ENEMIES OF BEETROOT. 53 



Black iDolphi7i. — This is the great pest of Broad Beans such as 

 Windsors and Longpods. It establishes itself in the growing tips, 

 and speedily multiplies itself to the extent of several thousands, or 

 even millions. There is no earthly reason why it should do the 

 damage it does, for if the tips of the plants are nipped out and 

 destroyed directly the first fly is seen the enemy is completely 

 baffled. If you do not think one insect worth killing, and wait for a 

 few more to gather, anything may happen. A pinch in time saves 

 nine. It might be thought (1) that the stopping would injure the 

 plant, (2) that the dolphin would strike the plant again. The 

 stopping does no harm whatever, rather good, by helping the plant 

 to swell up its pods; and I have never seen a stopped plant 

 attacked a second time, although I have watched many. In this 

 case the cultivator has the remedy literally at his finger ends. 



Bed Sjnder. — This is the terror of the suburban back gardener, 

 who sows his Scarlet Runners in 6 inches of gravel and trains them 

 up a sun-baked fence. Xo matter what the sun or the fence may 

 be like. Scarlet Runners will never have red spider if the soil has 

 been properly prepared for them by trenching. So long as the roots 

 of the plants are luxuriating in a cool bottom the plants are safe. I 

 have never spent a halfpenny on washes for my Scarlet Runners, 

 although the plants are not mulched, except with soil, and never 

 have either water or liquid manure. Red spider is a result of bad 

 culture, and nothing else. 

 Beetroot :— 



Birds.— cannot very well class birds as either insects or 

 fungi, but they make themselves felt all the same. Irate gardeners 

 are apt to declare that the sparrow is beyond classification : he is an 

 outcast, a pariah. There are millions of sparrows around my 

 garden, and newcomers of this feather view the place with a lively 

 intelligence and satisfaction, as something specially prepared for 

 their benefit. Old stagers are rather less chirpy. Sometimes a hot 

 impulse of anger surges in my breast when I see a batch of seedlings 

 cleared off, but no man can be cross with a sparrow long ; the little 

 bird is too cheerfully impudent in his dishonesty. Beetroot growers 

 raise harrowing moans over the depredations of the birds. Certainly 

 thousands of plants are pulled out every spring, and often two, 

 and even three, sowings are made. I recommend all sufi'erers to 

 invest in a few square yards of old tanned fish netting. A big piece 

 can be got for half a crown, and with care it lasts at least three 

 seasons. It is because I use fish netting over my Beetroot bed that 

 the old hands (or should I say feathers ?) in the select sparrow circles 

 of the neighbourhood are more subdued than the young bloods. 

 They have learnt something by bitter experience. Green-leaved 

 varieties of Beet are not, as a rule, so badly punished by birds as 

 dark-leaved sorts. 



Borecole, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbages, and 

 Cauliflowers 



The three valuable Winter Greens, with their useful companion 



