AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



447 



SNAKE'S BEARD. See Ophiopogon. 



SNAKE'S HEAD. See Pritillaria Meleagris 

 an.l Iris tnberosa. 



SNAKE'S - MOUTH ORCHIS. See Pogonia 

 ophioglossoides. 



SNAKE'S TONGUE. A common name for Ophio- 

 glossum (which see). 



SNAKEWEED. See Folygonum Bistorta. 

 SNAKE- WOOD. See Cecropia and Stryclinos 



colubrixta. 



SNAP BEETLE. See Wireworms. 



SNAPDRAGON. See Antirrhinum. 



SNAPWEED. A name applied to various species of 

 Impatient. 



SNOUT MOTHS. A small group of slender-bodied 

 Moths, that take their popular name from the long 

 palpi, or feelers, projecting like a snout from the front 

 of the head. The form of the insect when the wings 

 are closed is very characteristic, the wings lying almost 

 flat, and giving an outline like the Greek letter delta 

 (A), whence the scientific name Deltoides has been 

 conferred on the group. None of the species are large, 

 most of them scarcely exceeding lin. in spread of wings ; 

 while only one British species (Hypena proboscidalis) 

 reaches IJin. across the wings. This species feeds on 

 Nettles, and may therefore be regarded as useful. Very 

 few of the insects in the group are injurious to garden pro- 

 duce ; in fact, the only one that deserves special notice 

 as hurtful is the Buttoned Snout (H. rostrate), which, 

 in the larval state, feeds on the Hop, and is very 

 common in the Hop-growing districts. The moth measures 

 a little over lin. across the fore wings, which are greyish- 

 brown, with two dark brown cross-lines and a pale grey 

 line near the hind margin, ending in a dark brown 

 streak at the tip of each wing. In the middle of each 

 fore wing is a raised tuft of scales. The hind wings 

 are grey. The larva is slender, and pale green, with a 

 narrow, dark green line down the back, and a broken, 

 white line above* the feet on each side ; the head is 

 brown. When the larva is touched, it jerks itself rapidly 

 about. It forms a cocoon among dead leaves or other 

 shelter on the soil, becomes a pupa, and comes out as 

 a moth after about three weeks. The lanrse may be 

 removed from Hops by beating the plants over an 

 umbrella or sheet. 



SNOW. In most cases, Snow may be regarded as 

 beneficial in its effects on garden produce, inasmuch as 

 it forms a very efficient protection against injury from 

 frost. Plants under a few inches of loose snow suffer 

 little harm from frosts that would prove fatal to 

 hardier species without this protection. But Snow may 

 also act hurtfully in spring by destroying seedlings. 

 This occurs, in most cases, when a slight thaw is 

 followed by frost, so as to cause the formation of a 

 continuous surface-crust of ice. If this continues for 

 some days, the young plants are much weakened, or 

 are killed, owing to the necessary air being cut off; 

 and, when the Snow is all melted, only the decaying 

 remains show where they had been. 



Evergreen trees are liable to serious injury from the 

 pressure of Snow, which tears off or distorts their 

 branches. Deciduous-leaved trees are much less liable 

 to suffer in this way, as Snow can seldom adhere to 

 the bare branches in quantity sufficient to cause harm. 

 The danger is greatest during snowfalls in calm weather, 

 with the temperature about the freezing-point, as the 

 Snow then adheres to the branches and leaves, and 

 collects into heavy masses. In windy weather, and at 

 temperatures too low for the Snow to ball together, the 

 risk is comparatively slight. The trees that suffer most 

 from injuries due to the weight of Snow are Spruces, 



Snow continued. 



and others with horizontal branches, the leaves on which 

 are so arranged as to afford a considerable surface for 

 the Snow to lie on. 



Remedies. It is scarcely possible to do anything to 

 save seedlings from injury, beyond breaking the ice- 

 crust as much as possible. Trees may be saved from 

 being injured by the weight of Snow on the branches 

 if it is shaken off with long poles while loose. If a 

 branch is entirely broken off, or so far as to hang 

 down, the surface of the wound on the tree should be 

 smoothed so far as possible, and covered with tar or 

 any other convenient application, to prevent the en- 

 trance of moisture, or of parasites. If the injury is 

 detected as the branch is beginning to yield, the Snow 

 should be shaken off, and the branch supported by stays 

 of any convenient kind. 



SNOWBALL-TREE. See Viburnum Opulus. 

 SNOW BERRT. See Chiococca and Symphori- 

 carpus racemosus. 



SNOWDROP. See Galanthus nivalis. 

 SNOWDROP-TREE. See Halesia. 



SNOWDROP-TREE, AFRICAN. See Royena 

 lucida. 



SNOWPLAKE. See Leucoium. 



SNOW FLOWER. A name applied to Chwnanthuf. 



SNOW GLORY. A common name for Chionodoza 

 Lucilia. 



SNOW IN SUMMER. 



Ceraitium tomentosum. 



A popular name for 



SNOW PEAR. See Pyrus sinensis. 

 SNOW-TREE. See Pyrus niralis. 



SNOWY PLY (Aleyrode* proletella). A small, fonr- 

 winged Fly, that lives on the lower leaves of Cabbages, 

 often in such numbers as to cause the leaves to show 

 yellow or pale patches, or even to wither and die, so 

 that the plants are much injured where the attack is 

 severe. The Snowy Fly is nearly related to Aphides, and 

 resembles them in general form and in size, the length 

 not exceeding -j^in., &ud the spread of wings being about 

 Jin. It has, however, no honey-tubes, and is snowy- 

 white in colour, owing to its being covered with a white, 

 powdery coat. Below this coat the head and the thorax 

 are black, marked with yellow; the abdomen is yellow 

 or rosy-red, and the front wings are marked with a 

 dusky spot near the middle. On the head is a beak, 

 as in Aphides, which is inserted into the leaf, and serves 

 for sucking in the sap. The female insects place their 

 eggs in patches on the leaves ; and the young, on 

 emerging, scatter themselves over the leaves, which they 

 pierce with their suckers, and to which they adhere 

 closely. Each then becomes covered with a white scale, 

 bearing two yellow spots; and below this it becomes a 

 pale pupa, with red eyes. The whole metamorphosis 

 occupies nearly four weeks. 



Remedies. The most reliable is to remove and burn 

 infested leaves. A remedy less to be trusted is throwing 

 them into a liquid manure tank, or into a farmyard, 

 where the trampling under foot destroys the larvae and 

 pupa. Dusting the plants with soot or ashes, and 

 syringing with tobacco- water, have also been recom- 

 mended. 



SOAP. Aa a preventive against, or as a cure for, 



the depredations of insects on cultivated plants, Soap 



is often used, either in the form of suds, or along with 



other remedies (e.g.. Carbolic Acid and Paraffin), which 



it helps to keep mixed with the water. Where Onions 



I or roots, such as Carrots and Radishes, are suffering 



I from the inroads of larvae, great benefit is experienced 



