July 20, 1888. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
69 
The caterpillars of the gold-tail moth (Liparis auriflua) are 
•stated to have been very common in some southern counties, but 
nbout Kent and Surrey there has been a rather less number than 
usual. It is an insect seldom seen in gardens, preferring vegetation 
along the lanes and borders of woods. Some of the journals which 
have referred to the “ caterpillar plague ” have stated that the 
insects have sometimes caused a peculiar eruption, or “ caterpillar 
rash,” in the human skin. This is known to occur in the case of 
.certain hairy caterpillars, as with the above “ gold-tail,” and its 
mear relative, the “ brown-tail,” where they are plentiful. This 
latter (L. chrysorrhsea) according to reports which bear the stamp 
of authenticity, was, many years ago, a serious enemy to our fruit 
crops. Of late it has been comparatively scarce, and occurs only 
upon the Sloe and Whitethorn. It would be a noteworthy fact 
should its caterpillar have appeared this season on any fruit trees, 
:and I should be glad to receive, through the Editor of this Journal, 
any account of its being detected. I may state that the cater¬ 
pillar is black, striped with vermilion, and has along the back tufts 
of white bristly hairs ; upon the fifth segment from the head there 
is a double hump. 
The hairs of the caterpillar of the great tiger moth (Arct : a 
caja) have an irritating effect upon some persons, young and old, 
possibly all the “ tigers ” may. It is a species which sometimes 
finds its way into our gardens, eating Mint, Lettuce, and other 
vegetables, and is a hearty feeder. Its numbers this season are 
probably above the average. A moth that has been abundant in 
June and July is that named the silver Y (Plusia gamma), flying 
about day and night, and therefore we may expect the caterpillars 
will be out in force later on during August and September. Their 
food is so varied that they do us little harm, but in France they 
prove very destructive to pot-herbs. —Entomologist. 
NOTES ON STRAWBERRIES. 
LAYERING. 
There are various methods of obtaining an early stock of 
well-rooted runners, all of which answer if properly carried out. 
One of the simplest is to take a number of the strongest before 
they have been trampled on and lost the first-formed roots. These 
being dibbled in a bed of fine light soil and covered with shallow 
frames soon become well rooted, and can be transplanted to their 
final quarters early. If only a few dozens are wanted they may be 
dibbled into boxes and placed in frames, or a few handlights may 
be filled with them. When the runners are transplanted, either 
from frames, boxes, or even from between the rows of old Straw¬ 
berry plants, they invariably take more quickly to their fresh 
quarters than do root-bound plants turned out of small pots. In 
showery weather the runners soon strike root into ridges of fine 
soil placed midway between the old rows, or they may be pegged to 
•squares of turf. Perhaps the majority of the plants are layered 
into small pots at the same time as others are prepared for shifting 
into the larger pots in which they are to fruit. If taken early, the 
best only being selected, and either pegged down or fastened with 
pebbles to the firmly packed soil in the pots, and kept well supplied 
avith water, they soon fill the pots with roots. The final planting 
.should be done as early in August as possible. 
PREPARING GROUND.; 
Strawberry plants are seldom profitable after producing four 
crops, and in some instances they last in good bearing order an even 
shorter time. The first crop is the earliest, the fruit also being fine ; 
the second is usually the most valuable ; the third, perhaps, the 
heaviest, the fruit, however, not being of great size, while the older 
plants produce abundance of fruit for preserving. The oldest bed, 
therefore, should be destroyed every year, and a new one planted, 
and in this manner and by varying the sites a good supply of fruit 
is annually produced, if not always ripened satisfactorily. It is a 
crop that usually pays for trenching the ground, but it must be 
remembered that a loose, rich, and deep root run encourages the 
formation of much foliage, and to secure the required abundance of 
fruit the ground must be made very firm. The best plan is to well 
manure and trench the ground during the winter, cropping it in due 
•course with Ashleaf or other early maturing Potatoes. This allows 
good time for the ground to settle, and the Potatoes being cleared 
off early, all that is further necessary, to clear, level, and trample 
the surface prior to putting out the plants. If the trenching, or 
rather double digging—as it is unwise in most instances to bring the 
subsoil to the surface—has to be done now, after the rough manure 
has been forked into the bottom spit, this should be heavily 
trampled, the top spit also given a dressing of more decayed manure, 
being similarly treated. Any ground now waiting for Strawberries 
should have all rough lumps broken down before hot or dry weather 
bakes them, and the surface being thus kept fine and moist, the 
planting may be done in the dryeit weather.—W. I. 
PEA GRADUS. 
The new early Pea Gradus was raised from Telephone x Wm. Hurst, 
and the produce of intercrossing these two Peas, as might be antici¬ 
pated from the position they have secured, has been particularly fertile 
in producing good progeny, both tall, intermediate, and dwarf varieties, 
and amongst a numerous offspring Gradus is pre-eminent for its earli¬ 
ness, large pod, and productiveness as a variety of intermediate height. 
Gradus was sown at Girtford this year on the 11th April in an open 
position and ripened the second week in July with a good stock of 
FIG. t.—PEA GRADES. 
William I. sown in a sheltered position on the 23rd January. The pod 
being large and well filled, and being a bluish-white wrinkled variety, 
Gradus must be an important advance in many respects. The height 
of the new variety does not much exceed that of Earliest of All. I 
believe the stock of Gradus to be fixed as well as it is possible ti fix a 
Pea raised from cross-fertilisation, the variety having been carefully 
selected for several seasons.— T. Laxton. 
FOXTHILL ABBEY, TISBURY. 
The manor of Fonthill (so called probably from the abundance of 
springs that gush from the sides of its hills) is situate in the hundred 
of Dunworth. about sixteen miles west of Salisbury and two from 
Tisbury Station on the South-Western main line of railway from London 
to Exeter. In “ Domesday Book” it is described as part of the 
