lHH CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. 



proboscis, or snout, at the end of which is the mouth ; 

 the insect eats a small hole right through the shell of the 

 Nut and into the kernel, and then lays an egg at the 

 entrance to the hole and pushes it to the bottom. The 

 grubs are hatched in about a week or ten days, and attain 

 their full size in September before they leave the Nuts ; 

 the ground underneath the bushes should be well dressed 

 with gas lime or ashes, or sand soaked in paraffin oil, so 

 that the grubs may not be able to bury themselves in the 

 soil. In the winter well trench the ground, the surface 

 soil being turned to the bottom, to bury the chrysa- 

 lides as deeply as possible, or the soil may be only just 

 broken up so as to bring the chrysalides to the surface, 

 where they will be under the influence of the weather, and 

 be within reach of the birds. .Small birds should always 

 be encouraged among the bushes, as they, and particu- 

 larly the titmice, kill numbers of the weevils. Any Nuts 

 that fall prematurely should be collected and burnt. 



Pea and Bean Weevils (Sitones lineatus). — These 

 weevils are very injurious to crops of Peas and Beans by 

 feeding on the leaves. When the plants have attained 

 some size this does not so much matter, but whilst quite 

 young they suffer very much, the weevils only leaving the 

 midribs of the leaves ; as these insects generally feed at 

 night, hiding themselves in cracks in the earth during the 

 day, it is by no means easy to kill them, particularly 

 as they resemble the soil so much in colour that they are 

 very difficult to detect when they fall and feign to be 

 dead, as they do at the slightest alarm. Dust the leaves 

 when wet with powdered soot or lime, or a mixture of 

 gas lime, lime, and soot. Spraying with paraffin emulsion, 

 properly diluted, would be very useful, and press the soil 

 firmly round the plants by walking slowly up the rows 

 with one foot on either side. This will prevent the 

 weevils to some extent from coming up out of the ground. 

 Sand, soaked in paraffin oil, strewn on each side of the 

 rows is also useful. The young plants should be pushed 

 into rapid growth as quickly as possible by watering with 

 liquid manure, or any other suitable methods of cultiva- 

 tion. The genus to which this insect belongs contains a 

 considerable number of species, several of which attack 

 Peas and Beans, but by far the commonest one is Sitones 

 lineatus, which is about ^in. in length, and of a greyish 

 brown colour, striped longitudinally with yellow. The 



PEA AND BEAN WEEVILS. 



1 and 2. Sitones crinitus, nat. size and mag. 

 3 and 4. ,, lineatus. ,, „ 



grubs feed on the roots, and are white, legless, and about 

 iin. long. 



The Turnip Gall Weevil (Ceutorhynchas Sulcicollis). — 

 There is yet another weevil that at times is decidedly 

 injurious in our gardens, as its grubs form galls on the 

 roots of Turnips and Cabbages of all kinds. These galls 

 vary much in size, but sometimes form a knob on the 

 root fin. in diameter, and the roots at times are covered 

 with them. The weevils lay their eggs in the roots in 

 May or June, and as soon as feeding-time comes the galls 

 begin to grow. Generally there is only one grub in each 

 gall, but sometimes there are several. When the grubs 

 are full grown they make their way out of the galls and 

 form cells -in the earth, in which they eventually become 

 chrysalides. It is only when the insect is in this condition 



that one can destroy it, unless the roots are used before 

 the grubs leave them, so that as soon as an infested crop 

 has been removed the soil should be well dressed with gas 

 lime and thoroughly broken up, and no plants that the 

 weevils are likely to attack grown on it for at least a year. 

 Particular care should be taken in this respect with seed 

 beds. The weevil is about Jin. in length, very broad 

 in proportion, and glossy black in colour ; the grubs are 

 nearly 2-ioin. long, and white with yellowish heads. 



White Cabbage Butterflies (Pieris brassier and 



P. rapi). — The caterpillars of these two common butter- 

 flies, besides attacking Cabbages of various kinds, 

 Cauliflowers, Turnips, etc., are very destructive to the 

 leaves of Mignonette, Tropxolums of various kinds, 

 and Horse-radish. When plants are infested, pick them 



WHITE CABBAGE BUTTERFLY. 

 1. White Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris brassiccs). 2. Eggs. 

 3. Caterpillar. 4. Chrysalis. 



off by hand, unless the pests are very abundant, when 

 the plants might be sprayed with paraffin emulsion or 

 salt and water, or pyrethrum powder might be sprinkled 

 into the heads of Cabbages. The butterflies may be 

 caught in nets. The chrysalides may often be found on 

 posts or palings, and under the eaves of outhouses, and 

 should always be destroyed. These butterflies are too 

 well known to require description, and the two species 

 may be easily distinguished from one another by their 

 unequal size. The Cabbage butterfly is considerably 

 larger than the other, measuring about 3m. across the 

 wings when fully expanded, while the Turnip butterfly 

 is not more than 2in. The caterpillars of the former 

 species when full grown are i^in. in lenglh, of a pale 

 blue or green colour above and yellow on the under-side, 

 there being down the middle of the back a yellow stripe. 

 There are various black spots, dots, and hairs scattered 

 over the bodv. The caterpillar ot the Turnip butterfly 

 is about 1 in. long and of a dull green colour, with a 

 yellow stripe down the back and one on either side ; it 

 is so covered with short hairs as to be quite velvety. 

 Winter Moth (Ckeimatobia brumata, and other species). 

 — The caterpillars of this moth, and some nearly allied 

 species, are among the most destructive pests to the 

 leaves and flowers of Apple, Cherry, Damson, Pear, and 

 Plum trees and Nut bushes. They attack the young 

 leaves and flowers as soon as the buds begin to open, so 

 that at times after a severe visitation the trees appear to 

 be scorched by fire. There are fortunately various useful 

 methods for keeping these insects in check, perhaps the 

 most efficient being that which prevents the females from 

 reaching the buds to lay their eggs ; the females are 

 wingless, or have such very rudimentary wings that they 

 are perfectly useless as organs of flight, and as the chrysa- 

 lides are formed in the ground the females have to crawl 

 up the items before they can reach their^- destination. 

 Therefore the application of sticky bands which ihe 



