AMB 



[32] 



AME 



colour, with the breast spotted with j 

 white, and the length of the body one 

 line and two-thirds. The ambury of 

 the turnip and cabbage usually attacks 

 these crops when grown for successive 

 years on the same soil. This is precisely 

 what might be expected, for where the 

 parent insect always deposits her eggs, 

 some of these embryo ravagers are to be 

 expected. The ambury is most fre- 

 quently observed in dry seasons. This 

 is also what might be anticipated, for 

 insects that inhabit the earth just be- 

 neath its surface, are always restricted 

 and checked in their movements by its 

 abounding in moisture. Moreover, the 

 plants actually aifected by the ambury, 

 are more able to contend against the 

 injury inflicted by the larva of the wee- 

 vil, by the same copious supply. Char- 

 coal-dust spread about half an inch 

 deep upon the surface, and just mixed 

 with it by the point of a spade, it is 

 said, prevents the occurrence of this 

 disease. Soot, we have reason to be- 

 lieve, from a slight experience, is as 

 effectual as charcoal-dust. Judging from 

 theoretical reasons, we might conclude 

 that it would be more specifical; for 

 in addition to its being, like charcoal, 

 finely divided carbon, it contains sul- 

 phur, to which insects also have an 

 antipathy. A slight dressing of the 

 surface soil with a little of the diy hydro- 

 sulphuret of lime from the gas-works, 

 would prevent the occurrence of the 

 disease, by driving the weevils from the 

 soil. It would probably as effectually 

 banish the turnip fly or beetle, if sprinkled 

 over the surface immediately after the 

 seed is sown. For cabbages, twelve 

 bushels per acre would not, probably, be 

 too much, spread upon the surface, and 

 turned in with the spade or last ploughing. 

 To effect the banishment of the turnip 

 beetle, we should like a trial to be 

 made of six or eight bushels spread over 

 the surface immediately after the sow- 

 ing and rolling are finished. Although 

 we specify these quantities as those 

 we calculate most correct, yet in all ex- 

 periments it is best to try various pro- 

 portions. Three or four bushels may be 

 found sufficient ; perhaps twelve, or even 

 twenty, may not be too much. In cab- 

 bages the ambury may usually be avoid- 



ed by frequent transplantings, for this 

 enables the workman to remove the ex- 

 crescences upon their first appearance, 

 and render the plants altogether more 

 robust and ligneous ; the plant in its 

 tender sappy stage of growth being most 

 open to the insect's attacks. 



AMELA'NCHIER. (This is the Savoy 

 name for the medlar, to which this genus 

 is closely allied. Nat. ord., Apple worts 

 [Pomacete]. Linn., \1-Icosandria'2-Di-pen- 

 tagynia). Hardy deciduous shrubs, closely 

 allied to the Medlar. Layers ; common 

 rich loam. Small trees cultivated for 

 their showy white flowers, which are 

 produced early in the season. They are 

 also propagated by grafting on the haw- 

 thorn or on the quince. 

 A. botrya'pium (grape-pear). 12. North Ame- 

 rica. 1746. 



flo'rida (flowery). 12. North America. 182C. 

 parvifo'tia (small-leaved). 3. 



ova' Us (oval-leaved) . 8. North America. 1800. 

 semi-integriftftia (half-entire leavd) . 



North America. 



subcorda'ta (subcordate - leaved). 



North America. 



sangui'nca (bloody). 4. North America. 1800. 



vulga'ris (common). 6. South of Europe. 



1596. 



AME'LLUS. (A name employed by 

 Virgil for a blue aster -looking plant 

 growing on the banks of the river Mella. 

 Nat. ord., Composites [Asteracese]. Linn. 

 Sys., W-Synffenesia, 2-SupcrJlua). Allied 

 to aster. The first is a greenhouse 

 evergreen shrub, and the other two hardy 

 herbaceous perennials. Loamy soil ; cut- 

 tings. 



A. lychni'tis (lychnitis). 1. Violet. July. Cape 

 of Good Hope. 1768. 



spinulo'sus (spinulose). 2. Yellow. Au- 



gust. Missouri. 1811. 



villo'sus (long-haired). 1. Yellow. Au- 



gust. Missouri. 1811. 



AMEKICAN ALOE. Agave Americana. 



AMERICAN BLIGHT. The insect at- 

 tacking our apple-trees, and known by 

 this name, is the Eriosoma lanigera of 

 some entomologists, and E. mali and 

 Aphis lanigera of others. Its generic 

 characters are, having an abdomen (belly) 

 without tubercles, antenna?, or horns, 

 short and thread form, and the whole body 

 more or less cottony or tomentose. The 

 presence of these insects is shewn by the 

 white cottony matter in the cracks and 

 excrescences of apple-tree branches in 

 the spring. When crushed they extrude 



