

223 
A The Squash Bug (Anasa tristis, De Geer). 
This insect appeared in unusal numbers the past season and did 
considerable injury to the foliage of squash vines. We found that 
the kerosene emulsion destroys it, when so applied as to wet the lower 
surface of its body, but when simply sprinkled upon the infested 
leaves with the watering pot, the liquid falls almost exclusively upon 
the backs of the bugs, and largely runs off, doing them very little 
harm. 
We recommend making the application with the atomizing bellows, 
holding the nozzle in such a way as to wet the lower sides of the in- 
sects as much as possible. 
THE ORCHARD AND FRuIT GARDEN. 
The apple trees regrafted in the spring of 1883 have, with a few 
exceptions, made an excellent growth. ‘Twenty-five of the eighty- 
five varieties bore a few blossoms, though but four, Cox’s Pomana, 
Haas, Oldenburg and Rome Beauty, matured any fruits, It is of in- 
terest to note that nine of the thirteen summer varieties bloomed, 
eight of the twenty-two autumn, and but eight of the fifty winter 
varieties. 
A considerable number of the trees of the peach, apricot and nec- 
tarine, set in the spring of 1884, were destroyed during the last unu- 
sually severe winter. ‘These were re-set last spring; though a few 
others which opened their leaves promptly at the commencement of 
the season, and were apparently little injured by the winter, have 
since died. 
What we Propose with Fruits. 
We have planned to make our system of note keeping with refer- 
ence to fruits even more complete than the one we have observed 
with vegetables. A blank book has been prepared, which assigns a 
page to each variety, and is properly ruled to keep a full history of 
every sort grown through twelve consecutive years. In this we 
record the date at which each plant or tree was set; if a tree, the age 
when set, age when grafted, stock used, etc.; the date of the first 
appearance of the leaves, and of the flowers, the date of the first and 
last ripe fruits, the yield of fruits, the time when the first and last 
leaves fall, the length of each season’s growth, notes as to whether 
this was well or poorly ripened, the date and severity of the frosts of 
spring and fall, the time of pruning, or fertilizing, the culture or 
treatment followed, with full notes as to insect injuries, blights, 
mildews, fungi, or diseases of whatever kind. The value of these 
exhaustive data are not as yet fully apparent, even to ourselves. We 
feel confident, however, that they will prove valuable in proportion 
to the accuracy of their collection, and the number of years they ure 
continued. 
The gathering of such data is in itself very laborious, but we hope 
that the thorough acquaintance with varieties, and the cireumstan- 
ces of growth that this work enforces upon us, may result in the dis- 
covery of laws which shall be of value to horticulture. 
