Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-09
GARDEN FOR INSECTS.
Where the Park Entomologist Pursues
His Work.

From the New York Tribune
One would never imagine as he walked
down the cross street through Central Park
from Central Park west. at S1st street, a
dreary enough street save for the foliage
which some kindly tree, out of its bounty,
droops over the wall to cheer and tantalfze
the weary traveller, that over the gray
hewn stone wall on the left was a little
garden Of flowers Of more Importance. per-
haps. than any other garden within the
length and breadth of the great city of
New York It nestles on a side hill. and
covers hardly more than $500 square feet
of earth. At first one would say that everv-
thing had been planted without an effort at
orderly arrangement. For all the world the
garden resembles the carelessly planted
garden of a dairy farmers wife.
The garden is reached by the gateway
into what the employees in the park call the
18th street yard" AS one turns into the
to his surprise. At the left is a shed which
suggests the dairy. Over the stone wall
CAMPER running vines, and on the sides of
the building hang draperies of morning
slories. whose blossoms are of all shades
OF blue between that Of distinct landsca ne
TO the deepest blue Imaginable and of a
purple as rich in color as a sovereien's
robes. Bordering the path which leads nm
past the building toward the bank hebtnd
are the delicate pink blooms of the live
forever and the orange and red flowers of
the nasturtium. The bank on which the
major part of the garden lies is q mass of
color. ranging from the white of the tinv
flowers Of the candytuft to the scarlet Of
the geran1um and the Gamma and the purpIe
OF the aster. In the background one sees
the small pink blossoms of the tobacco and
the dusty bloom of corn. From the crannies
In the wall creep forth vines. EVERYWHERE
IN this little plot is something growing.
mere ana there hutter small cabbage but
terfiies. and bees are slipping from a fringed
flower.
No one would guess what this garden was
intended for If he were not told Even if
he should come upon the spot by night and
find there. as he probably would these sum
mer nights, a man carefully walking
through the plot and flashing a dark Ian
tern from time to time upon the flowers.
at the same time examining them with
small glass. he would gain no clue. This
Is the laboratory of DR.. Southwick. the en-
tomologfst of the department of parks Tn
this garden. which he plants and tends him
self, he learns what insects are to be found
In the parks and on what they feed Here
he experiments with poisons and various
insecticides to learn what will destroy the
insects without injury to the plant tissues.
In this compact little garden are four hun
dred species and varieties of plants, repre-
senting wide range of plant families.
Its object is to attract insects" said DR..
Southwfck. who has been entomoloeist of
the park for more than q score of years
I'm this garden can find out what insects
are in the park and where they come from.
There are many insects in the park which
would not otherwise be discovered, Tbey
appear as soon as conditions are Favorable
All insects have likes and dislikes. and are
able to make proper selection of the
plant best suited for their use. Many in
sects live on the plants of one family The
potato bug, for instance, lives only on
plants of the potato family, such as the
nightshade, ground cherry. tobacco, datura
and lycium." DIR. Southwick led the way
along narrow path to leathery leafed
plant. which he said was henbane. This"
said he. lis the only species of the potato
family have this year Look here" He
separated the leaves and revealed the
striped backs of a number of potato bugs.
the bane of the farmer. "And here" he
continued. pulling back leaf There are
the soft bodies Of the young. Here are the
yellow eggs of the bug" turning over an
other leaf until it's back could be seen.
These bugs picked out the only member
of the potato family in the garden
Most insects confine themselves to the
plants of one family. The asteris butterfly,
for instance. lives upon the members of the
umbelliferae; the signt-spotted forester
feeds upon all varie,ieA of the Japanese
and American ampelopsis and the grape