58 MORE POT-POURRI 



thickest in the middle, covered with moderately abundant 

 hairs; and four square -topped bunches of hair of a pale 

 yellow colour grew on his back. His head and body 

 were green ; his long, pointed tail bright pink. The spaces 

 between the tufts of hair were deep black. His legs and 

 pro-legs were green. I thought I had got hold of some 

 wonderful rare beast, as I had never before found a 

 caterpillar with a pink tail like a horn. A friend to 

 whom I refer all my natural history questions informed 

 me that this was the caterpillar of a moth called the 

 ' Pale Tussock ' because of the tussocks upon his body. 

 The moth is pale gray coloured, with various markings, 

 and is fairly common. He feeds upon most trees, often 

 on Oak, but also on Hazel, Birch, and — oddly enough 

 — Hops. He will eat Plum and Pear. 



October 23rd. — I have found that Crocus speciosus 

 does admirably in this very light soil, and comes up year 

 after year, but is very much better not disturbed, whes 

 it decidedly increases. Young plants of variegated Maple 

 look very pretty planted in clumps in front of a shrub- 

 bery, especially if backed by small plants of Prunus 

 pissardi. The planting of Rosemary under shrubs, no 

 matter what aspect, has answered perfectly, and in this 

 way I have a lot of the delicious stuff, not only to burn 

 in my own house, but to give away. 



October 25th. — We have improved on the cultivation 

 of watercress in a dry garden by sowing it in a wide 

 trench with the sides supported by two old boards, and 

 close to a tap, so that it can be easily watered. In 

 October some of the plants are dug up, put into a box 

 and then placed in a cold frame, so I get fresh water- 

 cress for tea through the cold weather. In London it is 

 easy to get everything more or less good, but this is not 

 at all the case in the country. What you do not grow 

 you generally have to do without, and even if watercress 



