28 



It was in the spring of 1884 that I first put into active operation my long-desired 

 gardening experiments. The soil -Tvas a warm sandy loam, favorable to vegetables, 

 and I set out my cabbages — the Early Jersey Wakefields of Peter Henderson — near 

 the end of April, there being about 400 plants. The season was exceedingly rainy, but 

 toward the middle of June, as well as I can recollect, there came quite a severe drought, 

 and at about this time the cabbage-flies began to appear. I had amused the neighbor- 

 ing farmers, who believed in " the good old ways of our fathers, sir," very much by my 

 study of the Kural New Yorker and the reports of the Department of Agriculture, 

 which, with Peter Henderson's " Gardening for Profit," were never out of my hands in 

 my leisure mo neuts ; and the champions of ruts were gleeful over the anticipated 

 failure of the " book-farmer," who, moreover, had only spare hours for his hobby 

 and no help save his own hands. But I was not at all worried by their opinions. As 

 soon as I saw the little white fellows making their staggering yet swift flights over 

 my cabbages, I caught one, and recognizing him at once by the picture furnished in 

 the report for 1883, as Pieris rapce, I lost no time in preparing to give the enemy a 

 warm reception. Not having a cow on the place, I varied Hubbard's formula by sub- 

 stituting common soap-suds for milk, and at dusk began to shower it upon my cab- 

 bages through an ordinary large-sized watering-pot. Owing to inexperience on my part 

 and to the imperfect mixing of the two elements, I killed a few plants on this appli- 

 cation, but the next evening I had learned better what to do and found myself suc- 

 ceeding well. In short, so complete was my victory ^-o wing to prompt action aad an 

 early use of the remedy — that, apart from the cabbages spoilt by the first trial, I did 

 not lose a plant. The only damage done by the worm was to a few outside leaves. 

 As a consequence, I believe that kerosene as a destroying agent rests on a sound 

 basis. All persons know how fatal any oil is to insects. Let a fly fall into bacon 

 grease, for example, and though he may escape seemingly unhurt, follow him up aud 

 in a few seconds you will see him drop. The medical men remove beetles from the 

 human ear by pouring in sweet oil. While I am no scientist, if I might venture a 

 reason I would say that I believe it is deadly because it clogs up the breathing-pores 

 of the insect. Kerosene well and carefully applied will do the same thing. Hence 

 my opinion. If the application has injured plants it has been, I should judge, more 

 through the ignorance or carelessness of the operator than through the fault of the 

 formula. 



Of course my experience is inconclusive of the matter, as I experimented on early 

 cabbages, which are never so destructively assailed by the Pieris rapce as the later va- 

 rieties are, and since I was appointed to a clerkship in Washington before the season 

 for fall cabbages was well under way ; but I have tritd to follow what I conceive to 

 be the scientific method, namely, to state facts rather than fancies, no matter what re- 

 sults spring from them. If, in my rough way, I have gratified your wish I feel fully 

 satisfied, for your long-continued kindness and that of Professor Riley (to say noth- 

 ing of others who have shown me polite favors in your Department) have rendered 

 me subject to obligations which I can only in part repay by signing myself, 

 Very sincerely, your friend, 



Frank E. Anderson. 



P. S. — Notwithstanding my " book farmin' " you will be gratified to learn, doubt- 

 less, that I had the finest garden in my neighborhood, excepting only one, that of a 

 rich man who could apply more fertilizer to the soil than I could. 



SWARMING OF HACKBERRY BUTTERFLIES. 



We Lave, iu past years (3d Rep. Ins. Mo., pp. 151-2, Sc. American, 

 April 6, 1878), treated of the migration of butterflies and of the excep- 

 tional swarming in immense numbers of several species, but have not 

 known of a more striking case of exceptional abundance of a certain 



