1882 .] 
AMEEICHS AGEIOULTUEIST. 
Freezing and Frozen Plants. 
Those who have window plants cannot al¬ 
ways keep the temperature of the room suf¬ 
ficiently high at night to make sure that no 
harm will come to them by frost. Where it 
is feared that they may freeze, it will be well 
to cover them at night, either with a sheet 
or with newspapers, which are quite as good. 
It is not difficult to arrange a covering by 
the use of strings and sticks to hold the 
papers up above the plants. A canopy of 
this kind will prevent the radiation of heat 
from the pots and the plants, and be of great 
service. In a collection of plants, some will 
be much more severely injured by freezing 
than others, but nearly all, if not too much 
exposed, will soon recover, unless suddenly 
warmed. When the plants are found to be 
frozen, make the change to a higher tem¬ 
perature very gradual. Remove them to a 
room where the air is but a few degrees 
above freezing, or if this can not be done, 
warm up the room where they are, but very 
gradually. In moving frozen plants it must 
be done with great care, as in their frozen 
state they may be readily injured. Some¬ 
times the newer shoots will fail to recover, 
while the leaves of the older wood will re¬ 
sume their natural condition. When this 
■occurs all those parts that fail to recover 
should be removed—cutting back with a 
:sharp knife to a sound portion of the stem. 
Brussels Sprouts. 
A vegetable that one sees in the greatest 
abundance in European markets, and rarely 
in our own, is Brussels Sprouts. This is one 
■of the several forms in which the cabbage 
has been developed by cultivation. Instead 
of forming a single head at the top of the 
stem, like the ordinary cabbages, numerous 
small heads are produced upon the stem for 
its whole length, as shown in the engraving. 
;ir •• ""Hv 
BRUSSELS SPROUTS. 
These heads are the axilliary buds which 
develope into little compact cabbages like a 
miniature Savoy. The leaves of the stem 
soon fall away, and in a good variety the 
small heads will be so numerous and close 
together, as to completely hide the stem. 
When or how this variety of the cabbage or¬ 
iginated is not known, but it was cultivated in 
Belgium as early as the year 1213. The cul¬ 
tivation is the same as for late cabbages, and 
as the plant is quite as hardy as those, it is 
strange that it is so little cultivated. The 
THE VEGETABLE CATERPILLAR. 
only drawback to its culture that we have 
found, is the great fondness of plant lice for it. 
Brussels Sprouts are evidently derived 
from the best of all cabbages, the Savoy, and 
have the same delicate flavor and tender, 
marrowy texture. They may be cooked and 
served in the same manner as cabbages, but 
are much improved in flavor if treated like 
cauliflower, with a sauce of drawn butter. 
Worms, Caterpillars and Snails. 
A friend, observing in a seed catalogue seeds 
of “ Worms,” “ Caterpillars ” and “Snails” 
offered for sale, is naturally puzzled, and 
desires an explanation. Some plants 
have flowers closely resembling insects 
in appearance; others show this mimicry 
of animal forms in their seed pods. 
Those enumerated are the pods of plants 
of the Pea Family, and bear a resem¬ 
blance more or less close to the creatures 
indicated. The engraving, which re¬ 
presents a vegetable caterpillar, will give an 
idea of these peculiar productions. The 
pods are those of Scorpiurus muricata, a 
native of Europe. It is an annual, with trail¬ 
ing stems, about two feet long, and small, 
yellow flowers. The worm-like pods, when 
uncoiled, are about two inches long. The 
resemblance to a caterpillar is increased by 
the lengthwise ridges, upon which are nu¬ 
merous small points or tubercles. The 
“worms’’are the pods of a species of As¬ 
tragalus, and the “snails” are those of a 
Medicago, which are coiled with great regu¬ 
larity. As the latter ripen they turn brown, 
and then very closely resemble a small snail. 
The plants are cultivated merely as curiosi¬ 
ties. The French often use the pods to 
garnish a dish of salad. One unacquainted 
with the real nature of the pods would be 
not a little surprised to meet with one of 
them on his plate. Some persons have such 
an aversion to all crawling things that the 
surprise may not always be a pleasant one, 
and on this account it is not probable that 
this use of these plants will be extended. 
539 
The Indian Fig or Prickly Pear. 
At the fruit stores in New York, and no 
doubt in other cities, there is often on sale, 
under the name of Indian Fig or Prickly 
Pear, a fruit so unlike others in appearance 
as to excite curiosity. Several persons have 
purchased and brought these Pears to us to 
ascertain what they were. The fruits are of 
the shape shown in the engraving, rather 
smaller than a hen’s egg, and of a light yel¬ 
low color, with sometimes a blush of red on 
one side. They are the fruit of a Cactus, 
Opuntia Ficus-Indica, which is a close rela¬ 
tive of the common Prickly Pear of this 
country. It is a native of South America 
and the West Indies, and is cultivated in 
other warm countries. As the engraving 
shows, the plant has flattened joints, much 
like those of the common Prickly Pear; the 
whole plant is made up of such joints, and 
forms an irregular branching bush, six feet 
or more in hight. The flowers are reddish, 
and are produced in great numbers, to be 
succeeded by an equal profusion of fruit. 
The fruit has a mucilaginous pulp, not very 
sweet, and without a decided flavor: indeed 
to those unaccustomed to it, it is rather in¬ 
sipid. In Sicily the plant has long been cul¬ 
tivated, and has become completely natural¬ 
ized. It is said that the poor people there sub¬ 
sist almost entirely on the fruit for four or 
five months in the year. A number of other 
species produce edible fruit, including our 
native Prickly Pear. The writer has met 
with species in Northern Mexico, with dark 
crimson fruit, having flesh of a similar color, 
which seemed at the time the most delicious 
fruit he ever tasted. One objection to all 
Cactus fruits, is the minute prickles with 
which they are beset; unless these are care¬ 
fully removed, a painful irritation of the lips 
and mouth will follow the eating of them. 
The Mexicans make a wisp of grass, and 
brash the fruits while still upon the plant, 
and before handling them. The Indian Fig 
A PORTION OF INDIAN FIG PLANT. 
will flourish in most of our Southern States; 
it indeed already grows wild in the extreme 
southern part of Florida, either as a native 
or an introduced plant. It will grow in the 
poorest soils, even among stones, and is 
easily propagated. If a piece with one or 
more joints is stuck into the soil, it will 
take care of itself. 
