HUHIUfUHUI UMASS/AMHERST tf> 31EDt.t,0DS3DD131 "nnnDnnnDDnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn D -D •a JD 3a D \0 'n ■D to in FD :n ^^s.. fR^ LIBRARY SB 379 Q7M51 From tin 01 Ista'oe D D D D D D H UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS R IM^jUm MADDOX BE.M. — BUDDING KNIFE. afford less leverage to winds, and are less liable to be injured by birds liglit-ing on (Jicm. Fit::. 40. — J5UDDING KNIFE. 5. PiioPAGATTOX BY I^ui)i)iN(} follows the samc law of affinity observed in grafting. The buds may be taken PROPAGATION OF THE QUINCE. 63 from wood of the growing shoots well matured, or from the preceding year's growth. A cion too late for graft- Fig. 41.— STICK OF BUDS. Fig. 42. — CUTTING A BUD. ing may be treated as a cutting till its buds can be used. The bark of a quince tree can be raised for the insertion of a bud most of the growing season. The best place to insert it is near a bud, or where a bud has become a branch, as the supply of cambium is there most abundant. The bud, with its shield of bark, is cut from above or below, beginning to cut half an inch off, and so cutting as to leave a thin piece of wood under the bud. On the stock cuts are made like a X* ^^^^^ corners of the bark being lifted, we slide the bud to its place, and complete the operation by winding a ligament of bass or raffia around the stock above and below the bud, tying it securely. Failure may arise from injury to ,1 1 • • ... , ' . . A,pUice to tic the stork to the cambium in cutting and raisin": s/'w)«; n, place to cut off the *-' ° stock afterward. Fig. 43. — TRAINING A SnOOT FKOM A BUI). 64 QUII^CE CULTURE. the bark of the stock, from too narrow a cross-cut to receive the shield of the bud, from using immature buds, from the shield being too short (it should be at least an inch long), and from being loosely tied, so as to dry out. The south side of a stock is dryer in summer, and so is to be avoided. CHAPTER XI. PRUNING THE QUINCE. In" a natural condition we may regard it as a rule that the tree will maintain a harmonious relation of all its parts. The roots and branches will correspond with each other. Every twig, bud, or leaf removed from the top, and every fiber and spongelet cut off from the roots, Avill hurt or help the tree. No one is competent to re- duce the roots, or diminish the leaves and branches, unless he possesses enough knowledge of the laws which regulate the action of the organs of vegetation to foresee the effect whfch will follow such removals. J. Lindley truly says: *^ If well-directed, pruning is one of the most useful, and, if ill-directed, it is among the most mis- chievous operations that can take place upon a plant." 1. Prunin"G at Trai^splanting. — x\s already stated elsewhere, all bruised and decayed roots should be re- moved ; but the case is different with healthy roots. We must remember that every healthy and unmutilated root which is removed is a loss of nutriment to the plant, and that, too, at a time when it is least able to spare it; and there can not be any advantage in the removal. The top should always be cut back at this time, so as to preserve a balance in its proportion to the reduced roots. If we infringe on the reciprocal action which naturally exists PRUHIKG THE QUINCE. 65 between tlie roots and branches, evil results will surely follow. The accumulated life-force sets the roots to forming new spongioles, and the buds to developing their leaves ; the elementary substances, which the roots absorb, are acted on by the leaves, and the new mate- rial thus prepared extends both the roots and branches. If transplanting has been well performed, the tree will need little more pruning than would otherwise be desir- able to promote a more vigorous growth ; but if the roots have suffered in being dug, there will be a decided ad- vantage in cutting back the new shoots to the fewest Fig. 44.— PRUNING SHEARS. buds that will give the desired form to the head of the tree. 2. Peuning for Form. — The intelligent and observ- ing horticulturist will find, by starting with a young tree, that he can secure almost any form desired, by judicious pruning. Trees make the most vigorous growth from terminal buds. By cutting off the shoots by upper and under buds the new growth will be upward or downward ; and side buds will give a growth to the right or the left. Keeping in mind the general principle that limbs must not grow so as to cross and chafe each other, I have settled into the practice of cutting back all my trees annually, begin- ning when they are one year old, and following them up as they increase in size and multiply their branches. The 63 QUIi^CE CULTURE. cut should be made far enough above the bud to insure its not drying out, and near enough to grow over the end as the tree enhirges. The age of the tree, and its thriftiness or feebleness, must be taken into account in determining ho.v far back to cut. The quince tree is naturally inclined to grow into a bushy head, but it also pushes up one or more leaders, and can be trained into a regular tree-form if that be desired. To secure an upright growth, cut back the leader to an inside bud. To spread out branches, cut so as to leave the bud on the outside. Clean off a large portion of the little twigs that multiply and die along neglected branches, and besides saving resources, you will Fig. 45. — BUDS AND BRANCHES. improve the smoothness and beauty of the limbs. The fact that so many of these die along the limbs is Na- ture's admonition to prune the tree. It is quite com- mon for the buds along a vigorous shoot to develop threefold, and it will add to the beauty and symmetry of the form to begin with the young tree and rub off all but the strongest bud ; and where limbs are not wanted, rub all off. This will direct the energy of the tree into the most desirable channels. It is worth while to go over a tree for this purpose a number of times during the growing season, because one strong shoot is worth more than two or three feeble ones having the same amount of material divided between them. PRUKIKG THE QUIii!"CE. 67 At a (fig. 45) are triple buds at a favorable age to easily rub off supernumeraries. At 5 tliey are so far developed as to need the knife to cut off the extras. At c we have the vigorous shoa'cs growing as desired. How much to cut back each year is a matter of judg- ment. In a shoot from one to two feet long, cut back about hall the length. A growth of three to five feet may be reduced a little more than one-half. Treated in this way, the tree pushes vigorous side shoots, and makes a lower head, which is less affected by winds, is more convenient to keep in order, the fruit is easily gathered, and however heavy the crop, the branches are so stocky they never break. If a cone-shaped head is desired (and this is the ideal form of many), it can be secured by leavinsf the lower branches lono-est. The natural flow of sap to the upper branches will be diminished, and increased in the lower, and thus their growth will be proportionally increased. If the branches are nearer than four to six inches, cut out those worst situated, or least likely to be fruitful. A judicious thinning and shortening of crowded and irregular branches will promote both thrift and fruitfulness. When a shoot pushes so strongly as to attract to itself too much of the nutriment of the tree, pinch off the end, and repeat the operation till its buds push like those on the other shoots, till, by compelling an equal distribution of nutriment, all shoots grow in like proportions, if not equally. 3. Pru:n'ikg to Promote Growth. — When a stunted tree is cut back judiciously, the remaining buds may be expected to grow with renewed vigor, because the forces of growth are concentrated on a smaller number of buds. The inner bark of a feeble tree is thinner, and the sap vessels smaller ; the more concentrated growth thickens the bark and enlarges the sap vessels; and so there is a more ready flow of all the nourishing fluids, and a consequent increase of growth. In the laboratory of the leaves the 68 QUIKCE CULTURE. sap is matured, and as it descends througli the bark to the roots it deposits the matter which is added to the tree ; while the part of the sap not thus expended goes into the alburnum, and joins the upward current, com- municating powers unknown to the recently absorbed fluid. What is thus true in regard to a feeble tree is yet more manifest in stronger and older trees. To secure all the benefit, the pruning should be done in the winter, when there is the greatest amount of vitality stored up for use the coming season. In the latitude where the ground seldom freezes deep, the tree continues to absorb food by its rootlets, which is dis- tributed over the branches. But when the prunings are wanted for cuttings, they will be found that much stronger for the same reason. I have never taken oS cuttings for propagation earlier than December or Janu- ary, though I have no doubt of their success when taken earlier. I can not too strongly recommend a severe pruning of feeble young trees, both in the nursery and orchard. If we leave only a bud or two, the concentration of vigor may restore a healthy growth to the tree, which will continue as long as other conditions are favorable. 4. Pruning for FRUiTFULi^ESS. — The general law is, that excessive growth and great fruitfulness can not co-exist in the same plant. Accordingly, a number of devices are employed to so far change the growth as to secure the formation of fruit buds. " The buds of fruit trees which produce blossoms, and those which afford leaves only, in the spring, do not at all differ from each other, in their first stage of organization, as buds. Each contains the rudiment of leaves only, which are subse- quently transformed into the component parts of the blossom, and in some species of the fruit also." From the freaks in Nature's mode of operation, it is plain that, while the various parts of a blossom, differ both in ap- PRUNIKG THE QUIN^CE. 69 pearance and office from the leaves, yefc, under some cir- cumstances, they all assume the same appearance and office. Accepting this idea, we are still unable to ex- plain how or why a given course of treatment causes a tree to convert a part of its buds into flowers, by forming their leaf-scales into calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistils, while its other buds become branches clothed with nothing but leaves. The period of fruitfulness varies in different species of plants, and in different varieties of the same species. It is often in our power to advance or retard these periods by our methods of cultivation. The law as stated by Lindley is, ' *' Whatever produces excessive vigor in plants is favorable to the formation of leaf-buds, and unfavor- able to the production of flower-bnds ; while, on the other hand, such circumstances as tend to diminish lux- uriauce, and to check rapid vegetation, Avithout affecting the health of the individual, are more favorable to the production of flower-buds than of leaf-buds." {a.) Boot Pruning, if performed at the right time, checks too vigorous growth in highly cultivated trees and renders them fruitful. How far from the trunk of the tree to cut off the roots must be determined by the size of the tree. Wm. Saunders recommends from three to six feet from the stem, according to the size of the tree, and to perform the operation by digging a circular trench, so as to cut off all the roots. He says: '' If done in August, the. supply of sap will immediately be lessened, the wood-maturing principle accelerated, and fruit-buds formed. The operation has been performed in spring with but little benefit, but if done in the fall can not fail in producing the desired results." F. P. Gasson cuts off the roots of a tree four inches in diameter, within two feet of the trunk, only leaving a circle of roots four feet in diameter ; and this, too, after the leaves have fallen in autumn. He fertilizes liberally in the fall with solid 70 QUII^rCE CULTURE. manure. The following spring and summer he waters well with rich liquid manure, especially if the weather be dry; and besides, gives an annual dressing of lime. As a result of this treatment his trees make short, stiff w^ood, well supplied with fruit buds. He thins out the small and poor fruit, and then allows the trees to bear full Fig. 46. — FIVE YEAR OLD TREE BEFORE PRUNING {From PhotogvapK). crops. The pruning is done every second year, widening the circle of roots at each successive pruning. The unproductive tree is sometimes brought into bear- ing by being transplanted. The check to growth stops the leaves from consuming the nutriment accumulated in the branches, and which they would have expended in making more wood, and so nutritious matter accumulates and fruit-buds are formed. The same principle is seen to operate in the abundant crops that follow the years PRUNING THE QUINCE. 71 when trees have their crops destroyed by late frosts. An excessive crop so far exhausts the nutritious matter stored in the branches, that the tree takes an off year to recover and lay up for the next. (b.) Pruning the Limbs to promote fruitfulness must of necessity be done in the summer, when it will reduce the young wood-growth, and so lead to such an accumu- lation of sap in the branch as will organize the remaining buds to produce fruit. ^^ If of two unequal branches Fig. 47. — FIVE TEAR OLD TREE AFTER PRUNING {From Photograph). the stronger is shortened, and stopped in its growth, the other becomes stronger ; and this is one of the most useful facts connected with pruning, because it enables a skillful cultivator to equalize the rate of growth of all parts of a tree." This shortening of the growing twigs should be done when they are so tender they can be pinched off with the thumb and finger. If the next bud immediately pushes into another extension of the shoot, it will be necessary to pinch off again a little further on, even to the third 72 QUIIs^CE CULTURE. or fourth time. An excess of wood is tlie occasion oi barrenness oftener than is supposed. The tree exhausts its strength in sustaining and extending its woody fiber at so many points, that it has little vigor left to form fruit-buds or mature a crop of fruit. Nature intimates this sometimes by all at once dropping off all the fruit that is set after an abundant blossoming. The outer branches are most fruitful as a rule ; and if the head is kept open the fruit is better. The two pictures of one of my trees are an illustration of such an exj)erience. This tree, now eight years old. Fig. 48. BAD AND GOOD PRUNING. Fig. 49. RESULT OF BAD PRUNING. grew about sixteen inches from the cutting the first year, and was then transplanted, and cut back to within six inches of the ground. The second year it made a growth of four shoots of about five feet each ; and these, in turn, were cut back to about three feet, throwing out the side shoots that form the head. When five years old it stood eight feet and five inches high before it was pruned. It has borne since it was three years old, the last crop being one hundred and twenty quinces, the two largest filling a quart can. The longest shoot grown with this crop was six feet and four inches, in the midst of several others only a little shorter. PRUNING THE QUINCE. 73 I have thus far treated of pruning as it should be done with the knife or shears, before the limbs are large enough to need a saw. But when trees have been neglected till large limbs are to be cut off, it is im- portant that they should be so cut as to give a good prospect of healing over ; else they may be the occasion of decay going into the very heart of the tree. If the cut is made several inches from the body, there is no possibility of healing over, and decay is inevitable. On the other hand, if the limb is cut so as not to leave a projecting stump, it may grow over entirely in a few Fig. 50. — DECAY FROM BAD PRUNING. Fig. 51. — RIGHTLY PRUNED BRANCHES HEALED OVER. years, especially if well waxed or painted. As a rule, if the limb cut off is an inch or more in diameter, it is well to cover the wound. Gum shellac dissolved in alcohol to the thickness of paint is as good as any thing to apply. It is very adhesive, soon hardens, keeps out the air and water, and is not affected by weather changes. It is too thin to hinder the lip of the growing bark from closing over the wound. Grafting wax, or a composition of equal parts of resin and tallow, melted and applied with a brush or swab, has been successfully used. A medi- cated tar, made by dissolving half an ounce of corrosive sublimate in half a gill of spirit, and then heating and 74 QUINCE CULTURE. mixing in tar, is found excellent. If too thin to handle conveniently, mix in a little whiting or chalk dust. Sal ammoniac or spirits of hartshorn will dissolve the corrosive sublimate more easily than the spirit. It is an insecti- cide, and when a gallon of soft water is used in place of the tar it is a good wash to kill all insects and their eggs on the bark. If nothing better is convenient, a little grease of any kind will have a good effect on the wound. If a limb bleeds when it is cut off, it may be worth while to ap'plj KnigJifs Composition oi four parts scraped cheese with one part of shell lime, or other pure lime, pressing the composition strongly into the pores of the wood. With this he found he could instantly stop the flow of sap in the largest branch. The worst time to prune is when the sap begins to flow actively in the spring. By contact with the air it sours and becomes poison to the bark. We ought not to close this topic without suggesting, that when the smaller limbs and twigs are cut off a good sharp knife is not always the most desirable implement to use. It often slips and injures what is not intended to be cut away. Small limbs can be pruned more rapidly with a good pair of shears. CHAPTER XII. PROMOTING FRUITFULNESS WITHOUT PRUNING. 1. This may be done by restricting root growth by pruning or cutting in the roots, as described on a former page, and need not be repeated here. 2. Bending down strong-growing branches without fruit-buds, has been found to retard the circulation of the sap sufficiently to induce fruitfulness. The pendant form becomes fixed by a single season's growth, and may be so skillfully arranged as to secure symmetrical and FLOWERS AKD FRUIT. 75 ornamental trees. July and August are favorable months to tie down. The branches are secured to pegs driven in the ground. All kinds of trees and plants may be in- duced to flower and fruit, no matter how luxuriant their growth, by a judicious use of the bending process. 3. Ringing the Iranches. This is done by taking off a ring of bark wide enough to arrest the circulation of the sap, com- pelling it to accumulate above the ring. The same effect is often produced by a ligature made of wire. The effect is to produce early maturity in the fruit and an increase in its size, but at the ex- pense of its quality. There seems, how- ever, to be no use for this operation on the quince. 4. Grafting is a method of inducing early fruitful ness. A cion from a young seedling may be grafted on the limb of a bearing tree, and thus be brought into a fruitful condition much sooner than if left on the seedling stock. This is advantageous in testing new varieties. Fig. 52. RINGING. CHAPTEE XIII. FLOWERS AND FRXHT. It has long been observed that a very full blossoming often results in but little fruit ; sometimes none at all. Why is it thus ? A variety of causes may operate to produce the failure of fruit. If the weather be so un- favorable as to prevent the blossoms from performing their appointed work, failure is inevitable. When the weather is very dry while the trees are in bloom the fruc- tification is often too imperfect to set the fruit, and tlie blossoms dry up and drop off. Or, on the other hand, 76 QUINCE CULTURE. if there liappcns to l)e a long wet spoil just at the time of blossoming, 1 have observed that the beating rain pre- yents the blossoms from performing their natural office of frnctifying, and failure follows. For the pollen of the stamens to become perfectly matured, it is necessary that the blossoms have a few days of favorable weather after they are expanded, to enable them to fulfill their office. A tree may appear to have but a few blossoms, but with favorable weather for all to become perfected, so that each produces fruit, there may be an excellent crop. As a rule we want our trees to carry too much. Again, blossoms will be found to fail because of the severity of the preceding winter. It may destroy the germs of the fruit without killing the other parts of the blossom. In such cases, all will appear to go right for a time; but, as with other things in nature, the antecedent cause will ultimately produce its legitimate effect, and the beautiful blooming proves to be only the forerunner of disappointed hopes. Still again, a tree may blossom abundantly, and the fruit set and grow for a while, but all at once the whole falls off. This may arise from the tree being too feeble to sustain the crop set. Like a man with too heavy a load for his strength, he carries it all a little way, and then drops it exhausted. Once more, it will be noticed that some varieties are more likely to fail after a full blossoming than others growing near them. This is chiefly owing to the differ- ence of vigor and fruitfuhiess in different varieties. A study of the peculiarities of the different varieties is of great importance to the cultivator. It is a matter of interest to observe that the great number of blossoms provided for in the economy of nature is to secure the certainty of fertility. Many will dry up and disappear as soon as they have done their fructifying work, while those attached to the stems bearing the fertilized fruit THIi^KIIS^G THE FKUIT. 77 do not so soon disappear. The petals retain their color and stand out with prominence so long after the others have withered away as to suggest a second blossoming. CHAPTER XIV. THINNING THE FRUIT. The story is told of a man who said it took him thirty years to get moral courage to prune his fruit trees. A. large proportion of cultivators never attain the courage of their convictions in this matter. By far the most ex- peditious method of thinning fruit is to prune judi- ciously. In some varieties, after having pruned quite severely, there is too much fruit set to be carried to maturity, and a large thinning out is a necessity to pre- vent the trees from overbearing. To many, it seems an unjustifiable waste to pull off the finely-set specimens ; and with a serious doubt as to the wisdom of the oper- ation, they allow their trees to overbear. As an inevi- table result, the fruit is small and inferior, the trees are overtaxed in the effort to mature more than they are able to perfect, and, as a consequence, they must have an off year to rest and recuperate. We hardly realize that a tree is overbearing till the fruit has at- tained considerable size, and then we hate to pull off enough to relieve the strain. I sometimes take off half or two-thirds, and then there is a plenty left to be of tlie first quality. The number of bushels will be about the same, and the quality of the fruit greatly improved. In years of abundance the large fruit will sell when the small finds no market at any price. This difference in the market value of fine fruit and that produced by overbearing trees shows the great importance of properly thinnino:. 78 QUIN'CE CULTURE. The thinning of quinces should not be done till we can judge pretty well which would fall of them- selves ; and this generally shows quite well by the time they are as large as a man's thumb. Whether this natural thinning is the effect of insect stings, or of dry weather reducing the moisture below a sufficiency, or of a natural selection securing ^* the survival of the fittest," is not always easy to determine. Besides all these reduc- tions, it will often be best to remove many others from very prolific trees. If, for any cause, thinning has been delayed till the fruit is quite advanced, still it is best to do it, and relieve the strain on the tree. By combining with this thinning of the fruit a thorough cultivation of the soil, a poor variety may excel a better one that is neglected. This will be more especially observable in young trees. They seem to be more easily affected than when older. But even the old trees seem to be rejuve- nated and show fruit improved beyond their possibilities under neglect. It is hardly necessary to say that deformed and imper- fect specimens are first to be removed, with any that show signs of insect stings ; and that all wormy fruit should be destroyed or placed where the worms will die. Deep burial in the earth will generally kill them ; so will fire or water. If taken as early as it ought to be, the green fruit will have little value as food for any kind of stock. CHAPTER XV. GATHERING AND MARKETING. If the trees have been properly pruned annually, it will be a long time before they are too high to reach the fruit from the ground. When, in time, the fruit is GATHERING AI^D MAEKETIKG. 79 borne too high to reach, a common step-ladder will be found convenient. A cheap and convenient step-ladder may be made out of two pine boards, six inches wide and one inch thick, for sides. Tiie steps should be of the same width, and mortised into them, with a wider board for the top. The bottom should be wide enough to stand firmly, and the top only wide enough for standing room, with a basket for the fruit. The stave basket, being smooth inside, and therefore less liable to bruise the fruit, is preferred to the old splint or chip basket. The size used to be for five half Fig. 53. — A CHEAP STEP-LADDER. Fig. 54.— STAVE BASKET. pecks, but now it is generally for four. The old standard crate for shipping fruit was eight inches wide, fourteen deep, and twenty-three and a half long, outside measure. The ends and partition were cut from three-quarter inch pine, seven and a half wide by fourteen inches long. The bottom and top were six and a half wide, and three- eigliths of an inch thick. The sides were of four slats of the same thickness, and two and a half inches wide. The whole crate consisted of thirteen pieces, often with a planed end for marking. These proportions are varied, some being wider and shorter, or narrower and deeper, 80 QUIKCE CULTURE. according to the choice of the shipper or maker. Crates being seldom returned as '^ empties,'^ they are about enough less in capacity than the bushel to cover the cost of the crate. Baskets are now returned, but probably will not be much longer. For marketing, as well as for home use, quinces should not be ^^atliered until fully ripe, as they do not, like ap- ples, pears, and peaches, ripen up in color and flavor after tbey are picked. If gathered too early the quince is comparatively worthless. If the cultivator of the quince does not desire at once to dispose of his fruit, the later ripening sorts can be kept for a long time by being care- fully spread out in a cool chamber till the frost necessi«» Fig. 55. — FRUIT CRATE. tates their removal to the cellar. With proper care quinces may be kept till April in common cellars. Of course, with retarding-house conveniences all fruits may be kept at will. As a rule, it will be found that the best time to use or sell quinces is soon after they are ripe. If kept too long the demand for them, as with most other fruits, ceases, and they are not sought for. There is always a market for quinces in the large cities, and, if the quality is good, at paying prices ; but often the best market will be in some of the smaller cities and towns. The producer will find it advanta- geous to lookout for such markets before the fruit is ripe, so as to know just where to send it when ready. There is a class of customers who always want the best fruit, and are willing to pay for it. The best is found in the end to be the cheapest. THE PROFITS OF QUINCE CULTURE. 81 CHAPTER XVI. THE PROFITS OF QUINCE CULTURE. The profit of quince raising depends, first, on the vari- ety raised, some being too unfruitful to ever 3deld profit- able crops ; next, on the skill and care of the cultivator, the best varieties being unprofitable when neglected ; and, lastly, on the demands of markets. Hitherto there has been a market for even poor quinces; but as crops increase, only good fruit will be in demand at paying prices. N. Ohmer, of Dayton, Ohio, reported, in 1869, that he had two acres in quinces ; that three-fourths of an acre, ten years planted, had yielded crops six years regularly; and that in 1868 he gathered from three-quarters of an acre 300 bushels, which he sold at 12.50 a bushel, whole- sale. A New York cultivator of the Eea^s Mammoth raised on a third of an. acre a crop worth $500. I have found a ready market for quinces when well put up in both tin and glass cans, at paying prices, in the markets of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and smaller cities. My first planting of the Meech's Prolific was only eight feet apart, quincunx, and the trees averaged half a peck when five years old ; doubled it the next year, and trebled it when seven years old. Taking one year witii another, my entire crop has averaged $2.50 a bushel. I found, when the trees were eight years old, that they averaged 11.22 a tree that year, being about 1450 an acre. The Eea's has yielded a crop next in value to the Prolific at my place in Vineland, N. J. By the report of the New Jersey Horticultural Society for 1884, it will be seen that 0. L. Jones had a yield of 782, making seven and a half bushels, from two trees in his yard at Newark. He sold many of them at $6 a hundred, realizing $22.50, besides having 200 for himself 82 QUIKCE CULTURE. and friends. The two trees had been ten years planted, and sliow what can be realized from the most favorable conditions of growth and marketing. From the prices reported in several other States, the successful cultivator of this fruit could not fail to make it profitable. CHAPTER XVII. DISEASES OF THE QUINCE. Diseases in trees arise from a variety of causes, such as insect depredations, loss of vitality from bacteria, and fungi preying on the living tissue; or there may be organic disease reproduced from unhealthy stocks and seeds. One form of existence is destroyed to produce another. The elements of life by death and decay enter into new forms of life. Disease in one department of nature may provide for a want in another. The chief known causes of disease in quinces are iacieria and fungi. They are both low forms of vege- table life, the first multiplying by the division of a single cell, the second producing several spores in a cell. Of the various bacteria, each acts in a way peculiar to itself. Some produce disease, some act as ferments, others assist in the ripening of fruits, and still others aid in the re- generation of organic matter to form cell-structure. ^hQ fungi are cellular, flowerless plants, which receive their sustenance from the earth or the organized bodies on which they grow. They differ from other plants, in general, in chemical composition, being chiefly nitrogen instead of carbon ; and in their method of growth, ab- sorbing oxygen and giving out carbonic acid. All the higher forms of plant life may have one or more of these low forms to prey on it as a parasite by its absorbing DISEASES OF THE QUIKCE. 83 roots or mycelium, or live within it as a saprophyte. A healthy tree possesses sutTicient vigor to resist the attacks of diseases, and may grow on successfully when a feeble tree would be destroyed. A fungus may be so concealed in the tissues of a plant on which it is thriving, that its presence will only be known by the mycelium cropping out with spores on the surface. 1. QuixcE Blight. — It seems to be well established that this disease, also called fire hliglit and twig iliglit, is the same as the pem^ Migltt in the pear and the apjole hliglit in the apple. The disease has been produced in the June-berry {Amelanchier Canadensis), the English Haw- thorn [Cratcegus Oxycantlia), and the Evergreen Thorn {Cratcegus Pyracantha), by inoculation, and may prob- ably be so produced in any member of this family of trees. Every part of the tree above ground is subject to its attacks. It may extend only to tender twigs, or it may entirely destroy the tree. The presence of this disease may be recognized by the granular appearance of the bark on the tender twigs, accompanied by the exuding of a gummy substance, of a peculiar odor, quite sticky to the fingers in the morning after a heavy dew, and drying up so as to glisten in the sun, when it forms into granu- lations on the discolored bark. This gummy substance, as seen through a microscope, resembles filamentous threads, each being strung with sacks of bacteria, ready to burst and scatter their infinitesimal germs by the aid of the lightest breeze, or to be washed to the earth by summer showers. The author was aided in examinins^ this gum from a blighted tw4g by Prof. J. B. Ellis, author of ^^ North American Eungi," and it was found that so little as could be picked up on the point of a pen- knife, put into a drop of water on the glass slide of his microscope, revealed an innumerable number of spores, or bacteria, too small to be described. The stomata of a leaf, examined at the same time, was large enough to 84 QUIIS'CE CULTUBE. take in a dozen of them at once. Hence the ease with which the disease may be spread. Prof. J. 0. Arthur, botanist of the New York Agricul- tural Station, who has given much time to the study of this disease, suggests that ''The bacteria escape from the tissues in the sliuiy drops that ooze out from the diseased parts, especially in damp weather. " Tliey are washed off and freed from the viscid part by rains, and upon becoming dry are taken up by the winds. Being now suspended in the air, a damp day, dewy night, or light rain would bring them in contact with the delicate surface tissues of fresh cracks or wounds, in the most favorable way to introduce the contagion. This is quite in accordance with the fact that the disease usually starts at the ends of the branches, but also appears sometimes on the larger limbs, and even the trunks. It also ex- plains the fact that the rankest growers are most subject to attack, these exposing more tender surfaces, and, upon the disease obtaining a foothold, furnishing more succu- lent tissues." Insects are almost sure to carry the disease wherever they go, after contact with these exudations. The theory that ascribes the blight to bacteria is so well proved that it is needless to notice the older theories which obtained before 1880, when Prof. T. J. Burrill, of Illinois, began experiments to demonstrate this. '' The bacteria connected with pear blight are all of one kind, and of only one kind : not the bacteria of putrefaction or of animal diseases, but a kind that have never been found anywhere except in blighted fruit trees. These have been named Micrococcus amylovorus. The former word, the generic name, means very minute bodies; the sec- ond, or specific name, means that they are lovers of starch. They are very minute vegetable organisms, and live on starch or similar substances. They multiply by dividing into two, like the figure 8; these divide again, this process of division and subdivision going on very rapidly." DISEASES OF THE QUII^'CE. 85 The bacterial theory seems to account for all the phenomena connected with this disease. The bacteria found in the disease will produce it from inoculation in about a week ; and by the second week the stem and leaves of the twig will be dead, and by the third week the disease will be extended down the limb, marking its progress by the brown bark and blackened leaves peculiar to the blight. Bacteria may enter through the flowers as well as the tender tissues of the growing twigs, or any opening in the older bark of the trunk and limbs. No visible effect is likely to be seen for several weeks. In June, and on- ward for a number of months, it may be seen as branch after branch reveals its presence. It grows very slowly in cold weather, and rapidly in warm and moist weather. I have found the annual salting of both quince and pear trees, when done before the spring growth begins, to operate as a preventive ; but can not say there will be none in the future. Later salting has not always pre- vented it. "When the disease is manifest, no time should be lost in removing and burning the diseased portions. Be sure to cut far enough below the affected parts to re- move all the disease. So long as there remains any portion of the trunk or branches not encircled with the blight, the tree may re- cover. I have trees that have done good service for several years, which were all destroyed except a strip on one side. The diseased parts were cut away, splitting off the blighted wood from one side of the trunk, and the rest has grown well, now nearly covering the split portion. Accepting the bacterial theory of the disease, we might propose to control it by spraying the trees with some antiseptic ; but in practice the best thing we can do is to prevent it as far as possible, and diligently destroy every trace of the disease. The microscope shows that both leaves and fruit are 86 QUIKCE CULTURE. more or less protected by a coating of natural varnish, sup- posed to be wax or silica. Whatever it may be, it is best to observe what soils and fertilizers supply it. Ashes and lime are found to improve the quality of fruit, and it may be assumed, also, that they increase the vigor of growth, and so aid in resisting the attacks of bacterial and fungoid diseases. 2. Orai^ge Rust {EcestiUa aurantiaca, Peck ; Cen- iridium CydonicB, Ellis). — This fungus affects the stems and fruit of the quince in June and onward. In a single Fig. 56. — STEM AT A BUD AS AFFECTED BY THE R^STILIA AURANTIACA. instance I have seen it on the leaf stalk. The spores are of a beautiful orange color, globose in shape, with a membranous envelope, and are produced in sacks or pustules, which form an enlargement on the stems, re- sembling the black knot of plum and cherry trees. The little blackened quinces remaining on the trees after the leaves have fallen, attest its destruction of the fruit, and warn us against its neglect. Once in a while a stem survives its attacks, and so of the fruit. As the disease progresses the granules burst, forcing their sides upward, DISEASES OF THE QUINCE. 87 and opening out with a multitude of cups, notched, at the edge, and shedding a profusion of yellow dust, which, as it falls, reminds one of the shower of sparks from an ascending rocket. The cups are hell-shaped, edged with a pretty fringe around their margins ; and are so nu- merous as to entirely girdle the twig or half cover the fruit. These cups, called peridia by mycologists, appear to have burst through the outer covering of the bark on Fig. 57. — STEM BETWEEN BUDS AFFECTED BY THE R^STILIA ATTRANTIACA, the twigs and the skin of the fruit. The cups some- times rise a tenth of an inch above the surface, with the lower parts attached to the substratum. The bursting peridia shed a liberal shower of their golden dust around them, which is scattered by the winds, carrying the spores, or, more strictly, the protospores, because they produce the true spores or fruit, so that each grain of this dust is the seed of more of these epiphytal plants. Before the oidium or fungus bursts out in the clusters of cups so prolific of dust, the surfaces of affected parts show numer- S8 QUIi^CE CULTURE. ous little elevations or pustules, which become ruptured as ripeness is attained, when the fungus pushes through the opening, at the same time bursting by radiating fissures, and forming a fringed edge of the cups. The fringed edges are often recurved, revealing the orange spores crowded together within. At first, and while contained within the peridium, they are concatinate or Fig. 58. — FRUIT AND STEM AS AFFECTED BY THE R^STILIA AURANTIACA. chained together ; but when dispersed they are scattered about the orifice, and often mixed with the colorless cells from which they have issued. A slice of the fruit cut out before the fungi are matured eniiugh to burst the cells, shows the yellow color of the di;sfc in its granular formation, as confined by the cellular substance of the cups. Each of the protospores con- DISEASES OF THE QUIKCE. 89 tained within the peridia may germinate, and produce not only one, but many vegetative spores, which are ex- ceedingly minute, and may be regarded as the embryos of a fresh crop of fungi. If a vertical section be made, the fungi will be seen to spring from beneath, the spores or protospores being clustered at the bottom. The tooth- like fringe is only a continuation of the cellular substance of the cups. Tt is possible that the fluid parts of the spores are absorbed by the growing plant, and as the result, the plant has become inoculated with the virus, which is so destructive as often to discourage the horticulturist. It Fig. 59.— SPORE OF THE R^ES- TILIA, MAGNIFIED 400 DIAMETERS. Fig. 60. — ALLORHINA NITIDA. requires a great stretch of the imagination to reach the possible limit of their mysterious increase and consequent injury. The spores of the Rmstilia aurantiaca are from twenty-five to thirty thousandths of a millimeter in diameter. The only effective remedy yet discovered, is to gather and burn the affected parts of stems and fruit before the spores are scattered to spread the disease. The Rmstilia aurantiaca on twigs attracts tiie com- mon green and brown dung beetle, Allorhina nitida. It is a scarihceidm about the size of the common brown May beetle, and very strong. This beetle^ though a friend to 90 QUINCE CULTURE. the quince cultivator, sometimes eats into com and yari- ous fruits. 3. QuiJ^CE Leaf Brownkess {Morthiera Mespili v. Cydonim, C. and E.). — This fungoid disease of the leaves is indicated by reddish-brown spots, which show on both sides of the leaf, with a small black speck in the center of each spot, which speck, on being magnified, appears to be four spores in one, each of the four being elliptical, and ending in a thread as long as itself. The Fig. 61. — LEAVES AFFECTED BY MORTHIERA MESPILI. rounded spots extend into coalescing brown patches, sometimes covering a large part of the leaf. The en- largement of the spots is due to the extension of the mycelium of the spores, which, as the disease progresses, kills the leaves, and they drop to the ground. The older leaves generally show the disease first, and from them it extends toward the ends of the branches, sometimes nearly defoliating the tree. It occurs on trees of every age. In studying this disease, Soraner put some spores on a DISEASES OF THE QUIN"CE. 91 healthy pear leaf, which there germinated, and in two weeks produced the brown spots with the black specks in the center. In the winter he found on the fallen leaves Fig. 62.— MORTHIERA MESPILI, MAGNIFIED 400 DIAMETERS. Fig. 63. — MYCELIUM OF THE FUNGI MAGNIFIED. what he thought to be the same fungus, producing an- other set of spores (ascospores), which became ripe in April and May. Such fungi are able to grow slowly through the winter, ready to spread the disease on the new leaves in the spring. He also found the fun- gus capable of wintering on the bud-scales, without entering on a second stage of development. Young and weakly trees are more susceptible to its attacks than stronger growing trees. The pear and thorn are also subject to its attacks. The only sure remedy is to gather and destroy the leaves. 4. Yellow Leaf Spots (Hendersonia Cydoiiice, 0. and E.). — This is another fungus on quince leaves, resembling the Mortliiera mespili, except that the spots on the leaves are yellow and produce a thick- ening of the leaf, with a development on the under side of the spots like the bursting of the cluster cups of tlie Rcbs- tilia aurantiaca, only smaller. The hendersonia ct- spores are elliptical, marked with three donia, magnified bars across, dividing them into four 400 diameters. 92 QUIKCE CULTURE. parts, as shown in the cut. The destruction of affected leaves is recommended, especially as many of them are also affected with both of these fungi together. 5. Leaf Mildew {Podosplimra tridactyla, Wall). — This disease consists of a parasitic white mildew spread- ing interlacing filaments over both surfaces of the leaves, but developed most perfectly on the upper side. The disease appears in June, producing a multitude of color- less spores, which spread the fungus rapidly to other leaves and trees. Late in July it produces its fruit Fig. 65. — LEAVES AFFECTED BY THE HENDERSONIA CTDONIJL. as so many dust-like dots of regular form and size. These round, dust-like specks are the sacks which contain the resting spores, which withstand the rigors of winter, and reproduce the leaf mildew the next year. It is most thrifty on the leaves of a vigorous tree; but, with the favor of shade, may thrive on a weakly tree. It is also found on the leaves of apple trees, and proves very injurious to cherry leaves, often causing them to fall prematurely. Sulphur dusted on the leaves when they are wet is recommended as a remedy. DISEASES OF THE QUIN^CE. 93 6. Leaf Blight. — This is very unlike the leaf blight of the apple and pear. The specimens examined have not yet revealed to us the cause. It first appears on the edges of the leaves ; sometimes on one side only, but more generally reaching nearly all the way around the leaf. At first it is of a reddish brown ; but as it extends inward toward the mid vein, it gradually assumes a deeper hue, till at last it is almost jet black, and covers very nearly all the blade of the leaf. As the disease progresses the Fig. 66. — LEAF BLIGHT. edges of the tenderer leaves curl upward, and eventually the whole dies and falls. 7. QuiN^CE Rot {Splmropsis Cydonm, 0. and E.). — This disease usually begins at a few points on the surface of the fruit, and spreads regularly in enlarging circles until the whole fruit is decayed. As these spots enlarge, the centers grow dark, and soon may be seen as a mass of black points, which contain a multitude of brown spores, each capable of spreading the disease. A sound quince 94 QUINCE CULTUKE. being inoculated with a piece of the surface of one dis- eased, the spores germinated, and the rotting slowly progressed to the twenty-second day, under a bell glass, w^ien the decayed spot was an inch and a half in diam- eter, and showed fruiting points of the disease. So long as the wax-like covering of fruit remains per- fect, it is difficult for the spores of disease to affect it; but the sting of an insect, the abrasion of a chafing limb, or a bruise Avill make a way for the germs of disease to enter. Hence the importance of great care in handling the fruit. No other preventive is known for this disease. 8. Bark Bouxd or Hide Bound. — This may arise from the depredations of scale insects weakening the vitality of the cells, or it may arise from an undue reduc- tion of the top in pruning or grafting, producing a dis- proportion between the leaves and the numerous cells under the bark, by which their expansive force is weak- ened too much to push out the bark ; or injury to the roots may so far weaken the power of these cells that they become unequal to the task required of them. Pro- vision is made for the expansion of the bark by the forma- tion of cork-like cells, called siiher cells, which expand so as to rupture the outer bark, and allow a proper enlarge- ment of the growing tree. Every tree has its own suber cell, and so the rifts in the bark of each are according to its own peculiar character, no two appearing just alike. When, from any cause, the tree has become hark hound, a sHt of the knife will help in doing what these cells failed to perform. The slit should be very carefully made, lest, instead of helping, it injure the tree by its severity. Be very sure the malady exists before the remedy is applied, or great harm may follow. WIKTEE-KILLIIiJ'G. 95 CHAPTER XVIII. WINTER -KILLING. There is a difference in the hardiness of quince trees. Some varieties endure severe freezing better than others. A variety that lives one winter may die the next because of the changes surrounding it ; and so a tender variety may live, when one naturally more hardy dies. Sudden changes often work disastrously. This was seen in the winter of 1853-4 in a belt of country extending from New York to Michigan. Quince trees and pear trees on quince stocks were greatly injured by rapid successions of very warm and intensely cold weather. The result was, that nearly all the trees that were not sheltered were de- stroyed, or so weakened that they continued to die till late in the summer. The warmth had promoted sap circulation, and the sap, suddenly freezing, formed little crystals in the wood, which lacerated the fibers by every motion of the swaying trees. This cause may be supple- mented by sucli a freezing and thawing of the limbs and branches as dries the life out of them. In all such cases the injury to trees will be in proportion to the expos- ure, and so the protection of good wind-breaks is of great importance. In that season of such widespread loss, those trees that chanced to be sheltered from the winds escaped. It was also observed that the loss was not so great with trees on clayey soil that shed off the water, as on sandy soil that was filled with water. Trees transplanted in the fall, too late for the cut roots to heal, and for all to resume their normal func- tions, may in consequence fail to supply their tops with needed moisture, and they will become shriveled and winter-kill in consequence. The newly-set tree badly planted may suffer by the frost lifting its roots out of 96 QUIIs"CE CULTURE. their places, in which case it is likely to be winter-killed. A mulch sufficient to protect the roots from freezing during the winter is a wise precaution, not only to pro- tect the newly-planted trees from intense cold, but will be a safeguard against winter-killing in those well estab- lished. It has been found highly beneficial to trees to have a mantle of snow cover the ground all winter, be- cause it protects the ground from sudden changes. A winter rain freezing on the limbs will do little harm, unless accompanied by winds, because there is no danger of drying out the sap. The cold may be severe enough to weaken the vitality of fruit-buds, and they may all drop off after they have blossomed. Trees are able to endure greater cold in a dry atmos- phere than in a moist one. In elevated situations, trees will endure a severer temperature than in valleys or low down the hill-sides. It will operate favorably to so cultivate the trees as to secure an early growth and ripening of the wood, that it may be in the best condition to endure the severity of winter frosts. When stimulated to grow very vigorously late in the season, the young wood is more likely to suffer than that produced earlier in the season. The thermometrical and hygrometrical conditions act together, and the hardiness of trees will be determined by the power of the tissues to withstand the pressure that will burst them if they contain too much sap, or to shrivel them by drying out their moisture, and so de- stroying their vitality. A wise precaution against winter-killing in sections where there is danger, is not to cultivate late in the season. The culture that stimulates a late growth of soft wood that does not ripen before the severity of winter sets in is to be avoided. The immature wood is easily injured, the grain is ruptured by freezing and thawing, and the disorganized cells in spring are no INSECT EKEMIES. 97 longer able to perform their office. Secure an early growth of wood, that will ripen in time to be ready for all changes of weather, and you will have the satisfaction of having done wisely. CHAPTER XIX. INSECT ENEMIES OF THE QUINCE. Ei^TOMOLOGiSTS liavG estimated that, on an average, there are from four to six insect enemies to each variety of plants. The insect enemies of the quince exceed this average, but are not so numerous as the enemies of the apple. Quite a portion of them are alike the enemies of both. ATTACKIKG THE TRUNK AND BRANCHES. 1. The Round-headed Apple-tree Borer {Saperda Candida, Fabr. ; Saperda Mvittata, Say). — This is an American insect, first described by Thomas Say in 1824. Trees growing on high ground are, other things being equal, more largely infested than those on low land. In its larval state it is called the Round-headed Apple-tree Borer, to distinguish it from a flat-headed species, which also preys on the apple, but not on the quince tree. In its imago, or perfect state, it is commonly known as the Two -striped Saperda. The full-grown larva is about an inch long, cylindrical in form, fleshy, and tapering from the head to the tail. The round head is of a chestnut- brown color, horny, and polished. The jaws are quite black, and fitted to cut the fiber of wood much as it is cut in boring with an auger. The chrysalis is lighter colored than the larva, and is marked by transverse rows of minute spines on the back, with a few at its extremity, which probably aid it in casting off its pupa skin. The 98 QUINCE CULTURE. insect, m all its stages, will be readily recognized by the accompanying illustrations. During the months of May and June this beetle emerges through a round hole, having completed all its changes from the egg to the imago. It comes out in the night, and hides during the day among the leaves, which are now its food. The sexes pair at night, after which the female deposits her eggs in the bark at the collar of the tree. The eggs are the size of a small pin-head, and may be looked for from May till August. Their entire life history embraces about three years. Within about Fii>-. 67.— Larva. Fig. 68.— Chrysalis. Fio-. 69.— Beetle. EOUND-HEADED APPLE-TREE BORER. two weeks from the laying of the eggs, they hatch into a larva, which penetrates through the bark to the sap-wood the first season, where tliey form a burrow, and may often be detected by the discolored appearance of the bark of young trees, or by the fine-grained castings they have pushed out of their holes. They remain in the tree three years, becoming each year more destructive. Be- fore the end of this time, as they approach the comple- tion of their larval growth, they cut a passage through the heart- wood of the tree, extending it outward to the bark. These passages are cut very direct up to this point for a future exit, or they may be found turning abruptly back in any direction. With an instinct bor- IHSECT ENEMIES. 99 dering on intelligence, the larva now fills the upper part of its hole with its woody dust against the bark ; then turns round and fills it below with woody fibers of the heart- wood, when it again turns its head upward, and there rests till, in the next spring, the matured larva casts off its skin and reveals the chrysalis. In three weeks more the pupa has become a beetle, the soft parts soon harden, and in a few days it makes its way through the castings in the upper end of its passage, cuts a smooth round hole through the bark, about three-six- teenths of an inch across, from which it escapes. Eetnedies, — The best remedy is to prevent the beetle laying the eggs in the bark of the tree. This may be done by wrapping petroleum paper, or any like substance, around the collar of the tree, letting it reach from the ground high enough to protect it. Alkaline washes have been found distasteful to this insect ; and a wash of strong soap-suds thickened with washing-soda will keep it away. Wash as early as May and June, and keep the ground clear of grass and weeds for a harbor. I have found clean culture a good protection when neglected trees were badly infested, and some were de- stroyed. A good formula for a wash is two pounds of soft soap and a quarter of a pound of sulphur in a pail of water. Apply with a swab or brush. Christopher Shearer, a very successful horticulturist of Pennsylvania, recommends a wash of four gallons of whitewash, two quarts of clay, two quarts of fresh cow dung, and one quart of strong lye, with water enough to mix well. Scrape the earth away from the collar of the tree, and apply with a swab or brush in May and August, reaching well up the tree. Eeturn the earth that was removed. He finds it effective with the peach and apple trees as well as the quince. The main thing is to prevent the laying of the eggs, and this does it. Harris recommends plugging up their holes with cam- 100 QUINCE CULTURE. pTior. Downing advises to heap aslies or lime about the collar of the tree. He would protect nurseries by wash- ing young trees with a solution of a pound of potash to a gallon of water. If the larvaB have already got into the trees they should be dug out or destroyed in their holes. Annealed wire or small strips of whalebone have been found useful to run into the holes. Besides the summer examinations, it is well to look over the trees in the fall and winter to make sure the larvae are not in them. 2. The Quii^ce Scale {Aspidiotus CydonicBy Com- stock). — This is an enemy found on quince trees in Florida. The scale is gray, and somewhat transparent. The shape is convex and the size only about six hun- dredths of an inch across. The remedy is a strong solu- tion of potash or soft soap, applied with a swab or brush. 3. The Woolly Aphis {Aphis lanigera or schizoneura, Haiismann). — The downy plant lice, now placed in the genus Eriosoma, are among the most destructive species. This aphis was imported on fruit trees from Europe, and yet in England it is called the American Blight. It is most commonly found on apple trees in the colder sec- tions. It was on the quince tree in an apple orchard at Northamp- ton, Massachusetts, where it at- tracted my attention some years ago. The tree had numerous shoots like those that spring up around apple trees, and these were abundantly infested. I am thus particular in giving the location, as I have not seen it on quince trees farther south, and have not seen any notice of it on the quince by other writers. It may be readily recognized by the woolly covering from which it takes its name. Fisr. 70. — WOOLLY aphis. INSECT ENEMIES. 101 (See figure 70.) The numerous punctures they make in the bark of the tender shoots produce warts or ex- crescences on the bark, till the limbs become sickly, the leaves turn yellow and drop off, and sometimes the whole tree dies. Remedies. — The lady-bugs and their larvae, the larvae of the Syrphus and lace-winged flies, and the little chal- cid fly {Aplielinus mali, Hald.), all feed on these plant- lice. The old bark should be scraped off wherever it makes a harbor for them, and then with a stiff brush they should be treated to a solution of lime and sulphur (five pounds of lime to one of sulphur in two gallons of water, heated till the sulphur is dissolved). The earth at the roots, as far as practicable, should be exchanged for fresh soil. A pound of potash in a gallon of water is effective. Another application is made, melting three ounces of resin with the same quantity of fish oil, and applying it warm with a paint brush. Spiders spin their webs over and feed on them at their leisure. 4. The Seventeen- Year Cicada, commonly called Locust {Cicada septendecim, Linn.). — This insect de- rives its name from the time it requires to pass through its several changes. The long intervals at which they appear, and the little damage they do to the quince, make any extended description of the seventeen-year locusts, however interesting, quite unnecessary here. It may be found in any good work on entomology. The damage done by these insects can not be prevented. They can not eat, and the only injury they do above ground is confined to the small branches in which they deposit their eggs ; but when they go over a whole tree in this way it becomes a serious matter. These branches die and fall off, and there is nothing to do but trim off the rough ends with a smooth cut. In the larva state they do much injury to the roots of trees. The birds, poultry, etc., destroy many. The plow destroys more in culti- lO-^i QUIK"CE CULTURE. vated grounds. The work of these interesting insects, however, is confined chiefly to our native woods, and their numbers, consequently, can not easily be reduced. CLIMBING CUT-WORMS {AgroUdcB). Cut-worms are the caterpillars of widely-spread species of nocturnal moths. Most of them confine their depreda- tions to young and succulent plants, which they cut off just above or below the surface of the ground. Four sjDecies of this numerous family are in the habit of ascending trees at night, and doing serious damage by eating off the growing twigs and foliage. Or- chards in light sandy soil are most liable to their Fig. 71.— MOTH. attacks. While the several species differ in size, in color and markings, both in the larva and imago state, they are much alike. In their general appearance they are smooth and naked larvae of some shade of gray, green, brown, or black, with dusky markings. The female lays about 600 eggs on the twigs of the trees, where they do their mischief. They eat at night, and are, therefore, seldom seen. Having finished their nocturnal meal, they fall to the ground, and hide in the earth. 5. The Variegated Gjjt-Wor^i {Agrotis saucia,^uh- ner). The moth, with wings expanded, measures about an inch and three-quarters across. The fore wings are grayish brown, marked with brownish black. The hind INSECT ENEMIES. 103 wings are white and pearly, sliaded toward the margin with pale brown. The chrysalis is of a deep mahogany brown, with dotted markings on each side, and sharp Fig. 72. — CHRYSALIS OF THE VARIE- GATED CUT-WORM. Fig. 73. — LAKVA OF THE VARIE- GATED CUT-WORM. Fig. 74. — EGGS OF THE VA- RIEGATED CUT-WORM, a. Magnified ; b, Natural Size. 'pointed at the tip. The larva pupates in the ground, where it forms a smooth, oval, earth cocoon. The larva becomes full grown by the middle of June, when it is of Fig. 75. — LARVA AND MOTH OF THE DARK-SIDED CUT-WORM. a dull flesh-color, mottled with brown and black, hav- ing elongated velvety black markings on the sides. 6. The Dark-sided Cut- Worm {Agrotis Cocliranii, Kiley). The moth is light gray, marked and shaded with brown, and smaller than the Variegated. The larva is a little over an inch long, with dark ashen gray sides and 104 QUIKCE CULTURE. lighter color above. The chr}- sails in the earth cocoon is about seven-tenths of an inch long^ yellowish brown with darker brown markings. 7. The Climbing Cut- Worm {Agrotis scanclens, Kiley) is very destructive to bnds and tender stems and leaves. The body of the moth is about seven-tenths of an inch long, and the spread wings meas- ure nearly an inch and a half across. The fore wings are of Fig. 76. — AGROTIS SCANDENS, a light bluish gray with darker markings. The hind wings are pearly white. The larva is about an inch and a half long, of a light yellowish gray, varie- gated with dull green. It has a dark line along the back, with fainter lines along the sides. The spiracles are black. The chrysalis is brown. 8. The Mamestra Picta, or W-marked Cut- Worm {Agrotis clandedina, Harris), feeds on succulent plants, low bushes, and the buds of trees. It is supposed to have two broods a year. The first transformation of the Fig. 77. — W-MARKED CUT-WORM. Fig. 78.— MOTH OF W-MARKED CUT-WORM. chrysalis to the moth occurs about the first of June and the second near the end of August. The fore wings are of a dark ash-gray, marked by deeper colored lines, mak- ing their zigzag course a distinct W, near the outer hind margin. The hind wings are a dull white, faintly tinged Iiv"SECT EKEMIES. 105 with brown on the outer edge. The chrysalis is of the shining brown color common to the species. The larva is light yellow, variegated with three broad, black, longi- tudinal stripes, one on each side, the other on the top of tiie back. The head, belly, and feet are tawny. The lateral black stripe consists of numerous transverse black marks on a pure white ground. On account of its stripes. Dr. Melsheimer called it the zebra caterpillar. It does not conceal itself in the ground until it is ready to pupate. Remedies. — The common red ants capture and kill them. Insectivorous birds devour them. As prevention Fig. 79.— CALOSOMA SCRUTATOB. Fig. 80,— CALOSOMA CALIDUM. is better than cure, we may attract the moths by little bonfires, and destroy them. We may attract them by cider, and water sweetened and flavored wdth vinegar. We may keep the larva from climbing the trees by fastening around them strips of tin or zinc like inverted funnels. Cut-worms, like other caterpillars, have de- stroyers in the Tachina flies, and the Ichneumons are their parasitic enemies. I discovered one of these climb- ing worms a few years ago in the very process of destruc- tion by parasites. The worms crawled through the skin, leaving no visible mark, and then spun their cocoons on 106 QtJTNCE CULTUKI!. the stem that supported the cut-worm. Further obser- vation showed that they pupated ten days before coming forth to repeat their work of destruction. The female of this parasite lays about 100 eggs, which shows that they are capable of doing much good service. The car- nivorous beetles Calosoma scrutator and Calosoina cali- dum (Fabr.) are very active in hunting and eating all the species of cut-worms. The latter is a very beautiful beetle, with copper-colored spots on the wing covers. Their aid as destroyers of noxious insects should be better known and appreciated. attacki:n'g the leaves. 9. Caterpillar of the Han^dmaid Moth, or the Yellow-kecked Apple-tree Caterpillar {Datana ministra, Drury). — Of all insects that prey upon the leaves of quince trees, I have found the caterpillar of the Handmaid Moth most destructive. As one of Fig. 81— EGGS OF MOTH. its names suggests, it is also destructive of the foliage of the apple and also of the cherry. The eggs are laid on the under side of a leaf, selecting one near the end of a twig. They are fastened in nearly straight rows to one another as well as to the leaf. They vary from about 150 to 180, each the size of a small pin head. They hatch at varying times from July onward, occasional broods com- ing out as late as September. At first they only eat the IKSECT EKEMTES. 10? pulp of the leaf, leaving a pretty network of veins ; but in a few days tliey devour the whole leaf, and when full grown sweep every thing before them. Side by side in solid phalanx along the twigs and branches, they feed Fig. 82. — BEFORE THE FIRST MOULT. Fig. 83. — BEFORE THE SECOND MOULT. Fig. 85. — BEFORE THE FOURTH MOULT. Fig. 84. — BEFORE THE THIRD MOULT. Fig. 86. — AFTER THE FOURTH MOULT. gregariously, resting between meals in the same order, with both head and tail recurved over the body. If touched or otherwise disturbed they at once throw their heads from side to side in a spiteful manner, or let them- selves down by a silken thread, always double, which they rapidly spin out of their mouths. Their bodies are Fig, 88.— CHRYSALIS. Fig. 87.— LARVA AT REST. well covered with long, soft, whitish hairs. They moult four times, and attain their full growth in five or six weeks, and are then about two inches long. A black stripe extends along the back, and three black stripes 108 QUINCE CULTURE. alternate with four yellow ones on each side. With expanded wings the moth measures about two inches across, sometimes two and a half. The sexes have some points of difference. The an- tennae of the male iiave two rows of fringe beneath, with yery short hairs nearly to their tips. In the female the antennae are naked. She is larger than the male. Their color is a light brov/n. The head and a large square spot on the thorax are dark chestnut brown. The hairs on this spot can be erected so as to form a kind of crest. The fore wings are slightly notched on their hinder margins, with from three to five transverse brown lines, and one or two dark s23ots in the middle (sometimes Fig. 89.— HANDMAID MOTH. Fig. 90. — PARASITIC FLT. lacking), and a short, oblique, dark line near the outer margin. In repose, the hinder part of the body is raised up, and the fore-legs stretched out before the body. The illustrations will aid in recognizing them at every stage of their life history. Remedy. — They are easily found by the naked limbs they have stripped of their foliage, and also by their droppings on the ground, and when found can be pulled off and crushed. The Tachina flies deposit their eggs in them. A small Ichneumon is also known to prey on them. 10. The Fall Web- Worm (Hyphantria textor, Har- ris).— The appearance of web-tents in trees after the tent caterpillar of early spring has disappeared, has raised the question whether there be not a second brood. i:n'sect enemies. 109 But the tent caterpillar of spring only preys on a tew kinds of trees, while the later sort are ready to work over a very wide range. They are much smaller, and eat very much longer. The fall web-worm is a caterpillar of the family of Arctians or Tiger moths. The name Hyphantria means a weaver, and is very appropriate and descriptive ; for the first thing they do when hatched is to spin a web on the leaf where they are hatched, under which they eat the pulp of the leaf. Their webs are so closely woven as to hold their excrements as a fine powder. The moth is white, with tawny yellow fore-thighs and dark-colored feet. The antennae of the males are doubly feathered beneath, and those of the female have two rows ef teeth on the under side. The expanded wings meas- ¥ig. 91.— Larva. Fig. 92.— Chrysalis. Fig. 93. — Winged Insect . FALL WEB-WORM. ure about an inch and a quarter across. In repose they are not crossed on the back, but are roofed or sloped down on each side of the body. It only flies at night, when it lays its eggs on leaves near the end of the twigs, during June and July. In the North there is but one brood a year, but in the South there is often a brood in June and another in August. These caterpillars feed on the quince, apple, pear, and a good many other trees and shrubs. They attain their full growth in about three months, when they separate to seek places of conceal- ment, where they pupate in thin and almost transparent cocoons, in which they remain through the winter as chrysalids. The full-grown caterpillar is over an inch long, with a slender body. Their general color is gray, with a tinge of greenish-yellow. Trees defoliated by no QUII^CE CULTURE. them are likely to be barren, because it is too late to form new foliage with fruit buds. Remedy. — Gather and destroy them in their webs. The Sj^ined Soldier-bug [Fodisus spinosus, Dallas) pierces their bodies with its beak, and sucks them empty. There are birds tiiat pierce their webs and destroy them in spite of their concealment. 11. The Bag- Worm, Basket-Worm, or Drop-Worm {Thyrido2Jteryx e])liemer(Bformis, Haw). — The bag- worm a, Larva ; 5, Chrysalis ; c Female ; d. Male : e, Female bag opened ; /, The Worm and its Bag ; g. The Young. Fig. 94. — THE BAG-WORM, BASKET- WORM, OR DROP-WORM. of the United States has a range from Alabama on the south to Massachusetts on the north. The Germans call it Sack-trager (sack-bearer). It feeds on almost every variety of trees, including the quince. The names applied to this caterpillar are significantly descriptive. No sooner is it hatched than it begins to make a bag- like house on a tender leaf. Standing on the leaf, with its little tail turned up, it spins a silken ring around it- self, fastening bits of the leaf on the outside, and adding to the lower edge of the ring as they increase it upward. li^SECT EI^EMIES. Ill until it reaches the tail, forming a sort of cone, as at fig- ure 94,/. As the caterpillars increase in size they enlarge their houses upward, until the elongation makes their bags so large and heavy they hang to one side, instead of being upright, as at/. They are full grown about the end of July when hatched the last of May or early in June. The habit of the full-grown worm of letting itself down by its silken threads, suggested the name of Drop-worm. When they travel they extend the head and enough of the body to use three pairs of legs, each provided with a strong claw, while the five pairs of very short legs within their case retain a strong hold with clinging hooks. They moult four times while growing. At each time they close the mouth of the sack, and retire for two days to cast off their skins. In closing the bag, a hole is always left at the end large enough to throw out their excrement and their cast-off skins. The body is cylin- drical and soft, and that portion usually concealed in the case is lighter colored. At maturity they fasten their bags securely to the twigs of the tree, instinctively avoiding the leaf -stalk that will fall. Then they line them with soft silk, and turn round, with their heads toward the lower orifice, where they wait to cast their skins and be- come chrysalids. Up to this change the sexes have been alike in appearance ; but henceforth they are easily di^ tinguishable. The male chrysalis has the form of ordi- nary chrysalids, being about half the size of the female. The female chrysalis has no sign of encased wings, legs, and antennse, appearing as a naked, yellowish bag of eggs with a ring of soft light brown hair near the tail. After three weeks the male chrysalis works down to the end of his bag, and, hanging half way out, bursts his skin, and emerges as a moth with a black body and glossy wings, as at d. The male is proportionally stout bodied, with a long abdomen, and broadly pectinated antennae. The female has neither wings nor legs. The bag-w^orm ia 112 QUIJS'CE CULTURE. exceedingly hardy and vigorous, and readily adapts itself to any food available. Reyntdies. — There is no surer method of destroying them than to gather the cocoons as they hang on the trees and burn them. They are easily seen during the winter. This is emphatically applying the ounce of prevention that will save the pound of cure. Two insect friends aid us, both ichneumons. The Cryptiis inquisitor (Say) is about two-lifths of an inch long. The Hemiteles thyri- dopteryx (Riley) is about one-third of an inch long. Fig. 95. CRTPTUS INQUISITOR. Fig. 96.— i¥aZe. Fig. ^7.— Female. HEMITELES THYRIDOPTEKTX. Five or six of these sometimes occupy the body of a single bag-worm. After destroying the worm, they spin for themselves, within its cocoon, small white cocoons. 12. The Cork Emperor Moth, the Jo Emperor Moth {Hyper cUria lo, Linn., Saturnia lo, Harris, Hy- perchiria varia, Walker).— The common name of this moth 2:)robably came fi-om its feeding on corn and for- aging on both trees and veg- etables, a very uncommon habit with insects. It not only feeds on the quince, but a wide range of trees and veo:etables. The moth is very beautiful, and only flies at night. The sexes differ both in size and color, the male being the smaller. His color is a deep yellow, with purplish brown markings. His Fig. 98.— LARVA OF THE EMPEROR MOTH. CORN INSECT EI!^"EMIES. 113 fore wings are marked with a zigzag line near the base, and two oblique wavy lines near the outer margin, with other spots on the middle forming the letters A, H, all of a purplish red color. The hind wings are hairy, and Fig. 99, — CORN EMPEROR MOTH, FEMALE. purplish red next to the body, with a narrow curved band of like color near their posterior margin, and within this band there is a curved black line. On the middle of the wing is a black spot with a bluish center, on which there is a silver-white line. The upper side is ochre- yellow ; the head and thorax purplish brown. The an- tennae are broadly pectinated, while in the female they Fig. 100. — CORN EMPEROR MOTH, MALE. are feathered very narrow. The anterior wings of the female are purplish brown, or a faded cream color. The zigzag and wavy lines across them are gray, and marked in the middle with a brown spot, surrounded by an irregular 114 QUIIfCE CULTURE. gray line, and towards the base are covered with a thick wool-like covering. The posterior wings resemble those of the male, as do also the head and thorax. The ex- panse of the wings is from two and three-qnarter inches to three inches and a half. Soon after pairing the female lays her eggs in clusters of twenty to thirty. The eggs are top-shaped, flattened at the top and compressed on the sides ; about one- twentieth of an inch in diameter, and creamy white, Avith a yellowish spot above, which gradually increases in color as they come to maturity, when it is almost black, and the yellow larva show through the sides. Beginning their work as early as June and extending it nearly through September, it is easy to see that they may do great harm. The broods remain together till near ma- turity, when they separate for pupating. The full-grown caterpillar is two and a half inches long, pea-green, with a broad brown stripe, edged white, low down on the body. Beginning with the fourth ring, there is a brown triangular spot on the under side of each. The breath- ing pores are yellow, ringed with brown. Each segment of the body is dotted with little warts, armed with clusters of branching spines. The prick of these sharp spines irritates the skin like the sting of nettles. Up to the age when they separate, the groups move in a regular order, guided by the thread spun by the leader. They moult four times, attaining maturity in x4.ugust and Sep- tember, according to the time they were hatched, when the caterpillar will measure two and a half inches in length. The full-grown larva descends to the ground, where it draws together leaves or any other convenient material for an outer covering, within which it makes a cocoon of tough, gummy, brown silk, in which it changes to a chrysalis. Remedies. — If not discovered before they are half grown, when together, they can be readily found and IKSECT EKEMIES. 115 destroyed after tliey separate, by their large droppings. The larvae are attacked by two parasites; one a very small, unnamed, four-winged fly, the other the Long-tailed Ophion [Opliion macrurum, Linn.). 13. The Vaporek Moth, the White-marked Tus- sock Moth {Orgyia leucostigma, Smith and Abbr.). — This moth takes the name Orgyia from a word signifying Fig. 101. — LAKVA OF WHITE-MARKED TUSSOCK MOTH. to stretch out the hands, on account of its resting with the fore legs extended. The English name. Vapor Moth, is applied as descriptive of the males ostentatiously flying by day, or vaporing, when most other moths keep con- cealed. The name White-marked Tussock Moth is ap- plied as descriptive of the four little hairy tufts on the Fig. 102. -Pupa. Fie:. 103.— iliafe. WHITE-MARKED TUSSOCK MOTH. back of the caterpillar. On each side is a row of smaller tufts of fine, yellow hairs. A narrow dark stripe runs along the back, and a wider dusky stripe runs along each side. There are two long black pkimes on the first ring and one on the top of the eleventh ring. They are 116 QUIKCE CULTURE. something over an inch long at maturity. The body is bright yellow, and the head coral red. Though not gregarious, they are often numerous enough to be very destructive to the foliage of the quince and other trees and shrubs. There are two broods in a year. The first hatch about the middle of May, and the second late in July. The first brood complete their growth by the middle of July, spin their cocoons on the leaves or branches of trees, and enter into the chrysalis state. The chrysalis has little downy hairs, and three oval clusters of bran-like scales on the back. They pupate eleven days, when the female comes forth wingless, and the male with wings that expand an inch and three- eighths. The wings are ashen gray, crossed by darker wavy bands on the upper pair, which are also marked by a black spot near the tip, and a very small white crescent by the outer angle. Their antennae are broadly pectinated. The body of the female is a very thick, oblong oval, in distinctly marked sections, and of a lighter gray than the male. She waits on the outside of her cocoon for the coming of the male, and after meeting him lays her eggs in an irregular mass on the top of the cocoon, which is spun between the leaves, and then covers them with a frothy looking substance, which hardens to brittleness, and is then impervious to water. After laying her eggs she drops to the ground and dies. The young larvae, when seriously disturbed, let themselves down by silken threads ; and when the danger seems past they climb up the threads to regain their former situation. Remedies. — The leaves attached to the cocoon show where their eggs are laid, so they can easily be found during the winter, and destroyed. There are nine species of two and four winged flies that are known to be para- sites of this insect in the larval state. 14. PEA.R-TREE Slug {SeUndria [Blennocampa] Oe- rasi, Peck). — This caterpillar is called a slug, from its IKSECT ENEMIES. 117 appearance in the larva state. The name Blennocampa signifies a slimy caterpillar. Its favorite trees are the pear, cherry, and quince, and it is sometimes found on the plum and mountain ash. Ordinarily there are but few on a leaf, but sometimes the leaves are fairly spotted with them. Thirty have been counted on a single leaf. Professor Peck, of Massachusetts, wrote its nutural history in 1790 with such critical accuracy that little has been since added to our knowledge of its life history. It is now quite generally spread over the country. This slug comes from the eggs of a saw-fly, about one-fifth of an inch long, resembling the common house-fly. Its body is glossy black. The first two pairs of legs are clay- Fig. 104:.—Mmale. Fig. 105.— Larva. PEAE-TREE SLUG. colored, with dark thighs. The hind legs are dull black with clay-colored knees. The wings are transparent, slightly convex, and uneven on the upper side, with brownish veins. They reflect the changeable colors of the rainbow, with a smoky tinge in a band across the middle of the first pair. The female is provided with a saw-like appendage, with which she cuts a curved incision through the skin of the leaf, in which she lays her eggs singly, and gener- ally on the under side, from about the middle of May into June. In fourteen days they begin to hatch. At first the slugs are white ; but soon a slimy matter oozes through the skin, and covers their backs and sides with an olive-colored, sticky coat. The head is small, of a dark 118 QUIKCE CULTURE. chestnut color, and is entirely concealed under the body, which tapers almost to a point at the tail, which in re- pose is turned up a little. They have twenty very short legs, a pair under each segment, except the fourth and the last. They grow for twenty-six days, casting their skins five times, and eating them every time till the last. After the last moult they show a clean yellow skin, free from viscidity. They now show the head and segments of the body very plainly, and are about half an inch long. In a few hours after this last moult, they leave the tree and burrow a few inches in the ground, where they form little oblong-oval cavities, lined with a sticky, glossy substance. In these cells they pupate ; and in sixteen days the change is complete from the worm to the fly, which bursts the cell and crawls out to seek its mate. The flies of the first brood lay eggs for a second in July and August, and the second brood go into the ground in September and October, where they remain till the next spring, when they in turn change to flies. Where they are very abundant the foliage is entirely de- stroyed, and before the trees can again clothe them- selves with leaves, it is too late to perfect fruit buds, and barrenness must follow. If they are allowed to continue their work year after year^ the trees not only become barren, but die. Remedies. — We may catch the flies if we see them laying their eggs, for they are not A^ery shy. Saunders says, if the tree is shaken while they are at work, ^^they fall to the ground, where, folding their antennae under their bodies and bending the head forward and under, they remain for a time motionless." Powdered hellebore in water, an ounce to two gallons, or cither of the poisons, white arsenic, London purple, or Paris green, a teaspoonful to two gallons of water, or a-ir-slacked lime, or ashes^ or any dry dust, or slug-shot, (grayed or dusted on the leaves, all seem to be effective. INSECT ENEMIES. 119 I have found the dry earth under the trees all-sufficient, if applied before they are ready to go into the ground, and the poisons may therefore be avoided. A very minute ichneumon fly, a species of Encyrtus^ deposits an Qgg in the Qgg of the saw-fly; and from this tiny egg a maggot is hatched,, which lives on the egg of the slug-fly, and when it has consumed it, becomes a chrysalis, and then a fly. Prof. Peck found that many eggs of the second brood were destroyed by ^^tliis atom of existence." The Yireo and Cat-bird eat them from the leaves. In dusting tall trees a sieve fastened on the end of a pole is a convenient implement. An old tin can well punctured with holes is a very cheap sieve for the purpose. 15. The Polyphemus Moth [Telea Polyphemus, Sim; Attacus Polyphemus, Harris). It is called Poly- pJieinus after one of the giants in mythology bearing this name. It is one of the largest of the native American silk worms, belonging to the genus Attacus. The wings of the female spread fully six inches ; those of the male a little less. It is of a dull ochre-yellow color, clouded with black in the middle of the wings. On each of the fore wings, near the center, there is an eye-like spot transparent in the center, crossed by light lines, and surrounded by rings of white, red, yellow, and black. Before the eye-spots of the hind wings are large blue spots, shading into black. On the front margin of the fore wings there is a gray stripe, which crosses the fore part of the thorax, and near the base of these wings are two short red lines, edged with white. At their tips are also two small dark spots. The hind wings are cut off almost square at the corners, and near their margins have wavy lines like those on the fore wings. The an- tennse of the males are very broadly pectinated ; of the females, lightly feathered. The combinations of form, color, and markings make them very beautiful. 120 QUIi^CE CULTURE. Finding tlie larvae every year on some of my quince trees, I have studied their habits with a great deal of in- terest. So far as I know, I am the first to prove that Fig. 106 — THE POLYPHEMUS MOTH, FEMALE. they have two broods a year. Packard is certainly mis- taken when he speaks of *^our native species bearing but a single crop of worms," for this one is double-brooded. The chrysalis that winters in the cocoon is proportion- ately short and thick, of a reddish brown, and distinctly Fig. 107. — THE POLYPHEMUS MOTH, MALE. marked in cylindrical rings. The larvae of the first brood only pupate about twenty days, spinning their cocoons in June and July, according to the time they were INSECT EKEMIES. 121 h atched ; for the cocoons that winter, vary considerably in the time of bringing out their moths. They generally come out late in May and on into June. Then they lay their eggs, usually singly, on the under side of leaves, each moth laying several hundred, which hatch into caterpillars in ten or twelve days. The eggs are one- tenth of an inch across, much flattened, and of a color approaching to white. At first the abdomen of the female is so heavy with the abundance of the eggs that she flies only short distances. The caterpillar is a shade of green so near like the leaves around it, one often has some difficulty in discov- ering it, even after he has found where to look by its Fig. 108. — CHRYSALIS OF POLY- PHEMUS MOTH. Fig. 109. — ^WOEM OF THE POLYPHEMUS MOTH. large droppings, and also because of its habit in repose of clinging to the under side of the twig with the back down ; and the length of the body is so greatly contracted as to hunch up the segments. It has twelve large segments, each nearly as thick as a man's finger when the body is shortened to two inches ; but when ex- 122 QUINCE CULTURE. tended to three inches, as it often is in traveling, the thickness is greatly reduced. The worm moults four times, at intervals of ten days, and then a fifth time after twenty days. Soon after the last moult it draws a few leaves together, within which it spins a short, thick cocoon of pure silk. In confine- ment I have found it spins enough of its cocoon in a single night to entirely hide itself ; but it evidently con- tinues to spin much longer on the inside, as its motions indicate. Like all its congeners, it spins a double thread from its mouth, gumming it enough to make it strongly adhesive, not only to all points of attachment, but to all parallel and intersecting threads. When finished it is i Fig. 110. — COCOON OF THE POLYPHEMUS MOTH. water-proof. It pupates soon after the cocoon is com- plete, and in about twenty days the moths of the first brood appear. The twelve segments of the larva are each marked with three side rows of very bright yellow spots. The seven segments in front of the posterior also have a very bright line or bar, slightly inclined forward, and reaching from the dot of the upper row to that of the lower row, and passing the dot of the middle row. On the back is a row of small hairy elevations, one on the top of each segment. The head is pale brown, the spi- racles pale orange, and the V-shaped band around the tail is a purplish brown. The feet of the first three seg- ments are sharp claws ; the next two segments are foot* INSECT EKEMIES. 123 less, followed by four with very strong powers of attach- ment; then two more are footless. The terminal segment has pale brown feet. Tliey feed on the oak and elm as well as the quince. Harris was mistaken in saying that the " outer covering of leaves which fall off in the autumn bear the enclosed tough oval cocoons to the ground." I have always found those on the quince fastened securely around the stem, so as to avoid the danger of falling to the ground. The second brood spin their cocoons in August and September, and these furnish the winter quarters for the chrysalids. Fig. 111.— LONG-TAILED OPHION. As soon as they are out of the cocoon the limp wings unfold, and they crawl to some place where they can hang and dry, all which takes place in an hour, when they can fly. Remedies. — At the annual pruning, such cocoons as have escaped previous gathering should be looked for and destroyed. During the summer and fall, the larvae may be subdued by hand picking, the place of their loca- tion being found by their large droppings. Insectivorous birds and poultry feed on them. It is estimated that four out of five of the larvae of this moth are destroyed 124 QUINCE CULTURE. by its parasitic enemies. The largest, and perhaps the commonest, is the Long-tailed Ophion {Ophioti macru- rum, Linn.). It is a large yellowish brown ichneumon, that lays its eggs on the skin of the larvae, to which they adhere by the gum surrounding them, and hatch in a few days. A two-winged tachina fly is also often found as a parasite on this caterpillar. Its larva is a fleshy and foot- less grub, of a translucent yellow, and about half an inch long. 16. CoTTOK Tuft {Lagoa crispata, Packard). — This is a very singular variety of the caterpillar family, which derives its name from the crinkled, woolly hairs on the fore wings of the parent moth. The thorax and lower part of the sides are a slate-colored, dusky orange. It makes its cocoon by inter- weaving its long hairs with its silk. The cocoon is long, cylindrical, and dense. The skin of the very thin pupa is found protruding from the cocoon after the moth has escaped. When I first saw the Lagoas on the quince trees, the caterpillars were about a third of an inch long and looked like so many tufts of white cotton. Hence the common name I have given it. After they had moulted, and grown to about three- quarters of an inch in length, they appeared less hairy, the back being wide in proportion to the length, with the corrugated parts conjoined, reminding one of a trilobite. 17. The Apple-tree Aphis (Aphis mali, Fabr. ; Aphis mali/olicB. Fitch). The name Aphis means to exhaust, and is well applied to this little insect, which proves itself a great exhauster of vitality on all trees on which it lives. They have small heads, armed with Fit?. 112. — COTTON TUFT. a, cocoon natural size ; h, early appear- ance ; c, advanced growth ; d, ma- tured larvae. IKSECT ENEMIES. 125 three-jointed beaks, which puncture the tender fohage, and through which they suck out the juices of plants. Their eyes are round, without eyelets. Their antennae are long and tapering. Their legs are long and slender. There are but two joints to their feet. Their wings are nearly triangular, and the upper wings, longer than the body, are nearly twice as large as the lower. In repose these wings cover the body like a steep roof. The most wonderful thing about them is the way they multiply. The males die soon after they pair in autumn. The females lay their eggs on the bark near the leaf buds, and then die. In spring, when the leaves begin to grow, the eggs hatch and they begin their depredations. All Fig. 113. — THE GREEN APHIS. the young lice are wingless females. In ten or twelve days they attain to maturity, and by a viviparous genera- tion they begin to give birth to a daily increase of about twenty. This second generation are also wingless fe- males, and soon multiply by the same process as did the first. Thus they multiply throughout the season, with- out the appearance of a single male, till in autumn they produce a brood of both sexes, as well as the viviparous' form already described. During the summer, some of the females acquire wings, and, dispersing to other trees, found new colonies. They are generally wingless, but when winged, look like the males, with a black head, thorax, and antennas, black dots in a row along each 126 QUIKCE CULTURE. side, black nectaries and tail appendage. The neck is green, the body is yellowish green, striped often with a deeper green. The young are almost white. The wings are transparent, with dark veins. When they become gorged with sap, the excess is thrown out through two little tubes, which project, one on each side, from the anterior part of the body. Thes6 are their nectaries, through which they eject a honeyed fluid known as honey dew. To feed on this, a variety of ants and flies will be found to visit them. The ants, with whom they live on friendly terms, stroke the aphides with their antennae to induce them sooner to void this sweet hquid, which they hastily devour. Experiment has shown them capable of producing eleven generations in seven months, when frost closed the opportunity. In a heated room they continued to repro- duce a constant succession, without the intervention of males, for four years. Even then there was nothing to show why it might not have been continued still longer. Br. Burnett considers this anomalous mode of increase as a process of huddmg, and that the whole series, like the leaves of a tree, constitute only one generation, resulting from the previous union of the sexes. Reaumur proved one capable of increasing to six thousand millions in five generations. The leaves of trees infested with aphides soon become distorted, or curled back so as to have their tips touch the twig whence they sprung, thus pro- tecting them from the sun and rain. Remedies. — The eggs can be destroyed by a wash of caustic lime or soda. The young may be destroyed by ■alkaline solutions, and by tobacco water, made by boiling a pound of stems in a gallon of water. Twigs can be bent into it with but little waste of the solution. Small birds in winter hunt over the trees for its eggs, and in summer for the lice. The Ichneumon fly deposits her Q^^ in the aphis, and this soon produces a destroyer. Il^SECT EJ^EMIES. 127 The Aphis-lions and the Lace-winged flies produce larvae which destroy them in abundance. Myriads of aphides are destroyed by Lady- birds and their larvas. There are nearly a hundred species of Lady-hirds, all of which are our helpers. I have found the large black ant of great service. They concentrate on limbs infested with lice, and clean them off. I count each nest of ants worth a dollar a year as insecticides. The Syrphus flies [Syrphus politus, Say) lay one ^^^g in a group of plant lice, which hatches out a footless, eyeless, flattened, wrinkled, green and purple maggot. Their bodies are supple, and their mouths are provided with a triple-pointed dart, with which they pierce the aphides, and suck them dry. A black aphis appears some years in considerable num- bers on my quince cuttings, just in time to destroy open- ing buds. Later I have found it in large numbers on the young shoots of growing trees. I have not yet determined with certainty its position in the aphis family. 18. Katy-did, the Broad-winged Katy-did {Cyr- tophyllus concavus,^'dy; Platyphyllum concavum, Harris). — Flatypliyllum means a broad wing, and is used to dis- tinguish this from the Southern Katy-did, which belongs to the genus Phylloptera. It is a green grasshopper of the order OrtJioptera, and derives its common name from the note of the male, which is produced by a kind of taboret. The triangular overlapping part of each wing-cover forms a strong half-oval frame, in which a thin, transparent membrane is stretched. The friction of the taboret frames against each other when the wing-covers are opened and shut, produces several distinct notes closely resembling articulate sounds, and corresponding with the number of times the wing-covers are opened and shut. In the stillness of the night these notes may be heard a long distance, as rival notes answer from adjacent 128 QUIN'CE CULTUKB. trees with emphatic assurance ^^Katy did, she did." These notes are continued all nis^ht. The body is pale green ; the wings and wing-covers are of a deeper shade. The legs are also green, and yery long. The thorax is rough, marked by two slightly transverse furrows : and being curved down a little on each side, with a slightly rounded elevation behind, somewhat resembles a saddle. The insect is about an inch and a half long, the female having a projecting ovipositor. The wings are shorter than the wing-covers, which, with their strong midrib and regular venation, much resemble a leaf. These large wing-covers are both oval and concave, and inclose the body within, meeting above and below at their edges like the two parts of a bivalve shell. The piercer of the female is broad, laterally compressed, and curved like a cimeter ; and in both sexes there are two little thorn-like projec- tions from the middle of the breast between the fore legs. The antennae are very long and slender. They attain maturity in September and October, when the female lays her eggs in two intersecting row^s of eight or ten each, along the twig of the tree, the bark being rough- ened under them. The eggs are slate-brown, about one- eighth of an inch across, sha^^ed much like flax-seed, and overlap each other like shingles. They are gummed securely to the twig. They hatch in the spring. Remedy. — Gather the broods of eggs on the twigs at the annual pruning; or capture and destroy the mother before she deposits her eggs. They are often found on grapevines, both eggs and insects. 19. The Oblong-winged Katy-did {Phylloptera ohloyigifolia, De Geer) is so similar in habits of feed- ing and laying its eggs as not to need any separate description. 20. The Leaf-Crumpler {Phycis indigeneUa, Zeller). — The common name of this insect is a very appropriate IKSEOT ENEMIES. 129 one. In its larval state it draws a few leaves together, within which it prepares a place of abode, and in which it winters when about one-third grown. With opening spring it resumes activity, and leaves its case in search of food, and continues to grow till the early part of June, when it shuts itself up in its case, and becomes a reddish brown chrysalis about four-tenths of an inch long. As a larva it was a third longer. As a perfect moth it comes out in about two weeks, with wings expanded to seven-tenths of an inch. The body of the larva is a dull Fig. 114. — c, Head of Larva, magnified ; d, Size of th« Moth. Fig. 115. THE LBAF-CRUMPLER. greenish brown, with a horny plate on the top of the first segment, and a flattened dark prominence on each side, below the plate. Each of the other segments is marked by a number of dark dots, each giving rise to a single brown hair. The head is a dark reddish brown. There is only one brood a year, from eggs laid in July. There is a striking contrast between the markings of their two pairs of wings. The fore wings are pale brown, with patches and streaks of silvery white. The hind wings are plain brownish white. The under side of both pairs 130 QUIKCE CULTURE. is paler. Besides the quince, it feeds on the apple, cherry, plum, and sometimes the peach leaves. Remedies, — Gather and destroy the cases in which they hibernate. A small Ichneumon fly is a parasite on it; and the two-winged Tachina fly (Tacliina phycitcBy Le Baron), which closely resembles the common house fly, also preys on it. ATTACKII^G THE BUDS. 21. The Tarn^ished Plakt-Bug {Lygceus lineola^ ris, P. Beauv.). — This injurious insect is about one- fifth of an inch long. The males are generally darker than the females, the colors in both varying from a dark brown to a greenish yellow T!B^™i brown. The head is yellowish, with / l,l?^WH\ three narrow reddish stripes. The beak is about one-third the length of the body, and is folded under it when not in use to puncture the buds, and suck out their juices. Fig. 116.-TAJINISHED rpj^g^^g puncturcs seem to poison both PLANT-BUG (^wZar^ed). ^ n a i i the buds and young leaves. A whole branch is sometimes seen to wither and die from their injuries. The thorax has a yellow margin, with several yellowish lines running lengthwise. Behind the thorax is a yellow V-like mark, rather indistinct. The legs are yellow and the wings dusky brown. When handled they emit a disagreeable odor. They do their mischief in about three weeks. They lay their eggs on the leaves. The young bugs are wingless, and of a green color. Otherwise they resemble their parents. They are in- jurious to the quince, pear, apple, plum, cherry, etc. Remedies. — They are sluggish, early in the morning, and may then be shaken off and destroyed. INSECT EI^EMIES. 131 ATTACKIJN'G THE FLOWEES. 22. The Pear-tree Blister Beetle {Pomphopcea mnia, Say). This beetle is a little over half an inch long, with head and thorax punctated, and a little hairy. The roughened wing cases are marked with two slightly elevated lines. The color is a greenish blue. They eat the entire flower except the stamens. They sometimes eat the tender leaves at the end of the limbs. Besides the quince, they eat the blossoms of the plum, cherry, etc. The remedy is to jar them down early in the morning, and destroy them before the sun warms them to activity. 23. A Beetle just about the size of the asparagus beetle, Fi^. 117. Fig. 118. PEAR-TREE BLISTER BEETLE. CHRTSOMELIANS. but with yellow-striped wing-covers like the cucumber beetle, is a Ohrysomelian that sometimes riddles the petals of the quince. It eats the buds before the petals have ex- panded. They feed singly or in groups, and when dis- turbed, hastily fly away. I first found them on the quince in the spring of 1887. ATTACKIi^G the FRUIT. 24. The Curculio {Conotrachelus Cratcegi, Walsh). — This beetle is an indigenous insect. Its home is the wild haw, from which it has come to be very injurious to the quince. It is a little larger than the plum curculio. The color is ash-gray, mottled with ochre-yellow. It has a dusky, almost triangular spot at 132 QUIKCE CULTURE. the base of the thorax above. The wing-covers have seven narrow longitudinal elevations, with two rows of dots between them. Its piercer is folded under the thorax when not in use. It feeds on the quince both in the larva and imago, burying itself entirely in the fruit. Occasionally it attacks the pear. In May the beetles come from the chrysalids, pair, and commence laying their eggs in June. In piercing the fruit they make a cylindrical hole a little larger thaa the egg, and enlarged at the base. In this the egg is laid, and hatches in a few days. The larva burrows through the growing fruit near the surface, seldom penetrating to the core. At maturity it leaves the fruit through a cylindrical opening, after which it buries itself in the earth two or three inches deep, and remains unchanged till the following May, when it pupates and becomes a beetle. Remedies. — Jarring the beetles off the trees on sheets and kilUngthem, if thoroughly done, will prove effective. Gathering and destroying the fruit that falls, or that which does not fall if it has been stung, will be helpful in destroyhig them. There are several caterpillars besides those named that prey on the leaves of the quince, which we have not yet been able to name with certainty. One is a large and nearly black caterpillar ; and another is small, and mot- tled like some of the span worms. Fig. 119. — QUINCE CURCULIO (.Greatly Enlarged). ADDITIOi^AL lifSECT EifEMIES. 133 CHAPTEK XX. ADDITIONAL INSECT ENEMIES. Since the first edition of this work was published sev- eral additional insect enemies of the quince have been discovered, or recognized as being more or less injurious to either the fruit or plant ; consequently, I have thought best to give a brief description of these, with notes upon their habits, and remedies whenever known. ATTACKING THE BRAISTCHES. Xylotrechus colonus. — A small, slender, longhom beetle, somewhat less than one inch long, and of a light brown color, and large dark patches on the back and wing-covers. Has been found boring in the twigs and larger branches of the quince, but mainly in those that are diseased and dying. This insect usually attacks diseased trees of various kinds ; consequently it cannot be considered as especially injurious to the quince. The most practical way of destroying this pest is to cut off and burn all diseased twigs and branches as soon as their condition is observed. attacking trunk and BRANCHES. The Cryj^topliasa unipunctata, Don., is a very pretty species of Lepidoptera. Years ago it was observed in the Black Wattle, Acacia decurrens, but now is destruc- tive to all trees of the Rosacece, and includes the plum, apricot, peach, cherry and nectarine. The full-grown larvae are about one and one-third inches long ; the truncated head tapers in front, with ample mouth-parts for burrowing. The body is in twelve segments, of a dull, pale chocolate brown, except the second, which is pitchy black. The spiracles and 134 QUINCE CULTURE. thoracic feet are paler. Along tlie back, placed trans- versely, there is a series of double oyate shining spots^ which vary in intensity in different individuals. A few short hairs are on all the segments, and most numerous about the head and anal extremity. The caterpillars burrow at right angles to the heartwood, and thence downward twelve to sixteen inches, concealing the entrance to their burrows by caj)s made of fragments of Fig. 120.— CRYPTOPHASA UNIPUNCTATA. o, Larva; &, Lateral view of enlarged segments; c, Pupa; (7, Anal seg- ment or cremaster ; e, Adult— all natural size except b and d, which are enlarged. wood and bark, cemented together so as to resemble a portion of the natural bark. When disturbed in their burrows they move rapidly up or down, and are loath to leave them. They pupate in their burrows near the bark, and the emerging moth, having softened the cover to the entrance, comes out early in the evening and attaches itself to the branches, ready to meet its mate. The moth is exceedingly delicate and easily killed. Its ADDITIONAL IKSECT ENEMIES. 135 fine silvery scales rub o3 easily from its body, wbicb ia an inch long. The white fore wings spread two and a half inches. The darker hind wings spread a little oyer two inches. The antennae are pectinated, and about half an inch long. Very destructive in Australia. Remedy. — They are said to be attracted by light in the evening, and when caught may be easily killed. The Fruit-bark Beetle {Scolytiis rugulosus, Eatz.). ^Fig. 121 is a very small but destructive beetle, that attacks the plum, pear, peach, apjDle and quince. Weak and sickly or injured trees are, or have been supposed to be, its choice ; but vigorous, healthy trees are destroyed by this pest. It attacks the branches and twigs as well as the trunk. The beetles are very minute, dark brown, cylindrical in their gen- eral form, with wing-covers hav- ing small punctures between the grooves. The thorax is also punctured. The head is verti- cal, with short, strong jaws, and antennae short and strongly scoLYTus^Kui^osus. clubbed. It is about O^Q-iQnih. iEnlargecl twenty diameters.) of an inch long, and one-third as wide. The white larva has a small brown head, and is transversely wrin- kled, footless, and is as long as the beetle it produces. The adult comes out in May, and fresh burrows are formed as late as October. ''The female perforates the bark, and, after pairing in the anterior part of her nearly vertical breeding chamber, burrows longitudinally, laying eggs to the right and left as she progresses. The larvae eat laterally outward, forming nearly straight channels, furrowing the sapwood more or less, unless the bark be thick, and forming finally a pupal chamber in the wood," from which the matured beetles escape 136 QUINCE CULTUHE. tlirough the numerous holes seen in the bark, each sim- ilar to that by which their mother first entered. Fig. 122 shows perfora- tions of bark, and Fig. 123 a breeding chamber under the bark, both natural size. Remedies. — If in a vigorous tree, flowing sap may drown the larvae, hence their supposed preference for weakened trees, and the need of good culture and care. Trees very badly in- fested should be burned in the winter, when all the insects are in them in the larval state. They have a number of parasitic Fig. 122. Fig. 123. Fig. 124.— PARASITE OF LAKVA (ChiropacTiys colon). enemies, one of which (ChiropacTiys colo7i, enlarged eight diameters), is shown in Fig. 124, and they are also the ALDITIO]S"AL IJq-SECT EKEMIES. 1^7 prey of birds that pick off the perforated bark and eat both larvae and beetles. Washes, both poisonous and offensive, are sometimes applied to the bark as a protection. ATTACKIN'G THE LEAYES. The Eose Beetle or Rose Chafer, Macrodactylus suhspinosus, Fabr., is so named from its fondness for roses, and its annual appearance is with the blooming of the damask rose. The beetle (Fig. 125) is about seven- twentieths of an inch long, with very long legs, pale red, and tipped with black feet. The body is covered with a short ash-colored down. It suddenly appears about the time when grapevines bloom, and is active from thirty to forty days, swarming upon its choice of plants, which vary somewhat in different years. Partial to flowers, it also feeds on leaves of a wide variety of trees, and choice fruits. The female beetle deposits Fig. 125. about thirty eggs an inch or two below the ^^^^ beetle. surface of the earth ; these hatch in about twenty days. The larva is a white grub, which feeds on roots till autumn, when it goes below frost, returning in the spring to pupate in May near the surface of the ground, thus completing its life circle in a year. Remedies. — Prof. Riley found Elateridce larvae de- stroyed the rose beetle larvae. They are not affected by the arsenical poisons used for other pests, but yield to carbolic acid, one gallon to one hundred gallons of water, sprayed on plants they eat ; and to scalding water and kerosene. Dusting with air-slaked lime, or spraying with lime water, a peck to the barrel, is also recommended. Tent Caterpillar {Clisiocampa Americana, Har.). — The moth is an inch and a half across the wings, which are ashy brown or a pale brick color, marked by two light lines obliquely across the fore wings. Their 138 QUIKCE CULTUKE. genera! color is a reddisli-yellow brown intermingled with gray. The female is larger and lighter colored, with antennae more slightly pectinated than the male. They fly at night in June and July, and lay their eggs on small twigs. Their first choice is the wild cherry, and next the apple, but they feed on the peach, quince, plum, and quite a number of other trees. The full-grown larvae are about two inches long. As they grow they enlarge the tent, and moult four times. At maturity they scatter, and often go a long distance before spinning the cocoon, in which they pupate in from seventeen to twenty days. Remedies. — Tachina flies and ichneumons are their parasites. The Baltimore oriole and the cuckoo eat them by piercing the tent, leaving their empty skins. A spray of any arsenical poison on the foliage will be effective. The eggs are easily seen by looking over the infested trees any time after the leaves fall, and are often in easy reach. Early in the morning and late in the day most of the caterpillars are in the tent, and then can be easily destroyed. The Tingis {CWytlmca arciiata), — A small bug with the thorax and wings spread out leaf -like ; the fore-legs are simple, and the beak reaches to the end of the breast. It sucks the juice of the leaves of the quince and other kinds of trees, sometimes occurring in sufficient numbers to check their growth. ^'^It winters in the adult stage, hiding wherever it can find a chance, and makes its ap- pearance in spring quite late, and in small numbers. It lays its eggs upon the leaves in clusters, and from these hatch the wingless bugs, which feed in company until well grown. Late in summer they reach their full growth, scatter about, and finally hibernate." Remedy. — Spray with kerosene emulsion; in autumn burn accumulated leaves and rubbish that furnish win- ter quarters. ABDITIOKAL li^SECT ENEMIES. 139 Gipsy Moth {Onneria dispar, Linn.). — This is a European insect, introduced by L. Trouvelot of Massa- chusetts about 1870, for the purpose of experimenting in cross-breeding with silk worms. The experiment was a failure. The insects escaped from him, and their progeny has become widely distributed in Massachusetts, but as yet not elsewhere. It is destructive to almost every kind of tree and shrub. The male moth (Fig. 126) measures about an inch and seven-eighths from tij) to tip across the fore wings, which are dark yellow- Fig. i26.-mai.e gipsy moth. brown, with black wavy lines across them. The hind wings are an inch and a quarter across, and marked with dark lines radiating out from the body, and divid- ing as they spread. The outer edge of all the wings is dotted with a row of black spots. The antennse are broadly pectinated. The female moth (Fig. 127) meas- Fig. 127. FEMALE GIPSY MOTH. ures two and three-fourths inches across the wings, and is marked much like the male on a very light ground. The hind wings are two and one-eighth inches across, very light, and otherwise like the male. The antennas are thread-like, curving towards each other at their tips. 140 QUIi^CE CULTURE. A full-grown caterpillar of this motli is shown in Fig. 128^ and a pupa in Fig. 129. Eemedies of various kinds have been tried and are Btill in use, but the most effectual thus far has been the gathering of the larvae and co- coons by hand, although spraying with poison solutions, and espe- cially one made with arsenate of lead, has proved to be of consid- erable value. The larva of an insect resem- bling that of the corn-ear worm -_^ {Heliothis armigera), which 23u- pates in the ground, did great damage to the leaves of quince and apple trees in June and July, Fig. 128. Fig. 129. 1891, on the grounds of H. S. Buck of Coeur d' Alene City, Idaho. This insect has not, as yet, been identified by entomologists. IKSECTS GEKERALLT DESTRUCTIVE. Sa:n" Jose Scale {Aspidiotus perniciosus, Oomstock). —This species of bark louse received its common name ADDITIOI^AL Il!^SECT ENEMIES. 141 from San Jose, California, where it was first discoyered in this country, and its specific scientific name is fully deserved because it is one of the most per- nicious pests of fruit trees generally that has appeared in the present century. It was first seen in Cal- ifornia about 1870, and since that time became widely distrib- uted on nursery stock, also on fruits and on the bodies of larger insects, birds, rig. i30. liiMB infested with scale. and by various other means. It infests the bark, twigs, leaves and fruit of the quince and other trees. At first the young are inconspicuous, but they rapidly increase in size and numbers, till the bark is incrusted with scales, present- ing a grayish appearance as if the trees were coated with lime, or ashes. In spring the young apjDcar crawling from under the scales, and through the summer there is a constant succession of generations. The young are active and spread rapidly, until each female be- comes fixed and begins to se- crete a scale, and when full grown casts off her legs and antennae, and there receives the visits of the male, an active two- winged insect. It Fig. 131, UNDERSIDE OF A YOUNG LARVA. 142 QUINCE CULTUKE. differs from tlie oyster-sliell bark louse by being nearly round, or slightly elongated and irregular. It is flat, and wlieii fully grown about one-eighth of an inch across. The middle of each scale is marked with a black or yellowish point ^slightly elongatedc ^ When crushed a yel- lowish, oily liquid ap- pears on the bark, often changed to a purplish color. Young scales are darker than Fig. 132. ADULT FEMALE CONTAINING whcu oldcr aud largcr, YOUNG. and look black, while those still younger are yellowish. A section of pear stem is shown in Fig. 130, covered with the San Jose Fig. 133. ADULT MALE INSECT. ADDITIONAL INSECT ENEMIES, 143 scale, natural size, while at Fig. 131 the underside of a young larva, and at Fig. 132 an adult female, both of the latter greatly enlarged, also a winged male at Fig. 133. Remedies. — Badly infested trees should be burned. Insecticide washes and sprays may be used on trees less infested. Spraying with kerosene-and-soap emulsion is highly recommended. Trees thoroughly washed in winter with a saturated solution of potash, and in sum- mer drenched with kerosene emulsion, will be well pro- tected from all sorts of scale insects. Its natural ene- mies are the ApJielinus fuscipennis, a yery minute, yellowish parasitic wasp, a foe to all scale insects. Two species* of lady-birds also feed on this scale. The '^ Twice-stabbed'' lady-bird, CJiilocorus livulnerus, a black, hemispherical beetle an eighth of an inch long, with a red spot in the middle of each wing-coyer. The other is Pentilia misella, a minute black insect, scarcely as large as the scale it deyours. ATTACKING THE FRUIT BUDS. A yery small scarabeid beetle, the Valgus canalicu' latus, spends its larval stage in rotten wood. It is numerous enough some years to do considerable damage, eating out the fruit buds when they are small. A spray of arsenical poisons is all that is needed to destroy them. ATTACKING BOTH BUDS AND LEAVES. The Ete-Spotted Bud Moth {Tmetocera ocellana) is closely allied to the codlin moth, which it resembles in size and form. Its generic name is from the Greek word, signifying cut-horned, the base of the antennae of the male having a notched appearance. The sp-ecifio name is ocellana, from the Latin for eye-like, because of the eye-like appearance of a spot on each front wing. It was common in Europe over a century ago, and is now widely distributed in America. It has borne differ- 144 QUINCE CULTURE. ent names and classifications in tlie past, but all are synonomous Avifch that here given. Dr. Harris called it the eye-spotted Penthina, and said : ^'It is difiicult at first to conceive how such insignificant creatures can occasion so mnch mischief as they are found to do. This seems to arise from the number of the insects and Fig. 134. BUD MOTH, TWICE NATURAL SIZE. Fig. 135. LARVA, THREE TIMES NATURAL SIZE. their mode of attack, whereby the opening foliage is checked in its growth or nipped in the bud." The fore wings expand about three-fifths of an inch, with leaf- like venation (Fig. 134). The head, thorax, and both the inner and outer parts of the fore wings are dark ashen gray ; their middle portion is cream white, streaked with gray. The under- side is darker, with light costal streaks on the outer part. There aie streaks of lead-blue in their markings. The hind wings are ashy gray. In June and July the moth lays her eggs upon the leaves, where they hatch and feed under Fig. 136. Fig. 137. the protection of silken tubes which they spin, drawing the edges of the leaves about them. When about half grown, the larva, having moulted three times, leaves its tube and leaf to seek a place for hiber- nation in a silken cell which it makes in any angular roughness of the bark near a bud. If the bark has no angular place the larva cuts one to fit it, weaves its silken covering, disguised by particles of bark and dirt. Now it is about a quarter of an inch long. With the ADDITIONAL INSECT ENEMIES. 145 opening spring the little brown larvae leave their winter quarters, resuming their destructive work, first in the buds, and later upon the leaves. They are full grown in June and July and then about half an inch long (Fig. 135), and pupate ten days in a silken tube or cocoon among the leaves they have killed. Fig. 136 presents a ventral view, and Fig. 137 a dorsal view of a pupa, twice natural size. When the moths emerge they keep very quiet through the day with their wings folded roof- like over the body, looking like the bark of the tree. At night they pair, and lay their eggs singly or in clus- ters of two to seven. The larval period extends over a part of two years, but they are single brooded. Remedies. — In Europe five species of parasites, and in the United States three others, prey upon this pest. Besides these, the large mudwasp, Odynerus Catshillen' sis, paralyzes this and other like larvae, and puts them in cells of mud as food for its own young in its larval stage. Birds also destroy them. Hand-picking has been tried, but is impracticable on a large scale. But for the protection of their webs we could destroy them with kerosene emulsion. Paris green at the rate of a pound to one hundred and fifty gallons of water may be combined with Bordeaux mixture as a fungicide, and accomplish a double protection This treatment will be most effective if applied when buds and leaves are ex- panding, as then it eats part of a bud or leaf in one place, or the side of a flower in another, so as to do the most damage. Dr. Eiley recommended burning fallen leaves in autumn, and this is advisable in all orchards and gardens for the destruction of hibernating insects and many fungous diseases. ATTACKING THE FEUIT. The Apple "Wokm ok Codlin Moth {Carpocapsa pomonella, Linn.), was brought to America about 1800, 146 QUINCE CULTURE. and has spread widely. It adds tlie quince and pear to its bill of fare. It is double-brooded, and yery injurious. The moth lays her eggs singly on the blossom end of the fruit, where it hatches in a few days, and burrows for the core, feeding as it goes. In three or four weeks it is full grown, and crawls out of the fruit to seek a place to spin its cocoon and pupate, coming out with wings in ten to fifteen days later. The second broods do not issue as moths till the next spring. Remedies. — Spraying the trees with any of the arsen- ical poisons when the fruit is small, is most relied on to destroy the laryaB before they get into it. Those that escape and mature in fallen fruit are trapped with bands placed around the trees. Where there are plenty of apples, other fruits are little sought ; but in western New York, where quinces are largely grown, the codlin moth is a very serious enemy. CHAPTER XXI. SOME FUNGI INJURIOUS TO THE QUINCE, BY DR. BYRON" D. HALSTED. In this chapter the reader's attention is called to a group of enemies of the quince that consist of minute plants. Fungi are usually so small that they can only be seen with the microscope, and consist of fine threads which run into the substance of the quince stem, leaf or fruit, and rob it of its vital juices. The spores they produce are minute bodies, capable of growing into new fungi when conditions are favorable. Spores serve the same purpose for fungi that seeds do for higher plants. The orchardist's attention is called to those kinds of fungi that have proved to be the most destructive to q^uinces, ""eaving out of sight a large number that occur rUKGI INJURIOUS TO THE QUIKCE. 147 infrequently, as a rule, and without serious results. It might be said in passing, that the quince, including its foliage, branches and roots, has no less than ninety-six kinds of fungi upon it. Some of these that prey to a disastrous extent upon the fruits are also found upon the leayes, causing them to blight and fall away. This is a matter of considerable importance when the question of remedies is taken up later. The fungi treated in the following pages are arranged somewhat in the order of their appearance in the orchard, and not as to their ultimate injurious effects. Many of the engravings are from photographs of the specimens, and, of course, all color and something of the other characteristics are necessarily lost. However, it is hoped the reader may be able, by their aid, to fully understand the text, and obtain through both an insight into the nature of these troubles. The Quikce Eust {Roestelia aiirantiaca, Pk.). — The first fungus to make its apj^earance upon the quince fruit in early summer is the rust. While the fruit is quite small the fine threads of the rust plant grow through it, and in one or more places the green color is replaced by orange, the quince at the same time usually becoming distorted. In the orange patches small pim- ples appear, which continue to enlarge, and from them short horns project and soon become ruptured at the top. "Within these horns or tubes the bright orange spores are borne in great abundance and readily fall out. Four young quinces thus ruined by the Roestelia are shown in Fig. 138, and the horns or spore-bearing tubes may be seen projecting from the surface of the young fruits. As time passes, the affected fruit, failing to grow or enlarging but slowly, becomes hard by drying, and either falls to the ground or remains upon the trees as a worthless and unsightly product until the close of the seasou, 148 QUIl^CE CULTURE. This rust of the quince is a form of fungus that lives during a part of its development on the two kinds of juniper, namely : the red cedar and the low juniper, and is recognized upon the stems by the swollen nodules and the reddish color. To repeat, the fungus known as Gym7iosporanghiin clavipes, C. & P., one of the kinds of cedar galls, is a Fig. 138. YOUNG QUINCES AFFECTED WITH RUST. form of the rust {Roestelia aurantiaca, Pk.) that attacks and injures the quinces. This rust stage also grows upon apples, hawthorns, and the Juneberry, or shad bush, as it is sometimes called. It is often quite abun- FtJN^GI INJURIOUS TO THE QUINCE. 149 dant upon the hawthorn fruit, but it is only when upon the quince that it becomes of special interest to the fruit-growers. It is important to know that the rust grows on the ju- niper in one of its forms. If the spores from the juniper galls were prevented from going to the quince, the trouble in the orchard would soon be at an end. Again, if it were only between the junipers and the quinces the case would be simpler ; but as it is, there are the Juneberry and the hawthorns which serve as breeders of the trouble- some parasite in the hedgerow and wood lot. The rusts (and there are hundreds of kinds upon as many different species of plants) are not subdued by spraying with fungicides ; at least, this defensive art has not been successfully practiced with them. They are deep-seated, gross-feeding fungi, and have done the larger part of their harmful work before their presence is manifest. Properly timed, there is but little donbt that spraying would check germination of the spores as they come from the cedar galls, borne by the early spring breezes. But knowing that the quince rust is associated with the galls of the cedars, the best thing to do is to destroy these trees and shrubs in the vicinity of the orchard. The largest kind of cedar galls are associated with a rust of the apple. The Quince Peuit Spot {Eritomosj^orimn macula- turn, Lev.). — When the quinces approach their normal size, small brown spots appear, which soon enlarge, be- come confluent and turn to almost a black color. The decay is quite superficial and the ripe fruit thus spotted may be used, but the size is not what it would other- wise have been, and the price of the unsightly fruit is much reduced thereby. This spotting is due to a fungus that, upon the pear, has been known for a long time as the one causing the cracking of the fruit, and on account of the peculiar 150 QUI1S"CE CULTURE. shape of tlie spores, shown in Fig. 13 9_, has received the generic name of Entomosj^orium, or spore resembling an insect, while the last part of the botanical name, macu- lahim, means spot. In other words, the name when freely translated is as descriptive of the fungus as it well could be. The destruction which this fungus does to the quinces is second only to the ravages it works in the pear orchard, some varieties of the latter fruit failing unless saved, as they can be, by spraying. If it were Fig. 139, SPORES OF QUINCE-SPOT FUNGUS. confined to the fruit the damage miglit be less, but both quince and pear leaves suffer heavily. They become spotted and early fall away, leaving the branches bare, with their spotted and stunted fruit in full sight. It goes without further remark that the tree must hold its leaves green throughout the season to do the best work, and the fruit is dependent upon the foliage for its sus- tenance ; therefore, anything that defoliates is injurious to the fruit, even if the latter in itself is not subject to attack from the same enemy. A view of a badly spotted FUl^GI IKJUEIOUS TO THE QUIKCE. 151 fruit of the quince is shown in Fig. 140. If, for exam- ple, worthless or neglected pear trees are standing near quince trees that are troubled with the spot, it may be that the former are the source of infection for the latter, and should be removed. The rule works in the opposite direction as well, and a hedgerow of starved Fig. 140 BADLY SPOTTED QUINCE. quince trees may be a menace to the choice sorts of pears growing near by. Bad as the fruit spot may be, it can be controlled, in great measure, by thorough spraying, thanks to the pro- longed tests of fungicides in this direction at several experiment stations. The Black Eot of the Quij^ce {Splmropsis ma- lorum, Peck). — A common, and therefore destructive, decay of the quince appears upon the fruit when it is 152 QUIifCE CULTUBE. less than half grown. Almost inv^arlably the first signs of the rot are to be found at the blossom end of the quince, and from there it rapidly extends throughout the whole fruit. At first the skin, losing its normal green color, turns to a light brown, and shortly after this the dark pimples appear, scattered in the tissue close beneath the skin, which is ruptured when the spores are matured. The ripe spores are olive brown, about twice as long as broad, and form long, slender coils as they are pushed out of the small hole in the skin. They germinate quickly in water, and therefore render it easy to inocu- late healthy fruit with the fungus. An infest- ed quince of small size is shown in Fig. 141. Some years ago the writer made a study of the sphceropsis of the apple and pear along with that of the quince, and as the spores are the same in size, the coloration alike in all, and inoculations easy from one kind of fruit to another, it is safe to conclude that the three are all the same. A field observation in this connection bears directly upon the results above stated, and has a practical value that the orchardist will quickly appreciate. A large apple tree stands in an orchard surrounded on three sides by quince trees. The fruit, not of the best, is per- mitted to drop and accumulate upon the ground in mid- summer, it being an early autumn sort. These fallen apples in 1890 were badly infested with the sj^liCBVopsis, as also frequently the fruit upon the tree. It was a Fig. 141, QUINCE AFFECTED WITH BLACK ROT. * i'UNGI li^JURIOUS TO THE QUII^CE. 153 noticeable fact that the quince trees tliat were close to this tree, some of them almost under it, were the most severely attacked. While there was no actual transfer of the infection by artificial means to demonstrate the fact, the writer is quite willing to hold the opinion that the quince fruit received the germs of the decay from the apples that were rotting by the half bushel only a few feet away. That the decay should begin at the blossom end is not unexpected, for there the spores, and the water causing them to germinate, would naturally lodge. The growing filaments of the spores would there find an easier entrance than elsewhere, because of the adhering floral parts. Near by, and with branches inter- locking, stands a pear tree, and the fruit was quite badly infested with the spTimropsis, Similar trees further away from the apple tree were less troubled with the decay, which only strengthens the opinion that all three kinds of fruit are naturally susceptible to the same infection, and the germs pass from one to the other through the air, or by means of the yarious insects that visit the fruits, especially those with broken surfaces, due to partial decay. The inoculations that were made in the laboratory seem confirmed by observations in the orchard. If the assumption holds, and it appears to be a sound one, it follows that the apple tree is a source of spliceropsis infection for the quince and the pear. The apple bears comparatively worthless fruit, and the quinces are the most valuable of all in this instance. There are several courses to pursue, the best of which cannot be foretold. If spraying is to be employed, it should be upon all three kinds of trees — apple, pear and quince. If the axe is to be used, it should be laid at the root of the apple tree. But if the apple tree is to be saved, the fruit fallen from it should be removed and destroyed. This, with faithful spraying, to be treated of later, should save both the pears and the quinces. 154 QUIiq"CE CULTUKE. The Quikce Pale Eot {PJioma Cydo7iia, Sacc.).(?)— Next to the black rot the most prevalent decay of the quince is the one that may be well called the pale rot. This is a more rapidly growing fungus than the spJim- ropsis, and may run through a large quince in a few days. It begins at any place upon the fruit, producing at first a pale spot, from which the skin may easily be removed. The threads of the fungus soften the flesh of Fig. 142. PALE ROT OF QUINCES. the quince more than those of the black rot, and the skin soon wrinkles, and at the same time is ruptured in many places, from which short tufts of threads develop. These small sj^ots, usually circular in outline, are at first colorless, but soon turn to a handsome shade of pale blue. A fruit with these numerous spots, or broad- faced pimples, is shown in Fig. 142. As the days pass, there is a spore cavity formed below the surface of each spot, and from this the spores finally issue in a thread rUNGI IN'JUKIOUS TO THE QUIKCE, 155 of slime tlirongli the ruptured center of the S23ot. There has been a fungus found in Europe upon the quince, which, from its description, may be the one here under consideration. It was not met with upon the stems associated with the rot in question, and as access is not easy to the European specimens, the name for the stem form is here given tentatively. If it is upon the foliage in this country, it may follow that it passes from the leaves to the fruit, and this view of the Fig. 143, QUINCE AFFECTED WITH RIPE ROT. subject suggests that leaf treatment might be as advan- tageous for the pale rot as for the fruit spot and the black rot. In treating for one the remedy would be applied for all. This is an encouraging fact connected with spraying for these fungous enemies. The Ripe Eot of Quixces {Glceosporium frudi- genum, Berk.).— There is a decay of apples which is quite destructive, causing brown depressions in the fruit, that become dotted over with pimples, producing multi- tudes of pinkish spores. It has been known as the Bit- 156 QUINCE CULTUEE. ter Rot, because of the disagreeable taste of the infected parts. Since it has been proved that the same fungus causes a decay of maturing grapes without the accom- panying bitterness, the name of Ripe Rot has been ap- plied to the fungus uj)on both kinds of fruit. That the same species thrive upon the quince is shown by the fact that the microscopic structure and measurement of parts are the same, and the decay can be produced in its normal form by inoculating the healthy quince with spores that are taken from the grape or apple ripe rot. Fig. 144. RIPE ROT OF QUINCE, FROM APPLE. A quince, with one side badly infested with the rot, is shown in Fig. 143. The quince being still green, there is little contrast between healthy and diseased portions ; but the latter is evident from the shrunken condition, as well as the numerous spore-bearing pimples to be seen. A specimen of ripe quince fruit showing the same trouble, but produced by inoculation from the apple, is FUNGI INJURIOUS TO THE QUINCE. 157 seen in Fig. 144. This decay is controlled by the fun- gicides to be later considered. The Quince Blotch. — The most obscure trouble of the quince that has been studied is what may be called the Quince Blotch. There is no decay, in the ordinary sense, connected with it, but the fruit when only partly grown becomes blotched with black. This retards the growth of the immediate portion of the fruit, and soon the quince shows irregular depressions corresponding with the areas covered by the dark development. A fungus is constantly associated with this blotching, and by isolation it was found to grow upon a colorless jelly called agar, and produce spots that correspond in outline with those upon the quince. The pure virus of the blotch, removed from the culture tubes and intro- duced into holes and cuts in healthy fruit, will produce the first indications of the blotching, but in a few days some other germs find entrance aud the experiment must close. OTHER DECAYS OF QUINCES. The fungi that have been briefly described do not include all that produce a decay and destruction of the fruit, especially after it has been gathered from the trees. The most rapid decay of all is due to the pres- ence of the black mould that causes the Soft Rot of the sweet potatoes, namely, RUizopits nigiHcans, Ehrb. This mould does not seem able to attack the quince di- rectly, but gets a foothold through any bruised, cut or otherwise mutilated surface of the fruit. Some other fungus, which in itself is neither deep-seated nor, there- fore, serious, may prepare the way for the mould, and thereby be of much indirect damage. Fruit, for exam- ple, that may have only a few small patches of the ento- mos])orium, or quince spot, is sometimes ruined by the rhizo^pus starting at the affected place and running 158 QUII^CE CULTURE, quickly throughout the whole fruit, when the quince almost melts down and becomes black with the profusion of spores upon the surface. The gray mould {Monilia fructigena, Pers.) is another enemy similar in habit to the black mould. This fungus is one of the most serious to plums and cherries, causing their decay in a few hours. While quinces are not exempt, they, like the apples and pears. Fig. 145. QUINCE SHOWY WITH DECAYS. may be attacked if the fruit is joacked while wet and left without ventilation. There is a black rot, strictly so-called, which is occa- sionally met with in quinces. The fruit becomes almost the color of coal. There is a fungus associated with this, a member of a genus not usually accused of para- sitic habits. It is a Pestalozzia, and does not seem to be recorded for this fruit. It has not been cultivated, and may proY© to be the same as is found upon other FUI^GI IIS'JUEIOUS TO THE QUIKCB. 159 similar substances. In Fig. 145 is shown a quince witli striking forms of decay. In this connection one cannot dismiss, without a word, the thought that when fruits are nearing maturity they are approaching also that condition when vitality is at a low ebb, the seeds within the flesh being the only por- tions abounding with life. It therefore follows that fruits may be subject to both fungi that prey upon liv- ing tissue and those which are satisfied with the non- living organic substances. The importance of keeping the natural barrier against this latter class, in all its strength, cannot be easily over- estimated; in other words, the skin, if preserved un- broken, will shut out the larger portion of the fruit enemies of a fungous nature. Fungi that work upon the skin and go no deeper may be among the most de- structive kinds, because they provide an easy entrance for forms of moulds that otherwise would be excluded. TEEATMEKT. In view of the fact that the quince fruit is subject to many enemies, some making a vigorous attack, as the rust in early summer, and others, as the fruit spot and the black rot, soon arriving, while later on several spe- cies make havoc, it follows that any treatment, to be most effective in preventing the destruction, must begin early in the season. The two compounds that merit full commendation here for their effectiveness in checking the ravages of fungi in the orchard are the Bordeaux mixture and cupram (ammoniacal solution of copper carbonate). The following are the formulae for preparing these fungicides : (1) The Bordeaux mixture — Sulphate of copper, 6 pounds Quicklime, 4 pounds Water, 22 gallons 160 QUIl^'CE CULTURE, Dissolve the copper sulphate in one gallon of hot water, and in another vessel slake the lime with a gallon of water ; add the milk of lime slowly to the copper solu- tion, stirring constantly, and strain through a sieve or coarse gunny sack; finally, add twenty gallons of water, and the mixture is ready to be applied with a spraying pump. Good results are obtained with a mixture of half the above strength, which consists in doubling the water, or correspondingly diminishing the copper and lime. In like manner a one-third strength is often recommended, especially for the last sprayings. (2) Cupram (the ammoniacal solution of copper car- bonate) consists of — Carbonate of copper, 5 ounces Aiiimouia water (strength 4 F.), 3 quarts Water, 50 gaUons Wet up the coj)per carbonate in a quart of water, add it to the ammonia, and when completely dissolved dilute with water, as needed. It is well to use the Bordeaux (1) for the first half of the season, beginning as soon as the leaf buds open, and spraying the trees at least once each week. During the second half of the season, continuing until September, the cupram (2) may be used. There are so many destructive fungi common to all fruit trees, that it is wise to spray all trees of the orchard, whether apple, pear or quince. If fruit falls badly it should be gathered and destroyed. Let no rot get a foothold anywhere. For the preparation of this chapiter the author has drawn largely upon a bulletin* he published a few years ago. Some of the cuts have been reproduced here. *•' Some Fungous Diseases of the Quince Fruit," BuUetin No. 91, New Jersey Experiment Station. VABIETIES OF RECENT INTRODUCTION. 161 CHAPTEH XXIl. VARIETIES OF RECENT INTRODUCTION. BouRGEAT is a late importation from France, of thrifty growth, and thick, glossy leaves of a deep green. The fruit is pyriform, of good size, smooth, a bright yellow, of excellent quality, and keeps well. Variations of the Japanese Quince. — The flowers of seedlings exhibit a variety of colors and shadings, from blood red to almost white. There is also a varia- tion in the sha]3e of leaves and fruit. By years of care- ful selection in the propagation, Wm. Parry has secured fruit of large size, of a greenish yellow, with a handsome blush, the surface ribbed like a citron, and covered with small white dots. He has named it "Columbia." Luther Burbank of California, has produced, among his "new creations in trees, fruits and flowers," a dwarf tree from seed of an improved Japanese quince, which " is the shape of the Belleflower apple, but larger than the largestj and as smooth and as fine shaped as could be desired." We will name it for him the " Belleflower." Johnson, produced by W. B. K. Johnson of Allen- town^ Pa., is a large, round quince, compressed at the stem, with a moderately angular surface, downy in the depressions. The color is greenish-yellow, marked with small dots. The flesh is yellowish, comparatively ten- der, with a mild aroma ; quality good ; ripens ten days later than the Orange, which it very closely resembles. Santa Rosa is a very large, fine-flavored quince, highly colored and strongly flavored. It cooks very tender, and can be eaten raw like an apple. The tree is somewhat straggling, but a strong grower. The fruit is smooth, and free from fuzziness. Mr. Burbank has named it in honor of the place of its origin. 1Q2 QUINCE CULTUEB. Yai^ Demai?", so named in honor of Prof. H. E. Van Deman, the former Pomologist of the Department of Ag- riculture, who says, ^' This variety is one of the very best, in every respect, I have ever examined, and the tree is reported as exceedingly thrifty and j)roductive." Mr. Burbank writes me that *4n California it often bears three distinct crops, about a month apart, and some- times four ; the last of the fourth is generally taken by frost." The fruit is large, oval truncate, greenish- yellow, flesh yellow, mild sub-acid, and of excellent quality. QuiKCE IS^o. 80 is a seedling of Rea's Mammoth. The tree is like it in growth and productiveness. The fruit is a deep orange color, and the flesh lemon-yellow. It is nearly round, over thirteen inches in circumference either way, with the stem inserted in a cup half an inch deep, the basin of the calyx over an inch deep, and about two inches wide. Califokn^ia is a seedling of Eea's Mammoth. The trees grow upright, and fruit quite young. The fruit is pale lemon-yellow, tender, and of high flavor, free from fuzz. CEEmCAIi ANALYSIS, 163 CHAPTER XXIIL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ASH OF THE QUINCE. Dear Sir: After a long delay I am able to send you a complete analysis of the ash of the quince fruits and wood which you sent for examination. I fear that the chemical analysis does not indicate very clearly anything of value in regard to the nature of the diseases to which the quince trees and fruits are subjected. QUINCE FRUIT. SPH^EOPSIS CYDONIA ROT. Constituents Detekmined. A B Mean. COj+C Fkee. C02+C+ Si O2 Fkee. SiUcic Oxide, *14.87 *14.87 *14.87 20.32 Fhosplioric Oxide, 4.40 4.46 4.43 6.05 7.59 Ferric Oxide, 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.57 0.72 Alumiiiic Oxide, 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.16 0.21 Calcic Oxide, 4.58 4.58 4.58 6.26 7.85 Maguesic Oxide, 5.10 5.13 5.11 6.99 8.77 Potassic Oxide, 141.02 t41.02 t41.02 56.06 70.36 Sodic Oxide, tl.94 tl.94 tl.94 2.65 3.32 Sulplniric Oxide, 0..53 0.85 0.69 0.94 1.18 Carbonic Oxide, 25.20 24.90 25.05 Carbon (nii burnt) *2.30 *2.30 *2.30 Suipliur (sulpliide), trace trace trace trace trace Clilorin, ti (t <« «« n Total, 100.48 100.57 100.52 100.00 100.00 * One analysis ; t mean of 3 analyses. PARTIALLY DECAYED (natural). Constituents Detekmined. A B Mean. CO2+C Fkee. ca+c-i- S1O2 Free. Si Oy *9.19 *9.19 *9.19 11.72 r.05 9.59 9.59 9.59 12.23 13.85 Fea O3 0.42 0.63 0..52, 0.66 0.75 AI2O3 0.08 0.11 0.10 0.12 0.14 CaO 5.54 5.50 5.52 7.03 7.97 IVIgO 5.90 5.80 5.86 7.47 8.47 K,0 t45.14 t45.14 145.14 57.60 65.23 Ka,0 tl.G4 tl.64 tl.64 2.09 2.37 SOs 0.91 0.79 0.85 1.08 1.22 S^Og $18.71 $18.71 $18.71 c *2.79 =^2.79 *2.79 s trace trace trace trace trace CI (( t( (( C( «( Total, 99.92 99.89 99.90 100.00 100.00 * One analysis ; t mean of 3 analyses ; $ mean of 4 analyses. 164 QULHCE CULIUE£. TWIGS OF THE QUIIS'CE TREE. HEALTHY. Constituents A B Mean. COj+C cOz-fC-H Si 0» Detekmined. Fkee. Fkee. Silicic Oxide, *2.49 *2.49 *2.49 3.72 riiosplioric Oxide, 3.54 3.64 3.59 5.36 5.57 Ferric Oxide, 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.22 0.23 Aliimiiiic Oxide, 0.13 0.09 0.11 0.16 0.17 Calcic Oxide, 37.06 37.08 37.07 55.38 57.51 ]Mas:nesic Oxide, 4.10 4.10 4.10 6.12 6.36 Potiassic Oxide, tl7.27 tl7.27 tl7.27 25,80 26.79 Sodie Oxide, tl.69 tl.69 tl.69 2.52 2.62 Sulplinvic Oxide, 0.68 0.29 0.49 0.72 0.75 Carbonic Oxide, J31.63 J31.63 J31.63 Carbon (uiiburnt). *1.19 *1.19 *1.19 Su Ipliur (sulphide), trace trace trace trace trace Cliloriii, a (( a a (( Total, 99.93 99.62 99.77 100.00 100.00 *0ne analysis; tmean of 4 analyses; $ mean of 3 analyses. killed by fungus kcestelie aurantiaca. Constituents A B Mean. CO,+C C(),+C-|- S"i 0« Detekiniined. Fkee. Free. Si O2 *3.76 *3.76 *3.76 4.89 P2O5 6.90 7.04 6 97 9.06 9.53 Fe^Os 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.19 .21 AI2O3 0.35 0.29 0.32 0.42 .44 Ca 0 13.00 13.00 13.00 16.91 17.77 MgO 6.15 6.01 6.07 7.89 8.30 K2O t42.43 t42.43 t42.43 55.18 58.01 Na^O t3.63 t3.63 t3.63 4.72 4.96 SO3 0.49 0.65 0..57 0.74 0.78 COj 21.00 20.84 20.92 c *1.77 *1.77 *1.77 s trace trace trace trace trace CI (( (( n u a Total, 99.63 99.56 99.59 100.00 100.00 ♦One analysis; i mean of 4 analyses. CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. 165 BOOTS OF THE QUINCE TKEE. HEALTHY. Constituents Detekmined. A B Mean. CO2+C FKEE. C02+C-H SiOa Fkee. P2O5 FegOg AljOa CaO MgO K2O NaoO SO3 eOa C s CI *7.93 1.67 0.84 0.38 36.18 3.05 tl9.83 tl.70 2.09 25.25 *0.57 trace (( *7.93 1.61 0.84 0.48 36.36 3.11 tl9.83 tl.70 1.92 25.17 *0.57 trace it *7.93 1.64 0.84 0.43 36.27 3.08 tl9.83 tl.70 2.00 25.21 *0.57 trace (i 10.76 2.22 1.14 0.58 49.20 4.18 26.89 2.31 2.72 trace 2.49 1.28 0.66 55.13 4.63 30.13 2.58 3.05 trace ii Total, 99.49 99.52 99.51 100.00 100.00 * One analysis J tmean of 4 analyses. KILLED BY BORERS. Constituents A B Meajn COo+C co,+c-K S102 Free. Determined. Free. Si O2 *16.52 *16.52 *16.52 20.46 F2O5 2.28 2.27 2.28 2.82 3.55 FejOs 0.78 1.10 0.94 1.16 1.46 AlaOg 1.18 1.00 1.09 1.35 1.70 CaO 41.38 41.38 41.38 51.24 64.43 MgO 3.89 3.97 3.93 4.87 6.12 K2O 11.47 11.46 11.46 14.20 17.84 Na2 0 1.76 1.76 1.76 2.18 2.74 SO3 1.45 1.34 1.39 1.72 2.16 ^Oa tl8.30 tl8.30 tl8.30 C *0.63 *0.63 *0.03 S trace trace trace trace trace CI ic it (« ii ii Total, 99.63 99,73 99.68 100.00 100.00 *One analysis ; t lueaa ol 3 analyses. 166 QUINCE CULTURE. WOOD OP THE QUIITCE TEEE. KTLIiED BY BORERS. cokstituents Determined. A B Mean. CO,+G Fr'ee. COo+C-i-" S102 Free. Si O2 Fej O3 AI2O3 CaO MgO K2O Na,0 SOg COa C s CI 6.24 2.92 0.78 0.50 41.74 4.92 10.49 1.75 0.24 *30.38 0.44 trace 6.34 2.78 0.78 0.50 41.66 4.85 10.42 1.75 0.24 *30.38 0.47 trace 6.29 2.85 0.78 0.50 41.70 4.88 10.45 1.75 0.24 *30.38 0.46 trace «< 9.06 4.10 1.12 0.72 60.05 7.03 15.05 2.52 0.35 trace - 4.51 1.23 0.79 66.03 7.73 16.56 2.77 0.38 trace Total, 100.40 100.17 100.28 100.00 100.00 *Mean of 4 analyses. KTLIiED BY BLIGHT. Constituents A B Mean. CO,+C C02+C+ Si O2 Determined. Free. Free. SiOs P2O, FCjOs AI2O3 Ca 0 *3.80 *3.80 *3.80 4.86 4.31 4.30 4.31 5.51 5.80 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.54 0.56 0.14 0.08 0.11 0.14 0.15 45.18 45.18 45.18 57.81 60.77 MgO 4.67 4.63 4.65 5.95 6.25 K2O tl8.20 tl8.20 tl8.20 23.29 24.48 NaoO tO.27 tO.27 tO.27 0.35 0.36 SO3 1.32 1.11 1.21 1.55 1.63 CO- 21.35 21.43 21.39 c ' *0.40 *0.40 *0.40 s trace trace trace trace trace CI (( (i (( t« <( Total, 100.06 99.82 99.94 100.00 100.00 *Oiie analysis J t mean of 3 analyses. CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. 167 They were all made in duplicate, except when indicated otherwise, and the results of each duplicate analysis are entered under columns A and B of each subhead. Fol- lowing this is a column headed " Mean/' showing the mean content of each particular substance as indicated by the single or duplicate analyses. For the purpose of more direct comparison the component parts of the sev- eral samples have been calculated to material free of carbonic acid and nnburned carbon, and these results are given under the column marked COo-J-C! free. Since, in the case of the root, it was almost impossible to exclude the sand, which was present as an impurity, the data have also been calculated to substance free of silica and carbonic acid and unburned carbon. These data are contained in the column marked COa-f-C-j-SiOa free. This explanation will enable you to understand sufficiently well the tabulation of the results. As you will notice by the table, comparisons are made directly between the same parts, as nearly as possible. For instance, the quince fruit affected by rot is com- pared directly with the quince fruit of a healthy nature, although partially decayed from natural causes. In the same way the ash of the roots of the healthy tree is com- pared with the ash of the roots of the tree killed by borers, and in a like manner the ash of the twigs of the healthy tree is compared directly with the ash of the twigs of the tree killed by the fungus. The ash of the tree killed by borers is compared also directly with the ash of the tree killed by blight. The above, I hope, will be a sufficient description of the tables to enable you to understand them thoroughly. In regard to the lessons which these per cents teach, a few conclusions may be drawn from a study of the analytical results. The diseased quince fruit is decid- edly richer in silica than that of the healthy fruit, while, on the other hand, the healthy fruit contains a large 168 QUINCE CULTURE. excess of phosphoric acid over that of the diseased fruit. The healthy fruit also contains a decidedly smaller por- tion of potassium. All comparisons of lime, potash and phosphoric acid which follow, are based on ash free of silica, carbonic acid and unburned carbon. The conclusions derived from these data are : that the rot prevents the fruit of the quince from absorbing its normal portion of phosphoric acid and tends to increase the potassium, and indicates that a liberal fertilization with phosphoric acid might stimulate the tree in some way to withstand the ravages of the rot. In respect of the roots of the healthy and diseased trees, it is interesting to note that the healthy trees con- tain far less silica in the roots than those of the trees killed by the borers ; the proportion being less than one- half. This may be explained by the fact that the soil may work its way into the holes made by the borers. The roots of the healthy trees also contain very much larger quantities of potassium than those of the injured trees; while, on the other hand, the proportion of phos- phoric acid present in the ash of the healthy roots is decidedly less than that in the ash of the injured roots. The injured roots also have a larger quantity of lime. In regard to the twigs, there is a most striking differ- ence between the ash of the healthy twigs and of the twigs killed by the fungus. This difference is found in the practical exchange of the per cents of potash and lime. In the healthy twigs the lime is in large excess over the potash, while in the diseased twigs the potash is in very large excess over the lime. This is a most remarkable fact and shows the effect which the disease has upon the normal absorbing power of the twigs themselves. In regard to the ash of the wood from the trees killed, by borers and blight, it is found that the potash in the wood killed by bhght is in excess of the same constitu- CHEMICAL AI^ALYSIS. 169 ent in the wood killed by borers, while the reverse is true of the lime. In general, it seems that a diseased tree tends to accumuhite in its ash a larger percentage of potash, botli in the wood and fruit, than would be normally present in a healthy tree ; in the roots, how- ever, the reverse appears to be true. There may be some exceptions to this rule, but the tendency is as indicated. Hoping that this information may prove of some use to you, I am, Eespectfully, H. W. WILEY, Chemist U. S. Departmei^-t of Aghiculture. To Kev. W. W. Meech, Vineland, N. J. I'^O QUIKCE CULTUEE. v CHAPTER XXIV. BIRDS— TOADS— RABBITS— MICE. Birds. — Much might be said of the value of poultry in the orchard to destroy insect enemies. Insectivorous birds are also valuable allies for the horticulturist ; but in merit our domestic fowls outrank them all. It is ad- vantageous to raise fruit and fowls together. It will be to the advantage of both if the fowls are in number pro- portionate to their field of operation. Poultry are supposed to omit from their bill of fare some of our insect friends, and it is probable the birds do likewise ; but all insects are devoured by the toad, which will clear your room of cockroaches over night, just as he will your gardens of the vilest of your insect foes. I find a movable fence, in sections that can be put to- gether whenever it is wanted, a very convenient thing for poultry. It may be made of lath nailed on scantling. Others are using netting of wire cloth, and find it satis- factory. It is to be hoped that the laws protecting in- sectivorous birds will be generally respected, and that our song birds will be left to multiply in our orchards and gardens. The English sparrow is an enemy to be destroyed, for doing more harm than good. Rodents. — There are two rodents that deserve notice as enemies of the quince, apple, and pear. 1. The Hare or Gray Rabbit {Lepus sylvaticus). — The hare, or rabbit, as it is commonly called, injures young trees by cutting off the tops and by gnawing the bark from those too large to eat off. This is often a very serious damage in both the nursery and the orchard. They multiply rapidly, and sometimes become formidable. Remedies. — They are easily caught in traps and snares. They may also be poisoned by strychnine, a small portion being placed on pieces of carrot, of which they are very BIRDS — TOADS — RABBITS — MICE. m fond. The bark may be protected by smearing it with blood, or rubbing it with liver, or smearing it with tobacco water, or lime Avater, with enough copperas added to turn it green. A little cheap glue will make the wash stick to the bark. Thick paper around a tree will keep them from gnawing the bark. Charles Down- ing recommends a paint made of a handful of flowers of sulphur, half a spadeful of soot, a spadeful of fresh cow dung, with a spadeful of hot slacked lime, applied on a dry day. He says English gardeners set up swabs dipped in melted sulphur among the trees in their nurseries. 2, Meadow Mice (Mus arvicolce), — Meadow mice are Fig. 146. Fig. 147. SAVING GIRDLED TREES. known by various names in different parts of the country, such as short-tailed field mice, ground mice, etc., and are sometimes called moles, although they are very dif- ferent from them. They are covered with long gray hair, have very thick heads, and very short tails. They all burrow in the ground. The greatest damage done by meadow mice is gnawing off the bark of fruit trees. They do this most when the ground is covered with snow. Like the rabbit, they multiply rapidly. Their hiding places may be found in brush heaps, under stacks of grain and hay, and similar places. Remedies. — Burn the brush heaps. Set the rails up on end so as not to make a shelter for the mice, and keep 172 QUINCE CULTUKE. cats or a dog to hunt them. Hawks catch them by day and owls by night. Skunks, foxes, etc., also help to lessen their numbers. But, after all, they will multiply rapidly if grass and weeds are left in the orchard. The rabbit remedies will also answer for mice. Girdled trees may sometimes be saved, if the injury is discovered before the wounds get dry, by banking the tree with moist earth. A more certain way is by insert- ing a row of cions around the girdled place, either by halving them and inserting the ends under the bark above and below, or by using strips of bark for the same purpose. The edges of the bark should be cut smooth and even to insure success. In either case they should be well protected by grafting wax. CHAPTER XXV. MEDICINAL AND ECONOMIC USES OF THE QUINCE. Evert part of the quince is useful. Its scarcity and consequent high price have kept it in the good house- keeper's list of luxuries. But when its cultivation be- comes more general, it will come within the reach of all, and be in still greater demand. In the first century of the Christian era the old Roman Columella said: ^'Quinces not only yield pleasure, but health." A modern writer of note says : ^^ Medicinally, the quince is cooling and strengthening. The juice is good against nausea. The ripe fruit eaten raw is said to be good for spitting of blood ; also for swollen spleen, dropsy, and difiicult breathing." ^* The quince in the Materia Medica," according to Lewis and Woodville, ^^is astringent and stomachic. The juice in nausea is to be given in doses of a spoonful or two; so in vomitings, inodorous eructations, and some kinds of alvine fluxes. In the London Pharmacy this juice trSES OF THE QUINCE. 173 was formerly ordered to be made into a syrup called Syrup- us Oydonareun. or syrup of quinces ; and was prepared by digesting three pints of the depurated juice with a drachm of cinnamon, half a drachm of ginger, with half a drachm of cloves, on warm ashes for six hours, and then adding a pint of red port and dissolving in the strained liquor nine pounds of sugar. But the only preparatioii of the quince it now directs is a mucilage of the seeds, made by boiling a drachm of these in eight ounces of water till it acquires a proper consistence. This has been recommended in apthous affections and excoriations of the mouth and fauces. It may be more pleasant, but less efficacious than that of the simple quince." In 1831 Henry Phillips reported the cure of a severe case of asthma at Horsham, in Sussex, England, by using quince wine. 1. Quince Wine is made of equal parts of quince juice and water, with three and a quarter pounds of sugar to the gallon, added before it is fermented. The seeds are taken out before the fruit is crushed or grated. If the water is omitted, the medicinal value will be greatly increased. 2. Quince Stkup, made by boiling the richness out of the fruit, and dissolving, in the water used, sugar enough to give it a good heavy body, will be found delicious for the soda fountain. Without the soda it is a pleasant summer drink in water. 3. Quince Watee, made by pouring hot water over the dried fruit, and letting it steep awhile, is a good substi- tute for tamarind water. It is most acceptable to in- valids desiring a cooling acid drink. 4. Bandoline is made by covering the seeds with forty to fifty times their bulk of warm water, which soon pro- duces a mucilage used by perfumers and hair dressers. Many ladies prepare it for themselves to keep their hair in place. It can be perfumed with any kind of odor. 174 QUIl^CE CULTURE. By the addition of a little alcohol it can be kept for a long time. It is this use of the seeds which causes the great demand with druggists. 5. QuiKCE Preserves are made by first cooking the fruit soft, and then adding as many pounds of pure sugar as there were pounds of the raw fruit, and simply scalding it through thoroughly. The importance of not adding the sugar to acid fruits till after they are cooked soft has not been sufficiently understood. It is estimated to require double the sugar if it is put into the fruit at first ; be- cause the conversion of the cane sugar into glucose or grape sugar lessens its sweetening power very greatly; some say more than one-half. The receipts in the cook books give directions for a long and tedious process to do what is so short and simple by this method. To prevent mould on jars of preserves or jellies, they should be kept in a cool place and covered closely from the air. A thin paper covering, wet with alcohol or lard, and gently pressed on the sweet- meat, is a safeguarfl ; or cover with a thin film of lard without the paper. Melted paraffine poured over the confections serves the same purpose, and is very easily removed when they are used. 6. Quince Marmalade is made by cooking the fruit soft, crushing to a pulp, and adding sugar to taste. Boil slowly, stirring constantly to prevent sticking or burning. When it falls off a spoon like jelly, it is done, and can be molded in cups and covered the same as jelly. One- third sweet apples maybe added without more sugar, and still the flavor will be sufficient to suit many tastes. 7. Quince Butter is made much like the marmalade, except the addition of sugar. This is a favorite fruit confection in the Philadelphia market. 8. Quince Compote. — Pare a dozen quinces, cut them in halves, and take out the cores. Put in a preserving vessel enough clear syrup to cover them, and add the USES OF THE QUINCE. 175 juice of two lemons. Heat the syrup, and add the quinces, boiling well together. Drain the fruit, and pack it in a compotier. Leave the syrup to thicken a little, and pour it over the quince. 9. Quince Sauce is made by simply stewing the fruit soft, then mashing and adding sugar to taste. The ad- dition of one half apples or pears will greatly increase the quantity and yet leave a good quince flavor. 10. Quinces Canned, or bottled as sauce, are as suc- cessfully put up as any other fruit for similar use, only remember to cook soft before adding the sugar, as, be- sides the sweetening, there will be a toughening of the fruit. I canned a large quantity in glass jars (the Light- ning can preferred), first packing them full of the raw fruit, then filling with water, and boiling till soft in a common wash boiler on my cook stove. The safety of the jars was secured by a very thin skeleton frame of wood on the bottom of the boiler. After the fruit was soft, the jars were lifted out, and the water poured off, and half a pound of dissolved granulated sugar added for each quart jar. This made a rich, heavy syrup, which was returned to the fruit in the jar. Replacing the jars in the boiler, they were soon boiling again, when they were ready to seal. Lastly, they were inverted, and left so till cooled. By this last process it was easy to discover if the jar and sealing were perfect; if not, bubbles of air would press in and show at once on the surface. 11. Baked Quinces are a favorite with some. Wash and core, then fill with sugar, and bake in a dish or pan con- taining a little water, to eat hot or cold with cream and sugar. Or, having cut in halves, without paring or cor- ing, boil till nearly tender, and then, covered with sugar, bake in a hot oven, basting often with the syrup made by the sugar and water in which they were boiled. When done put a lump of butter on each half. Turn the syrup over them, and serve as before. 176 QUINCE CULTURE, 12. Sweet Pickles. — Prepare as for preserves. Cook tender in water, drain well, and simmer for five minutes in a syrup of good vinegar, covering the fruit, and add sugar, one and a half pounds to a pound of quinces, with spices of cinnamon, allspice, mace, and cloves to suit one's taste. The water in which they were boiled can be used to make jelly. A pint of vinegar to seven pounds of fruit is a good proportion for sweet pickles to keep well. • 13. Quince Jelly, when well made, is unsurpassed. Most housekeepers use the parings and cores of such as have been used for some other confection. It is better to leave out the cores, as the mucilage around the seeds may make the syrup ropy, and hinder success. The skin, with what adheres, contains the part of fruit richest in pectine, and so is best for jelly. Indifferent fruit should be cooked with the skins for jelly. Apples may be used to increase the quantity of jelly without seriously reduc- ing the flavor. Cook the apples, and then the quinces in the same water. The color of all jellies may be kept light by shortening the time of boiling ; and this may be done by dividing the fruit into three or four parts, cook- ing them successively in the same water. By the time the last is cooked, and the pulp pressed and syrup strained, the sugar can be added ; by measure rather than weight, bulk for bulk. When the sugar is added to the syrup a scum will rise, and should be removed. No more skimming is necessary till it is done, when another skimming will leave it entirely clear. The exact jellying point in the process must be determined by trial as the boiling pro- ceeds. Longer loiling may reduce it to a syrup again. As soon as the jelly is done, let the heat subside a little, and pour into cups to mold it for use ; and in a few minutes after, run a spoon around tlie top of the cups to gather the film, when each will be perfectly smooth and glassy. Preserve from mould as above described for preserves. INDEX. Page Adjustable marker. 45 Age of quince trees 50 Agrotidce 102 Agrotis clandestina 104 Cochranii 103 saucia 102 scandens 104 Aid from others 10 Aim of author in writing 12 AUorhina nitida 89 Analysis, chemical. 163 Anger's quince 21 Ants, black 127 red 105 Aphelinus mail 101 Aphides 109,124, 127 Aphis lanigera 100 lions 127 mail 124 malifolice 125 schizoneura 100 woolly 100 Apple-tree aphis 125 tree borer, round-headed.. 97, 98 or Orange quince 22 Arctians 109 Ash of the quince 163 Ashes 18,86 Aspidiotus CydonicB 100 Attacus poiyphemus 119 Average yield of Meech's Pro- lific quince 81 Bacteria 82, 85 Bag-worm 110 Baked quinces 175 Bandoline 173 Bark-bound 94 Basket for shipping 79 Basket- worm 110 Beetles 106 Birds, value of 170 Bending down branches 75 Bleeding from pruning 74 Blennocampa 116 Blight, description 83 Leaf 93 Preventive 95 Recovery 85 Spread 84 Blossoms 75, 76 Which will bear? 77 Bordeaux im:&ture 159 Page Borer, apple-tre© 97 Round-headed 97 Remedies 99 When to look for 98 Budding 62 Buds, flower 69 Latent 17 Leaf 69 Threefold la Butter, quince 174 Calosoma calidum 106 scrutator 106 Caterpillar of handmaid moth. 106 Yellow-necked apple-tree .. 106 Cellular tissue 18 Chalcidfly 101 Champion quince 24 Chemical analysis 163 Chinese quince 22 Chrysomelians 131 Cicada septendecim 101 Conotrachelus Cratcegi 131 Compote of quince 174 Corn emperor moth 112 Cotton tuft 124 Crate 80 Crops, average yield, value, etc 81 Cryptus inquisitor 112 Cultivation 42, 43 Cupram 160 Curculio 131 Cuttings, length and how to plant 62 Cutting back 50 Cut- worms, climbing 102, IO4 Dark-sided IO3 Mamestra picta IO4 Variegated IO2 W-marked IO4 Remedies for IO5 Cyrtophyllus concavus I27 Datana ministra lOg De Bourgeat quince 25 Decay, occasion of 73 Digging the tree 47, 4$ Diseases 82-92 Bacteria 82 Bark-bound 94 Blight 83-86 Fungi 82 Leaf blight 93 Leaf mildew. •••••••• ••• 8^ 177 178 QUnrCE CULTURE. Page Diseases— Orange rust 86-90 Quince leaf bro wnness 90 Quince rot 93 Yellow leaf spots 91 Drainage 42 Dropping of fruit ; why? 72 Drop-worm 110 Encyrtus 119 Equalizing the growth 71 Eriosoma 100 Evaporation from soil 42, 43 Excess of wood 72 Fall web-worm 108-110 Fertilizers, artificial 36-40 Liquid manure 70 Lime 70 Salt 37 Flowers 19 Fontenay quince 25 Fruit 80 Keeping 80 Marketing 80 Thinning 70, 78 Wax-like covering of 86, 94 Fruitful branches, which are? . 72 Fuller quince 25 Fungi inj urious 82, 146 Black rot 151 Blotch 157 Entomosporium maculatum... 149 Fruit spot 149 Gloeosporium fructigemim .... 155 Gray mold 158 Gymnosporangium, clavipes... 148 Monilia fructigeiia 158 Pale rot 154 Pestalozzia 158 Phoma CydonicB 154 Hipe rot 155 Rhizopus nigricans 157 Rosstelia aurantiaca 147 Rust, quince 147 Soft rot o 157 Sphceropsis malorum 151 Gathering fruit too early 80 and marketing 79, 81 Girdled trees saved 172 Good pruning illustrated 72 Grafting, cleft 60 Crown 61 for early f ruitf ulness 75 Saddle 61 Side 61 Splice or whip 61 Time of 60 Gray rabbit 170 Grain or grass, do not plant in. 61 Hare, the 170 Healing wounds 73, 74 Heeling in, sloping and erect.. 51 Hendersonia Cydonia 91 Hemiteles thyridopteryx 112 Hide-bound 94 History of quince 13-16 Hyphantria textor 108, 109 Jtyjaerchiria lo •..««.M***«f 112 Page Syperchiria varia 112 Ichneumons 105, 106 Insect enemies 97, 131 , 133 Aphides (for var. see aphides) 101,124, 127 Apple-tree borer, round- headed 97, 98 Apple worm 145 Aspidiotus pei'niciosus 140 Bag, basket or drop-worm.. 110 Carpocapsa pomonella 145 Caterpillar of handmaid moth 108 Chiropachys colon 136 Chrysomelians 131 Clisiocampa Americana 137 Codlin moth 145 Corn emperor moth 112 Corythuca arcuata 138 Cotton tuft 124 Cryptophasa unipunctata 133 Curculio , 131 Cut-worms 102-105 Eye-spotted bud moth 143 Fall web- worm 108-110 Fruit bark beetle 135 Gipsy moth 139 Katydid 127, 128 Leaf crumpler 128 Locust 101 Macrodacfylus subspinosus... 137 Ocneria dispar 139 Pear-tree blister beetle 131 Penthina 144 Polyphemus moth 119-123 Quince scale 100 Rose beetle 137 San Jose scale 140 Scoly tus rugulosus 135 Slug 116 Spined soldier-bug 110 Tarnished plant-bug 130 Tent caterpillar 137 Tingis 138 Tmetocera ocellana 143 Valgus canaliculatus. ... i ... . 143 Vapored moth 115 White-marked tussock moth 115, 116 Xylotrechus colonus 133 Insect friends 106, 130 Allorhina nitida 89 Aphelinus fuscipennis 143 Aphis-lions 127 Calosoma scrutator 106 Calosoma calidum 106 Chalcidfly 101 ChUocorus hivulnerus 143 Cryptus i7iqtiisitor 112 Dung beetle 89 Encyrtus 119 Hermiteles thyridopteryx 112 Ichneumons 105, 106, 112 Lace-winged flies 127 Lady-bugs 127, 143 Long-tfiUed ophion * « f v r 1 1 r f • U^ CTDEX. 179 Page Insect frlendg—0