HORTICULTURE. 



311 



DiMttn 55S. There are several distinct kinds of gooirberry- 

 rf PUau. caterpillar. One species, of a whitish colour, becomes 

 ^T^C"' a longish fly, with golden-tinged w 'ngs, a yellow body, 

 2JJ r and yellow thighs ; probably the Tenthredo caprete. 

 Another, of a greni*h hue, which becomes T. flava, 

 often proves quite destructive to the foliage of the 

 plant, and consequently to the fruit. A third, of a 

 larger sie, and sometimes very common, is the larva 

 of the magpie-moth ( Phalcrna grostulariata, Lin. ./- 

 briuHu of Leach). The young of this last haunt du- 

 ring winter about the crevices of the bark ; and this is 



ideretl as the best time for destroying them. Their 

 destruction may be effected merely by hard rubbing of 

 the stems and branches, or by pouring boiling hot wa- 

 ter over these parts, which at this season does not in- 

 jure the boshes. The larvae of the saw-flies or teu- 

 thredines penetrate about an inch under ground in July, 

 and, passing into the chrysalis state, remain there till 

 the following spring, when they come forth in the form 

 of flies. For destroying these, one of the most effec- 

 tual means consists in delving the ground about the 

 bushes very deep during winter, taking care to bury 

 the surface-soil in the bottom. In this way the chry- 

 salids arc placed beyond the genial influence of the at- 

 mosphere, or if the transformation be accomplished, the 

 fly is unable to gain the surface. 



<\<r_u- Different species of Cocnu, particularly C. hesperi- 



ilum, often called icaly intectt, infest the plants of the 

 green-boose and the conservatory, particularly the myr- 



ihe orange, and the olive. A thorough washing 

 with soap and water, nibbing the leaves with a woollen 

 rag or bit of sponge tied on a small stick, is the rei 

 usually resorted to, the plants being afterwards 

 syringed with pure water. Coccus vilis infests 

 placed in stover, and is often very injurious, 

 their stems, aa it were, with little tufts of white cotton! 

 The means of freeing pine-apple plants from the coc- 

 cus, have already been advened to, { S2S. 



55*. The red tpidtr (Acarut telarnu) infests not on- 

 ly the pine-stove, vinery, and melon-frames, but often 

 proves very injurious to ornamental stove plants. Water 

 applied with the syringe is destructive to it. Some per- 

 sons recommend the use of lime-water ; but it is not 



inonry employed, being found hurtful to the foliage; 

 uor does any addition to the water seem necessary. 

 Waipt, 555. The finer kinds of fruits, as they approach ripe- 



ness, are subject to the attacks of different insects. 

 Among these wmtju ( I'ftpantlgant) may be first men- 

 tioned. Various expedients are resorted to for destroy - 

 .m. In tome places, phials half filled with honey 

 and water, or any sweet liquid, are hung in different 

 parti of the tree ; and great numbers are thus ensnared. 

 The moat effectual means, however, of keeping down 

 the numbers of this formidable enemy, is to destroy 



temales in the early part of the' season, and the 



: in the autumn. From hot-boose] they are, in 

 some places, excluded by employing temporary doors, 

 and temporary frames below the sashes, covered with 

 thin muslin or gauze : both kinds of doors are never al- 

 lowed to be open at the same time, and the game or 

 muslin does not prevent the access of sufficient light 

 and air. Where their exclusion is not thus effected, it 

 is foond very useful to have a plant of Hoya carnosa 

 established. This is an ornamental climber (named in 

 honour of Mr Thomas Hoy, a distinguished botanist, 

 who has for about half a century been head-gardener 

 to the Duke of Northumberland at Syon House), and 

 may be trained along any spare parts of the house, 

 wers freely ; and as long as the blossoms continue, 

 which they do for several weeks, the wasps give a de- 



cided preference to the sweet exudation they afford, 

 leaving grapes and peaches untouched. 



556. Earrpigt ( Forficula auricularia) attack all sorts 

 nf ripe fruit. N T o remedy is known but ensnaring and 

 killing- them. Short cuts of reeds, or of strong wheat- 

 straw, er hollow stalks of any kind, are placed here 

 and there among the branches, and also at the roots of 

 the trees. Into these the earwigs take refuge in great 

 numbers ; and from .the tubes they are blown into a 

 bottle containing water. 



557. The n-oodloiise, called idater in Scotland (un- Woodlouse. 

 der which name are included the Oniscus asellus and 

 Porcellio scaber of naturalists) is often entrapped along 



with the earwig. It is almost equally injurious to ripe 

 fruit as that insect. 



558. Flirt of many different species, and belonging Flirt, 

 to various genera, may lie numbered among the . 



mies ot ripe fruit. The wasp, the earwig, and the 

 woodloiise commence the attack, and " sap the bitch- 

 ing rind ;" the flies enter the openings made by these 

 more powerful insects, and extend the devastation. Se- 

 veral minor are very frequently to be observed, parti- 

 cularly M. tenax, Cpar, and canicularis. Wherever 

 the juices begin to corrupt, the large blow-fly (M. vo- 

 miloria) is to be found in every hollow. 



The caterpillari, which devour the leaves 

 cabbages, savoys, and broccoli, are principally the lar- 

 va- of Noctua brassica-, and X. oleracea. The com- 

 pletely green caterpillar, which frequently preys on 

 cauliflower and broccoli plants, is the larva of Papilio 

 rmpa, Lin. ( Pontia, Fabr. ) The cabbage tribe : 

 served to be most subject to the attack of caterpillars 

 in the neighbourhood of towns and in long cultivated 

 soils, where much crude manure has been applied. 

 The best and simplest remedy consists in turning up 

 the soil in ridges in the autumn, and leaving it expo- 

 sed to the action of the winter's frost ; but the applica- 

 tion of quicklime is also useful. 



560. The vire-tform is an indefinite sort of name for Wire-* 

 any small thread-like grub, which lodges in the roots 



of culinary plants, particularly such as are of a bulb- 

 ous or tuberous nature. These grubs apjj ..r to be 

 principally the larva- of different species of Klater. 

 They sometimes attack also the roots of ornamental 

 plants kept in pots: The remedy, in this case, con- 

 i repotting, shaking the roots dear of the old 

 earth, and using fresh soil brought from some old pas- 

 tare at a distance. 



The mafirot which infests onions and shallots (J 335 

 and 544), is a small larva, the transformations of which 

 have nut yet been traced by naturalists. 



For further information concerning the natural his- 

 tory of the insect enemies of fruits and culinary vege- 

 tables, we may refer to the first volume of a very enter- 

 taining and instructive work, entitled, " An Introduc- 

 tion to Entomology," by Messrs Kirbv and Spence, 

 8vo. London, 1815 : and to the article ENTOMOLOGY in 

 the 9th volume of this work. 



561. The other enemies of garden productions can 

 only be very slightly noticed here. 



Slug*, meaning principally Limax cinerarius and L. Slug*. 

 flavus, are often very mischievous to wall-trees, which 

 they ascend in the spring months, cutting off the fruit 

 at the time of setting. Inverted flower-pots are some- 

 times placed as decoys at the bottom of the trees, the 

 slugs being induced to take shelter within them. Ducks 

 are very good destroyers of slugs ; and a few are often 

 tinned into gardens for this purpose; they must be 

 kept in it for two or three days, and get no food but 

 what they cull for themselves. 



