Year: 1879

Make War Upon tho Insects.


1t is neither necessary nor advisable to


wait for the opening Of spring or warm


weather to make war upon various
species of insects infesting gardens and


orchard or farm crops. Some kinds are
of course hidden away in the earth,
where they will remain until the warm


weather calls them forth, but there are
others which can be more easily destroy
ed now than later in the season. Con-
spicuous among these are several which
infest the apple orchard. The eggs Of
the American tent. caterpillar can at this
season be found in small compact masses,
surrounding the small twigs of the trees,
and may be readily removed by hand, or
tile twi gs cut off and burned. The eggs
are very minute and glued together in
masses of several hundred, each one of
which, if allowed to remain upon the
tree and hatch, will produce voracious
worm capable of eating many full grown
apple leaves in the summer. OF course,
trees denuded Of their foliage by these
worms cannot grow or produce Il crop of
fruit. Another pest of the apple tree,
known as the 'lcaf crumpler" (phycita
ne6ulo), is also made conspicuous in win
ter by the habit of folding up ieaf or
two in the fall and hiding within during
the cold weather. These dried dead
leaves are securely fastened to the twigs
of the trees, and may be readily seen dur
ing winter, at which time they should be
gathered and burned with their contents,
thereby checking the increase Of this in
furious insect. In some few localities
the bag or basket worm is injurious to
apple and other trees. Their long CO.
coons may be seen hanging on the tree
during winter, and, Of course, may be
easily gathered and burned.


There are also cocoons Of various other
kinds of noxious insects to be found at
this season attached to the bark, branches
and twigs of trees, shrubs. old fences and
the sides of buildings, all of which should
be gathered before the warm weather sets
the imprisoned moth or butterfly free.
The chrysalis Of the now common white
cabbage butterfly can usually be found
attached to board fences. or the sides of
buildings near the garden or cabbage
patch, and it is much less trouble to
gather these and destroy them than to
take the butterfly on the wing, or destroy
the caterpillars when buried inside of 4
head Of cabbage. The apple tree borer
(sapcrda candida) attacks the stems of
the trees near the surface Of the ground,
and early in. the spring is the best time
to search for the grubs or pupas with a
sharp knife or small gouge and kill every
one that is found. If the search is de-
ferred until after the trees come into
bloom, many of the winged insects will
have escaped and commenced depositing
eggs upon the bark of the same or other
trees, consequently whateveris to be done
toward checking the increase of his pest
had bettsr be done now than later in the
season. While looking for borers in the
stems Of apple trees, it is well to take
look among the larger branches, because
there is another and quite different kind
of borcr which attacks these as we'll rs
the stems Of tho trees. Their presence in
the tree can usually be detected by dead
patches of bark, and when these are cut
out the borers will be found underneath
or in the live bark near by. If the small
twigs are dead or appear to be withcrcd.
they should be cut off and examined
closely, because there is a "twig borern
(anphiceruS 6icaudatus), which is often
very destructive to apple orchards, bor-
ing out the center of the young shoots of
the previous seasons growth. These
little beetles are less than 4 half inch long
and not more than one-siXtcenth in diane
ter. hut they arc large enough to do consid-
crn,lc damage to an orchard when they
are plentiful.


There are also currant and raspberry
l. -, lo g.,
dead stems of these plants, which should
be cut out and burned with their con-
tents. 1t lisa great mistake to either wait
until summer before destroying noxious
insects, or to throw the brusllwood and
trimmings from trees, vines and other
plants into heaps in some out-of-the-Way
place and leave them there to decay. All
such refuse should be burned up Us soon
as possible after it is removed from the
plants, and if the wood is too green to
burn freely, add enough dry material to
insure the combustion Of the whole.
Vast numbers of noXious insects can be
destroyed in this manner, the presence Of
which may or may not be known to the
gardener or farmer who performs the
operation. All the old dead weeds, grass
and other similar rubbish which may
have accumulated in fence corners or
elsewhere should be carefully gathered
up before warm weather comes on, and
set on fire; for it is in Just such places
that the chincl bug. Colorado potato bee
tie, squash bug and Southern cabbage
bug hide away in vast numbers in the
fail, and pmain during the winter; and
the sooner they are disturbed in the
spring and exposed to their natural enc
mics, the better. Many may also be
gathered with the rubbish and burned.


A few hours or even days devoted to
the search of insects and the cleaning up
of rubbish will be time well spent; and
if al farmers would do so, insect pests
might become less numerous than at
present. The increase Of noXious insects
is not caused merely by the destruction
Of their natural enemies, or by the clear
ing up of the country, but is due in great
part to the indifference Of the farmer and
gardener in taking the simplest precau-
tionary measures to prevent it. Thegrain
wcevil, which is at this moment increas-
ing in great rapidity in the Northern
States, is 4 foreign insect imported only 4
few years since, and it bids fair to do far
moro damage here than it ever did in its
native country; simply because our farm
ers will not spend the time necessary to
keep it in check, rs is done in Europe.
The same may be said of the pea wcevil,
Hcssian fly, cabbage worm and other
European insects, which have of late
years appeared in this country and are
rapidly spreading over its entire length
and breadth, so that some important
crops are actually excluded from cultiva-
ton. If every farmer and gardener
would keep his own grounds free from
noxious insects, or even do Il little in that
direction, it would make vast difference
in the sum total of losses occasioned by
these pests; and it is with the hope of
prompting some action in this matter
among our readers that the above is writA
tcn.-NeW York Sun.


= Recipes.


COOP BUCKwHEAT CAKEs.-Stir up
about half a gallon of batter. with warm
water; then add a little salt; also, half 4
cup Of yeast; next morning add little
soda, and bake.


FRIED LIVER. Cut into thin slices
and pour over boiling water, turning it
off at once. Have prepared some cracker
or bread crumbs; dip in the slices of
liver, sprinkle in pepper and salt, and
fry in hot beef drippings until both sides
are of 4 dark brown.


aE-Jo,, r1,.. Eso ,ul +n,,o, .13