The Reine Claude Violette, or purple gage, is one of the most delicious of plums. The Blue Imperiatrice is excellent, and keeps a long time after ripening. Coe's Golden drop and the Washington are very large and luscious fruit; and the Nectarine and Kirk's plum, are very beautiful, of large size, and fine flavored. The Azure Hative may, in addition to the above, be recommended as a very early variety, and the White Magnum Bonum, or egg plum, as being suitable for preserving.

Diseases of the Plum. The plum tree is subject in this country, in many districts, to the attacks of two or three insects which commit great havoc in their respective methods, and which, owing to the culpable ignorance or negligence of cultivators, are permitted to increase and disseminate themselves, ad libitum. The first and most troublesome of these visitors, is the Curculio nenuphar of Herbot.* It is a small winged insect, scarcely a fourth of an inch in length, furnished with a sharp rostrum or bill, with which it pierces the embryo fruit as soon as it is formed in the expanded blossom. Though the insect itself is too inconspicuous to attract the eye of a careless observer, amidst the countless myriads of ephemeral winged creations of a spring day, yet the watchful horticulturist may discover it in great numbers flitting about in the trees, while yet laden with blossoms, and puncturing the newly formed fruit to deposit the egg which is to continue its race. These punctures may first be discovered when the fruit begins to swell, and when it has attained half or a fourth of its size; they are very distinct to the eye, remaining in the form of a crescent-shaped scar, upon the surface of the green fruit. The egg in the mean time hatches, and the larvæ silently works its way towards the stem of the fruit, which, as soon as it has reached that point, falls from the The whole crop is in many cases, where the careless cultivator has suffered the annual increase of the curculio, drops in this manner prematurely from the tree, to the great mortification and astonishment of those persons unfamiliar with the habits of the insect race, who can see no cause of such a destruction of fruit. When the fruit has fallen to the ground, the grub or larvæ, obeying the instinct of nature, after a short time, leaves the now use

tree.

* Rynchanus cerasi Peck,

less and decayed plum, and finding its way into the soil, remains there at some depth below the surface, to come forth in the succeeding spring, in its winged state, to go through its little round of existence again.

Countless remedies have been proposed for the mitigation of the evil, caused by the curculio, which are directed to the destruction of the insect in a winged state, when engaged in perpetrating the mischief, whilst the tree is yet in bloom: but there is but one easy, certain, and efficacious method of putting a stop to its ravages, viz., by destroying it in the larvæ or grub state after it has fallen from the tree, and before it has left the fruit. In plum orchards nothing can be more easily accomplished. The cultivator has only to turn in his swine, and allow them to devour the fruit daily as it falls from the tree, and every insect will perish. This has been tested repeatedly, and with uniform success. The curculio, though a winged insect, is scarcely a migratory one, seldom leaving the neighborhood of the tree under which it emerged from the soil, and it has been found that, of two trees standing in adjoining gardens, one of them was attacked, and the fruit destroyed, whilst the neighboring one, when pains had been taken to destroy the insects, remained laden with a beautiful crop. In small gardens, therefore, when the number of trees is limited, it would well repay the trouble of gathering up and destroying the green fruit, as in a short time, the whole brood would be exterminated. It should be observed that when the soil has been trodden hard, when it has been paved underneath the branches, or in situations where the tree has inclined over a sheet of water, the larvæ of the curculio, not being able to find its way readily into the soil,perishes, and the trees bear abundantly. This is obviously the reason why the trees in the hard trodden or paved yards of cities, often yield such surprising crops and the amateur horticulturist may draw a useful lesson from this fact.

Another most troublesome malady to which the plum is liable in some parts of the country, is commonly known by the name of the knots. It exhibits itself in the form of rough black excrescences upon the branches, of various sizes, from the scarcely perceptible swelling, to bunches of the size of the fist. If permitted to extend itself, it soon covers the whole tree, apparently disseminating its poisonous influence by the medium of the sap through the entire individual. On dissecting an infected branch, the wood and bark, in the discarded part, is found black and dry, and the whole vegetable substance is changed in appearance; if long diseased, the conducting vessels are dead and dried up, and this malignant influence may be seen extending itself upwards, first visible in the pith, and afterwards in the heart-wood, until the whole branch is destroyed. Upon opening these protuberances carefully, at a certain season of the year, the close observer will detect the larvæ of an insect of

the weevil family, and which Professor Peck believes to be the same insect (the curculio) Rhynchonus cerasi, which attacks the fruit-he having reared it from the grub that inhabits the excrescences of the cherry tree. But we are inclined to believe this insect to be another and a totally distinct species, and shall endeavor, the present season, by rearing and placing it in the hands of some skilful entomologist, to set the matter at rest. Practically, however, this knowledge is, perhaps, of no great consequence, as it is known that the larvæ leave the diseased branches in July, and a knowledge of this single fact should be sufficient to impress upon the horticulturist the necessity of cutting off and extirpating (burning is the best method), entirely, all those branches which show the least symptoms of disease, before that month commences. In this way the insect may be wonderfully diminished in numbers, and probably entirely subdued. The branches of some kinds of plum (fortunately the least valuable, as the horse plum and damson) seem to be sought in preference, by the insect, when depositing its egg; but if its ravages are permitted to extend unchecked, the other and more precious varieties will also fall a prey. To so great an extent did the damage caused by this single insect spread, about thirty years since, in some parts of the State of New York, that scarcely a plum tree survived the disease, owing to the ignorance of its habits prevalent among the cultivators at that time.

There is but one more insect which is generally destructive to the plum tree in America—the borer (Egeria exitiosa, Say), which attacks also the peach tree, and other stone fruits, just below the surface of the ground. The eggs of this insect are deposited in the bark of the tree, close to the earth, and the grub, upon hatching, penetrates further down, and bores its way around the trunk, and if undisturbed, completely destroys the albumen, or young wood, and ultimately causing the death of the tree. As these larvæ are always found in a particular place, technically called the neck of the tree, just below the surface of the soil, the proprietors of extensive peach orchards have found it the most effective and speedy method of extermination, to examine their trees every fall, removing the earth two or three inches deep, and upon the appearance of gum (a sure symptom), searching out and destroying the larvæ, with a knife for that purpose. A laborer, with trifling practice, will examine a great number of trees in a day, and with this slight annual care, whole orchards are, so far as the borer is concerned, preserved in most vigorous health. From successful practice, we cannot but think this the most unfailing method with the plum also. Boiling hot water, poured around the trunk of the tree, will, without any injury, in many cases, destroy the larvæ; and soap-suds have been recommended for the same purpose. The public prints abound, lately, with accounts of the efficacy of a deposit of coal ashes around the trunk and roots of the tree, but we need some

further proofs of the value of this remedy, before placing much Č. & A. J. DOWNING.

reliance in its virtue..

Yours,

Newburgh, N. Y., April, 1836.

ART. II. Notice of some of the Epiphyta, and Parasitic Plants of the United States, with Remarks on their Physiological Characters. By JOHN LEWIS RUSSELL, Prof. Bot. etc., to the Mass. Hort. Soc.

ALTHOUGH the tropics are peculiarly rich in these curious vegetables, which luxuriate in the dark and rapidly growing and decaying forests, yet even our more northern clime, can furnish a few no less interesting to the lover of science, though far less attractive to the artificial taste of the florist. Several genera may be found in the New England States, which, independent of their parasitic character, are remarkable for the singularity of their form. In your summer ramble through the dense and damp woods, you may perchance meet with a curious cluster of brown, or yellowish, and extremely succulent, vegetables, covered with a pubescence, and instead of leaves, invested with minute scales. Should your curiosity prompt you to stoop and examine the anomalous and fungouslooking body, you will discover, gentle reader! the curious and beautiful native epiphytic Orobanche, whose minute examination may repay your attention. This genus forms the type of the natural order of Orobáncheæ of Jussieu and of Lindley, and under this same order is its cogenus Epiphagus of Nuttall; which being a parasite on the roots of the beech (Fagus) has received from him its beautifully appropriate name. One species, the "E. americanus," is said to be found in Maine, but not in this vicinity.

Perhaps not far distant, and in the same ramble, you will notice the remarkable, and ivory Monótropa, in which nature seems to have forgotten her usual livery of green to invest one of her fairy and delicate productions in a vesture of entire, unsullied purity. By a sort of desecration, it has received, in common language, the trivial name of that instrument, which affords an exhilarating solace to many a devotee to the "fragrant weed." But however

We give the word as found in his second edition of "Introduction to Bot. any," and as in accordance with our own ideas of its derivation, л and 7od. Beck, in his " Botany of the Northern and Middle States," uses the genus, Epiphagus, from payos. Doric.-J. L. R.

166 Epiphyta, and Parasitic Plants of the United States.

apt its resemblance or name, it may be a question, whether the simple taste which dictates the admiration of the flower, would not have proved as beneficial to the general happiness, as that more luxurious taste which invented both the name and its origin. Another cogenus, and you have Hypopithys, of which "H. lanuginòsa" is by no means rare in the neighborhood of Boston, and is a distinct parasite, affixing its densely crowded stems to the roots of trees.

And have you not often observed the golden and glittering thread-like branches of the twining Cuscuta, climbing with an aspiring habit, not unlike its more gigantic, though not parasitic sister vegetables, up the slender stem of some delicate grass or plant herb; by the rapidity of its growth, and predatory disposition, draining the very vital energy from its supporter, till overclimbing, and overreaching, it still progresses onward, over the topmost foliage, and lays hold of whatever next presents itself, till all are involved in inextricable confusion; and then, as if in triumph at the mischief it has occasioned, cover its leafless, voluble stems, with a mass of clustered flowers?

The first growth of the Cuscuta exhibits an anomaly of a vascular plant with perfect seeds, germinating without any cotyledon. A few other plants arranged under the exogène on account of their organization, are, in common with this, in fact, acotyledonous. The absence of cotyledons, has led to the theory of their presence in a consolidated, and consequently unfolded or undeveloped condition.

Throughout the Western States, you will find, particularly upon the branches of the elm, the sempervirent mistletoe (Viscum verticillatum), whose parasitic and epiphytic character, and supposed virtues so early attracted notice. It is one of the few plants connected with the superstitions of a barbarous age, and from its rare occurrence on the oak, was estimated, when discovered in that situation, as peculiarly sacred. But like many other things that have nothing but antiquity to recommend them, its fictitious good qualities are overlooked, while its more prominent character of disfiguring the branches of its otherwise graceful and elegant supporter, are only noticeable.

Farther south, in Florida, and on the sea coast of Georgia and Carolina, we meet with a species of the true and genuine epiphyte, in the "Epidendrum conópseum." This is the only representative in the United States, of that curious genus. It has been found growing on the trunks of the noble "Magnòlia grandiflòra,' both by Nuttall and Elliott, and by the latter, observed also on several species of oak.

In the last number of the American Gardener's Magazine, for April, it is incautiously stated, speaking of this plant, that it is "interesting as the only parasitical plant yet discovered in the United