Becember 28, 1871. ] 



JOUENAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



507 



«aterpiilar is brown ia colour like that of T. pronuba, resem- 

 bling it in appearance, but marked with some oonspieuous black 

 spots. The moth is esoeedia^ly beautiful, and the insect- 

 hunter looks upon it as one of the choicer ornaments of his 

 collection ; it flies in July. The caterpillar feeds from autumn 

 to spring. I have taken this species in Surrey ; more frequently, 

 however, in Kent, especially in the lanes about Greenhithe, 

 where the moth flies out briskly from the hedges when aroused 

 by the beating-stick of the entomologist. Yat it is not easily 

 eeoured, for it can rarely be netted on the instant, and darting 

 some distance along the road, it generally enters the hedge on 

 the same side again. You approach, having marked the spot, 

 as you suppose, thinking that the net may be easily clapped 

 over it, but you fail to find it, and the reason is, that after 

 entering the hedgerow it moves along amongst the leaves, which 

 throws the observer out of his calculation. In the district to 

 which I am referring gardens are not numerous, the country 

 being well wooded, and I have no doubt that the caterpillars 

 there feed upon Chiokweed, perhaps Nettles, and other low- 

 growing plants. 



Judging from the abundance of Turnips in the market at 

 present, I should surmise that on the whole they have not 

 suffered much from the attacks of insect enemies, though in 

 some quarters they have complained of the Turnip fly or beetle. 

 There are two lepidopterous larva;, however, which in some 

 seasons make sad ravages amongst our Turnip crops, and, in- 

 deed, every season they do a certain amount of damage. From 

 its great p8r:iality for 

 Turnips, one of these 

 {Agrotis Segetum) bears 

 the name of the Turnip 

 Moth. Besides the Tur- 

 nip, however, the cater- 

 pillar attacks a number 

 of other plants in the 

 kitchen garden, as, for, 

 instance, the Radish, 

 the Carrot, and Cab- 

 bages of various sorts, 

 ^ow and then a party 



of the moths will visit ''^^!iliS^^''^^^^-§'^&<^i 

 the flower beds, and de- ^^^ 

 positing eggs there, the Agrotis Segetam. 



natural result is that an active colony of caterpillars is at work 

 there shortly after, both above and below the ground. Mr. 

 INewman draws a dismal picture of the mischief they will do 

 dn a bed of that attractive flower — the China Aster. He says, 

 ■" Often the leaves of a plant here and there will be found 

 ■withering and curling up, and you become aware that it is 

 dying, and can't tell why ; just examine the stem where it 

 ■enters the ground, and you will find it completely decorticated ; 

 the rind has been gnawned off all round, and the circulation 

 of the sap being prevented, life is destroyed. You pull up the 

 Aster to find the enemy, but fail ; his depredations are com- 

 mitted in the night, and before daybreak he has wandered far 

 away." Whatever food the young caterpillars select, they appear 

 ■to prefer to feed above the surface at first, going deeper as they 

 -get larger : hence it is that some gardeners have gone forth 

 with lanterns, not like Diogenes to find an honest man, but to 

 detect dishonest depredators of the caterpillar sort, and many 

 young fellows of the species Segetum have paid dearly for their 

 midnight excursion. The process of searching, is, however, 

 tedious, and after a day's hard work in the summer the gar- 

 dener cannot be expected to take much interest in a hunt of 

 this sort, which must be carried out in an uncomfortable stoop- 

 ing position. 



We find that the caterpillars feed on throughout the winter 

 with scarcely any intermission, and from August onwards they 

 are diligently engaged in feeding underground on the Turnip 

 bulb, several being found very often burrowing into the same 

 Turnip. The rapidity with which one of these caterpillars 

 will make its way into the earth is very remarkable. The 

 -ground colour is a dull brown usually, there are some indistinct 

 •stripes, and a series of well-defined circular spots on all the 

 segments after the second. The second segment is notable for 

 having on its back a dark plate, which, doubtless, assists the 

 caterpillar in its mining operations. A minute examination, 

 however, of this caterpillar hardly affords any very marked dis- 

 tinction by which we can separate it from its congener, A. ex- 

 «lamationi3, also injurious to Turnip crops. It has been 

 noticed as a curious fact in the history of this species, that 

 while the greater part of the brood continue in the caterpillar 



state until the spring, a few become mature in October and 

 appear as moths, but do not live long, nor do they attempt to 

 continue their species. Mr. Newman regards this as a ease 

 somewhat analogous to the autumnal production of drones in 

 bee hives ; in both oases there is an apparent waste in Nature, 

 but had we a deeper insight we should probably be able to ex- 

 plain this and several other instances, wherein we in our 

 wisdom should be tempted to fancy we could improve upon the 

 economy of a species. 



The 'Tarnip Moth was particularly injurious to the crops in 

 1863-64, at which time it was shown by entomologists that 

 farmers and others have by their injudicious destruction of 

 birds preying upon the Turnip caterpillar and various " grubs " 

 of similar habit, been the chief cause of the multiplication of 

 these insect enemies. The rook and the partridge stand fore- 

 most in the list of the devourers of the Turnip grub. The 

 rooks, doubtless, obtain most, because they strike at the cater- 

 pillar in its retreat and drag it to the surface ; the partridges 

 hunt by scratching, and pick up smaller numbers. Many ex- 

 pedients have been tried by gardeners to keep the species 

 under, such as digging between the plants, which, it will be 

 found, usually is, in fact, doing an injury to remedy another; 

 others have tried the application of different solids and fluids, 

 such as lime, soot, sawdust, ashes, and the refuse liquor from 

 gasworks ; these are mostly, as Mr. Newman observes, " un- 

 certain and unsatisfactory." However, this and the equally 

 troublesome species of which I am next to speak have been in 

 some cases destroyed very successfully by watering the plants 

 with strong lime water. 



The Heart-and-Dirt Moth has been so named because it 

 bears upon, the fore wings markings supposed to resemble the 

 objects in question ; but really it might be thus designated 

 from the rapidity with which a caterpillar of the species will 

 " dart " to the " heart " of a tempting Turnip, Parsnip, or 

 Carrot. Why the older entomologists called it Agrotis exola- 

 mationis is not positively known, unless, indeed, it was because 

 it has forced many a bitter exclamation of disgust from the 

 horticulturist or agriculturist, for the species is a plague at 

 times in the fields as well as in gardens. Just about this time 

 also, on a mild night, caterpillars of the Heart-and-Dart may 

 be detected banqueting on the leaves or heads of any greens 

 which the autumnal frosts have as yet spared. The young 

 caterpillars also feed externally on various vegetables in the 

 garden and on weeds in waste places : they emerge from the 

 egg in June. 



Like A. Segetum, the species remains in the larval state 

 until the spring. The adult caterpillar forms a cocoon of 

 earth several inches beneath the surface, and is frequently dis- 

 lodged by the spade or hoe. Probably, as we find in some 

 other species, the disturbance does little harm to the pupa, 

 unless, indeed, it should be actually wounded, and left in so 

 exposed a position as to be an easy prey to birds, for there are 

 many which will devour a pupa quite as eagerly as they would 

 a caterpillar. Another rather singular foe to the caterpillar of 

 Agrotis exclamationis is the common rove beetle (Staphylinus 

 olens). Mr. Moncrieff observed one evening a party of these 

 beetles journeying towards their retreats, and each was drag- 

 ging along a caterpillar, which, on examination, was found to 

 belong to this species. They had all been disabled, but not 

 killed. Afterwards this gentleman found a quantity of larva 

 skins lying near the holes of the beetles. — J. R. S. C. 



MRS. PINCE BLACK MUSCAT GRAPE. 



Aftek reading the description of the above Grape in the 

 " Gardeners' Year Book " for 1866, I at once ordered it direct 

 from the Messrs. Pinoe, of Exeter. In 1868 a vinery was 

 erected here on Beard's principle, and in the month of June I 

 planted twenty Vines, ten of them being Mrs. Pinoe. In 1869 

 I had only a few bunches, and last year also it did not set well. 

 I had five bunches on each Vine, a good many small berries, 

 but the most of them shrivelled by the Ist of November. This 

 year I have ten bunches on each Vine, and not a small berry 

 in the hundred bunches. I have grown the most of the old 

 Grapes as well as the new which have been sent out during 

 these last twenty years, and I ha*e no hesitation in saying 

 that Mrs. Pince, in my estimation, is the best late black Grape 

 in cultivation. I herewith send for your inspection a fair 

 average bunch, likewise a bunch of Alicante grown in the 

 same house. — A. Donaldson, Latimers. 



[The bunches of Grapes as sent by Mr. Donaldson indicate 

 notjonly that he knows how to grow, but how to pack them. 



