422 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
ing of our agricultural fairs, from Maine to 
Georgia, might not have a fine display of gorge¬ 
ous foliage at their autumn fairs. I know 
that in some of the Northern States the frost 
might cut them off if not protected at night, but 
a barn or shed, in the absence of a greenhouse, 
would be all the protection required. I have 
said that the growing of these plants is simple; 
they are no more difficult to grow than tomato 
or egg-plants, and should be planted out, in any 
part of the country, just at the date that it is 
safe to plant out these. Procure, if possible, the 
varieties from the nearest florist; for though we 
ship these plants thousands of miles both by ex¬ 
press and by mail, yet they always suffer more 
or less, and the nearer at hand they can be pro¬ 
cured the better. The plants of these kinds, 
when obtained from the florist, have been grown 
in small flower pots, and usually average five or 
six inches in hight. When procured, which 
should not be until all danger of frost is past, 
flower pots or boxes of about the capacity of 
a cubic foot, should be provided, filled with a 
rich compost of two parts soil and one of rotted 
manure, compressed moderately firm in the box 
or pot, and the plant to be grown as an orna¬ 
mental specimen set in the center. The box or 
flower pot should then be planted, or as we 
gardeners call it, “plunged,” so that its rim 
will be level with the general surface of the 
ground. After the plants have been set out, or 
“plunged” in the ground, if in pots, these 
should be turned around every two or three 
weeks during the season to prevent the roots 
passing through the bottom of the pot and 
spreading in the ground; but there will be no 
need of doing this if the hole at the bottom of 
the flower pot is stopped so tight before putting 
in the soil that the roots can not get through. 
If the weather at any time continues excessive¬ 
ly dry, they would be benefited by a good soak¬ 
ing with water once a week or so, but usually this 
will not be necessary. Care must be taken that 
the ground in which they are plunged is level, 
free from shade, and that all weeds growing in 
the flower pots or between them, be taken out. 
Coleuses should be placed equidistant, three feet, 
from each other; planted thus by June first, 
then no more than six inches in hight, by Octo¬ 
ber first, they will have formed plants three feet 
in diameter and three or four feet in hight. 
Caladium esculentum, the best of its class for 
decorative purpose, should be planted exactly 
in the same manner, and by fall will present a 
magnificent appearance; when well grown, its 
immense shield-like leaves often measure eigh¬ 
teen inches across. The Cannas grow taller, but 
occupy less breadth, and may be planted at 
two feet apart; they present a great variety of 
graceful foliage, tinted in many shades of green 
and crimson. But the Coleuses present the 
greatest variety of brilliant foliage. Some of 
them being almost black, others velvet-like ma¬ 
roon (as in the well-known C. Verschaffeltii ), then 
again as in C. laciniata , we have a golden shade 
delicately penciled with carmine. But the 
newer, Golden Coleuses introduced last spring, 
present the greatest variety of markings, and 
are of colors of foliage so uncommon that they 
have created more sensation among the lovers 
of plants than any thing introduced in many 
years. The variety called “ Setting Sun,” 
which we introduced last year, is a good type 
of this class, but it has this year been much im¬ 
proved upon, and there are now varieties far 
surpassing it in brilliancy; one of the most strik¬ 
ing of these, named “Model,” has the ground- 
color of the leaf a crimson shade of orange, 
margined with a clear fringe of golden yellow. 
Again we have others, as the “Monarch,” hav¬ 
ing the ground-color purple, and the fringe or 
margin, orange; and when we add, that, togeth¬ 
er with this striking richness and variety of col¬ 
oring, the texture of the leaf resembles that of 
velvet in appearance, the effect of symmetrically 
grown plants, three or four feet in diameter, may 
be imagined. Another genus of plants entirely 
different from any of the preceding, is the 
Achyranthes, of which we have several kinds, 
ranging in color from purplish-carmine, to the 
deepest shade of blood-red or purplish-crim¬ 
son ; they grow about two feet in breadth and 
hight, and form a distinct contrast in a collec¬ 
tion of ornamental-leaved plants. 
--—. —-- 
The Cabbage Pest. 
Our cabbage growers are in sad trouble. An 
insect enemy has appeared which has in many 
places destroyed the whole crop, and in others 
seriously damaged it. To those who grow only 
a few cabbages far family use, this may not ap¬ 
pear a matter of great importance, but where, 
as is sometimes the case, a prospective income 
of $5,000 or more is suddenly cut off, the mat¬ 
ter becomes serious. The present pest is the 
Pieris rapa ; it is a comparatively new comer, 
having been imported from Europe by the way 
of Canada. The perfect insect is a small but¬ 
terfly with white wings. In the male (fig. 1) 
there is a black blotch on the outer corner of 
the front wings, and one spot above and two 
on the under surface, 1 he lower spot matching 
with another on the hind wings; the female 
(fig. 2) has a similar blotch on the edge of the 
wings, and two spots on the front wings, and one 
on the hind wings. In both sexes there is con¬ 
siderable difference in the depth of the color of 
the spots, as well as in the shading of the wings 
near the body with black. The caterpillar (fig. 
3) is an inch and a half long, green, and when 
fully developed, with a yellow stripe down 
the back and a row of yellow spots upon each 
side. It is a voracious feeder, and after it has 
done all the mischief it can, it seeks a sheltered 
place and enters the chrysalis state (fig. 4) from 
which in seven or eight days the perfect insect 
emerges to lay eggs for another crop. The 
caterpillar is most destructive, eating large holes 
in the leaves, working in among those of the 
just forming head, and leaving them a mass of 
shreds defiled by its copious excrement,.. Every 
butterfly must be killed that it is possible to 
capture, but in some places they have appeared 
in such swarms that the task would be a vain 
one. In a recent conversation with Mr. Quinn, 
Tig. 3.—CAikiiAuu cater¬ 
pillar. 
CHRYSALIS. 
whose large plantations were threatened with 
destruction, he informed us that he has found 
carbolic powder, superphosphate, and lime to¬ 
gether, to destroy them. The carbolic pow'der 
appears to be saw¬ 
dust, impregnated 
with carbolic acid. 
Salt has been recom¬ 
mended, but Mr. Q. 
did not find dry salt efficacious, though brine 
has been reported by others as useful. We 
dusted the cabbages in our garden patch 
with some Persian Insect Powder (Pyrethrum), 
which we happened to have at hand, when the 
presence of the caterpillars was discovered, and 
at the time of writing, the application appears 
to have destroyed them. This would, however, 
be too expensive on the large scale. Several 
are at work with various destructive agents, and 
we hope to hear that some cheap and efficient 
one has been found. It 
is estimated that the loss 
from this insect will, in 
the vicinity of New York 
alone, exceed half a mil¬ 
lion of dollars; and al¬ 
ready the price of cabbages 
has considerably advanced. The figures we give 
will enable the insect to be identified in all its 
stages. As the destruction of every chrysalis or 
perfect insect prevents the appearance of many 
caterpillars, the work should commence with 
these without waiting until the despoiled con¬ 
dition of the cabbages makes it necessary to do 
something to save the crop. As the chrysalis 
is not formed in the earth we are able to fight 
it in that stage more successfully than we can 
some others. The caterpillar when grown, 
leaves the cabbage and seeks shelter under any 
object close at hand, and there hangs itself by a 
loop of silk, and changes into a pupa. It has 
been suggested that this habit be taken advan¬ 
tage of; and by placing boards or slats among 
the plants, slightly raised above the earth to 
afford the insects a ready shelter, many may be 
captured. This method is worthy of attention, 
as is the employment of persons to capture the 
butterflies. These, though very active at mid¬ 
day, are not so, early in the morning, and num¬ 
bers may be caught with a sweep-net of muslin. 
The insect has this year caused sufficient loss 
to arouse cabbage growers to the necessity of 
united action; and operations should begin by a 
careful clearing up of all the rubbish after the 
late crop is taken off. We do not know if the 
chrysalides could withstand the action of the 
manure heap. If many were found among the 
rubbish it would be safest to burn it. The but¬ 
terflies should be warred against on their first 
appearance next April upon the early planted 
crop. Now that the enemy is known and his 
tactics understood, our cultivators should not 
be defeated by it another year. 
Cranberries upon Upland. 
In an item in last month’s Basket, w 7 e stated 
that we had seen cranberries growing upon dry 
land, and affording a profitable crop. As we 
have before stated that we had seen several fail¬ 
ures in this direction, we take pleasure in re¬ 
cording a success. As it is a subject which in¬ 
terests many of our readers, we shall go some¬ 
what into detail in describing the culture, as, 
from what we have seen, we are convinced that 
all the conditions must be observed to insure 
success, and that any considerable omission or 
neglect will result in failure. In other words, 
it is a business, which, if undertaken, must be 
