182 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



COMMON FLAT-BODIED MOTH, 

 CATERPILLAR, AND CHRYSALIS. 



Depressaria applana. — The common fiat- 

 bodied moth, fig. 63, is another of this genus of 



moths whose 

 caterpillars do 

 great mischief 

 to seed - crops 

 of carrots and 

 parsnips, by de- 

 vouring the 

 whole umbels 

 of flowers, and 

 not unfrequent- 

 ly stripping the 

 plants of their 

 entire stem fo- 

 liage. Their 

 mode of oper- 

 ating is to draw 

 the flower- 

 heads together 

 by many strong 

 silken threads, 

 which they af- 

 terwards ex- 

 tend into a net- 

 work habita- 

 tion, in which 

 they remain 

 consuming the 

 seed-vessels, 

 and after a time 

 changing to 

 pupa), some- 

 times within the 



web, at other times rolling themselves up in a leaf 

 or within the stem, in which they remain secure. 



The wire-worm (Elater) also attacks them 

 under ground from their earliest stages. Copious 

 applications of caustic lime are of much use in 

 such cases ; and highly-stimulating manures, 

 such as guano or pigeons' dung, accompanied 

 with deep-trenching, will be found beneficial — 

 the former to stimulate the carrots into rapid 

 growth, and the latter to derange the economy 

 of the insects during their transformation. 



Amongst other means of getting rid of the 

 wire-worm is the rather novel one of feeding it 

 with rape-cake to repletion. The rape-cake is 

 broken up into small pieces about the size of 

 marbles; and when the finer particles are re- 

 moved by sifting, the larger pieces are sown in 

 the drills at the same time as the seed; or a 

 better way is to drill the ground from 3 to 4 

 inches deep, and in these drills to sow the rape- 

 cake, covering it up and drilling again at the 

 usual depth for the carrot-seed. The month of 

 March or beginning of April is the best time to 

 sow the rape-cake, and which may be done 

 weeks before the carrots are sown, because at 

 that time the worm is resuming its depreda- 

 tions after awakening from its winter torpid 

 state. The drier the season the more effective 

 it will be in destroying the worm, as the cake 

 will not so soon dissolve as it would in wet 

 weather. The insect will devour it greedily, 

 and continue to do so till it actually dies of 

 repletion. Small pieces of rape-cake fastened to 

 the end of a wooden skewer, and placed from 3 

 to 5 inches in the ground, form an excellent bait 



for catching this insect, managed as we have 

 noticed at p. 69. 



Old garden-soils have been long considered 

 unfavourable for carrots, and as a remedy in 

 such cases, it has been recommended to trench 

 the ground 18 inches in depth, and to fork into 

 the bottom of each trench quicklime laid over 

 it to the thickness of an inch, applying it in 

 autumn. In spring, at the period of sowing, a 

 slight dressing of quicklime is laid on the sur- 

 face, and mixed with the soil during the process 

 of drilling and sowing. The rationale of this 

 appears to be, that the lime acts chemically 

 upon the inert matter contained in most soils 

 in which a superabundance of humus exists, 

 bringing it into a more active condition. It is 

 possible that sharp river or sea sand would have 

 much the same effect. Active manures, such as 

 guano and pigeons' dung, act much in the same 

 way, and excellent carrot crops have been pro- 

 duced when the latter has been laid on from 

 3 to 4 inches in depth, and thoroughly amalga- 

 mated with the soil. 



To save seed, transplant the roots, if the 

 weather will permit, about the beginning of 

 January; set them in rows 3 feet apart, and the 

 roots 2 feet distant in the line; and that they 

 may have sufficient scope to work in, trenches 

 at least 1^ feet in depth should be dug and the 

 roots set in them, placing in the bottom of each 

 trench a slight dressing of decomposed manure 

 or a thin sowing of guano. If the ground on which 

 the crop has been grown is in sufficient condition 

 to mature the crop of seed without manure, it 

 would be advisable to mark the carrots at the 

 above distance and to dig up all the rest, leaving 

 them where they grew from. seed. This may safely 

 be done if the crop at taking -up indicates proper 

 form and pureness as to variety ; if otherwise, it is 

 better to take them up entirely, and select the 

 best-formed roots for replanting. The best seed 

 will be produced where the plants are sufficiently 

 apart to admit light and air amongst them. The 

 first seed which ripens is also the best, and in mo- 

 derate situations will begin to ripen about the 1st 

 of September, when care must be taken that all 

 the heads as they ripen are cut off with a sharp 

 knife and placed under covering to dry. The 

 umbels of seed, if once wetted by rain when 

 nearly ripe, will often rot altogether ; or if not, 

 the seed will be of a bad colour and of inferior 

 quality. As the seed dries it should be rubbed 

 out and stored by for use ; it is injudicious to 

 thrash it, unless the quantity be very great, and 

 that with a very light flail, as the seed is apt to 

 be injured by the process. One plant saved for 

 seed will be sufficient for a small garden, and so 

 on in proportion to size. 



General remarks. — The European names are — 

 Mohre, or Gelbe rube in German; Carota in 

 Italian ; Carotte in French; Geele wortel in 

 Dutch ; and Chirivia zanahor in Spanish. 



" The nutritive matter contained in a crop of 

 25 tons, or 56,000 lb. per acre of carrots, con- 

 sists of husk or woody fibre, 1680 lb.; of starch, 

 sugar, &c., 5600 lb.; of gluten, &c, 840 lb.; of 

 oil or fat, 200 lb. ; and of saline matter, 800 lb. 

 — Stephens ex Johnston's Lectures on Agricul- 

 tural Chemistry, second edition, p. 928. 



