“I have a word to say about cutting Asparagus and then I am done. Market gardeners, and I believe a good many other people, cut Asparagus as soon as the point of the shoot pushes an inch or two through the ground. They have then about two inches of what grows above ground and from four to six inches of what grows below. The latter looks white and tempting; I suppose people think that because the white part of celery is tender the white part of Asparagus must be too. But it is as tough as a stick, and this is the reason why people, when it is boiled, always are forced to eat only the tops, and leave the bottom of the shoots on their plates. My way is never to cut any of the shoots below the surface of the ground. Cut it as soon as it has grown to proper height, say five or six inches above ground. The whole is then green, but it is all tender, it will melt in your mouth.”
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THE PLUM CURCULIO, Conotrachelus Nenuphar.
BY WM. SAUNDERS, LONDON, ONT.
The season when the “little Turk” begins his destructive work on our plum crop is at hand, and it behooves all growers of this fruit, henceforward for several weeks, to make a vigorous onslaught on this stealthy foe. Although the Plum Curculio has been so often described, and is so well-known to the majority of our readers; still we find many beginners in fruit growing who have not yet made its acquaintance, and for their benefit we insert the accompanying figure, and give a brief description of the insect. In figure 8, a represents the larvæ; b, the chrysalis, and c the perfect insect, all magnified, the lines alongside of the figures showing the actual size of these objects; while d represents a small plum, with the well-known crescent mark of the insect, and the little beetle of natural size, crawling on the fruit. The Plum Curculio is a little, dark-gray or blackish beetle, about one-fifth of an inch long, with a rough, rugged surface, and having on the middle of each wing-case a black shining hump, bordered behind with a broad band of yellowish white; it is also furnished with a short snout. When this little creature is alarmed, the snout as well as the six short legs are drawn in close to the body, and the insect falls suddenly to the ground, where it lies motionless, much resembling a bit of dirt or a little dried up bud. In consequence of its peculiar inanimate appearance when thus “playing possum,” it frequently escapes detection; but when taken up between the fingers and placed on the hand, it quickly manifests symptoms of activity, and endeavors to escape, either by running or by flight.
Fig. 8.
The beetle deposits its eggs, one at a time, just under the skin of the plum, which is cut with a crescent shaped incision, deepened in the centre, where the egg is deposited. Here the young larvæ hatches, and eats its way into the fruit, burrowing about towards the middle, and so affecting the vitality of the plum that it falls prematurely to the ground, where the worm as soon as it is full grown escapes, and burrowing under the surface shortly becomes a chrysalis, from which in due time the perfect beetle emerges.
When a tree on which these beetles are working is suddenly jarred they become alarmed, and fall to the ground, where they feign death in the manner described, and by taking advantage of this peculiarity, and jarring our trees in the proper season, the great bulk of these enemies may be captured and destroyed, and a crop of plums secured. The proper method is to begin early, that is, soon after the plums have set, and repeat the operation daily for a week or more, and after that every second day for two or three weeks longer, or as long as the insect appears to be prevalent. Small trees should be jarred with the hand, larger ones may have one of their lower limbs cut off, leaving a few inches of stump, the end of which may be struck with a mallet; or a hole may be bored in the tree and an iron bolt inserted with a large flat head, which latter may be struck with a hammer or mallet. A suitable sheet must be provided to be spread under the tree; one made according to the following directions will answer the purpose well. Take nine yards of cotton, cut it into three lengths of three yards each and stitch them together, then take two strips of pine, an inch square and nine feet long, and tack the two outer edges of the sheet to these strips. Now tear the cotton sheet down the middle, half way, and it is ready for use. By means of the strips this sheet can be readily spread while the rent admits the trunk of the tree to the centre. Shaking the tree will not do, it must be jarred with a sudden blow, and the insects which fall on the sheet be picked up and destroyed. Morning and evening will be found the most favorable times for this work, as the insect is then less active than in the middle of the day.
Various other remedies have been suggested, many of them worthless, but among the best of them, air slaked lime or sifted wood ashes thrown up into the tree in the morning while the dew is on the foliage, or thoroughly smoking the tree by burning coal tar under it. By any of these methods the leaves and fruit are more or less coated with material offensive to the insect, but we doubt whether the use of either of them is so effectual as jarring, and since they require to be repeatedly applied, we question whether they would not be more troublesome to carry out than the jarring process.