'324: GARDENING FOR PROFIT. 



had been attacked at the same time, but had received no 

 lime, was also entirely clear of the caterpillar ! The cure 

 was traceable to another cause. We had had a deluging 

 rain that swept off the caterpillars, and started the Cab- 

 bages into luxuriant growth at the same time. Had the 

 insect come in the legions it does in some places, had 

 there been no rain, and had the dry, hot weather con- 

 tinued, the lime dust would probably have failed. 



Last summer, I had with great care nursed .along in 

 my greenhouses, for many weeks, a collection of rare 

 varieties of German Stock Gillyflowers, a plant belonging 

 to the same natural order (Cruciferae), as the Cabbage. 

 Upwards of two thousand plants were set out in June, 

 on rather poor soil ; by the middle of July they had 

 made splendid plants, one foot across, and just as they 

 were bursting into bloom we observed the little white 

 butterfly moving amongst them, and knew what might 

 be expected to follow. Lime dust, solutions of carbolic 

 soap, whale oil soap, and sundry other things were used, 

 all to no effect, and by middle of August, the plants were 

 literally eaten up by the caterpillar. There is nothing 

 more unpleasant than to tell any one suffering under a 

 calamity that there is no effective remedy ; but it is in- 

 finitely better to do so than to delude them with a false 

 one. I have been a worker of the soil since my boyhood, 

 and every year's experience convinces me of the almost 

 helplessness of remedies against insects or other blight- 

 ing plagues that attack vegetation in the open field. It 

 is true that the amateur gardener may save his dozen or 

 two of Cabbages or Roses by daily picking off or destroy- 

 ing the insects ; but when it comes to broad acres, I 

 much doubt if ever any remedy will be found to be prac- 

 ticable, unless in rare instances, such as Pans Green, as 

 as an antidote against the Potato Bug. We have one con- 

 solation, in knowing that these pests are only periodical, 

 and never continue so as to permanently destroy. 



