The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-11-08
FIcHTINe VARIOUS INSECTS
Cabbage Caterpillar--The Onion Fly
Picking Tomato Worms.

Picking Tomato Worms.
Editors Country GentIenedn:-A
most all kinds of vegetables were GOOD
and plentiful this-year, and as far as
my own were concerned, were com
p~aFatively free from insects. The cnleI
trouble I had was with the caterpllar
on early cabbages which grow scrap
idly and are so far advanced toWaros
maturity before the caterpillar com
mences operations that few emedie
Certainly not the poisonous ones Will
safety can,be used with u eHeGg.
On late kinds Ihave destroyed 1t easily
with a weak mixture of Paris green
and water hearts Of cabbages belngho
larger than hens eggs, this being gen
era1Iv about the period the caterpillar
is most abundant. Out OF over Sixty
bushels of onions there wer not l a
dozen bulbs injured by the maggoG,
and during wedding tune we ala 0
And q of them in the plants,
tbo11ph those we did find were then
and there destroyed by plnch1ng.
Onions have been planted on this patch
for six years, and until the present n
we have been bothered with the mag
got Why we were exempt from its
ravages this year I cannot say, except
it be that we have annually kept up
the pinching process which has been
our only remedy Of late years. The
presence Of the maggot can always be
ascertained by the dropping or dying
condition of the plant Some years
ago / tried a strong infusion of bur
docks as soon as / saw the onion fly
busy among the plants, and thought
the application was of some benefit
but the following year the maggot did
considerable damage, Notwithstanding
the infusion was twice applied. Since
then I have adhered to pinching, as l
have also to Earring for the curculio
and hand picking for cut-wOrm, be-
a little more trouble and time, they
are after all the most efectual RENE
dies.
This year [ had another hand picking
expeTience-with the tomato worm.
which was very abundant. The only
way to locate it is to look for fresh
faces under the plant, and even then
it may takesome time to find, soclosely
does it adhere to and so alike is it, in
color, to the vine. l always sell my
tomatoes carefully sorted and then
packed IN tiers In half bushel baskets,
and while prices were fair fifty cents
basket / fought the worm, but as
soon as the main crop came the prices
fell, when / abandoned the vines to
their fate, and they were soon stripped
of leaves. Later on we had seven or
eight cold nights, which shortened the
supply of tomatoes, causing a good
rise IN prices On visiting the vines,
to my establishment, / found a capital
crop of finely ripened tomatoes, though
neither a leaf was visible, nor a green
fruit Had / followed the worm UP I
should probably have had only green
tomatoes; as it is, / shall most likely
be troubled worse with the worm, than
I was this year. After observing for
years tie large trial beds of all kinds
of tomatoes of the Joseph Harris Co.,
addR to- my own experience, / find no
two varieties that suit my purpose
Better for market than the Dwarf
Champion and Livingston's Beauty.
There are several varieties rather
earlier than the former, but they are
r small In size and worth little after
the first picking, whereas, the Dwarf
Champion is of fair, even size, smooth,
of good ;olor and a prolonged bearer.
No tomato can excel Livingston's
Beauty in color, good size, smooEhness,
and evenness of fruit; its only failing
Is that it is a late bearer, though [
have eve had any difficulty with it
when planted sufficiently early. Were
/ to add a third variety I think it
would be the Ignotum. J. H. c..
Monroe Co5N. Y, Oct. II.