The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-09-15
A GARDEN FOR INSECTS.
Where the Park Entomologfst Pursue ..- His Work

Where the Park Entomologfst Pursues
 His Work.
 One would never imagine as he walk ed down the cross street through Gen. tral Park. from Central Park West. at Eighty-first street, a dreary enough street save for the foliage which some kindly tree, out of it's bounty, droops over the wall to cheer and tantalize the weary traveller, that over the gray hewn stone wall on the left was a lit tie garden of flowers of more impor- tanee, perhaps. than anyaother garden within the length and breadth of the great city of New York. It nestles on a side hill, and covers hardly more than 2.5OO square feet of earth. At first one would say that everything that had been planted without an ef- fort 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 gate way into what the employees in the park call the "Seventy-ninth street yard" As one turns into the gateway he is immediately upon it, much to- his sur prise. At the left is a shed which sug- gests the dairy. Over the stone wall chamber running vines, and on the sides of the building hang draperies of morn ing-glories whose blossoms are of all shades of blue between that of a dis tant landscape to the deepest blue im- aginable, and of a purely as rich in color as a sovereign's robes. Bordering the path which leads up past the build ing toward the bank behind are the delicate 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. Here and there ffutter small cabbage butterflies, and bees are slipping from a fringed flower.
 No one would guess what this gar den 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 summer nights, a man carefully walking through the plot and flashing a dark lantern from time to time upon the flowers, at the same time examining them with small glass, he would gain no clew. This is the laboratory of Dr. Southwick, the entomologist of the Department of Parks In this garden, which he plants and tends himself, he learns what in sects are to be found in the parks and on what they feed. Here he experi- 1nents with poisons and various insecti- cides to learn what will destroy the in- sects without injury to the plant tis- sues. Tn this compact little garden are four hundred species and varieties of plants, representing a wide range of plant families.
 Its object is to attract insects" said Dr. Seuthwick, who has been entomolo- gist of the park for more than score of years. in this garden can find out what Insects are in the park, and where they come from. There are many in- sects in the park which would not oth- erwise be discovered. They 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. The po- tato bug. for instance, lives only on plants of the potato family, such as the nightshade, ground cherry, tobacco, dafura and lycium.s Dr. Southwick led the way along narrow path to a Ieathery 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