61 



York Agricultural Experiment Station, that a mixture of one part of powdered Pyrethrum, 

 with three parts of plaster or air-slacked lime is quite effective in destroying this insect. 

 It is applied with a small bellows, by inserting the nozzle among the leaves, so that the 

 powder is driven through the plant. Another mixture, cheaper than the foregoing, is one 

 part of the powder to twenty of flour, applied in the same way ; experiments with this 

 showed that the caterpillars were killed by it in twelve hours. 



A still cheaper remedy, and one more quickly applied, is the following : — Dilute one 

 table-spoonful of the cheapest black carbolic acid in one gallon of water, apply sparingly 

 after heavy rains, and at intervals of three or four weeks, if the caterpillars are observed. 

 It is said by those who have tested it, to give them uninjured crops of cabbage. 



Cabbage Moths. 



The caterpillars of two kinds of moths, 

 are also injurious to the cabbage and allied 

 plants. One of these, the Cabbage Plusia, P. 

 brassicae, Riley, has of late years become 

 increasingly destructive in some of the neigh- 

 bouring States, and is also found in this 

 Province. Fig. 40, a represents the larva, b 

 the chrysalis, and c the perfect insect. The 

 caterpillar is pale green, lined with white, 

 and has a few scattered black hairs rising 

 from small white spots ; when walking it 

 loops its body in a peculiar manner, as shown 

 in the cut. The moth, which is dark gray, 

 almost brown, is especially distinguished by 

 the silvery spots on the forewings. 



Fig. 40. 



The other cabbage moth is represented 

 in Fig. 41, in both stages of caterpillar 

 and perfect insect. It is known as the 

 Zebra, Mamestra picta, Harris, from the 

 peculiar markings, which render the cater- 

 pillar quite handsome. 



As the larva? of both these moths feed 

 for the most part on the outside of the 

 plants they infest, they may often be kept 

 in check without difficulty by hand pick- 

 ing. They may also be destroyed by 

 sprinking the plants with hot water a 

 little below the boiling point. The 

 Pyrethrum insect powder may be employed 

 as well ; a tablespoonf ul thoroughly mixed 

 through two gallons of water and sprinkled 

 over the plants, is said to be effective in 

 destroying the caterpillars. 



Fig. 41. 



Canker Worms. 



There are two species of insects whose caterpillars are commonly known as canker 

 worms ; the moths of one species, Anisopteryx pometaria, Harris, appear chiefly in the 

 autumn, those of the other, A. vernata, Peck, partly in the autumn, but most abundantly 

 in the spring. They resemble each other very much in appearance, and possess the same 

 habits : the remedies to be employed against them are therefore the same in both cases. 



