December 16, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
545 
last thing done by the mother insect being to cut each one 
through. The second species, indeed, does not stop short at this 
injury, but some of them emerging later seek out the young 
fruit and place eggs in the pulp ; the Plum still grows for a little 
while, but shrivels till it falls. Though Oarpocapsa Waeberiana 
has been styled the Plum tree tortrix, I think it is more usually 
detected on the Peach and Apricot, causing unnatural swellings 
of sap which may kill the tree. The pretty but harmful moth 
lays eggs on the trunk; by degrees the tiny caterpillars work 
their way to the inner bark, where they feed till mature. We 
find two broods each year, the moths flying in May and Sep¬ 
tember. Catching them is a hopeless matter, but wishing the 
trees during their season with any application deterrent to moths 
anl fatal to larvae will pay. 
Of the caterpillars that are chance or regular residents I 
believe our most troublesome species is the winter moth (Cbei- 
matobia brumata), for not only does it infest the expanding buds 
in spring, but continues to devour the leaves through May and 
June, and the Plums towards the time when the caterpillars are 
full grown are netted over with the webs they spin, which are 
not easy to clear off. Fortunately hosts of them are killed by 
the cold winds of April and many birds devour them. The fat¬ 
bodied wingless moths are prolific, laying about two hundred 
eggs. By attending to the soil at the roots many pupae may be 
destroyed, and by surrounding the trunks with some sticky sub¬ 
stance the ascent of the moths to the twigs and branches in 
November or December is effectually stopped. The small ermine 
(Yponomeuta padella) a downy little creature with wings studded 
like courtly robes, occasionally passes its caterpillar life in the 
Plum, but my experience of it has been that next to Hawthorn 
it prefers the Apple. It is also a web-spinner, and the cords 
which the larvae form are much stronger than those of the winter 
moth, and they frequently travel from bough to bough in large 
companies. After their attaining the full size they spin up 
amongst the twigs they have stripped, except such stragglers as 
may have been dislodged by the wind, which then retire to odd 
corners. Should the insect have been previously unobserved, 
there is no difficulty in so far removing the webs as to greatly 
diminish the number of the moths, but it is better to look out 
for the newly hatched broods early in the season, and autumn 
cleansing of the trees will take off many of the eggs. And then 
the blue, orange, and black lackey caterpillar, and the familiar 
caterpillar of the vapourer moth, sometimes wander on to the 
Plum from some adjacent shrub. In some European countries 
the brown tail moth is regarded as one of very troublesome foes 
of the Plum, and this species, called in science Liparis chrysor- 
rhaea, was the cause of most absurd apprehensions in England 
about a century ago, according to Curtis, it being then unusually 
abundant. We find it now moderately common on the Sloe and 
Hawthorn, but there is no doubt that some seeming accident 
might lead to its appearing numerously on the Plum or Pear. 
About ten years ago I discovered a haunt of these caterpillars in 
a line of hedgei’ow in the neighbourhood of Chalk in Kent, and 
observed a steady increase year by year, which led me to advise 
measures for their removal, as they might spread to the orchards. 
Nothing was done, however, but Nature wrought a cure; an 
unusually wet winter extinguished the hybernating colonies in 
toto at that place. 
Smaller still and often unnoticed are several caterpillars of the 
Tortrix tribe of moth.3, which make their way into the expanding 
buds of flower or fruit. T. angustiorana, which during the 
summer appears upon ripening fruit, the Yine included, is also 
during some springs to be found in multitudes on the buds of 
Peach, Apricot, or Plum. This is a caterpillar which in colour 
is of varying shades of green; beside, we may detect the reddish- 
looking T. luscana or the brown and black T. cynosbana. Much 
hurt is done by a moth which lays its egg3 upon the fruit only, 
appearing in May or June, but its dull tints of grey or brown 
render it unobservable while egg-laying. The young caterpillar 
lodges in the Plum close to the stone, and the fruit is accelerated 
in its progress yet falls prematurely. The only effectual remedy 
is to pick off and destroy any infected fruit that are perceivable, 
as also all that drop off. A similar plan must be pursued with 
those Plums that contain the grubs or larva of the Plum sawlly 
(Tenthredo morio), or else they enter the earth to reappear as 
flies the following season. These dies, though four-winced, are 
rather like small house flies, but black with reddish feet. Hiving 
pierced the calyx by means of their tiny saws, they deposit their 
eggs in April or May, showing preferences for certain kinds, the 
Magnum Bonum, for instance. But the Damson and other 
small kinds they usually pass by. The slimy grub of another 
sawfl/ abundant on Cherry and Pear, Selandria Cerasi, 
now and then appears on the Plum. Of course the ripe 
fruit is apt to be infested with ants, wasps, and centipedes.— 
Entomologist. 
MUSCAT GRAPES SHRIVELLING. 
Much has been written as to the cause of Muscats shrivelling so much 
this year. In reply to Mr. Williamson, at page 470, I am inclined to 
think that they have suffered very much from the cold backward season, 
and the roots too far from the influence of sun heat; deep, stiff, reten¬ 
tive borders being, in my opinion, better adapted for black Grapes. Our 
borders for Muscats have been kept somewhat shallower, using a free 
loam, well incorporated with old lime rubbish and half-inch bones, and 
annually top-dressing the inside borders with good old turf and Thomson's 
Yine manure, to induce surface roots—of great importance to the colour¬ 
ing of the bunches, in my opinion. This year I selected the second-sized 
bunches in general in preference to the largest ones, leaving rather more 
on the Vines, finding that the larger bunches failed to finish as well as I 
should like, and which I attributed to their vigour and lack of sunshine 
to ripen them thoroughly. 
I seldom expose the bunches to the light by placing the foliage aside, 
unless the bunches are large, believing when the Vines are healthy in root 
and branch, and the laterals not overcrowded, that they are all the 
better for a shading of their own foliage to protect them from the mid¬ 
day sun. 
Watering this season had to be carefully done, as I found a good 
supply at starting time was enough until the berries were set, and in 
August and September they had moderate waterings to keep the bunches 
plump. 
Some seasons, but not the last, I have seen need to water the outside 
borders at midsummer, but this year, when examined, they did not 
appear to require it, owing to the state of the weather. From my experi¬ 
ence I am led to believe that shrivelliug, provided water be given in 
sufficient quantity, is more owing to a defective condition of the border, or 
from the roots having penetrated to the drainage, requiring the border to 
be renovated and the roots pruned and relaid near to the surface.— 
Wm. McKelvie, Broxmouth Gardens, Dunbar, N.B, 
THE MANAGEMENT OF SOIL—HIGH AND DEEP 
PLANTING. 
How applicable is Mr. Iggulden’s phrase about trenching to that of 
stirring the surface of the soil; if the first is a “ time-honoured custom ” 
how about the latter ? Just now he poses as the champion of a practice 
that doubtless has existed ever since land has been cultivated. The 
length of time, however that a system has been in vogue is no guarantee 
that the practice is a sound one, or the newer method of trenching radi¬ 
cally wrong. Since this subject first commenced your correspondent has 
modified his tone in a very marked degree by the admissions he has made 
from time to time, and which have done much to strengthen the formid¬ 
able arguments of his opponents. But the past shall be the past now 
that we have a new title for the old subject. 
The matter set before us must be carefully examined, for as it now 
stands on pages 446 and 474 in the following issue, it might lead some 
young gardener astray who is launching out in the cultivation of land, 
perhaps for the first time, and who, from the arguments advanced, might 
conclude that trenching on light soils can be carried out to any extent, 
while heavy land should not be trenched at all. That much trenching 
has been wrongly done will not be denied, but that is no argument 
against the practice when rightly conducted. Mr. Iggulden is perfectly 
right in his advice to consider well the nature of the soil, for soils differ 
widely in character, both chemically and mechanically ; but the whole¬ 
sale condemnation of the system on what may be termed heavy soils 
will lead as many or more into the wrong path, as indiscretion in trench¬ 
ing has done in the past. To trench light soils and bring to the surface 
a spit of pure sand, red, white, or black, would prove as ruinous as 
bringing a spit of pure clay to the surface. Soils of the first nature are 
bad to manage, and present to the cultivator more difficulties than does 
laud resting on a bed of clay. I have worked land in the fens of 
Lincolnshire with 6 inches of soil resting on a bed of clay, badly drained, 
for it is utterly impossible to get the water away at some seasons of the 
year. I have also worked light soils that abound in Lancashire, varying 
in the same garden from 18 inches to 6 inches in depth. I have worked 
land in the neighbourhood of London resting on a formation of gravel ; 
I have worked medium land on a hillside 550 feet above the sea level in 
Northumberland. I am now working land, part of which is clay and 
the remaining portion sandy. I merely make these statements so that 
if I differ from Mr. Iggulden he will at least not accuse me of inexperi¬ 
ence, and I repeat soils of a light shallow nature are the most difficult 
to manage satisfactorily to get from them heavy crop? of first-rate fruits 
or vegetables. 
Whether the soil has been light or h avy it has been improved in each 
instance by deepening the root run and providing a greater depth 
of workable fertile soil, but not by trenching on the orthodox principle of 
bringing to the surface a spit of clay, sand, or shale, and if it is this system 
that your correspondent condemns, then I agree with him. I strongly 
advocate turning the soil as deep as it will allow, and bringing 2 or 3 inches 
.,f the base to the top, that is, the crumbs of the trench and a little sub¬ 
soil. The amount brought to the surface depends entirely on the crop 
that is to be grown ; for instance, if Peas, about 3 inches is brought up, 
and when they are sown the trenches are made the same depth, the 
