ENTOMOLOGY 149 



angles to a short extension, so that it will be easy to spray upward 

 from beneath. 



CABBAGE AND CAULIFLOWER. 



These plants are subject to a series of attacks by insects from 

 their first appearance above ground to maturity. Cutworms destroy 

 a great many seedlings and young plants when they are set out in 

 the spring. Later on Plant-lice make their appearance, and cover 

 the leaves with their colonies, sucking out the sap and causing the 

 foliage to dry up and wither; they become excessively numerous 

 towards the close of the season, and in addition to the injury they 

 inflict, cause the plants to present a disgusting appearance. Through- 

 out the summer the leaves are liable to be devoured by several cater- 

 pillars and in August and September by Grasshoppers, while the 

 roots are frequently caused to rot by the Maggots of a small fly. 

 Aphids and Cutworms and other general feeders are treated else- 

 wnere ; reference will therefore be only made here to such insects as 

 ore peculiar to the Cabbage and other Cruciferous plants. 



White Cabbage Butterfly. This insect, which came to us from 

 Europe about fifty years ago, is now one of our commonest butter- 

 flies, and may be seen flitting about everywhere from early spring 

 till cold weather sets in. It is one of the worst pests that the cabbage 

 grower has to contend with unless measures are taken to prevent its 

 ravages, and happily this is a matter of no great difficulty. The 

 butterfly lays her eggs on the leaves of the food-plant; the cater- 

 pillars are velvety green and almost exactly the color of the leaves 

 upon which they are feeding; when at rest they lie at length upon 

 the midrib and are not easily seen. There are two broods in the 

 yrnr, the later being much the more numerous, and sometimes a 

 third if the autumn should be fine and warm. The caterpillars 

 riddle the outer leaves and then burrow into the heads, devouring 

 the substance and spoiling the plant for table use by their excre- 

 ment. Besides Cabbages and Cauliflowers they attack also mignon- 

 ette, stocks and nasturtiums. 



Pyrethrum insect powder is thoroughly effective. One pound 

 should bo mixed with four pounds of cheap flour and kept in an 

 air-tight jar or canister for twenty-four hours so that the poison may 

 be thoroughly incorporated with the flour. The plants infested by 

 the caterpillars should then be dusted with the mixture which can 

 be applied with a small bellows, or in a cheese-oloth bag tapped 

 lightly with a slender rod. This powder will kill insects, but is per- 

 fectly harmless to human beings. Another method, which is more 

 rapid in its effects upon the worms, is to dissolve two ounces of the 

 Pyrethrum powder in three gallons of lukewarm water and spray at 

 once. The liquid kills immediately all the caterpillars it reaches, 

 while the dry powder often takes many hours to produce the same 

 result. Paris green and other virulent poisons should never be ap- 

 plied to Cabbages and vegetables of any kind that are intended for 

 table use. 



Zebra Caterpillar. There may often be found feeding upon 

 Cabbage and some other garden plants of the same family, a hand- 



