the cause of this difference. The very 
valuable paper from the pen of Mr. Downing, of New- 
burg, on the means of securing crops from plants defec¬ 
tive or deficient in their blossoms, was the result of in¬ 
vestigations and experiments instituted in consequence 
of facts pointed out by Mr. L. We agree with Mr. Ho¬ 
vey, that the public are much indebted to Mr. L. for his 
remarks on the strawberry, accounting as they do so tru¬ 
ly for the manner in which many disappointments in the 
culture of this fruit have arisen, and teaching so clearly 
the manner in which such failures may be hereafter 
avoided. 
This very strawberry under discussion, (Hovey’s Seed¬ 
ling,) furnishes a proof how much the knowledge con¬ 
veyed in Mr. Longworth’s letter was needed. The bed 
of original plants of this valuable strawberry, in the gar¬ 
den of Mr. Hovey, produced most abundantly, and so in¬ 
variably that one of the chief excellencies of the seed¬ 
ling, as set forth by Mr. Hovey, was that the blossoms 
were always fertile. In his own words, in the paper be¬ 
fore us, “Wetook it for granted, that there could be no 
such thing as a sterile plant, when all bore a crop of 
fruit.” It was found, however, that a very large pro¬ 
portion of the plants vended by him, of this variety, 
proved sterile, and this fact, while it was a source of 
surprise to Mr. Hovey, was calculated not to entirely sa¬ 
tisfy the purchaser. Fortunately, the letter of Mr. Long- 
worth pointed o-.t the cause of the sterility, and its re¬ 
medy; and thus enabled Mr. Hovey to account for the 
original plants being such abundant bearers. We make 
some extracts from Mr. Hovey’s comments on Mr. Long- 
worth’s paper: 
“ In the spring of 1841 we had occasion to make a new 
bed, more particularly for the growth of young plants 
than for the fruit: this bed, in order to be sure that the 
variety should be kept distinct, was placed in a remote 
part of the garden, at least fifty yards from any other 
kind. During last season they made a good growth, and 
covered the ground with the vines in the autumn. From 
this bed immense quantities of plants were taken for sale 
at that time, and the present spring; yet there was a suf¬ 
ficiency left to produce a good crop, and before the plants 
began to throw up their flower stalks, Mr. Longworth’s 
communication came to hand, and we were quite asto¬ 
nished to hear that he had seen a whole bed, in which 
there was not a perfect fruit: we at first believed that he 
could not have seen the true variety; but knowing Mr. 
Longworth to be a gentleman distinguished in horticul¬ 
ture, and upon whose statements we could rely, we de¬ 
termined to watch the bed carefully when the plants be¬ 
gan to bloom, and satisfy ourselves. This we did; and 
the most rigid examination has convinced us that he is 
correct. The new bed above alluded to, flowered freely, 
but it has not produced twenty quarts of fruit, though it 
was large enough to produce at least two bushels. In 
this bed of upwards of five thousand plants, we did not 
find a flower with perfect stamens. We then had re¬ 
course to the original bed, where a few stragglingplants 
were growing; after a careful inspection we found from 
forty to fifty, out of perhaps a hundred left, which had 
perfect flowers, that is, producing both stamens and pis¬ 
tils; these we took up carefully, and they are now doing 
well. The question then recurred to us, whether the 
original plant might not have been perfect in its flowers, 
but by the rapid manner in which the runners had been 
increased, the flowers had become imperfect. If this 
had not been the case, where should the staminate plants 
have originated, when not one was found in the new 
beds? Could they have been accidental seedlings? This 
question cannot be settled until the plants have produced 
fruit another year. 
“But it may be asked, how our plants in the original 
bed should have produced such crops. This is easily ex¬ 
plained : in parallel beds of fifty feet in length, each con¬ 
taining two or three rows, we cultivated the Wood straw¬ 
berry, Keen’s seedling, Methven, Pine, Early Virginia, 
and some others. The consequence was, that however 
deficient our seedlings might be in stamens, the abun¬ 
dance of them in the other kinds was sufficient to ferti¬ 
lize the whole bed. It was probably this which deceiv¬ 
ed us, and led us to the conclusion that the flowers were 
perfect, and the distance at which the bed we have be¬ 
fore mentioned was placed from all other kinds, has been 
the means of convincing us of the truth of Mr. Long¬ 
worth’s statement.” 
We think Mr. Hovey has in the following paragraph 
well stated the remedy for sterile strawberry plants; and 
we recommend the method stated, to the adoption of all 
whose beds of strawberries are unproductive. Those 
who have but one kind of the plants named, and may 
wish to correct their sterility, will find that fertile or sta¬ 
minate plants of the common wild kinds in our pastures 
or meadows, will be as efficient as any other: 
“ After what has been written, it is only necessary to 
know that our Seedling, the Methven, Downton, and oth¬ 
ers, should be set out in beds, near to a bed of Early Vir¬ 
ginia, or some other staminate plants; not barren ones, or 
those devoid of pistils, as some cultivators have advised, 
as it is just as well to have such as will produce a crop 
of fruit. Those who may have found our strawberry a 
shy bearer, after this explanation, will be able to pro¬ 
duce as great a crop as they could wish.” 
NEW DISEASE OF THE PLUM. 
We find in the July No. of Hovey’s Magazine of Hor¬ 
ticulture, ( a publication we take great pleasure in again 
strongly recommending to our friends,) a notice of a new 
disease of the plum, from the pen of the distinguished 
Entomologist, Dr. T. W. Harris, of Cambridge, Mass. 
We copy his description, that our readers may be on 
their watch for the first appearance of this new enemy: 
“ Last year an undescribed disease of the plum made its 
appearance in some gardens in this vicinity, in the latter 
part of the month of May, arid has been observed again the 
present season. Soon after the blossom had fallen, the fruit 
began to swell rapidly, and in the course of two or three 
weeks it had grown to more than ten times the size that 
