404 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  12,  1898. 
Thbbe  is  much  that  is  sound  and  practical  in  Mr.  D.  Buchanan’s 
“Profitable  Fruit  Growing,”  but  it  would  be  interesting  to  know 
something  about  the  style  of  his  vineries,  and  whether  his  advice  is 
intended  for  southern  as  well  as  northern  growers.  I  allude  more 
especially  to  his  remarks  ou  ventilation.  I  have  jotted  down  to-day 
(9th  May)  a  few  notes  as  to  what  has  happened,  and  as  I  am  not  yet  too 
old  to  learn  I  will  ask  Mr.  Buchanan  to  tell  us  how  he  would  have  acted 
under  the  circumstances.  I  did  not  quite  follow  my  own  plan  during  the 
early  part  of  the  day,  being  anxious  to  travel  with  Mr.  l^ichanan  as  far 
as  I  safely  could. 
The  day  has  been  a  typical  spring  day,  more  like  April  than  May. 
It  has  been  comparatively  mild,  with  intervals  of  sunshine  and  passing 
cloud,  and  a  little  rain  late  in  the  afternoon.  It  was  the  sort  of  day  so 
frequent  during  spring  when  you  cannot  tell  what  to  expect  during  the 
next  few  minutes,  and  consequently  it  is  not  safe  to  go  far  away  from  the 
houses  for  any  length  of  time.  I  do  not  say  that  Mr.  Buchanan’s  advice 
is  not  correct  for  Scotland.  I  have  no  means  for  knowing  that,  having 
never  practised  further  north  than  Liverpool,  and  of  course  the  climate, 
and  it  may  be  the  houses,  are  very  different. 
*  ^ly  remarks  will  be  confined  to  one  span-roofed  compartment,  30  feet 
wide,  with  the  roof  at  an  angle  of  35°,  and  one  side  facing  south-west. 
It  has  ventilators,  which  are  equal  to  a  continuous  opening  of  18  inches 
on  each  side  of  the  ridge,  and  upright  sashes  on  each  side  at  the  bottom, 
which  open  continuously  to  fully  the  same  width.  This  is  more  ventila¬ 
tion  than  most  houses  have,  but  I  find  it  is  often  all  required.  My  notes 
are  as  follows  : — 
5  A.M. — West  wind,  mild,  some  clouds,  unsettled.  Temperature  of 
house  60°.  Stopped  fire. 
7  A.M. — Shade  temperature  65°.  Opened  top  ventilators  on  leeward 
side  half  up. 
9  A.M. — Shade  temperature  70°.  The  same  ventilators  opened  to  their 
full  extent,  and  the  house  damped  down  rather  heavily. 
10.30  A.M.  —  Shade  temperature  77°.  Opened  top  ventilators  on 
windward  side  half  up. 
11.45  A.M. — Shade  temperature  82°.  Opened  top  ventilators  to  their 
fullest  extent. 
r  12  NOON. — Shade  temperature  86°.  Opened  bottom  ventilators  on  the 
leeward  side  to  their  fullest  extent,  when  the  temperature  soon  after  rose 
to  90°. 
4  p.M. — Bain  clouds  were  threatening,  and  the  wind  increasing  in 
force.  Temperature  had  fallen  to  75°.  All  ventilators  were  closed  with 
the  exception  of  the  top  ones  on  the  leeward  side,  which  were  left  up 
about  6  inches,  and  were  finally  closed  at  6  p.m.  From  breakfast  time 
till  four  o’clock  the  pipes  were  only  about  as  warm  as  new  milk. 
I  think  Mr.  Buchanan  will  see  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  carry  out 
his  plan  of  ventilating  here  even  on  a  mild  spring  day ;  it,  of  course, 
would  be  more  so  on  a  hot  summer  day.  Even  during  the  month  of  May 
I  have  sometimes  had  not  only  all  the  ordinary  ventilators  open,  but  the 
doors  as  well,  before  ten  o’clock  in  the  morning. — Wm.  Tayloe,  Bath. 
[Our  remarks  above  apply  to  a  few  acres  of  vineries  within  twenty 
miles  of  London.  Our  friend  basks  in  the  sunshine  of  Bath.  His 
observations  are,  all  the  same,  pertinent.] 
HARMFUL  AND  HARMLESS  GARDEN  MOTHS— 20. 
Dubing  the  month  of  May  we  notice  that  caterpillar  life  is  in  full 
activity,  and  hosts  of  these  insects  feast  upon  the  young  foliage  or 
blossoms,  also  on  the  stems  and  roots  that  are  rich  with  the  juices  of 
the  spring.  Now  it  often  happens  that  when  we  are  turning  them 
out  of  their  retreats,  should  we  come  upon  them,  we  find  caterpillars 
almost  close  together  which  have  quite  a  different  history.  One  has, 
perhaps,  hatched  from  an  egg  laid  early  in  April,  and  has  fed  up 
rapidly ;  the  other  is  a  survivor  of  the  autumn,  and  its  caterpillar  life 
wUl  be  about  eight  months.  Some  have  fancied  that  those  which 
have  hybernated  exhibit  in  the  spring  heartier  appetites  than  the 
iusects  of  the  new  year ;  this  is  certain,  that  they  ^tand  the  rough 
weather  of  the  vernal  season  better,  as  a  rule,  than  their  juvenile 
companions  not  long  from  the  egg. 
Varied  are  the  habits  of  insects  even  in  the  same  group,  and  a  few 
of  the  Noctua  moths  deposit  eggs  in  autumn  which  do  not  hatch  till 
spring.  It  might  be  advantageous  to  destroy  these,  but  they  are  not 
easy  to  discover.  The  largish  moth  called  the  ranunculus  (Folia 
flavocincta)  appears  in  October,  and  the  eggs  then  laid  remain 
unhatched  till  April.  It  has  often  been  noticed  near  London  and  in 
South  England;  probably  it  is  a  welcome  morsel  sometimes  to  a 
hun^y  sparrow.  I  do  not  see  that  the  English  name  is  particularly 
applicable,  for  the  insect  does  not  resemble  the  flower  in  its  general 
aspect.  But  it  has  upon  the  greyish  upper  wings,  which  are  mottled 
with  brown,  a  row  of  six  orange  spots,  on  each  of  which  is  a  black 
arrowhead  pointing  to  the  base ;  there  are  also  four  orange  streaks 
near  the  middle  of  each  wing.  The  caterpillar  evidently  starts  in 
April  upon  Chickweed  and  Groundsel,  but  feeds  later  upon  Mints, 
Thrift,  and  other  garden  herbs.  It  is  velvety,  green,  sprinkled  with 
white  dots,  having  a  narrow  black  stripe  along  each  side,  and  enters 
the  earth  in  July. 
Another  moth  in  the  above  genus,  which,  for  a  wonder,  is  com¬ 
moner  in  Ireland  than  England,  though  it  occurs  about  most  of  our 
counties,  if  not  plentifully,  is  the  grey  chi  (Folia  chi),  a  smaller 
species,  white,  or  whitish  grey,  with  various  dark  markings,  one 
especidly,  resembling  the  Greek  letter.  A  curious  type  of  this  moth, 
taken  in  the  West,  is  of  olive  green  colour,  having  white  spots.  The 
caterpillar  hatches  in  spring  from  autumn  eggs,  eating  Sallow  or 
Hawthorn  chiefly,  something  else  at  times ;  thus,  in  the  Midlands,  it 
has  been  caught  defoliating  the  familiar  I’ea  Tree,  Lycium  barbarum. 
In  its  green  hue  it  resembles  the  larger  caterpillar  described  above,  a 
similar  black  stripe  appears,  but  instead  of  dots  two  broad  white 
stripes,  and  some  black  rings. 
Hawthorn  hedges  furnish  food  to  the  caterpillar  of  the  green 
brindled  crescent  moth,  Miselia  Oxyacanthae,  one  frequent  near 
London,  and  now  feeding,  but  owing  to  the  body  being  nearly  the 
colour  of  the  twigs,  it  frequently  escapes  notice ;  a  hump,  however, 
adorns  the  last  segment,  and  there  are  a  few  white  dots.  The  moth 
flies  in  September,  hiding  by  day  amongst  shrubs.  Over  the  reddish 
brown  ground  colour  of  the  wings  are  sprinkled  metallic  green  scales, 
and  there  is  the  crescent  mark  not  uncommon  amongst  Noctuas ;  here 
it  is  pure  white.  One  ranunculus  moth  has  been  mentioned  ;  there  is 
another,  less  in  size,  absent  from  many  English  counties,  but  plentiful 
in  some  localities.  As  its  caterpillar  chiefly  feeds  on  the  flowers  and 
seeds  of  the  garden  Lettuce,  it  is  one  of  our  foes.  This  small 
ranunculus  (Hecatera  dysodea)  appears  during  July,  and  is  dark  grey, 
marbled  with  light  grey,  and  brown  or  black,  specially  distinguished, 
too,  by  scattered  orange  spots.  The  caterpillar  is  dull  green,  or  now 
and  then  yellowish,  having  faint  black  stripes ;  it  has  a  trick  of 
suddenly  dropping  from  its  food  to  the  earth  if  any  person  comes 
near,  so  often  escaping. 
We  have  in  the  genus  Dianthoecia  a  little  group  of  moths,  several 
of  which  occur  about  gardens.  They  are  notable  for  the  fact  that  the 
caterpillars  mostly  live  upon  the  pods  of  some  species  of  Lychnis  or 
Silene.  The  females  generally  have  a  long  egg-placer,  by  which  they 
insert  eggs  into  the  flower  buds  they  select.  One  of  the  well-known 
species  is  the  tawny  shears,  D.  carpophaga,  a  variable  moth,  some¬ 
times  almost  white,  at  other  times  a  dark  bistre  brown,  or  of 
intermediate  tints,  but  usually  showing  the  two  discoidal  spots,  set  in 
a  bar  or  band  across  the  wings.  During  June  eggs  are  deposited 
upon  some  Campion,  the  young  caterpillar  soon  enters,  and  having 
consumed  the  unripe  seeds  of  one  flower  head  travels  to  another, 
keeping  on  at  this  until  it  has  attained  a  good  size ;  then  it  descends 
to  the  earth  by  day,  and  mounts  at  night,  when  it  may  be  discovered 
with  a  lantern,  the  head  buried  in  a  pod,  and  the  body  very  visible 
outside ;  this  is  smooth  and  plump,  greenish  grey,  marsed  with 
broad  white  stripes.  About  eight  months  is  spent  by  this  species  in 
the  chrysalis  state. 
Another  moth,  called  the  lychnis,  or  D.  capsincola,  is  rather  like 
its  relative,  but  the  colour  of  the  wings  is  generally  brown,  on  which 
are  the  pale  spots  and  some  grey  lines.  It  flies  during  summer.  The 
caterpillar  occurs  in  August  or  September  on  Campions  or  Catchflies, 
leaving  conspicuous  holes.  From  its  mode  of  feeding  when  nearly 
adult,  it  must  be  an  easy  prey  for  birds.  The  body  is  slender  and 
smooth,  the  head  shining,  but  the  body  dull ;  on  each  segment  is  a 
mark,  shaped  like  a  V,  of  dark  drown ;  in  the  middle  of  it  is  a  small 
bar.  The  marbled  coronet  (D.  conspersa)  has  a  mark  upon  the 
thorax,  thought  to  resemble  a  crown ;  the  wings  are  smoky  black, 
marbled  and  spotted  with  white.  Less  common  than  the  preceding, 
it  is  scattered  over  Britain,  but  rare  in  Ireland.  Its  caterpillar 
prefers  the  head  of  the  White  Campion  and  Ragged  Robin,  concealing 
itself  within  these  while  it  can.  This  also  ha«  the  V-shaped  markings 
on  each  segment,  which  are  joined  by  a  line  running  through  them. 
Both  as  a  moth  and  caterpillar  I  think  the  majority  of  gardeners 
know  the  angle  shades,  possessor  of  the  lengthy  Latin  name  of 
Fhlogophora  meticulosa.  The  latter  means  “  fearful but  the  insect 
is  not  particularly  timid,  only  the  caterpillar  tucks  in  its  head  if 
alarmed,  as  do  many  others,  sometimes  forming  a  complete  ring.  Of 
course,  the  English  name  comes  from  the  central  mark  of  brown  on 
the  greyish-green  fore  wings;  the  under  wings  are  rather  pinkish. 
The  thorax  is  conspicuous  from  its  high  ridge  and  long  hair,  which 
stands  out  like  a  ruff.  This  is  one  of  the  moths  that  has  usually 
two  broods  yearly.  In  May  and  June  we  see  the  early  brood — 
specimens  are  frequent  on  walls  or  trunks  of  trees ;  the  second  appears 
in  September  or  later,  developed  from  caterpillars  of  the  summer. 
The  moths  now  coming  out  are  produced  by  caterpillars  which, 
having  hybernated,  fed  up  during  April.  The  cocoon  is  slight,  and 
formed  on  the  surface  of  the  soil.  In  colour  these  caterpillars  are  of 
two  shades,  green  or  brown  ;  both  varieties  are  sprinkled  with  whitish 
dots.  The  head  is  small,  and  the  body  gradually  enlarges  towards 
the  hinder  segments. 
We  have,  too,  a  small  angle  shades  of  a  rich  umber  brown,  some¬ 
what  similarly  marked,  but  the  bar  across  the  wings  has  a  large  white 
spot.  This  is  Euplexia  lucipara,  and  flies  in  the  summer.  Tne  cater¬ 
pillar  lives  upon  Ferns,  especially  the  common  Brake,  during  autumn. 
Its  colour  approaches  that  of  its  favourite  food,  being  a  delicate  green 
above  and  paler  beneath  ;  along  the  back  are  faint  black  markings. 
