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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 16, 1889. 
The butterflies which are attracted to the flowers, perhaps in a 
few instances by their fragrance, which may afford some pleasure, 
but chiefly by the honey obtainable from them, have not as a rule 
lived when caterpillars within the garden ; they came as visitors, 
often in goodly numbers, and we should be sorry to miss them. 
There was a gardener, indeed, who, going into the discussion about 
the origin of the name, thought that instead of “butterflies” it might 
have been “bother-flies,” his idea being that these insects, “ hanging 
about flowers,” so he phrased it, were a nuisance ; his opinion 
certainly must be taken as an exceptional one. Butterflies do not 
bite, or in any way disfigure, the flowers they frequent. Indeed 
they with many insects of similar habits help to fertilise the seed- 
vessels by carrying the pollen grains from plant to plant ; this is 
readily performed in the butterfly group especially owing to the 
length of the proboscis. The work of insects in this direction, as 
Darwin has shown, is of no small importance, and it seems to be 
distributed amongst them according to their structure. Thus, for 
example, the Orchids that have a long nectary are generally visited 
by butterflies and moths, those with a short one by bees and flies. 
And other divisions of our garden flowers also have their particular 
insects apparently assigned them for this purpose, though there are 
some that are attractive to a variety. In the matter of butterflies, 
however, our island gardens are at the best but poorly represented ; 
we have a small show of them compared even with adjacent France. 
Probably the commonest of our garden butterflies are the whites, 
the large, or cabbage, and the small white ; the former of these 
though so prolific confines itself as a caterpillar to the Brassicas. 
The small white is a more general feeder, and its caterpillar seems 
to me to have made itself very conspicuous in our beds and along 
our borders of late years. But this is really the only butterfly 
caterpillar which gives us any trouble, though others are chronicled 
in books as injurious on a mere supposition. Years ago this species 
and its congener held revelry on the many acres of market garden 
that surrounded the metropolis, and now, these having disappeared, 
it resorts to the old churchyards and other open spaces, large or 
small, which are planted with flowers, and, as a gardener said to me, 
one has scarcely the heart to kill it, for its presence makes the 
scene look rural. Yet were some at least of the caterpillars not 
destroyed the species would so multiply as to spoil the appearance 
of many favourite flowers ; and in colour they so closely resemble 
the leaves they devour that a careful examination is needed to detect 
them. A search for the eggs, tiny objects shaped like a sugar-loaf 
and ribbed, is tedious work, since they are placed singly by the 
parent insect, but they are laid as a rule in the months of May and 
July. Some summers there is evidently a large number of broods. 
Doubtless the best way of dealing with it is to kill the chrysalis, 
especially that of the autumn brood, which is attached to walls, 
palings, trunks of trees, and other objects, fastened thereto by a 
belt of silk. It is not difficult to discover, and when it is killed in 
this stage the insect cannot suffer pain. This chrysalis, however, 
varies much in colour, generally pale brown spotted with black ; it 
is also found of other shades of brown, and occasionally green. 
The green tint of the caterpillar, which is protective, as I have 
remarked, is chequered by some yellow spots and minute black 
points. 
The list of garden plants upon which this feeds would be a long 
one, for though it may have a preference for those of the Cruci¬ 
ferous order, it takes a wide range. Tropaeolums are very 
attractive to it, so is Mignonette. This is in some places much 
damaged by the caterpillar, and I found it upon Pelargoniums, not 
only out of doors, but in houses. It is one of those caterpillars to 
which moisture proves highly injurious, therefore free watering or 
syringing plants where it is located is to be advised. On the other 
hand, the butterfly is fond of moisture, and a party of them may 
be frequently seen following in the wake of a water-cart along a 
road or street ; and a singular circumstance in its history is that, as 
many observers testify, it can fly across the Channel between 
France and England, crowds cf them having been picked up on 
our coast and on board vessels, generally on a summer day, though 
the cause of such a migration remains a mystery. That pretty 
little butterfly, the green-veined white, is seen in gardens, but Mr. 
Newman, the well known naturalist, states its caterpillar feeds 
only upon wild plants. 
It is rather amusing, perhaps, that the late Rev. J. G-. Wood, 
whose efforts to popularise natural science deserve high praise, 
should class amongst the useful insects of our gardens the butter¬ 
flies of the Yanessa group, whose larval life is passed upon the 
common Nettle. True enough, their caterpillars are rapid and 
voracious feeders, and speedily reduce a clump of Nettles to a mere 
show of stems, devouring not only the leaves, but also the flowers 
and seeds. Still, though I know in large gardens Nettles will 
appear here and there, we ought not to require the services of 
caterpillars to clear these away. I have noticed, however, the fact 
that the most abundant of these butterflies, Y. Urticie, also called 
the tortoiseshell, has an attachment to man and his dwelling 
place, and the caterpillars are more frequently found in gardens or 
fields near them than anywhere else. The larger and stronger- 
winged species, the peacock (V. Io),the red admiral (V. Atalanta) 
and the beautiful painted lady (V. Cardui, see fig. 66), are 
also fond of gardens as butterflies, but they are seldom reared 
there. Some have mentioned the caterpillars cf the Fritillary 
butterflies amongst the enemies of flowers. It is curious that the 
species of this division bear a name that links them to a garden 
flower, the Fritillary or Snake’s-head Lily, the bell of which has 
arranged on it markings resembling the squares of a chess-board, 
and a similar pattern is displayed upon the wings of the butterflies. 
Fond of woods and parks, some of them occasionally sport in 
gardens, but their time of flight is later than the flowering period 
of the Lily. Most of the caterpillars feed on our native species 
of Viola, preferring plants that grow in shady spots, and it is just 
FIG. GO. — VANESSA CARDUI. 
possible that some stragglers might be found in cultivated Violets 
and Pansies.— Entomologist. 
SCOTTISH PRIMULA AND AURICULA SOCIETY. 
The Show of this Society was held in the Convening Rooms 
Edinburgh, on Tuesday, May 8th. As an Englishman I was expecting 
to see but an indifferent display, owing to the very backward season we 
have had, but in this respect I was very agreeably surprised. Tbo 
flowers were undoubtedly well grown, and the blooms very good 
indeed. Like true Scotchmen the exhibitors cling very tenaciously to 
the older varieties, and I think there is much truth in the expression of 
Mr. J. Morris—viz., “ That it requires the best of the new varieties to 
beat the old ones, and then the old varieties are not always second best,’ 
as was proved by the splendid blooms of such plants as Col. Taylor, 
J. Simo’nite, G. Lightbody, Black Bess, and Helen Lancaster. After 
the judging, which in many cases was difficult owing to the keen 
competition, was finished, the members adjourned to the Waterloo 
Hotel for dinner, Mr. Cathcart of Pitcairlie, taking the chair. 
The beauty of the room was very much enhanced by a fine collection- 
of alpine and herbaceous plants lent by Messrs. Dickson, a very effective 
display of Narcissi by Mr. Cowan, Penicuik, and a splendid lot of 
Primulas, Primroses, &c., from the Botanical Gardens. The number of 
Auriculas shown was smaller than last year, but the quality was much 
superior. The attendance of the public was nearly double that of last- 
year, and this last fact speaks well for the future of the Society, which 
owes much, no doubt, to the strenuous efforts of the Hon. Secretary, 
Mr. W. Stratton of Dundee. 
The following is the list of prizewinners :—Class A, six Auriculas.—- 
First Mr. Black, East Calder, with Heroine, F. D. Horner, G. Lightbody, 
Talisman, Acme, andJ.Simonite(J. Simonite was the premier white edge, 
and premier Auricula of the Show). Second Mr. Kilgour, Blair Drum¬ 
mond, with Mrs. Douglas, Alderman Wisbey, Prince of Greens, True 
Briton, Lovely Ann, and Cordelia (Morris) self. Third, Mr. J. D_ 
Kerr, Dundee. 
Class B, four Auriculas.—First Mr. Black, with Mrs. Potts, George. 
Rudd, F. D. Horner, and' Mrs. Dodwell. Second Mr. W. Stratton, 
Dundee, with Prince of Greens, Mrs. Sturrocks, Perfection, and Acme. 
Third Mr. Kerr. 
Class C, two plants.—First Mr. J. Black, with Beauty and Heroine.. 
Second Mr. W. Kilgour, with Freedom and Acme. There were seven 
entries in the above class. 
Class D, single plant, green edge.—First, second, third, and fourth 
Mr. W. Kilgour, with Freedom, George Lightbody (.’), Lovely Ann, and 
