1899] CABBAGE BUTTERFLIES. 5 



ingredients and method of mixing,* but to those who have not the 

 knack of combining the soap-wash and oil the process is very tedious, 

 and unless these are so thoroughly incorporated as not to separate, the 

 application is likely to be very injurious from the (then) undiluted 

 mineral oil burning the leaves. 



For this reason I use the so-called Antipest sold by Messrs. Morris, 

 Little & Son, Doncaster, as it only requires diluting, and I have found 

 it answer very well as an insect wash, and save both time and risk. 



It might be well worth while to try the effect of syringings with a 

 solution of soft-soap without any addition. This would be to some 

 degree a deterrent of attack, and would help to some slight degree to 

 support the plants by causing a damp air round them, and moistening 

 the surface of the ground with a slightly stimulating wash without at 

 the same time attracting the White Butterflies. Their attack is most 

 prejudicial in hot and dry weather, and, so far as my own observation 

 goes, the application of water alone is almost immediately followed by 

 an increased amount of prevalence of the butterflies on the beds. 



With regard to lessening amount of caterpillar attack by capture of the 

 butterflies, I was favoured with the following notes by my valued 

 correspondent, Mr. W. Bailey, Head Master of the Aldersey Grammar 

 School, Bunbury, Tarporley, Cheshire, where, under his able super- 

 intendence, and with the full approval of the governors and of the 

 neighbouring agriculturists, very serviceable work in attention to in- 

 jurious insect prevention has been given by the boys for many years. 

 Mr. Bailey mentioned : — 



" This summer we have had quite a plague of the White Cabbage 

 Butterflies, and dreadful havoc they have made among Cauliflower, 

 Brocoli, and Cabbage plants. Many crops have been completely ruined 

 in our neighbourhood. On August 9th. 10th, 11th, 14th, 16th, 21st, 

 and 23rd, I put two boys at a time in my little garden of about 

 a quarter of an acre with a net each to catch these butterflies. The 

 boys were delighted to spend their dinner-hour in this work. On some 

 of the days the boys were not engaged in this task for more than an 

 hour. On other days when two boys had been 'hunting' for half-an- 

 hour to an hour, they were relieved by two other boys. And now for 



* Add one gallon of water in which a quarter of a pound of soft-soap (or any 

 other coarse soap preferred) has been dissolved boiling or hot to two gallons of 

 petroleum or other mineral oil. The mixture is then churned as it were together 

 by means of a spray-nozzled syringe or double-action pump for ten minutes, by 

 means of which the oil, soap, and water are so thoroughly combined that the 

 mixture settles down into a cream-like consistency, and does not, if the operation 

 has been properly performed, separate again. This is used diluted with some three 

 or four times its bulk of water for a watering ; if required for a wash, at least nine 

 times its bulk is needed — that is, three gallons of " emulsion," as it is termed, make 

 thirty gallons of wash. Warning is given that care must be taken with each new 

 crop to ascertain the strength that can be borne by the leafage. 



