AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



229 



Cabbage Caterpillars continued. 



from the male in having two large black spots on each of 

 the fore or upper wings, and a spot on the inner margin. 



The Small White (Pieris rapes, see Fig. 311) has two 

 broods in the year, the first batch about April, and the 

 second in Jnly. The eggs are always placed on the upper 

 side of the leaf, and are hatched in from ten to thirteen 

 days, the caterpillars becoming full grown in about three 

 weeks after emerging. The colour of the caterpillar is 

 dark green, with a fine line of yellow, and a row of yellow 

 spots down the sides The chrysalis is attached by the 

 tail and a band of silk to the place selected by the cater- 

 pillar, and varies greatly in colour, although generally it is 

 of a whitish-brown. 



Cabbage Moth (Mamestra brassicce). Newman, in his 

 " British Moths," thus describes the Cabbage Moth : " The 

 antennae are rather long and slender, and scarcely ciliated 

 in either sex ; the forewings are dark, smoky, grey brown, 

 mottled and marbled with confused markings, both darker 

 and paler ; the orbicular spot is inconspicuous, but decidedly 

 to be traced ; the renifonn stigma is delicately outlined with 

 white or whitish-grey, and has a pale anterior disc, in which 

 the same pale grey colour predominates; the hind wings 

 are dark, smoky brown with rather pale base, and rather 

 darker crescentic discoidal spot and wing-rays ; the head, 

 thorax, and body have the same colour as the fore and hind 

 wings." The eggs are laid on Cabbages, or similar plants, 

 and are hatched in a few days. The caterpillars are very 

 voracious, feeding by day and night, and, what is worse, 

 they spoil with their excrement, in the case of Cabbages, 

 more than they eat. They are of a dark colour, with a 

 kind of marbling, more or less distinct, on the back, the 

 effect being produced by a triangular mark containing two 

 white dots on each of their segments. On being disturbed, 

 they roll themselves into a tight ring, and so remain until 

 they suppose that danger is over. They descend into the 

 earth for change to smooth red-brown chrysalids, and 

 remain there till the following spring. If the chrysalids 

 were collected and destroyed during the autumn and winter 

 digging, much injury would be obviated through the suc- 

 ceeding spring and summer. 



The destruction of these pests is a very troublesome 

 matter, as the grubs of the last-named kind bore into the 

 heart of the cabbage. Hand-picking is the only sure 

 method. Anything emitting a distasteful odour will also 

 keep them at bay. Miss Ormerod recommends throwing 

 gas-lime over the plants, but it must be previously weak- 

 ened by a few months' exposure. The following remedy 

 may also be recommended : 



Paraffin, or Coal Oil. Mis one ounce of oil with a 

 gallon of soapsuds, and water the plants with the mixture 

 before the caterpillars appear. If any have appeared, an 

 application at the rate of two ounces to the gallon will 

 generally clear them off. Of course, this operation must 

 not be performed less than a month previous to cutting the 

 cabbages, on account of the smell. Soapsuds alone will 

 also clear caterpillars from most smooth-leaved subjects if 

 frequently applied. 



CABBAGE PLY (Anthomyia brassicas). Among the 

 injurious insects which infest Cabbages, none commit 

 greater havoc to both stem and root, than the maggots of 

 the Cabbage Fly. "They are whitish, cylindrical, and 

 legless, tapering to the head, and blunt at the tail, which 

 has short teeth on the lower margin, and two brown 

 tubercles in the middle. When full grown, they are about 

 Jin. long. They then leave the plants, and turn, in the 

 earth, to pupae, with a few black spots at the head, and 

 short teeth at the tail, inside which the flies form, and 

 emerge in about a fortnight or three weeks. The fly is 

 of an ashen-grey colour, and smaller than the Onion Fly, 

 which it much resembles. The male is of a darker grey, 

 and has a short black stripe along the back between the 

 wings, with a curved one on each side of it, and one black 

 stripe along the abdomen " (Ormerod). The presence of 



Cabbage Ply continued. 



these maggots may be easily detected by the flagging and 

 change of colour of the leaves. The infested plants should 

 be immediately removed and destroyed. The following 

 remedy will be found beneficial : 



Lime. Hot lime should be soaked in water for about 

 twenty-four hours. When clear, the infested Cabbages 

 should be well washed with the liquid. Superphosphate 

 of lime may also be applied with advantage. 



CABBAGE GAIili WEEVIL (Ceutorrhynchus sulci- 

 collis). This is a pretty little beetle, about three-quarters 

 of a line or one line in length. Its colour is dark, but the 

 insect is really of a coppery hue ; on the thorax and head 

 are rather large depressions ; the wing-cases vary in colour 

 from green to greenish-blue, or even black, and along the 

 entire length of the elytra are parallel lines or holes, as 

 may be seen with the aid of an ordinary lens. This insect, 

 which causes much damage to plants of the Brassica family, 

 is, in some places, very difficult to eradicate. It is also 

 very destructive to other crops, and, therefore, any 

 effectual remedy is valuable. The following methods may 

 be recommended : 



Carbolic Acid. Mix loz. Calvert's No. 5 carbolic acid 

 with two gallons of soapsuds, and add sufficient loam or 

 clay to make a thin paste. Dip the roots of the whole of 

 the plants into this before they are set out. Well stir 

 the mixture, and put the plants out in a damp soil, so 

 that watering will not be necessary. 



Paraffin, or Coal Oti. This, applied in the same manner 

 as recommended for Carbolic Acid, is also very good. 



Guano, Superphosphate of Lime, and Nitrate of Soda. 

 A good dressing of either of these, given after the ground 

 is dug, and in wet weather, about a month before the 

 plants are put out, has been found very beneficial ; but, 

 although preventatives, they do not totally clear the crop 

 from insects for the season. 



Soot and Lime. Take equal parts of air-slaked lime 

 and soot, and mix together. Set the plants with a trowel, 

 and, having placed some soil over the roots, throw in a 

 little of the mixture, filling up the hole with soil. 



CABBAGE MOTH. See Cabbage Caterpillars. 



CABBAGE PALM. See Euterpe oleracea. 



CABBAGE POWDERED- WING (Aleijrodes^ bras- 

 sicce). A small four-winged powdery fly, closely allied to 

 the Aphides. As implied by its name, this pest infests the 

 various sorts of Cabbages'. It is more particularly pre- 

 valent in autumn. Its presence may be readily detected by 

 the partial discoloration of the leaves attacked. The head 

 and body between the wings are black, with yellow varie- 

 gation; abdomen yellow or rosy; wings white and mealy 

 (whence its common name), the upper pair each having 

 a darker spot, near the centre. Its destructive power 

 resides in the rostrum, or sucking-tube, with which its head 

 is furnished. 



Remedies. The only effectual means of exterminating 

 this pest is to destroy the leaves, preferably by burning. 

 If its presence is detected early, an application of tobacco 

 water, or diluted soft soap, may prove beneficial. 



CABBAGE BOOT-EATING FLY. See Root- 

 eating Ply. 



CABBAGE-TREE. See Euterpe oleracea. 



CABBAGE WEEVIL. See Cabbage Gall Weevil. 



CABOMBA (the native name in Guiana). ORD. 

 Nymphceacea. SUB. OED. Cabombeae. Small and very 

 interesting aquatics. They thrive well in a cistern 1ft. 

 deep, with 2in. of loam in the bottom, for the plants to 

 root in, then filled up with water, and placed in a warm 

 part of the greenhouse during summer, being allowed a 

 rest in a cool part of the stove in winter. Propagation 

 may be effected by root division. 



C. aquatica (water-loving), fl. yellow, small ; peduncles long, 

 axillary, solitary, one-flowered. July. Submerged leaves oppo- 

 site, stalked, cut into five divisions even to the petiole ; segments 



