138 



TURNIP. 



Fife. — 130, Xorth Street, St. Andrews, N.B., July. From Mr. 

 Andrew Balsillie. The first publicly recorded observation of the 

 appearance of the Diamond-back Moth during the past season was, as 

 far as I am aware, that made by Mr. Andrew Balsillie, of St. Andrews, 

 and communicated by him at the time (on July 21st) to the ' Scots- 

 man ' newspaper. Afterwards, on request for information, he wrote 

 me that on the very last days of June an extraordinary number of 

 small grey-brown moths were observed all along the eastern seaboard 

 of the county of Fife infesting the Turnip fields. Their appearance 

 was coincident with a period of long-continued drought, and though 

 the plants had brairded, they were making exceedingly little progress. 

 On Monday, July 20th, or as nearly as may be three weeks after the 

 appearance of the moths, both Swede and yellow Turnips presented 

 the appearance as if lime had been sown on them. On looking more 

 particularly, it was found that the plants were infested with small 

 green caterpillars which had eaten the under side of the blade, leaving 

 the thin film on the surface. In this way whole fields were destroyed. 

 In other cases portions of a field seemed to escape with comparatively 

 little damage. 



method of fall, i. e., whether penetrating, or in small quantities rapidly drying up. 

 Mr. Begbie also alludes in the last lines of his remarks to the high minima of 

 temperature at the time of appearance of the pest, which (as he remarks) was very 

 likely to help their development. The minute meteorological details, with which 

 he favoured me, are too long for publication here. — Ed. 



" General Remarks. 



"After the frost of last season the land was in tine order, and Turnip sowing 

 was commenced about the 1st of May. With a fair amount of rain in that month 

 the early-sown fields got well away, though for a time they were kept back by cold 

 east winds. In June we had only -28 rain, and though the heavy dew and hoar 

 kept the brairded Turnips growing, the unbrairded seed came away in patches. Up 

 to the loth July -65 rain fell, but in such small quantities as to do only the growing 

 Turnips good. On the 17th and 18th July, the caterpillar appeared and simply ate 

 up all the weakly plants which had cume away in patches, and did much damage 

 to fields wliich had stood still in June, not being far enough on in the shaw to 

 catch the dews and hoar. 



" Heavy rain on the '21st and 22nd, and a lower temperature, marked a change, 

 and by the end of the month the caterpillars were much fewer in number, and now 

 (15th August; are entirely away. The rain of 21st and 22nd July brairded all seed 

 which was yet to cume, and these are all now singled and doing well, though it will 

 take a very open growing back end to make them a crop at all. 



" I quite think that if we had had rain in June, the whole crop would have been 

 as mu( h beyond the reach of the caterpillar as the early-sown crops, which got well 

 away in May, i^roved themselves to be. 



" I enclose a note of temperature, &c., in July for three years, and on charting 

 the minimum readings the high temperature from the 13th to 21st July of this year 

 is very apparent. This may have helped the development of the plague which 

 appeared during that time." — John A. Begbie, 



