1871 



THE WESTERN POMOLOGIST. 



37 



where he may yet rear homes with their accompa- 

 nying "embellisliments of sheltering trees, flowers 

 and vi'getaliles, thitlier they will resort cither in 

 single file or in great armies, as circumstances 

 prove favorable or otherwise. At anj' rate, the fact 

 that it is naturalized along the eastern border, 

 would seem to indirate that before a great wliile it 

 will be equally common in tlic West — a contin- 

 gency for which it may be well to prepare. 



In nature the Ichneumon Fly is one of the great 

 enemies of cabbage caterpillars. Various birds 

 also,{of the Finch faniilj' assi.st more or less in keep- 

 ing them in- check ; but .so far as my observations 

 extend they are of less account than many seem to 

 suppose. Co-workers they certainly are, and we 

 accept each one as assisting to preserve the balance 

 of power in nature, but the great ebbs and flows of 

 insect life seem to rim in channels too deep to be 

 much affected by such agencies. 



Asa remedy for tliepestwe have seen that the fam- 

 oui Persian Insect Powder has been tried, with what 

 success does not very clearly appear, but if with no 

 better result.s than I obtained some ten years ago 

 when experimenting with it on Green Fly, it had 

 better be abandoned as a remedy against any nox- 

 ious insect whatever. Gardeners in Britain have 

 no great trouble in preventing the various cabbage 

 caterpillars from greatly injuring their crops, and 

 the means they employ are neither expensive nor 

 diiBcult of application. It is simplj' to water] the 

 plants with clear lime water at such times as the 

 insects begin to show themselves. Or it may be as 

 well done before the eggs are hatched. This .they 

 regard as a complete remedy ; and when lime can 

 not be conveniently got, "even copious supplies of 

 clear water poured on the plants for several even- 

 ing in succession, will effectually destroy caterpil- 

 lar in every stage of its growth." 



Since writing the above I have seen in "Nature" for 

 Dec. 8th, 1870, a report of a meeting of the Insti- 



FEMALE BUTTERFLY. 



tute of Natural Science, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Nov. 

 14th, J. M. Jones F. L. S., President in the chair, 

 when he, the Chairman, read a paper on the Diurnal 

 Lepidoptera of Nova Scotia. With others, he said 

 the following species were common in the province : 

 "Pieris Oleracea, Harris, P. Rapae, and Boisd." The 

 author dwelt upon the introduction of Pieris Rapae 



into that part of Canada within the last few years, 

 and alluded to its abundance last summer in the 

 neighborhood of Halif>ix,i where It did an immense 

 amount^of damage to the cauliflower crops. He men- 



A, Caterpill.vk. B, Butterfly. 

 tioned the probable benefit that would arise from the 

 introduction of the House Sparrow of England 

 {Pyrgila domestica) that great enemy of caterpillar 

 life, which would amply repay the trouble and 

 expense of importation. At the present time the 

 caterpillars were almost free from molestation, and 

 it was but proper when possible on the introduc- 

 tion of an insect pest, to introduce its known 



enemy." 



»— ♦ — # 



Forest Tree Culture. 



By Ret. E. Gale, Manhattan, Kan. 



Read before the KansoK t^lale Horticultural Society, al Hit 

 Annual, Meeting at Man/iattan, December, 7, 1870. 



Sylva-culture has forced itself upon the attention 

 of thinking men, both in Europe and America, as 

 one of the great pi'acticul questions of the age. It 

 is not only a subject of interest to the tiller of the 

 soil, but it demands the consideration of the states- 

 man and physical geographer. And assembling as 

 we do to-day, upon the eastern border of this vast, 

 almos treeles.s, plain, stretching to the Rocky 

 Mountains on the west, and for a thousand miles 

 north and south, what more appropriate subject 

 can demand our thought V When we take into 

 consideration the vastuess of this field, the peculiar 

 fertility of its soil, almost unrivaled, and especially 

 its capacity to resist climatic changes ; and that 

 that this whole region is to a large degree destitute 

 of forests, which, if duly supplied, would make it 

 the home of millions, we cannot fail to recognize 

 the fact that we are standing in the very gate-way 

 of the widest and most promising fields of physio- 

 geograpliical experiment and observation which can 

 be found anywhere in the wide world. We ffre to 

 realize that through the earnest prosecution of Syl- 

 va-culture for this region, it may be made the home 

 of millions of happy and prosperous agriculturists, 

 thereby adding untold treasures to the wealth of 

 the nation, and by its dense population making 

 this great Central Basin the nation's very heart ; 

 or by a neglect of this culture, we leave it only to 

 be the transient home of a few cattle herders, an 

 almost dreary waste forever, hence the weakest 

 portion of our great national domain. 



