8ti 



THE FLOEAL WOKLD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



closed with a remark or two as to the 

 pests to which they are subject. 

 Caterpillars and clubs are the chief of 

 these ; there is no specific against 

 either. When ti;(.' crop is besct-with 

 caterpillars, a drenching with laurel- 

 water may eradicate them, if applied 

 as soon as the young caterpillars 

 make their appearance. But, generally 

 speaking, little can be done, and good 

 plants are so strong in their grovTth 

 that they generally recover in time, 

 for the grubs eat their fill, change to 

 pupa, and then the mischief is over, 

 unless a second batch follow up the 

 work of the first. Hand-picking U 

 very effectual, and not so endless a 

 job as it may appear. I have kept 

 large breadths of cabbages and 

 Brussels sprouts clean by a dail}- 

 hunting of the marauders ; but a brood 

 of young ducks turned in are the best 

 vermin destroyers, and they seldom do 

 any harm to the crops. The club or 

 anbury is the most destructive, and 

 in some districts it so abounds, that a 

 large portion of every crop is lost. 

 This is caused by a weevil which 

 pierces the root-stem, and there de- 

 posits its eggs. The punctured part 

 swells into a wart, and increases 

 rapidly at the expense of the plant, 

 which from that moment begins to 

 languish, and either lingers miserably 

 and proves useless, or else by its own 

 vigour puts out fresh roots above the 

 club, and in time survives by t}je club 

 itself decaying as the maggots come to 

 matui'ity. In all plantings of any of 

 the cabbage tribe, the roots should be 

 looked to. If there is club about 

 them, it cannot foil to be seen, and 

 indeed may generally be smelt as soon 

 as the root is loosened from the earth. 

 In any case these clubs must be cut away. 

 If the plant is sti'ong, and bears plenty 

 of fibres untouched, dip the root, after 

 trimming it, into a puddle made of soot 



and lime, quite thick, and of the con" 

 sistence of paint, and plant at once. 

 If young plants are much beset with 

 the little warts, cut them away, dip the 

 roots in the mixture, and they will es- 

 cape further annoyance. But when 

 badly clubbed, and apparently ex- 

 hausted below, it is wasting ground to 

 put them in the rows. Give them to 

 your fowls, rabbits, pigs, or goats at 

 onCe, and plant only the best of your 

 stock. When I have been short of 

 plants, and have not cared to destroy 

 those that looked a little promising, I 

 have cut the root clean away, leaving 

 perhaps a fibre or two on the stem, 

 and those so treated I have planted by 

 themselves, setting them deep and 

 firm in the ground, and giving plenty 

 of water ; they recover in time, make 

 fresh root, and often prove a good 

 crop, but come in later than those that 

 have never been affected. Indeed, 

 any kind of cobbage, broccoli, or cauli- 

 flower may be propagated from cut- 

 tings during spring and autumn ; and 

 in Cornwall the celebrated Vanack 

 cabbage is very commonly propagated 

 in this way to keep it true, the raising 

 of seed being likely to lead to a dete- 

 rioration of the root. 



Club is common in all old soils that 

 have been much cropped with cabbage 

 and turnips ; and the best precautions 

 against it are to avoid over-cropping, 

 to keep up a regular course of rota- 

 tion, and to ridge up all vacant ground 

 both summer and -ninter, for earth 

 vermin perish if exposed to the air at 

 any season. Frost and rain are 

 equally destructive to them, and 

 therefore the most diligent gardener 

 has the least to complain of, as to club 

 or any other pest. Dressings of lime 

 and soot are also to be recommended 

 in all old soils, and should be used 

 both before and after every crop that 

 is liable to dabbing. 



BITTEE ALOES. 



DuElNa the last month I Lave had oeca- 1 [We have tried it on forced roses, half 

 sion to try it on some cinerarias, and it [ an ounce to a gallon, and the fly vanished ; 

 has totally failed, not without a fail- trial ; | on old verbenas without effect ; on cine- 

 for, morning after morning, I totally im- i rarias the same. We shall continue as 

 mereed the plants in the solution, but to j the season advances to test its value ; but 

 no good purj^ose ; and now the fly has de- j at pi-esent we advise our readers to trust 

 stroyed my plants, and also all my faith in i to the old nostrum, tobacco-smoke.] 

 Old Kent Road. Bitteb Aloes. 



