Fig. 10.
The beetles appear on the vines in the latter part of April and continue to be destructive until late in May, after which they gradually disappear. Before leaving, however, they deposit clusters of orange colored eggs on the under side of the young vine-leaves which hatch in a few days into small dark-brown worms, which feed on the upper side of the leaves, eating numberless holes in the softer parts, in the manner shown in Fig. 10. In about three or four weeks they become full grown, when they present the appearance shown at b, in the Fig.; but here is a magnified view; the hair-line at the side shows the correct size. They are then about three-tenths of an inch long, usually of a light brown color above, sometimes yellowish, at other times of a darker shade, paler on the under surface. The head is black, and there are six or eight shining black dots on each of the other segments of the body, each emitting a single brownish hair. The feet, six in number, are black, and there is a fleshy orange colored proleg on the terminal segment. When progressing, the larvæ does not move its body regularly, but raises it suddenly behind.
In the early part of June they leave the vines and descend to the ground, where they burrow in the earth, and forming a little smooth oval cell, change to dark yellowish chrysalids, as shown at c, Fig. 10. After remaining about two or three weeks in this state, the perfect beetles issue from them, and the work of destruction still goes on; but as they live altogether on leaves during the fall, of which there is usually an abundance, the injury they do at that season is scarcely noticed.
To destroy the beetle it is recommended to strew in the fall, air-slacked lime, or a good quantity of unleached ashes around the vines infested. The larvæ may be destroyed by the use of hellebore and water, or where it can be safely used, a mixture of paris-green and water, in the proportion of one or two teaspoonfuls to a pail of water. This latter mixture would also doubtless kill the beetles if the vines were well syringed with it in spring. During the chilly mornings of early spring the beetles are comparatively sluggish and inactive, and some chance is then afforded of hand-picking and destroying them. Fowls allowed at this time the run of the vineyard are also said to devour large numbers of them.
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HOW TO PROPAGATE FLOWERING SHRUBS.
An esteemed member of the Association requests that information may be given on this subject, being desirous of enjoying the pleasure of having flowering shrubs in his grounds, and finding that it is only occasionally that he can succeed in raising those received from the nurseries. In compliance with this request we give the usual methods of propagating some of our most desirable hardy shrubs, in the hope that the information here given may prove both interesting and profitable to many of our readers.
The Japan Quince is one of our shrubs that is very easily propagated by layers, cuttings of the roots, and seeds. The branches should be cut with a tongue, as is usually done in layering, and layered sufficiently deep to be kept moist through the summer, and remain in the ground until the next spring, by which time they will be found to be rooted, when they can be cut loose from the parent shrub and set out as independent plants. The proper time to put down the layers is in spring, as soon as the soil has become somewhat warmed and settled, and before the leaves put forth. It may also be propagated from root cuttings. In order to grow them in this way successfully, it is desirable to prepare a hot-bed sufficiently large to insure a durable, gentle bottom heat. When this has been secured the bed should be covered with about four inches of good, rich, sandy loam, the roots of the shrub cut into pieces about four inches in length, should be thrust into the soil at an oblique angle, so as to be covered about half an inch deep at the upper end, and three inches deep at the lower end, then gently watered with a fine rose, so as to settle the soil well about the cuttings, and the sash kept on day and night until the sprouts have made their appearance above ground, when they should be treated as to heat, air, and moisture in the same way as any tender growth. Care must be taken with the watering before the shoots appear, not to apply so much at any time as to materially reduce the temperature of the soil, or to make it at all sodden. As the young plants increase in strength they should be gradually hardened off, and by mid-summer be enabled to endure the weather without any covering by night or day. They can be taken out of the frame in the fall, and stored in earth in a box in the cellar, and set out the next spring in the open ground. They can also be raised from seed, although there will be more or less variation in the color of the flowers of the seedling plants from that of the parent. The seed should be sown in the fall, in shallow drills, and covered but slightly. In the spring it will germinate, and the young seedlings will require the same care in weeding and cleaning and stirring the soil as a bed of carrots. In the fall they should be taken up, packed in earth, and stored in the cellar until spring, when they should be set out about six inches apart in rows, and cultivated and cared for until large enough to be set in their permanent place on the lawn.
The Plum-leaved Spirea is somewhat more difficult of propagation, though it will root tolerably well from layers, tongued and put down in the usual manner of layering. But the best way to propagate it is from cuttings of the green wood in summer. The most successful plan is to plant the shrub in a box or tub, place it in the greenhouse in February, and gently force it into growth. When the young shoots have begun to harden, they should be taken out and set in pure sand in the propagating bed, over a gentle but steady bottom heat. Here they will soon strike, and when the roots have been well developed may be potted off into small pots and treated like any young, tender, newly potted plant. They may also be grown in the summer from cuttings taken from the shrub in the open ground, and set in sand over a hot-bed having a gentle bottom heat, covered with sash and shaded so as to exclude the sun. Considerable skill and attention are requisite to success in this method of propagation; there is danger on every hand, danger from too much moisture, and danger from too little moisture, danger from keeping the sash shut too close, and danger from admitting too much air, the bottom heat may be too great, or it may be too little, the cuttings may be taken too green, or they may have become too much hardened.
The Chinese Double-flowering Plum is propagated by grafting or budding on stocks of the common plum. It is possible that it might be made to grow from cuttings in bottom heat, but we have never tried that method, the process of budding it upon the plum stock being much more convenient, expeditious, and economical.