380 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 23, 1885. 
moss, and yet these plants annually make fine growths and yield a similar 
display of flowers. Mr. Reed places inverted pots in small pans of water, 
and on these he stages his plants. Once a week only does he give water, 
which is pumped from an adjacent brook into a tub in the house, and then 
a thorough soaking is given overhead as well as at the roots. No atten¬ 
tion is paid to the regulation of the temperature ; indeed, owing to defec¬ 
tive heating arrangements, the greater portion of the heat is often 
absorbed by another larger house. This, of course, has the effect of con¬ 
siderably reducing the temperature, and yet we have never seen a healthier 
lot of plants flowering at one time, conspicuous in size and colour, and 
in such profusion too. 
Nor is this the only noteworthy example of Mr. Reed’s success in 
Orchid-growing. The houses in which these plants are growing are not 
the elaborate houses we are accustomed to see, but, to use an old phrase, 
are home-made ones, simple in construction, and yet well adapted for the 
purpose. 
Among other noteworthy examples of cultural skill we noticed a fine 
plant of C. Mendelli, with large and richly tinted flowers. C. citrina, 
growing on blocks, had very fine pseudo-bulbs, and had apparently 
flowered very freely. This species was thriving in a higher temperature 
than is usually recommended. 
In another large house, devoted to cool Orchids, I noticed well-grown 
and flowered examples of Oncidium sphacelatum, O. stelligerum, and the 
curious 0. Papilio, together with Trichopilia suavis, tortilis, and several 
species of Odontoglossums, all of which bore striking testimony of Mr. 
Reed’s industry and skill, and the same may be said of the other depart¬ 
ments of this garden.—T. W. S. 
THE INSECT ENEMIES OF OUR GARDEN CROPS. 
THE TURNIP. 
( Continued from page 23S.) 
The Turnip, like the Cabbage and its allies, like the Mustard, 
the Radish, and other garden plants of the Cress tribe, is pecu¬ 
liarly liable to the inroads of caterpillars, some of which appear 
above ground, but the greater number carry on their attacks 
insidiously, feeding beneath the earth, or at least concealing 
themselves there by day. Our friends on the Continent think 
we should be far less annoyed with these than we are now if the 
practice of caterpillar-picking were diligently followed, as it 
appears to be by them, perhaps because they have more spare 
time, or else a larger amount of patience than British gardeners 
possess. Much of this work, however, from the nocturnal habits 
of many caterpillars, needs to be done at night, and doubtless in 
gardens quantities of these and other insects may be cleared by 
assiduous hand-picking, though in fields it would be useless to 
attempt this. 
Of the Turnip moth (Agrotis segetum) there is generally but 
one brood in the year, the moths being amongst the multitude 
of insects that belong to leafy June. We may see them at the 
twilight hour, flying low, yet rather briskly, over the plants they 
are about to visit, and by no means confining their attentions to 
the Turnip, much as that vegetable is injured by them, for in 
some years they also do notable harm to Cabbages and Carrots, 
or even to the cereals. These moths a.re pale brown in the male 
specimens, darker brown in the females, with lines of blackish 
brown and a few pale spots, the hind wings of a peai’ly white. 
Sometimes the insects drop their eggs on the ground, but they 
more usually place them in a plant not far from the soil, and the 
young larvae begin their inroads upon the plants quite low, 
frequently biting young Turnips, Swedes, or Carrots just where 
stem and root join, to the certain death of the plant. In the 
flower garden a bed of China Asters will occasionally be served 
in the same style, the stems being nibbled all round ; the vitality 
of the sufferers suffers seriously, if not fatally. 
Having done what mischief they can above the earth, these 
caterpillars go below, and during August, September, and indeed 
as long as thei’e are Turnips growing, they will be discovered in 
the bulbs. A variable number may be found in a single bulb, 
sometimes nearly a dozen, where they form holes and channels, 
but in the event of a sharp frost, they usually quit the Turnips 
and strike deeper into the ground till a change comes. When of 
full size one of these caterpillars is If inch long, with small head, 
and feet small and pale; the skin is tight and shining,the colour 
an indistinct brown, a few faint lines run from head to tail, and 
each segment has a series of ten dark spots. Though the 
majority of these caterpillars live through the winter to become 
pupae in spring, there are a few that each season change in 
October, and come out as moths soon after, but they die 
apparently without depositing eggs. 
The late Edward Newman, discoursing upon this species, 
gives us a bit of wayside philosophy. “Nature is her own 
physician,” he says; “almost every disease can be traced to 
some interference with the course of Nature. It is exactly thus 
with the world of animals. Birds, insects, all living things, have 
their appointed food; this is a law with which it is dangerous to 
interfere. Nature supplies roots as the food of the Turnip grub. 
Man increases the supply of food prodigiously; Nature increases 
the number of devourers prodigiously. These grubs are the 
especial and favourite food of certain birds—the partridge, the 
rook, the starling. Following up the invariable law, Nature 
multiplies the birds because of this superabundant supply of 
grubs; man thwarts Nature, and gives immunity to the grubs.” 
It was Newman’s friend, “ Rusticus,” as he signed himself, of 
Godaiming, who first called attention to this insect in 1832. 
But however great be the encouragement given to birds, it 
will still be necessary for the gardener and farmer to take 
measures against this foe of the Turnip. Digging between the 
rows does harm to the crop while the plants are young, and it 
would not kill many insects, nor at a later period is it likely to 
pi'ove effective, though not hurtful then to the Turnips. Hand¬ 
picking, by day or night, has never been regarded with favour in 
this country, though it might be an excellent plan if pursued 
within a small range. Watering with a weak solution of 
petroleum, or with tobacco water when the caterpillars are 
first out, must destroy many of them. It is a favourite 
practice to sprinkle amongst the plants lime, soot, or even salt, 
but the result is doubtful. 
The caterpillar of the Heart-and-dart (A. exclamationis) 
greatly resembles that of Agrotis segetum, and probably it 
obtained its peculiar Latin name from the fact that the mark 
upon the wings, which some compared to a dart, others likened 
to a “ ! ” in the perfect state. This insect has also a resem¬ 
blance to its relative, though it has a moi-e distinctive colouring. 
In time of flight this corresponds with the more abundant 
species, but the eggs are often laid upon weeds in or near 
gardens, and the caterpillars after they have cast their skins 
seek out culinary vegetables; and although they occasionally feed 
on roots or underground stems, it is their general practice to 
ti*avel from plant to plant just above the surface, doing most 
mischief at night, since they commonly hide during the daytime. 
These caterpillars crawl with some rapidity, and their habit of 
roving makes them a nuisance, for they will exhaust many plants 
that are not so far injured as to die off. Stimulative applications, 
such as guano, which have been proved to help on the growth of 
the Turnip crop, do thereby lessen the possibilities of harm from 
the Heart-and-dart caterpillar, and dressings that render the 
leaves disagreeable to it are also beneficial. By their mode of 
growth these increase in size more rapidly than the caterpillars 
of the Turnip moth, but still they now and then occur on Winter 
Greens. 
The history of the diamond-back Turnip moth is very 
different from that of the preceding insect, for it is an insect 
that in ordinary year's is only noticeable as a casual visitor to 
gardens, feeding on the leaves of the Turnip, or possibly on 
those of the Cabbage, but now and then, from some cause un¬ 
explainable to us, the caterpillars appear in such hosts as to strip 
some crops entirely. Having gnawed the leaves of the Turnip 
to the veins, they will then attack these, leaving only a fragment 
of stem. We have not, however, had a severe visitation of this 
insect since 1851. The moth of PluteHa xylostella has long 
narrow wings, which have a series of spots, presenting to the eye 
diamond shaped markings when the wings are closed, hence the 
popular name. In repose the antennae are stretched forward, 
and at first glance the size and look of the moth reminds us of 
the clothes moth. The caterpillar is also a small creature, 
hardly half an inch long at its largest, pale green, sprinkled 
with black and yellow spots, thicker at the middle than at the 
head or tail. Still, though it is diminutive, a party of two or 
three hundred settled upon one plant, as will happen when it is 
abundant, soon make their ravages visible. During their early 
stage of caterpillar life, just at the period it is important to kill 
them if the plants are to be saved, they are so hidden amongst 
the leaves that applications to the rows are of little avail. 
Therefore it has been recommended, should this pest be detected, 
to brush the caterpillars from the plants by bunches of twigs, 
and when they have fallen between the rows to apply some 
suitable liquid or powder that will destroy them. Soft swellings 
that we sometimes find upon the bulbs of Swedes and Turnips 
are the abodes of a maggot that produces the Turnip-gall weevil 
(Centorhynchus sulcicollis), a species that is more frequently a 
feeder upon the roots of Cabbages, to which it is apt to be 
mischievous. The Turnip crop is rather disfigured than damaged 
thereby whenever it occurs.— Entomologist. 
HEATING AND HOT-WATER PIPES. 
Ip the mains and boilers were covered with a kind of cement, as 
referred to by your able correspondent “ Thinker,” it would undoubtedly 
assist in the preservation of the pipes. It would also prevent radiation 
and loss of heat, which in the end means direct economy, and would 
