THE 



COTTAGE GARDENERS' DICTIONARY, 



ABE 



ABE'LE TREE. The White Poplar 

 {Populus alba). 



ABE'LIA. (After Dr. Abel, Physician 

 to the embassage of Lord Amherst to 

 China. Nat. ord., Capri/oils [Caprifo- 

 liacese]. Linn. Sys., 5-Pentandria 1-JMo- 

 nogynia.) 



Half-hardy evergreen shrubs ; may be turned 

 out into the borders in summer. Cuttings in 

 summer, in light turfy loam and peat, and layers 

 in spring. 



A. floribu'nda (many-flowered). 3. Rosy-purple. 

 Requires a little peat. March. Mexico. 

 1842. 



rupe'stris (rock). 5. Pink and white. Sep- 



tember. China. 1844. 



triflo'ra (three-flowered). 5. Pale red. Sep- 



tember. Hindostan. 



uniflo'ra (one-flowered). 3. China. 



A'BIES. See PINUS. 



ABO'KTION. Too early or imperfect 

 development. In fruit, this frequently 

 occurs from a defect in the male or 

 female organs. If from the first, it may 

 be remedied by using pollen from other 

 plants. 



A'BBICOCK. An old mode of spelling 

 APKICOT. (Armeni'aca vulga'ris.) 



ABRA'XAS ijrossularia'ta. Magpie Moth. 

 The caterpillar of this moth often infests 

 the leaves of the gooseberry bush, as well 

 as of the currant, sloe, and even the 

 peach, in early summer. It is comryon 

 during the evenings of July and August. 

 Usually about one and a half-inch across 

 the expanded fore-wings, which are very 

 slightly yellowish-white, variously spotted 

 with black, more or less like those in our 

 drawing, for the marks are never uniform ; 

 and there is a band of pale orange across 

 each of the fore-wings. The hind- wings 

 are of the same colours, but without any 



ABR 



orange colouring. The body is orange, 

 spotted with black. The female deposits 

 her eggs upon the leaf of a gooseberry or 

 currant tree, and from these little loop- 

 ing caterpillars come forth in September 

 (see a drawing of these and of the Chry- 



salis in The Cottage Gardener, iv. 15), and 

 surviving the whiter, begin to feed again 

 upon the leaves as soon as these open in 

 the spring. They are full-grown towards 

 the end of May, and enter the chrysalis 

 state between that time and the end of 

 June. In this state they remain for 

 about three weeks, and then the perfect 

 moth comes forth. The caterpillar is 

 yellowish white, with an orange stripe, 

 more or less complete, on each side, and 

 with numerous black spots, the largest 

 on the back. The chrysalis is black, 

 with orange circles round the pointed 

 end. The caterpillar prefers the leaves 

 of the gooseberry and red currant ; but, 

 after stripping these to their very stalks, 

 it will feed upon those of the sloe, peach, 

 and almond. Hand-picking, dusting with 

 the powder of white hellebore, and burn- 

 ing the leaves early in autumn, are the 

 best remedies and prevention against this 

 marauder. 



