BOOK I. 



INSECTS. 



617 



round each plant before snow is apprehended. The consequence of this treatment is, that the plants are 

 fresh and vigorous in spring, and produce large heads. (Hort. Trans, vol. i. p. 305.) 



3590. Nicol takes up the most forward crops of broccoli in the end of October, and lays them on their sides, 

 so as the heads may not touch each other. In a dry soil and open situation, the plants will thus resist the 

 severest winters. 



3591. Gathering. In gathering broccoli, five or six inches of the stem are retained along with the head ; 

 and in dressing, the stalks are peeled before boiling. Some of the sorts produce sprouts from the sides of 

 the stems, with small heads, that should be gathered when ready, and are very good when boiled. 



3592. To save seed. Wood, already mentioned, selects the largest, best fonned, 

 and finest heads, taking particular care that no foliage appears on the surface of the 

 heads ; these he marks, and in April lays them in by the heels in a compound of cleanings 

 of old ditches, tree-leaves, and dung. When the head begins to open or expand, he cuts 

 out the centre, leaving only four or five of the outside shoots to come to seed. Lifting, 

 lie says, prevents them from producing proud seed, as it is called, or degenerating. 

 The above method produces seed the most genuine of all the others he has tried. The 

 sulphur broccoli he finds the most difficult to procure seed from. (Caled. Hort. Mem. 

 vol. ii. p. 267.) Abercrombie says, broccoli-seeds degenerate in this country, and that 

 the best seed is obtained from Italy. 



SUBSECT. 8. Of the Insects which infest the Cabbage Tribe. 



3593. The whole of the cabbage tribe are liable to the attacks of the larvae of the Ti- 



464 



pula oleracea, L. on their roots, and of the caterpillars of butterflies (fig. 464.) and 



moths (Jig. 465.) on their leaves, as 



well as of aphides, or cabbage-lice, 



snails, and slugs. There is no re- 



medy for the first, excepting that of 



taking up, cleaning, and transplant- 



ing in fresh soil, in a different part 



of the garden ; and it is in general 



easier to plant afresh from the seed- 



bed. With respect to caterpillars, 



snails, and slugs, they can only be 



gathered by hand, and the way to 



do this effectually is to begin as soon 



as they appear, employing women 



or children to look them over daily 



early in the morning. Poultry, and 



especially ducks and sea-gulls, are sometimes of use in keeping these and other insects 



under ; a hen and chickens will devour caterpillars and aphides greedily, but are apt to 



scratch the soil afterwards, if not timely removed ; turkey fowls are better. Nature has 



465 



furnished a remarkable insect, which assists man in the destruction of the caterpillar, the 

 Ichneumon mmifestator, L. (Jig. 466.) " The insects of this genus," Samouelle observes, 

 "lay their eggs in the bodies 

 of caterpillars or pupae, which 



are there hatched ; the larvae, ^ W/N .. 466 



have no feet ; they are soft 

 and cylindrical, and feed on 

 the substance of the caterpil- 

 lar, which never turns to a 

 perfect insect, while the larvae 

 of the ichneumon spin them- 

 selves a silky web, and change 

 into a pupa incompleta, and 

 in a few days the fly ap- 

 pears." (Entomologist's Com- 

 panion, 68.) A nte, 2661. 



