Sutton and Sons - The Culture of Vegetables and Flowers From Seeds and Roots, 16th Edition

S >> Sutton and Sons >> The Culture of Vegetables and Flowers From Seeds and Roots, 16th Edition

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==The Bean Aphis==, also known as the Bean Plant Louse, or Black Dolphin
=(Aphis rumicis)=. Our illustration shows the wingless female and pupa
natural size and magnified. The pupa is black with greyish white
mottlings, while the female is deep greenish black in colour. This
insect commonly attacks the young shoots and tops of Broad Beans. It is
well to cut off the infected tops and burn them. Should the attack be
repeated spray the Beans with a solution of soft soap and quassia.

[Illustration: BEAN APHIS=Aphis rumicis= (pupa and female)]

==The Pea Siphon-Aphis== (=Siphonophora pisi=, Kalt).--Among the aphides
peculiar to vegetables this is one of the most common.

[Illustration: PEA SIPHON-APHIS=Siphonophora pisi=]

Our illustration shows the natural size and an enlarged figure of the
greenish-winged and green-tinted wingless females, as produced, not
from eggs, but alive and developed. This insect is occasionally very
destructive to Pea crops.

[Illustration: AMERICAN BLIGHT=Schizoneura lanigera=]

==American Blight==, or ==Woolly Aphis==, generally appears first on trees
grafted on dwarfing stocks, particularly the bad forms of the Paradise
Apple. Rapidly the mischief spreads, healthy trees become infested, and
unless checked an orchard is speedily ruined. Andrew Murray says that in
bad cases of American Blight it is sometimes necessary to root up and
burn all the trees, and let the ground remain unplanted for a year or
two. Fruit trees should be examined periodically for this pest, and
immediately the woolly spots are detected small tainted boughs should be
pruned away, and from the mainstems and large branches diseased spots
can be pared off. The operation may need a bold and vigorous hand if the
trees are to be saved, and it is important that every scrap should be
burned. There is almost certain to be a further appearance of the
Blight, which should be destroyed by one of the many remedies known to
be effectual. Fir Tree Oil Insecticide has proved to be an excellent
remedy. Gishurst Compound, in the proportion of eight ounces to a gallon
of water, with sufficient clay added to render it adhesive, makes a
capital winter paint for Apple trees. But there is no cheap remedy equal
to soft soap for smothering American Blight in the crannies of the bark.
The soap may be rubbed into the diseased spots, or as a wash it can be
brushed into the boughs.

Our illustration shows a piece of Apple twig with the aphides and their
woolly material natural size. The enlarged figures represent the winged
female and the wingless larva of the Apple Blight Aphis =(Schizoneura
lanigera=). The insect is deep purplish brown in colour, and the
well-known bluish white cottony material naturally exudes from it.

==The Carrot Fly== (=Psila rosae=, Fab.), with its larva, pupa, and perfect
insect, is illustrated natural size and enlarged. The ochreous shining
larvae live upon the tap-roots of the Carrot, and by eating into them
cause them to rot. In colour the body of the fly is an intensely dark
greenish black, with a rusty ochreous head. The presence of the larvae in
the root is made known by the change in the colour of the leaves from
green to yellow, and the attacked plants should be promptly forked out
entire and burned.

[Illustration: CARROT FLY =Psila Rosae= (with maggot and chrysalis)]

It is well to dig the ground in autumn, so that the earth may be exposed
to the frosts of winter and the pupae to the attention of birds. After
sowing, spray the Carrot bed with paraffin emulsion. Spray again after
germination, and a third time when thinning is finished. The emulsion to
be made by dissolving half a pound of soft soap in a gallon of boiling
water. While still boiling, pour the liquid into two gallons of paraffin
and churn thoroughly until a buttery mass results. This will keep for a
long time in tins. Before use, dilute with twenty times the quantity of
water--soft water if possible. This is an excellent preventive. After
the work of thinning, the fly may also be kept off the plants by
scattering over them ashes, sand, or earth, impregnated with paraffin.
Carbolic powder and soot are both disagreeable to the insect. It has
been observed that when singling the disturbance of the soil is
favourable to the operations of the Carrot Fly. A copious watering when
the task is ended will firm the earth round the remaining roots, and
prevent the fly from easily getting down to deposit eggs.

Carrots and Parsnips are often attacked by the larva of a Carrot Moth
(=Depressaria cicutella=), which spins webs for security while feeding,
and sometimes works havoc among the foliage. A simple remedy is to shake
the caterpillars from the leaves of the plants, when they can be
destroyed by the use of lime.

==Celery Fly.==--The apparent blisters in Celery leaves are spots
deficient of leaf-green, which the larva of the Celery Fly has eaten.
Dusting newly-planted Celery with lime or soot may do something to
prevent the fly from laying its eggs, but the most certain preventive is
to boil half a pound of coal tar in one gallon of water for twenty
minutes, add fifty gallons of clear water, and syringe the plants about
noon once or twice from the middle to the end of June. When once the
grub has made a home, it should be crushed by pinching the leaf between
the finger and thumb, or the injured portions of the leaves should be
cut out and burned. In doing this it must always be remembered that the
leaves are as much needed by the plant as the roots, and every leaf
removed tends to diminish the vigour of the plant. Our illustration
shows the Celery Fly (formerly known as =Tephritis onopordinis=, but now
called =Acidia heraclei=) natural size and magnified. This fly is also
destructive to the leaves of Parsnips, and is named =onopordinis= from
its habit of frequenting the Cotton Thistle (=Onopordon Acanthium=). The
larva is white to very pale green, the fly is shining tawny. An
Ichneumon Fly detects the larva of the Celery Fly in the Celery and
Parsnip leaves, and lays its eggs in the body of the larva. These
parasites, named =Alysia apii=, assist in reducing the numbers of the
Celery Fly.

[Illustration: CELERY FLY AND LARVA =Acidia heraclei=]

All Celery refuse should be destroyed by fire. Infested ground may, if
suitable, be trenched, bringing the subsoil to the surface and burying
the top soil containing the pupae. Frequent rough digging and the
exposure of fresh surfaces to be searched by birds will also do
something to abate the number of this pest. But in bad cases it will be
necessary to resort to gas-lime, which poisons the pupae and eventually
benefits the soil, although in the season immediately following its use
crops may be less satisfactory than usual.

==Onion Fly.==--Onions are frequently attacked by the larvae of the Onion
Fly, and in some instances the entire crop is destroyed. Our
illustration shows the natural size of the fly and maggot, with
magnified representations of both. The fly lays six to eight eggs on an
Onion plant, generally just above the ground. These eggs hatch in from
five to seven days, according to the temperature, and the maggots at
once burrow into the Onion. The result is soon visible in the
discoloration of the leaves which turn yellow and begin to decay.
Several generations of the insect, the scientific name of which is
=Phorbia cepetorum=, appear in the course of a single season. A close
ally is the Cabbage Root Fly (=P. brassicae=), the destroyer of Cabbage
roots.

[Illustration: ONION FLY AND LARVA =Phorbia cepetorum=]

Among the numerous methods of preventing attack and of destroying the
grubs the following are worth attention:--

Where this pest proves very troublesome it may be desirable to transfer
Onion growing to new ground until the infested land has been purged of
the pupae. Instead of throwing useless Onion material on the waste heap
to afford the fly a home for its eggs, every scrap should be burned. As
the preparation of an Onion bed approaches completion, powdered lime
well mixed with soot, in the proportion of two bushels of the former to
one of the latter, may be sown evenly over the surface and raked in.
Sand impregnated with paraffin sown along the drills has answered as a
preventive. Vaporite is a destroyer of the pupae; this preparation has
proved deadly to ground vermin generally. Earthing up the Onions was
proved by Miss Ormerod's experiment to be effective. The objection to
this procedure is the probability of enlarged necks which are not
wanted. An emulsion, composed of one pint of paraffin, one pound of soft
soap mixed with ten gallons of water, thoroughly churned by a hand
syringe and sprayed over the young plants in a fine mist, is a valuable
preventive. The dose may be repeated after rainfall, if necessary. The
quantities named suffice for a small plot only. Soapsuds are destructive
to the maggots, disagreeable to the fly, and beneficial to the young
plants. The suds should be sprayed over the bed from a watering can on
the first appearance of a yellow colour in the grass. As a final
suggestion reference may be made to a singular fact which we do not
profess to explain, viz. that transplanted Onions are very seldom
touched by grub. The modern practice of raising seedlings under glass in
January or February, and planting out in open beds in April, offers the
advantage of a long season of growth combined with comparative immunity
from attack by the Onion Fly.

==Turnip Fly,== or ==Flea,== is well known to the gardener, and is the most
troublesome of all the aerial pests of the farm, and one with which it
is most difficult to cope, not only because of its general diffusion and
numbers, but because it produces a succession of broods throughout the
summer, and is therefore always in force, ready to devour the crop
immediately it appears. The so-called 'Fly' is a small beetle named
=Haltica (Phyllotreta) nemorum=, strongly made, and decidedly voracious.
The larvae are not to be feared, except that, of course, they in due time
become beetles. In the perfect state this winged jumping insect makes
havoc of the rising plant of Turnips, but the crop is only in danger
while in the seed-leaf stage. It is in the spring and early summer
chiefly that the ravages of these insects occasion perplexity, for they
awaken from their winter torpor active and hungry, and have a ready
appetite for almost any cruciferous plant. Hence we see the leaves of
Radishes pierced by them, and all such weeds as Charlock, Cuckoo Flower,
Hedge Garlic, and Water Cress serve them for food until the Turnip crops
are on the move, when they will travel miles, even against the wind, to
wreck the farmer's hopes. The Cabbage Flea (=Haltica oleracea=) in some
districts is equally troublesome, if not more so. Whole Cabbages may be
destroyed by this pest, and even Hops are often ruined by it.

[Illustration: TURNIP FLY, OR FLEA =Haltica (Phyllotreta) nemorum= (with
larva and chrysalis)]

Preventive and remedial measures that can easily be carried out in a
garden may be impracticable on a farm. We propose to enumerate them
briefly as they occur to us, leaving the ultimate choice of weapons to
those who may unfortunately find occasion to use them.

One precaution is to insure a quick germination of the seed and strong
growth of the plant in its seed-leaf stage. The cotyledons are tender
and tasty, perhaps sugary from Nature's process of malting; and while
the seed-leaf is assailable the =Haltica= makes the best of the shining
hour. The seed sown should be all of one age, and the newest possible,
because of the need for a quick and strong growth. When a powerful
artificial is sown with the seed, the quantity of seed must be
increased, as a proportion may be killed by the manure. It is important
always to drill Turnip seed; broadcasting seems to invite the Fly--at
all events, a drilled crop is generally safer. Before sowing, the seed
may be soaked in paraffin or turpentine. Of the two the latter appears
to be the more successful in keeping the insects at bay.

Rolling an infested plant disturbs and weakens the insects and
stimulates the young plant.

The sprinkling of slaked lime over the seedlings is at once a safe and
an efficient process, and possesses the additional advantage of being
beneficial to the plant. We are aware that it does not always succeed,
but we are inclined to attribute the failure to a bad quality of the
lime, or a careless method of employing it. There should be enough put
on to make the plants white, and they will be none the worse for the
whitening. Dustings of fine ashes or soot are scarcely less effective,
but salt must not be used, for it injures the plants and does not hurt
the beetle. All such dustings should be done in the early morning, while
the plants are wet with dew. To apply a dusting at midday, when the sun
shines gaily, is to waste time, and probably many of the recorded
failures might be explained if we knew at what hour and in what sort of
weather the work was done. Nets and sticking boards have been tried and
found effectual, and yet such things are rarely used. A board thickly
covered with white paint, drawn over the plot on a still, sunny day,
soon becomes a black board by the myriads of =Halticas= that jump at and
remain attached to it, the victims of their extravagant love of light.
Old sacks soaked in paraffin and drawn over the drills impart a
disagreeable flavour to the leaves, and a very fine spray of paraffin
distributed by a machine specially constructed for the purpose has
proved effective.

Finally, this, in common with all other insects in the winged state,
needs a dry air and some degree of warmth for its health and happiness.
Many kinds of larvae need moisture, but no winged insect can abide
moisture long, and herein is a clue to the eradication of Turnip Fly. By
the simple process of spraying the plant three or four times a day,
until it is out of the seed-leaf, and the danger is over, it is possible
in the garden to wash out the =Haltica=; and any kind of insecticide or
flavouring, such as quassia, may be mingled with the water to render the
plants distasteful to the insects.

The illustration on page 422 shows the Turnip Fly in its three stages,
and in each case of the natural size and magnified seven diameters.

[Illustration: DADDY LONGLEGS, OR CRANE FLY =Tipula oleracea= (in
various stages)]

==Daddy Longlegs==, or ==Crane Fly==, in its perfect form of a fly (=Tipula
oleracea=) does no harm, but the grubs, known by the familiar name of
'leather-jackets' owing to the toughness of their skins, are terribly
destructive. During late summer and autumn the female fly deposits its
eggs in large numbers in turf, in garden soil and amongst garden refuse.
The eggs are hatched in a fortnight or so and the dark grubs lie in the
ground through the winter, inflicting their maximum, amount of injury to
young crops in spring and early summer. Where song birds are scarce the
Tipula is capable of utterly destroying grass and of seriously ravaging
the Kitchen Garden; but cultivation, aided by the robins, thrushes,
nightingales, and other birds, will keep the insect within bounds, even
after a hot summer favourable to its increase. Where this pest is known
to exist, an application of Vaporite at the time of preparing ground for
sowing or planting will destroy many of the grubs. The regular use of
the hoe is also to be recommended, for by the disturbance of the soil
the enemy is exposed to the sharp eye of the robin and other feathered
gardeners.

==Root-knot Eelworm.==--One of the worst pests that a Cucumber-grower has
to deal with manifests itself by the presence of minute warts or
nodosities, chiefly on the rootlets. These warts, which are caused by
the action of innumerable small thread-like worms named =Heterodera
radicicola=, range from the size of a pin's head to that of a pea, and
when they are present in large numbers the total failure of the Cucumber
crop is the invariable result. The eelworms are probably introduced to
Cucumber-houses in infected water. Each worm is about one-seventyfifth
of an inch in length and is at first coiled up inside a transparent egg.
At maturity the eggs crack open, and the worms on emerging bore into the
most tender rootlets, and there lay their eggs. These eggs speedily
hatch inside the plant and new eelworms are produced, which traverse
the rootlets in every direction.

[Illustration: ROOT-KNOT EELWORMS AND EGGS (=Heterodera radicicola=)]

These =Heterodera= are by no means peculiar to the Cucumber; they attack
the roots of Tomatoes and Melons, and the roots, stems, and foliage of
many other plants. Our illustration shows some very small Cucumber
rootlets, natural size, with the eelworms in the eggs, and also emerging
from and free of the empty eggshell (enlarged eighty diameters).

Immediately symptoms of the pest are apparent from the wilting of the
foliage and stems, all infected plants should be removed and burned. The
soil must also be cleared out and the interior of the house thoroughly
washed with a solution of carbolic acid in water:--one part of the
former to eight parts of the latter. To purify the infected soil, use a
solution of carbolic acid (one part) and water (twenty parts) and
saturate three times, at intervals of a fortnight. Another remedy is to
mix weathered gas-lime freely with the soil. In either case the soil
will be unfit for use for at least six weeks after treatment. When the
house has been well cleansed, fresh compost should be used, to which the
addition of lime and soot, mixed with the soil, will be beneficial.

[Illustration: MEALY BUG =Dactylopius odonidum=]

==Mealy Bug.==--This plague is by no means confined to plants under glass.
In the case of a lot of stove plants badly affected, the desperate
course of committing the whole to the fire, and then repairing and
painting the house, is often the cheapest in the end. We have known a
Pine-grower compelled to destroy a houseful of plants that have been
infested by the introduction of a plant from a buggy collection. Mealy
Bug may be known by its mealy, floury, or cottony appearance. It has a
great fancy for Grape vines. One of the best remedies is Gishurst
Compound, prepared at the rate of eight ounces to a gallon of water,
with clay added to give it the consistence of paint. Miscellaneous stove
plants may be cleansed by washing with a brush and soft soap. Our
illustration shows a group of Mealy Bugs natural size, with one insect
magnified.

[Illustration: RED SPIDER =Tetranychus telarius=]

==Red Spider== is present in almost every vinery, however well managed. A
moist atmosphere is a great, though not a certain preventive; but it is
not possible, without injury to the vines, to keep the air of the house
always so humid that the Spider is unable to obtain a lodgment.
Syringing promotes a moist atmosphere, and is unfavourable to the Red
Spider, which thrives best in heat and dryness. But the most decided
repellent of Spider is the use of sulphur on the hot-water pipes. This
may be managed by sprinkling dry sulphur on the pipes, or by making a
thick solution of sulphur, clay, and water, with which the pipes should
be painted. Be careful not to raise the heat at the same time, for if
the pipes are hotter than the hand can bear fumes destructive to
vegetation will be given off. Melons and Cucumbers may generally be kept
clear of Spider by means of the syringe only; but when Melons are
ripening they must be kept rather dry, and it is very difficult indeed
to finish a crop without having the plants attacked by Red Spider.
Gishurst Compound answers admirably to remove Spider from house plants.
The mixture should consist of one and a half or two ounces to one gallon
of water, and should be applied with a sponge. The scientific name of
the Red Spider is =Tetranychus telarius=. Our illustration shows one of
these destructive red mites natural size, and two individuals greatly
magnified.

==Scale.==--A very common species, found on many kinds of stove and other
plants, is the =Lecanium hibernaculorum=, here illustrated on a twig,
natural size, and magnified. It is brown, tumid, and commonly somewhat
more than hemispherical in shape. Besides this species there is the =L.
filicum= of Ferns, the =L. hemisphoericum= of Dracaenas, the =L.
rotundum= of the Peach, and the common =L. hesperidum=, or Orange-tree
Bug, which is one of the flat species, and it spreads to a great variety
of plants. The Scale insect sucks the sap from plants, and in some
instances the ground beneath the foliage is wet and soddened by the
falling sap. Spirit of turpentine applied with a soft brush is
considered to be a good remedy for Scale. It is, however, advisable (as
in other remedies) to test this on a small number of plants at first. A
near relative, a large brown =Coccus=, infests pomaceous trees, and is
especially partial to the Pyracantha, which it often kills outright. The
Scale of the Vine is =Pulvinaria= or =Coccus vitis=. Careful washing
with soap and water, and the destruction of each separate Scale as soon
as seen, can be recommended for the extirpation of this pest.

[Illustration: COMMON SCALE =Lecanium hibernaculorum= (natural size and
enlarged)]

[Illustration: THRIPS]

==Thrips== may pursue their mischief to a great extent before they are
discovered by the novice, for their minute size and their habit render
them inconspicuous. But the black deposit they make reveals their
existence to the experienced eye, and the debilitated condition of the
plants they have attacked would soon compel attention were there no such
deposit to tell the tale. The Indian Azaleas are apt to be beset by
Thrips, as the Grape-vine is by Scale, the Pineapple by Mealy Bug, and
the Rose by Green Aphis. Atmospheric humidity is a powerful preventive,
as is also the promotion of vigorous growth by a plentiful supply of
water to the roots of the plants; in fact, starvation and a dry, hot air
will soon bring an attack of Thrips. Generally speaking, the best remedy
is fumigation with tobacco. Or tobacco water and a solution of soft
soap, together or separately, if carefully applied, speedily make an end
of this troublesome pest. A special preparation may be made as follows:
Take six pounds of soft soap, and dissolve in twelve gallons of water,
add half a gallon of strong tobacco water, and dip the plants in the
mixture. Before they become dry, dip again in pure rainwater to remove
the mixture. If too large to dip, apply the mixture with the syringe,
and in the course of a quarter of an hour or so syringe with pure
rainwater. Our illustration shows the Thrips in the larval and winged
state, natural size and greatly magnified.

==Ants.==--These extremely interesting insects are frequently troublesome
in gardens, and in the spring of the year the small red species mars the
appearance of lawns by throwing up numerous heaps of fine soil. It is
easy to destroy them by dropping a mixture of Paris Green and sugar near
their runs. But as Paris Green is a poison, animal life must be
considered. We recommend a simple remedy which entails no danger, but it
must be followed up persistently. Purchase a few common sponges, as
large as a man's fist. Dissolve one pound of Demerara sugar in two
quarts of warm water. Immerse the sponges, wring out nearly all the
liquid, and place them near the ant runs. Twice daily throw the sponges
into hot water, and repeat the process until the ants are cleared. Nests
located under walls can be destroyed by boiling water.

==Caterpillars== cannot often be treated in a wholesale way without injury
to the plant. Hence it is usual to rely on hand-picking, and, tedious as
this may be, a little perseverance will accomplish wonders. We have seen
a fruit garden, literally hideous with clusters of Caterpillars in
spring, completely cleared by a few days' steady work, costing but a
trifle, and only needing to be conducted so that in removing the vermin
there should be no harm done to the crops. In the same way the
Gooseberry grub should be disposed of. Precautions cannot be taken
against Caterpillars, but the careful cultivator will in good time look
for patches of eggs and clusters of young Caterpillars on the under
sides of leaves, and will carefully nip off the leaves on which the
colonies are feeding, and make an end of them. This enemy cannot be
raked in rank and file, but must be taken in detail, as in guerilla
warfare.

==Earwigs== are the dread of the florist, for they spoil his best Dahlias
and Hollyhocks, and are too partial to Chrysanthemums. They are readily
trapped, as they like to go up to a high, dry, dark retreat; hence a bit
of dry moss in a small flower-pot, inverted on a stake, will entice them
into your hands; and if you are determined to keep down Earwigs, this
way is sure, though, perhaps, not easy, because it must be followed up
morning and evening from the beginning of June onwards. The hollow stems
of the Bean make good traps, as indeed do hollow stems of any kind, for
Earwigs love to creep into close, dark shelters after their nocturnal
meal; and the cultivator who has resolved that he will not be eaten up
by them needs only to persevere, and he may depend on trapping every
Earwig within the boundaries. Unfortunately, they use their wings
freely, and so travel from the sluggard's garden to find 'fresh woods
and pastures new.'