STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



243 



The succulent nature and crisp character of the leaves, notwithstanding 

 the hardy character of the plant, tend also to further limit the use of 

 topical applications, especially such as will discolor or injure them. 



So far but little" has been done towards finding any other remedies 

 than topical applications, but the experience of the past season in our 

 own State has led many to doubt the efficacy not only of any that have 

 been recommended, but of all remedies of this class, so far as counter- 

 acting insects that attack the cabbage are concerned. In fact there is a 

 growing tendency among practical horticulturists to place less and less 

 reliance upon such remedies in any case, except perhaps for such tender- 

 bodied and easily-destroyed insects as plant-lice. 



The loss of cabbages the past season, through the operations of the 

 caterpillars of the cabbage-butterflies, is well known to every horticul- 

 turist, and as these are now the greatest enemies our cultivators of this 

 esculent have to contend with we will commence our list with them. 



As the readers of this paper are fully aware, all butterflies belong to 

 the order Lepidoptera of the Insect class. The genus Pieris in which 

 the cabbage-butterflies are to be found, as will be seen by reference to the 

 analytical table in my Second Entomological Report, stands very near 

 the head of the order as the genera therein are usually arranged- The 

 species belonging to this genus may, as a general rule, be distinguished 

 from those of other genera of butterflies by the following characteristics : 

 The perfect insects or butterflies have no tails or prolongations to the hind 

 wings ; the ground color of the wings is white or yellowish white ; the 

 spots, when present, are dark or black ; they are of medium size. 



Pieris rap(B, Linn. The European Cabbage-butterfly. 



This species, which, from the fact that it has been introduced from 

 Europe, has generally received the name "European Cabbage-butterfly," 

 is usually designated in England the " Small White " or " Turnip But- 

 terfly." 



It is beyond all doubt the most injurious cabbage insect with which 

 our gardeners have to contend. As is the case with most of the species 

 which have been introduced from Europe, it is more injurious than any of 

 its native congeners. According to Abbe Provancher, it annually destroys 

 about ;g24o,ooo worth of cabbage in the vicinity of Quebec. A corre- 

 spondent of the American Agriculturist for November, 1870, states that 

 the loss from this insect in the vicinity of New York alone would amount, 

 for that year, to more than a million dollars. As I have no statistics in 

 reference to the cabbage production of our State it is impossible for me 

 to estimate the loss occasioned by this insect the past season, but it must 

 have amounted to fully one-half of the entire crop. 



It was introduced into North America about 1857, appearing first 

 at Quebec. In 1864, it had not then extended more than forty miles 

 from that city; but in 1866 it was taken in the northern part of New 

 Hampshire and Vermont, and westward beyond Montreal. By means of 

 the railroads it was soon carried to Boston, New York, and southward to 



