July 13, 1871. ] 



JOUENAIi OP HOETICULTUBB AND COTTAGE GAEDENBB. 



29 



teetive tarifis. The differencea o{ individual experience are 

 saffioient, no doubt, tu account for some divergence of opinion 

 aB to the extent of protection necessary : but the almost uni- 

 versal prevalence o! frost, or equally destructive winds, up till a 

 late period in spring, should leave little room for doubt as to the 

 expediency of the practice to some extent. Perhaps too much 

 protection is as bad in its results as no protection ; and thus the 

 non-protectionists may find some justification of their views in 

 the failures of those that coddle their trees, under the impression 

 that they are retarding them, till they become unnaturally sen- 

 sitive of every change that occurs in our fitful spring weather, 

 it is quite possible to protect overmuch as it is possible to 

 clothe ourselves overmuch. The Hibernian gentleman who 

 put on his entire wardrobe, consisting of three suits and an 

 overcoat, and yet felt cold, neither succeeded in mailing himself 

 more comfortable nor in bracing himself up to a better state 

 for enduring cold. • So with our fruit trees ; we may clothe 

 them to the extent of frustrating our own object, and weakening 

 their powers of endurance. 



Much ingenuity has been displayed in devising fabrics for 

 the purpose of protecting frnit trees. Some of these fabrics 

 are well, others ill, adapted for the purpose ; yet each has its 

 advocates. Some prefer a dense or heavy covering, such as 

 canvas or frigi domo, along with the attendant labour and 

 trouble of daily removing in the morning and putting it on at 

 night. Others think the lighter kinds of pvoteoting materials, 

 such as Haythorn's hexagon netting and the thinner kinds of 

 tiffany, the most effective protectors for either blossom or frnit. 

 Perhaps no kind of material in use for the purpose meets all 

 the requirements. Haythorn's netting, the least dense and 

 most elegant of all, is, I believe, too thick, too obstructive of 

 light, and loo bad a conductor. The object of protection should 

 not be to increase artificially the temperature around our trees, 

 but to prevent excessive loss of heat by means of radiation or 

 blasting winds. A much slighter covering than any in use is 

 sufficient to effect this. It is no uncommon thing to find a 

 tender Peach or Apricot under an overhanging leaf quite safe, 

 while those exposed directly to the action of radiation are de- 

 stroyed. The thin leaf, -with its tissues charged with moisture, 

 is a pretty good conductor, yet it is quite sufficient protection 

 for the fruit it shelters, and the fact is suggestive. 



Some apply their protection long before their trees are in 

 any danger, and believe they are retarding them. The use of 

 this it is difficult to see ; for supposing that it is possible with 

 safety to retard trees that are stirred into activity, say in Fe- 

 bruary or early March, by the slight increase of the mean tem- 

 perature of day and night that takes place so early in the year, 

 is the application of protection, as soon as they are suspected 

 to be on the move, the proper means to adopt in order to ac- 

 complish this object ? I am not satisfied that it is so, for 

 having had some experience of most of the materials commonly 

 used, I have observed that they all tend to increase the mean 

 temperature of the day by raising the actual temperature of the 

 night, while they have much less infiuenoe in depressing that 

 of the day than is generally supposed. The weather itself is 

 perhaps the most effectual retarding agent we could wish in 

 spring, north of the Tweed at least. 



But granting that the application of the most approved pro- 

 tecting fab'iij acted so as to retard the activity of the trees, 

 what, it may be asked, is the good gained by the practice ? 

 "Not much, that is lery apparent. Could we retard them for a 

 month, which is impossible, wa should not then be able to pro- 

 nounce them past danger ; for there are not any groimds for 

 assni-ing ourselves that the more .tender kinds of fruit — such as 

 the Peach and Apricot — are safe till the middle or end of May. 

 It is from March till the middle of May that danger to our fruit 

 crops is most to be apprehended from frost ; and it is pretty 

 ■olaar, I think, that it is impracticable to retard the action of tha 

 trees to any considerable extent, so as to tide them over the 

 critical period in greater safety. Any covering, be it light or 

 heavy, if it is composed of non-conducting material, wiU have 

 the effect of surrounding the subject protected by it with a more 

 equable atmosphere, leas liable to fluctuations of temperature 

 than the outer air. Every cultivator knows that such a con- 

 dition is the most favourable for steady progress in vegetable 

 activity, and that plants accustomed to such a condition are 

 much more susceptible to injury from any sudden decrease of 

 temperature than those that are subject to greater variations. 

 Those, therefore, that practise that system which is named 

 retarding, practically extend the period of danger by hastening 

 its commencement, for there is no possibility of correspondingly 

 shortening it at the other end, and they also increase the danger 



by rendering their trees more susceptible of cold when extreme 

 occasions arise. 



My own experience is all in favour of the thinnest possible 

 protection, to be put on only when it is no longer safe to post- 

 pone doing so, and to be kept permanently fixed as long as 

 protection is thought necessary. In my own case circumstances 

 leave me no choice between old herring-nets and nothing. 

 During the past three years they have been used only in part 

 for the purpose, there not being sufficient of other fabrics to 

 cover all subjects deemed worthy of, or in need of, protection, 

 but during the present year nothing has been used except old 

 herring-nets. We use them twofold ; and scanty protection 

 though they may appear to be, we have proved them quite 

 capable of carrying safely through as good crops as there are 

 going this year of Apricots, Peaches, and the better kinds of 

 Plums, &e. Yet we were not exempt from the exceptionally 

 severe weather that prevailed from March till the beginning of 

 the second week of June ; on the 15th March we had 17° of 

 frost ; on the 7th, 8th, and 9th April we experienced 6°, 9°, and 

 12° of frost each night respectively ; and again on the 16th of 

 May we had 10° of frost. On these very severe mornings, and 

 others less severe, but still frosty, which preceded and followed 

 them, we, in addition to our preventive measures, employed 

 also restorative means in the shape of cold water from the 

 garden engine ; the trees were kept drenched from peep of day 

 till the sun had warmed the atmosphere. I believe this did 

 much good ; I am persuaded, at least, that it did no harm. 

 Our thinnings of Apricots would have furnished the trees twice 

 over with fair crops. Peaches will not bear thinning, but 

 there is a respectable sprinkling on most trees. Plums are 

 fair crops, and Cherries also are fair ; Apples and Pears, neither 

 of them protected, are exceedingly thin crops. 



This subject of the protection of fruit in spring is interesitng 

 as well as important, and to many, I have no doubt, it would 

 be acceptable to see it fairly discussed from various points of 

 view. — W. Sutherland, Minto Gardens. — {The Gardener.) 



SOJME PREDATORY INSECTS OF OUR 

 GARDENS.— No. 12. 

 About this time of the year the sombre-looking Goat Moth 

 (Cossus ligniperds), may be detected in the day extending itself 

 on the tree trunks. At night it flies about rather languidly, 

 the females depositing their eggs in the crevices of the bark. 

 The unscientific human individual who has been accustomed 

 to associate the word " moth " with a tiny creature destructive 

 to cloth or to seeds, is considerably puzzled when informed 

 that this large-winged insect is also a moth. In some counties, 

 nevertheless, we flnd that the name, " Moth-owlet," is applied 

 to this, and to other dull-coloured species, such as the Old 

 Lady, indiscriminately. Common as is the Goat Moth near 

 the metropolis, and in various localities, there are some parts 

 of England where it does not occur at all. Doubtless, on the 

 principle of compensation, other species make up there for its 

 absence, and help to bring to the ground many a goodly tree. 

 For the caterpillar of the Goat is an internal feeder in the 

 wood of many of the UlmaceiE, though particularly frequent in 

 the Willow. Prom the circumstance that in the same trees 

 are generally to be found hosts of small beetles, also wood- 

 borers in their larval condition, a fierce controversy was 

 waged as to whether they worked simultaneously, or whether 

 the first transgressor was the moth, and the beetle merely 

 came-in at the finish, though the latter are certainly to be 

 found sometimes at trees uninfected by the Goat. In my 

 opinion, which I give with hesitation, the beetles in question, 

 which are of the Weevil family, and of the genus Scolytus, and 

 allied genera, follow the caterpillars, or other and larger wood- 

 eaters, and do not attack trees healthy and sound. The peculiar 

 oiour of the Goat caterpillar gives one a clue to its presence, and 

 is so persistent that several washings are needful to remove it 

 from the hands should the creature have been taken hold of. 

 A story has been passed from author to author, which is to the 

 effect that the Eomans in their age of epicurism devoured a 

 fleshy grub they called CoBsus, and which was this odoriferous 

 and repulsive caterpillar. The first half may be true, the 

 second is exceedingly doubtful. It is not at all easy to find 

 the young caterpillar of the species before us, and yet it is in 

 the early stage that one would wish to operate upon it were it 

 possible. My own supposition is grounded on what I have 

 observed in the case of the Leopard Moth, another wood-feeder, 

 that for a time, at least, it lives between the bark and the wood 



