THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 
04 
viously gnawed. A hundred apples may be opened, and not more 
than two or three larvae observed within them; the orifice by which 
they have escaped being open, and not concealed by a little mass of 
brown grains, which is the case with those apples from which the 
larva has not made its escape. These little grains are the excrement 
of the lame, which are also to be seen in the burrows formed by them 
within the apple. The grub is of a dirty white colour, with a brown 
head, varied with darkish brown marks. The body is slightly hairy; 
the first segment after the head is whitish, with minute brown spots; 
the other segments are of a pale colour, w ith about eight small tuber¬ 
cles on each ; each of the three anterior segments is furnished with a 
pair of legs, and there are a pair of feet at the extremity of the body. 
In its early state it : s of a dirty reddish or flesh colour. The caterpillar 
wanders about on the ground’ till it finds the stem of a tree, up which 
it climbs, and hides itself in some little crack of the bark. The fall 
of the apple, the exit of the grub, and its wandering to this place of 
safety, usually take place in the night-time. It gnaws away the bark 
a little, and having made a smooth chamber, spins a little milk-white 
silken case, in which, after a few weeks, it becomes a chrysalis ; and 
in this state it remains through the winter, and until the following 
June, when the moth comes forth, and is to be seen hovering round 
the young apples on a midsummer evening. The moth itself, of 
which we give a cut, of the natural size and magnified, is a very beau¬ 
tiful insect, about three-quarters of an inch in expanse : fore wings 
ashy-brown, with very numerous, rather obscure, darker, transverse 
streaks, united into a broadish band towards the base, giving them a 
damasked appearance. On the hind border of the fore wings is a 
large reddish-brown patch, spotted and surrounded with a golden 
mark. The hind wings reddish-brown, tinged with yellow. The 
moth lays its eggs in the eyes of the young apples, one only in each, 
by introducing its long ovipositor (egg-tube) between the leaves of 
the calyx. As soon as the egg is hatched, the little grub gnaws a 
hole in the crown of the apple, and soon buries itself in its substance ; 
and it is worthy of remark, that the rind of the apple, as if selected 
for the purpose, is thinner here than in any other part, and conse¬ 
quently more easily pierced. The apple most commonly attacked is 
the Codling. It will be evident, from the preceding details of the 
habits of this moth, that there arc considerable difficulties in the way 
of its extirpation. It is impossible, for instance, to be aware of the 
presence of the enemy within the fruit, until the mischief is actually 
completed ; and, in like manner, the destruction of the moth, from its 
small size, and its habit of secreting itself in crevices of the bark, &c., 
is equally impracticable. The gathering up of the worm-eaten apples 
immediately after their fall, and before the enclosed caterpillar has 
had time to make its escape, cannot but be attended with good effect; 
care, however, must be taken to destroy the larva, which would 
otherwise very speedily make their escape. The cocoons also may be 
destroyed in the chinks of the bark during the autumn and winter. 
Ox every available occasion we enforce upon our 
readers’ attention the two great operations of plant 
culture—stirring the soil and manuring. Two thou¬ 
sand years ago Cato urged the same topics upon his 
countrymen. “The first thing in cultivating the 
soil,” says this wise Roman, “is to plough ; the second 
is to plough; and the third is to manure.” (Be Be 
Rustica.) It is upon this “ third” fundamental ope¬ 
ration of good cultivation that, again, we have a few 
words to offer. 
More than once we have given information which 
we thought would assist the cottager and the ama¬ 
teur in making a tank for holding the manure for 
his garden, and we have now to describe one which 
we have just completed, two feet deep in front, two 
feet six inches deep at the back, six feet long, and 
three feet wide. We had a hole dug out by the side 
of the pig-stye six inches deeper, and one foot wider 
and longer than the above size. Into this hole we 
poured six inches depth of asphalt over the entire 
bottom; we then put in a wooden box, previously 
made of rough slabs, of the size above men¬ 
tioned; then put in some broken brickbats round 
the box, pouring in asphalt to fill up the inter¬ 
stices between the brickbats, as these were put in 
a few at a time. A lid with staple hinges, so as to 
be removeable at pleasure, covers the whole; and a 
gutter communicates from the stye into this water¬ 
tight tank through a hole near its top. The whole 
cost less than thirty shillings. The asphalt is made 
according to the recipe given at p. 258 of our first 
volume. If the cottager puts together the wood-work 
of the tank himself, forming it of old cask staves, or 
other rough material, and without a lid, he may 
make it for ten shillings. The wood-work is only 
required to keep the fork and the shovel from injur¬ 
ing the asphalt. In a tank like this all the house 
sewage and refuse of the garden can be preserved 
and mixed, and not a drop of the liquid drainage 
(the most valuable portion of the fermenting mass) 
is lost. 
We have just had our attention more particularly 
recalled to the subject of manures, whilst perusing 
the recently published work entitled “ China and the 
Chinese!’* The devotion of these people to the cul¬ 
tivation of the soil, the ceremony of their Emperor 
annually ploughing the soil, then- successful culture 
of the chrysanthemum and the dahlia, and their ex¬ 
treme care in accumulating manures, are facts long 
since known, but until we read these pages we had no 
idea that their care to store up fertilizers descended 
to such minute particulars. The statement we made 
(Yol. I., p. 144.) about the jars for the preservation 
of the house sewage is fully confirmed by Mr. Sirr. 
He says that when walking through the gardens of 
Cowloon on the mainland, from whence Hong Kong 
is supplied with fruit and vegetables, “ in each gar¬ 
den is to be seen a large earthen vessel, uncovered 
and exposed to view, in which is accumulated all 
descriptions of filth, which, although very requisite 
and proper when used for manure, sends forth any¬ 
thing save an agreeable odour, and is not peculiarly 
pleasing to the visual organs.” But the salvage of 
fertilizing matters seems to be viewed as a duty by 
all classes, and descends even to such minute parti¬ 
culars as saving the refuse of the barber’s trade. 
When the operation of shaving and hair-dressing “is 
terminated, the barber receives about five cash (less 
than three farthings), carefully collects the hair in a 
small tub (which he afterwards sells to the manure 
gatherers), and walks off to another part of the town 
in search of further employment.” Manure gather¬ 
ing in China is a regular trade. “ Manure is usually 
applied in a liquid state, night soil being preferred; 
and there are coolees (porters), says Mr. Sirr, who 
make it their business to go from house to house, 
purchasing this and other refuse animal and veget¬ 
able matter, which they sell to the farmers. It would 
be impossible to enumerate the substances which are 
used for manure: the parings of nails, cuttings of 
* China and the Chinese, their religion, character, customs, and 
manufactures. By H. C. Sirr, M.A., Barrister at Law. Orr and 
Co., London. This is a highly interesting and faithful portrayal of 
the Chinese, and is the result of observations made during Mr. and 
Mrs. Sirr’s residence of several years in China. 
