470 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 15, 1870. 



on any low cheap walla, and also against walls in kitchen gardens not 

 fully furnished with trees, — in short, in all bare spaces so often found 

 between wall trees in old gardens. These methods of cultivating 

 choice Pears and the finer kinds of American Apples are worthy of 

 much more attention than they have hitherto received. 



" The method of cultivating the Prince Engelbert, and one or two 

 other kinds of Plums as vertical single cordons, has been practised 

 here for some few years ; it is original, highly worthy of attention, and 

 may be made a profitable venture, not only for the amateur but for 

 the market-gardener. 



" The management of those charming structures — ground vineries, 

 is in this edition more fully gone into than before ; in short, all tho 

 modes of culture hitherto recommended have been revised and made 

 as perfect as practice can make them, for it must be recollected that 

 all the modes of culture here recommended have been well tested, and 

 no foreign practice recommended till found adapted to our wet English 

 climate, the mean temperature of which is just about two degrees too 

 low for the choice kinds of fruits to ripen without assistance." 



The Beetroot Sugar Question. By E. F. De Man. London : 

 Ridgway. 

 We warn cur readers against throwing away 3s. 6VZ. on this 

 ill-written, unpractical pamphlet. There is not a suggestion 

 in it that is useful, and long French quotations are given for no 

 better reason than that they "will read more gracefully, espe- 

 cially for the lair sex." 



DECEMBER CATERPILLARS. 

 It is a little remarkable that the caterpillar of the Btitteifly, 

 which claims the highest rank amongst our " Britishers," 

 passes the winter in a torpid 3tate. For this reason it may be 

 considered remarkable, that to an extent it may be assumed 

 that there is a certain check to the increase of a species, for in 

 some winters many of these hybemating caterpillars must 

 perish from various causes. Few have been so fortunate as to 

 find the caterpillar of the Purple Emperor (Apatura Iris) at 

 any stage of its growth ; and for an account of it3 early history 

 in particular we are indebted to the researches of Dr. Maclean. 

 The egg is very much like a fossil Echinus in miniature denuded 

 of its spines, and the little Emperor (to be) quits his shell about 

 the end of July. Changing its skin in a week's time, it then 

 exhibits two curious horns attached to the head, each of which 

 is seen to be slightly cleft. Dark brown, too, when first hatched, 

 it has now assumed just the tint of the Sallow on which it pre- 

 fers to feed, though occasionally it is found on the Oak, accord- 

 ing to the oldest observers. The mode of aiding digestion 

 adopted by the young caterpillar is curious : having eaten its 

 fill off some leaf, it then marches to the tip, and fixing itself 

 there, remains motionless, raising its head in the air in the 

 manner of the Puss Moth caterpillar. Seme time in November 

 it seeks out a twig to its taste, and forms a slight silken web on 

 the bark, and on this it rests extended at full length, with the 

 horns pressed together, and awaits the favourable influences of 

 spring. When larger, this caterpillar rests in an almost straight 

 position, though Mr. Newman observes that "when feeding, 

 it bends its somewhat obese body with the facility, and I would 

 almost say elegance, of a slug ; but I fear many of my readers 

 will scarcely appreciate the comparison. If annoyed, it con- 

 tracts its body, assuming a very lumpy appearance." The 

 peculiar horns on the crown are now established in their 

 matured state, and are seen to be roughened over with small 

 points. They have no separate power of motion, waving to 

 and fro with the head. In colour they are greenish blue, with 

 black tips. The whole body i3 slug-shaped, tapering at both 

 extremities, and crossed by several transverse rows of warts. 

 At the anal extremity are two points nearly parallel. The 

 general colour is green, while on each side, in the line of the 

 Spiracles, there runs a slender yellow stripe ; starting from this 

 are seven oblique yellowish-white stripes, which slope upwards, 

 but do not reach the middle of the back. The under surface is 

 also green. The head of the chrysalis, which is seldom found, 

 terminates in two short joints, and the body of it shows faintly 

 •the oblique stripes which adorn the caterpillar. The nearly 

 adult caterpillar of the Marbled White Butterfly referred to last 

 month, lives solitarily near or on the surface of the ground 

 through the winter There is a species much inferior in size 

 to the preceding, but an entomologist records that he has 

 several times observed..in the wolds of Northamptonshire the 

 attacks made by the Marbled White on his imperial relative, 

 when he descends to the lower regions of the air, or settles in 

 some damp spot. 

 . A pleasant sight is it in a woodland walk to see the graceful 



movements of the Speckled Wood Butterfly (Pyrarga iEgeria) 

 as it passes along the " ridings " or skims over them. The 

 caterpillar producing it may be found in December, as also in 

 other winter months. The eggs from which the winter brood 

 emerges are laid in July or August. The young caterpillar 

 feeds on various grasses, and does not grow much before it 

 hybernates. Sepp, a continental naturalist, reports that speci- 

 mens he had, changed their skins five times before winter. The 

 head is black when the caterpillar is first hatched, but with the 

 first moult it becomes green. With the growth of the early 

 grasses in spring this little creature begins again to feed, and 

 rapidly increasing in size, is generally full grown by the end of 

 March. The body of it is shuttle-shaped, the divisions of the 

 segments being clearly marked, and each being slightly wrinkled, 

 which gives the appearance of their being again divided ; atlhe 

 anal extremity are two parallel points. The whole surface is 

 covered with small raised points, from each of which there 

 rises a stiff bristle. The general colour is sometimes olive- 

 green, sometimes an umber-brown : in both kinds we have 

 three stripes, each of which is triple, being composed of a dark 

 smoke-coloured central stripe and two yellowish or whitish 

 stripes. The chrysalis is fastened to a silken web on a grass 

 stem, or some plant near the food of the caterpillar. There is 

 also supposed to be a summer brood of the caterpillars of the 

 Speckled Wood. The caterpillar of the Wall Butterfly is closely 

 allied to the preceding, and the two Butterflies resemble each 

 other in one singular particular — they have the eyes hairy. 

 Hybernating individuals of the autumn brood of th6 caterpillars 

 of the Wall (Pyrarga Megaara) rest upon low herbage, close to 

 the ground from September till March usually, nor do they 

 appear to eat during that time, as is the case with some grass- 

 feeding caterpillars amongst the moth tribes. The caterpillar 

 of the Wall feeds chiefly by night, remaining through the day 

 with its body extended along a blade of Grass. In many 

 respects it resembles the one just described, having a similarly 

 Ehaped body, with anal points, and being also studded with 

 minute warts. The colour, however, is apple-green, the head 

 being of a deeper and duller tint, and also a narrow stripo down 

 the back ; there is a pale greenish-white stripe along the sides ; 

 the legs are almost colourless, and half transparent, the claspers 

 being of the same colour as the body ; the points at the extremity 

 are tipped with pink. When of full size, this caterpillar sus- 

 pends itself by the tail, and becomes a chrysalis, the Butterfly 

 emerging in May. 



A good many of the caterpillars belonging to the extensive 

 family of the Noctuaj live from autumn on to the spring or 

 summer. Amongst these are several belonging to the genus 

 Noctua, individuals of which turn up occasionally when the 

 entomologist is digging round the roots of trees in fields, or 

 when he is examining the sparse heibage along the hedge-banks. 

 The caterpillar of the Double Dart (Noctua Augur), though a 

 feeder upon Whitethorn and Sallow, usually passes the winter 

 near the roots of low plants. The head in this species is small 

 and slightly notched, and Mr. Newman observes that when 

 crawling it " stretches the head forward, and moves it about in 

 a leech-like manner." This caterpillar has a very smooth body, 

 of a dull purple hue, varied with darker markings, and along 

 the line of the spiracles there runs a stripe of rich brown ; upon 

 the back there are some white spots arranged in pairs, part of 

 these being indistinct ; the legs and claspers are pale and lock 

 nearly transparent. It attains maturity in the month of May. 

 A rare and pretty spec-ic-s is that known as the Lesser Ingrailed 

 (Noctua conflua), in England apparently occurring only near 

 Darlington, and being restricted in Scotland to two or three 

 localities. The eggs are laid in the summer upon low plants 

 indiscriminately, though the caterpillar seems most partial to 

 the leaves of the Moss Campion. Unlike some of it3 brethren, 

 it attains a good size before hibernation. The head is smaller 

 than the second segment, almost round, having upon the face 

 two crescentic marks, placed back to back. The body is greenish- 

 yellow, with fine lines of brown distributed over it. The straight 

 stripe, nearly white, runs down the middle of the back, while 

 on each side of this, from the fourth to the tenth segment, is 

 another stripe, and between this and the upper one there is a 

 black spot on each segment. The spiracles are black, sur- 

 rounded with white ; the feet are blaok at the tips, the claspers 

 much paler than the body. The cococn is ingeniously con- 

 structed by the adult caterpillar of particles of leaves, mixed 

 with earth, and interwoven with silk. A very rare British moth 

 is that called the Feathered Ear (Pachetra leuoopbrca), ap- 

 parently confined entirely to one locality in Surrey (nearMickle- 

 ham), where it might be worth the while of collectors to hunt 



