96 
Beport of the Horticulturist of the 
bottom of the second tile, and these grew outward, inclining down. 
But in both plants, roots had grown out at the junction of the two 
tiles. In the pit filled to the surface with rich soil, these roots unques- 
tionably inclined upward, some of the fibers reaching almost to the 
surface. In the other pit, where the junction of the tiles was about 
at the union of the fertile soil and clay, one large root came out and 
turned at once downward into the rich soil; another inclined down- 
ward, but descended gradually; a third grew straight outward, and 
some of its fibrous branches descended, while as many more ascended. 
That the roots of the parsnip, a plant that thrives in cool climates, 
and roots very deeply, should have inclined upward more than those 
of corn, a shallow rooting, tropical plant, was hardly to be expected. 
The parsnip plants, however, did not make full development, while 
those of the corn made an unusually strong growth. Leaving out the 
parsnip case, which is perplexing, the fact that the corn roots made 
their full development more than a foot below the surface, while the 
greater part are usually found within the first four inches of soil, and 
while there was nothing to prevent them from rising to the warmer 
soil above, is evidence that abundant food and moisture are more 
essential to the development of corn than a high soil temperature. 
In order to make sure that the roots of corn plants, growing under 
ordinary conditions, lay no deeper in the soil than usual the past season, 
the roots of plants were washed out and examined. They were found 
to be, as in former seasons, chiefly within two to five inches of the 
surface. 
INSECTS AND INSECTICIDES. 
1. Nitrate of potash and air-slacked lime for the cabbage maggot. 
2. Applications for the larvse of the potato beetle. 
3. Applications for the codling moth. 
Nitrate of Potash for the Cabbage Maggot. 
By request of Dr. Lintner, State Entomologist, an experiment was 
made with a solution of nitrate of potash (saltpeter) for the cabbage 
maggot (larvae of Anthomyia brassicce, Bouche). 
On the first indication that the cabbage plants were infested with 
this insect, which was on May 31, a solution of saltpeter, at the rate 
of one pound to two gallons of water, was applied to alternate rows 
of a plat of cabbage plants. The application, which was repeated on 
June 4, 10 and 16, was made by pouring one to two gills of the solu- 
tion around the stem of each plant, from a sprinkling pot, from which 
the rose was removed. 
