72 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  27,  1899. 
TURPENTINE  FOR  THE  TURNIP  FLEA 
BEETLE. 
Living  in  a  neighbourhood  where  securing  a  crop  of  Turnips  is 
a  matter  of  extreme  difficulty,  I  have  tried  every  remedy  advised  to 
accomplish  that  end,  among  which  has  been  the  turpentine  dressing 
of  Mr.  John  Hill  in  the  “  Worcester  Herald,”  as  mentioned  in  the 
Journal  of  Horticulture,  July  20th,  page  G8,  but  have  never  found 
any  benefit  from  it. 
In  June,  1897,  I  sowed  fifty- three  varieties  (so  called)  of  Swedes 
in  small  plots  for  trial.  Half  of  each  lot  of  seed  was  dressed  with 
turpentine,  but  the  flea  served  all  alike.  Early  in  July  the  same 
year  I  put  in  seventy-three  (so  called)  varieties  of  white  Turnips, 
dressed  in  the  same  way  as  the  Swedes,  with  the  same  result,  and  it 
was  with  great  difficulty  I  saved  the  crop  at  all. 
In  June  of  the  present  year  the  question  arose  as  to  what  is  the 
best  cure  for  the  Turnip  flea.  An  entomologist  advised  turpentine.  I 
thought  I  would  have  another  try.  The  first  week  in  July  I  prepared 
five  plots  of  2  rods  each,  and  sowed  them  with  Veitch’s  Red  Globe. 
No.  1  was  dressed  with  turpentine  (seed  covered  half  an  hour),  No.  2 
with  paraffin,  No.  3  turps  and  paraffin  mixed,  No.  4  not  dressed,  No.  5 
dressed  with  a  solution  of  assafoetida  from  the  chemist. 
In  every  plot  the  attack  is  the  same.  Every  plant  is  bitten  by 
the  beetle,  and  many  are  mined.  Is  the  turpentine  remedy,  then,  a 
mere  fancy  ?  I  am  inclined  to  think  so.  Within  a  stone’s  throw 
of  these  plots  is  a  field  of  part  white  Turnips  and  part  Swedes.  About 
0  acres  of  Swedes  are  ruined  ;  the  rest  of  the  field  (about  12  acres) 
contains  a  very  good  plant  and  no  fleas.  No  dressing  of  the  seed  was 
resorted  to.  The  cause  of  this  difference,  in  my  opinion,  is  that  the 
part  which  is  gone  was  sown  on  a  dry  seed  bed,  the  remainder  close 
after  a  shower,  the  moisture  inducing  quick  germination  and  free 
growth.  I  also  note  that  your  correspondent  thinks  that  turpentine 
penetrates  the  seed’s  coat,  and  so  permeates  the  whole  seed.  The  same 
theorv  is  held  in  some  parts  with  assafoetida,  and  I  can  quite  under¬ 
stand  if  such  was  the  case  that  the  flea  would  not  only  leave  the  plant 
alone,  but  would  clear  out  of  the  field  altogether  in  consequence  of  the 
abominable  smell. 
Your  correspondent  is  quite  right  when  he  remarks  that  turps  is  a 
spirit,  and  being  such  is  very  volatile  ;  consequently  the  small 
amount  contained  by  the  seed  soon  escapes  and  leaves  the  seed  with  a 
weakened  constitution.  Though  turpentine  does  not  kill  the  embryo, 
in  mv  experience  it  very  much  weakens  the  energy  of  its  germination, 
which  is  a  matter  of  great  importance  and  should  be  guarded  against. 
The  best  preventive  of  the  destructive  pest  that  I  have  found  is  to 
be  very  particular  about  the  preparation  of  the  seed  bed.  No  lumpy 
ground  or  small  clods  should  be  allowed,  but  the  soil  pulverised,  sweet 
and  fairly  firm  underneath,  then,  when  the  young  plants  appear,  dust 
eveiy  morning  before  the  dew  is  gone,  the  earlier  the  better,  with 
lime,  wood  ashes,  road  dust,  or  a  mixture  of  all  three,  when  the 
beetles  and  plants  are  damp.  This  is  a  sure  cure,  the  beetles  do  not 
like  dust  to  stick  to  them ;  but  it  is  of  no  use  if  applied  when  the 
dew  has  gone.  Turnips  sown  in  May  alongside  of  Cabbage  badly 
attacked  with  beetle  are  a  good  crop,  which  I  attribute  to  early 
morning  dusting,  as  those  not  dusted  are  all  destroyed.  Unfortunately 
this  can  only  be  practised  in  small  plots  and  gardens,  involving  too 
much  labour  for  field  practice,  unless  some  machine  can  be  invented 
for  the  purpose. — S.  D. 
A  JULY  JUMBLE. 
Cold  and  uncongenial  were  the  opening  days  of  July.  “  Not  a  bit 
like  summer,”  was  the  grumbling  greeting  current  among  those  to 
whom  seasonable  weather  means  so  much,  and  whose  shortcomings 
beget  many  a  growl  from  the  garden.  It  was  of  brief  duration,  how¬ 
ever,  and  memory  serves  not  to  recall  such  ideal  summer  days  as 
have  been  vouchsafed  to  us  since.  Pencilled  on  one’s  knee  (the 
paper  is  so  located,  I  mean)  in  the  waning  light  of  an  ideal  summer’s 
day,  how  satisfying  is  the  thought,  now  its  burden  and  heat  are  over  ! 
This  morning,  somewhere  in  the  “wee  sma’  hours,”  a  tumultuous 
twittering  in  the  bird  world  sounded  the  reveille,  to  be  succeeded  bv 
an  ominous  calm  not  less  disturbing  as  thought  followed  our  feathered 
ffiends  to  the  Cherry  trees,  where,  doubtless,  they  were  feasting.  Two 
hours  of  wakefulness  and  planning,  then  up,  out,  and  at  it — the  first 
biped  presumably  in  evidence,  for  the  bell-tongue  wags  not  for  another 
hour. 
\  ain  presumption.  There  are  two  long-legged  rascals  knee-deep 
in  the  placid  waters  of  the  pond,  fishing — goldfishing — for  a  breakfast. 
“  Frank,  frank,”  whatever  that  means  in  heron  language  as  they  soar 
up  and  float  majestically  away.  Oh,  you  beauties  !  A  pleasant  sur¬ 
prise  this  time,  the  shimmering  heat  has  burst  the  earliest  buds  of 
Iris  Kaempferi  and  seven  satiny  blooms  illumine  the  boggy  nook 
devoted  to  a  dozen  varieties.  Most  beautiful  of  the  tribe,  four  times 
have  we  paid  homage  to  your  charms.  Some  score  of  spathes, 
in  all  their  purity,  spring  through  the  handsome  leaves  of  the  Cal  las, * 
growing  au  naturel  in  a  bay  of  the  pond.  -  In  the  semi-privacy  of  the 
foliage  a  water-hen  has  carelessly  woven  her  mat-like  nest,  and 
madam,  who  is  possibly  indignant  at  boing  overlooked,  flutters  across 
to  where  the  quaintly  pretty  frosted  flowers  of  the  Bog  Bean,  Meny- 
anthes  trifoliata,  peep  up  from  the  opposite  “  brim.” 
A  distant  clock  strikes  six ;  the  working  day  has  commenced,  but 
it  does  not  spring  as  spontaneously  into  being  as  it  will  suddenly 
cease  twelve  hours  hence.  For  the  next  ten  minutes  here  and  there 
a  bell  lazily  proclaims  the  fact,  and  the  workman  who  lives  farthest 
away  is  the  first  to  appear.  “  Very  hot,”  he  says,  “it  will  be  a  fine 
day.”  So  sav  all  of  them,  and  their  opinion  is  endorsed  by  the 
barometer.  Time  tries  all  things,  however,  even  unanimous  opinions, 
as  the  sequel  proved.  The  tennis-lawn,  mown  yesterday,  carries  an 
inch  crop  which  has  sprung  up  in  the  night,  and  all  nature  bursting 
with  energy  seems  to  advance  by  leaps  and  bounds.  Who  would 
imagine  that  the  old  Weeping  Ash,  which  a  few  weeks  since  was 
bare,  could  make  new  weepers  4  feet  6  inches  long,  but  the  tape 
accounts  for  the  record — if  it  is  one.  Even  the  common  of  its  kind, 
and  the  laggard  Walnuts,  had  all  donned  the  green  ere  the  weeper 
thought  of  waking  up. 
Roses  and  Sweet  Peas  fill  the  garden  with  fragrance.  As  for  Roses, 
the  buds  of  last  night  are  big  blooms  this  morning.  How  all  have 
revelled  in  the  heat,  until  it  has  become  oppressive  !  No  one  looks  at 
the  skv  until  a  flash  and  a  reverberating  crack  of  heaven’s  artillery  is 
succeeded  by  a  tropical  downpour,  and  the  electric  disturbance  rolls 
over  and  away.  Again  the  sun  pours  down  upon  the  reeking  earth 
as  the  incense  of  a  thousaud  scents  ascends,  and  all  sorts  of  creeping 
humble  life  venture  forth  for  a  spell.  It  is  exhilarating,  life-giving  ; 
and  if  ever  a  garden  smiled,  surely  this  one  fairlv  laughed  to-day  in  a 
Turkish  bath  atmosphere.  An  army  of  bond-Jidcs,  chiefly  of  the 
humble  bee  order,  have  visited  the  Poppies,  from  whose  cups  they  have 
sipped — not  wisely,  but  too  well.  Now  they  are  tumbling  about  in 
them  on  their  backs,  making  a  sad  hubbub  in  a  kind  of  maudlin 
condition,  and  many  will  not  go  home  till  morning,  if  ever  they  reach 
it  again.  The  shower,  brief  time  as  it  lasted,  has  penetrated  from 
4  to  6  inches  into  fresh  soil,  whose  surface  is  now  dry  again,  and 
walks  and  drives  look  clean  and  bright. 
Out  with  the  Broccoli  ?  Yes,  and  sow  more  Turnips.  Never  was 
such  trouble  with  the  latter,  in  spite  of  dustings,  watering,  and  watch¬ 
ing.  Fleas  and  flies  should  be  Turnip  sick  by  this  time.  How  time 
has  flown  !  Here  a  coat,  and  there  a  basket  appear  planted  to  facilitate 
egresa,  and  simultaneously  with  the  knell  of  departing  day  comes  a 
clattering  of  feet  homeward  bound.  The  youngest  pair,  last  in  this 
morning,  pro^e  their  agility  by  being  first  out  this  evening.  From  our 
cottage  the  blue  smoke  curls  up  between  the  trees,  and  the  cup  that 
cheers  awaits,  which,  being  discussed,  brings  another  ramble  round, 
more  planning  and  sundry  small  labours  of  love,  to  which  add  the 
pencilling  of  this  brief  retrospect  to  close  an  ideal  summer’s  day. 
— Invicta. 
INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  AND  HORTICULTURE, 
Osr  page  6  “  A.  D.”  makes  some  good  suggestions  as  to  the  advisability 
of  training  a  number  of  boys  in  industrial  schools  to  become  “  valuable 
workers  ”  in  market  gardens.  That  there  is  plenty  of  room  for  large 
contingents  of  trained  workers  is  an  indisputable  fact,  and  the  sooner  this 
idea  of  training  boys  in  a  practical  manner  is  more  generally  acted  upon 
the  better.  Speaking  as  an  employer  of  labour,  I  can  truthfully  assert 
that  really  useful  young  fellows  are  badly  wanted,  not  merely  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Metropolis,  but  in  the  neighbourhood  of  other  large  towns. 
But  we  do  not  want  men  with  a  “fancy”  training,  such  as  they  would 
get  at  botanical  gardens  and  somewhat  similar  places.  That  sort  of 
education  would  be  a  poor  preparation  for  our  line  of  business. 
“  A.  D.”  and  others  interested  in  the  question  will  be  glad  to  learn 
that  the  idea  of  training  youths  to  become  skilled  labourers  in  market 
and  other  gardens,  has  been  anticipated  in  one  direction  at  any  rate. 
At  Kingswood,  near  Bristol,  there  is  a  large  and  admirably  conducted 
reformatory  for  boys,  largely  supported  by  voluntary  subscriptions,  and 
in  connection  with  this  grand  institution  there  are  about  30  acres  of 
land.  Nearly  the  whole  of  this  is  cultivated  by  spade  labour,  gangs  of 
boys  working  daily  uuder  the  supervision  of  experienced  gardeners. 
This  land,  though  very  unpromising  at  first,  has  been  gradually  brought 
into  good  condition,  and  excellent  crops  of  Peas,  Beans,  Potatoes,  and 
winter  vegetables  are  grown.  From  among  the  many  boys  employed, 
about  twenty  of  the  most  promising  have  been  selected  and  afforded  the 
benefit  of  a  course  of  lectures  and  demonstrations  given  by  a  man  who 
happens  to  have  some  experience  in  both  private  and  market  gardens. 
The  boys  are  encouraged  to  take  notes,  to  ask  questions,  and  will  be 
verbally  examined  upon  all  that  they  have  seen  and  heard. 
All  round  Bristol  market  gardening  is  carried  on  in  a  spirited  manner, 
and  in  spite  of  high  rents  and  high  wages  is  made  to  pay.  An  annual 
addition  of  strong  active  youths,  with  a  fair  knowledge  of  their  work,  to 
the  ranks  (all  too  limited)  of  men  available,  will  be  welcome  to  most  of 
the  proprietors  of  market  gardens,  and,  personally,  I  should  have  no 
hesitation  in  employing  the  well-disciplined  youths  that  leave  Kingswood 
Reformatory. — V  isitoe. 
