AN ENEMY TO THE MIGNONETTE. 
A. J. Mathews, of New York, wrote us early in the summer that an insect was destroying 
the Mignonette in that neighborhood, so that it seemed almost impossible to save a plant from its 
ravages. As we had never known any serious injury to our Mignonette from any cause, we were 
somewhat at a loss, and in no condition to give advice without more knowledge. At our recpiest 
Mr. M. kindly forwarded some very 7 iice specimens, with the accompanying note: 
Mr. James Vick :— In your favor of the nth of June, you expressed a desire to see the worm that proves to be 
such an enemy to our Mignonette. I send you some specimens by mail, to-day, and hope they will live to greet 
you. We first discovered them six years ago. This year there have been fewer than usual. They appear about 
the time the plants begin to flower. We find them more abundant immediately after a shower.— A. J. M. 
It was with a little surprise that we recognized in this Mignonette eater an old enemy, the 
Cabbage Worm, Pieris rapes. Perhaps he takes the sweet plant only as a dessert, for if lie 
designs it for a full meal, we must bid farewell to our Mignonette, we fear. It is the most vora¬ 
cious and destructive worm we are acquainted with, sometimes destroying thousands of Cabbages 
before “the face and eyes” of a small army of people engaged in destroying them by hand. 
This fellow, like a good many other bad, and a few good things, came from Europe, and has 
been here only about twenty years. Fortunately we have reason to believe a parasitic insect is 
doing something to destroy them. The application most destructive to these insects is a mixture 
of carbolic powder and air-slaked lime ; but no application will be entirely effective. We have 
no doubt their days are numbered, and they will soon pass away, as do all such pests. 
Sweet Pets. — We like to have florists and gardeners with hobbies or pets . It pleased us 
much to observe in England whole districts or villages making a specialty of a particular flower 
or plant, but we did not know that any town had adopted the fragrant Onion for petting. In the 
London Gardeners' Chronicle for September 25th, we find the following: 
The Banbury District is remarkable for the capital Onions it produces, and at the annual exhibition cf the Ban¬ 
bury Horticultural Society generally held the last week of August, magnificent Onions are exhibited — weight and 
symmetry being the main points by which Onions are judged. In and around Banbury there arc a number of peo¬ 
ple who make quite a pet of the Onion, just as any one would of the rose or any other popular flower, and these 
growers compete at the shows, twelve or fourteen prizes being awarded among a large number of competitors. The 
competition is keen and even exciting, and it it is remarkable how much care the cultivators take of their plants — 
nursing them and encouraging their growth in every possible way. One of the leading cultivators at Banbury is 
I . A. Taplin, a printer of the town, who has published a valuable little pamphlet on the cultivation of the Onion. 
Yellow Danvers Onion. —We have always taken especial pains to furnish our customers 
with choice Onion seed. It is an important crop, and a failure causes generally serious loss. A 
good portion of our Danvers has been furnished us by the original grower of this variety, and all 
trials during a series of years have been most satisfactory. A gentleman in Middlebury, Vt., to 
whom we have furnished large quantities of Onion and other seeds for sale, wrote us August 8th : 
Mr. Vick : — Dear Sir : — I sold four pounds of the Yellow Danvers Onion seed I got of you, to Charles D. 
Lane, of Cornwall, Vt., and he informs me it is the best field of Onions he ever saw, and a sight to see. He has 
more than four acres, and sowed twenty-five pounds of seed, but none as good as yours. — F. E. S. 
Such testimony affords the greatest possible satisfaction, while nothing is so mortifying as to 
learn that after the greatest care, through some mistake or carelessness of parties in whom we had 
confidence, our customers have cause to complain. This does not often happen, we are glad to say. 
The Caladium. — In one of our exchange papers we find a communication from which we 
extract the following, showing the treatment of the Caladium by its author: 
The Caladium is a splendid foliage plant, but requires great moisture and at least partial shade. My first 
experiment was with a bulb of Vick’s, which in fourteen weeks grew four feet, bearing immense leaves three feet 
in length. It was planted near my front door, and I kept a tin of water ready, and when the door was opened, 
often threw this over the roots. It never became dry, and when shown at the fall floral fair, no plant attracted so 
much admiration. — J. B. M. B. 
More Success WITH the Pansy. — The editor of the Ballston, N. Y., Democrat certainly 
had most unexampled success with our Pansies, as he writes : 
My success with your Pansies has been unequaled. During the season of 1873 an( l *74 I picked fine Pansies 
from your seed, from the open garden, every month of the year; and from the products of thirteen papers, I 
picked, on an average, a quart of fine, large flowers, every day. 
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