January  9,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  BORTICVLTURE  AND  OOTTAOE  OARDENEB. 
Apple,  Lord  Grosvenor, 
The  illustration  on  this  page  represents  a  flourishing  espalier- 
trained  tree  of  Lord  Grosvenor  Apple,  planted  in  1878.  It 
almost  annually  bears  an  excellent  crop  of  fine  fruit.  It  was 
planted  by  Mr.  John  Masterson  in  the  gardens  at  Weston  House, 
Shipston-on-Stour,  Warwickshii'e,  the  seat  of  the  Earl  of 
Camperdown.  Mr.  Masterson  informs  me  that  Lord  Grosvenor 
Apple  succeeds  remarkably  well  at  Weston. — G. 
Suspected  Sleepers. 
We  live  in  an  age  of  contradictions ;  we  see  this  for  one  thing 
in  the  treatment  of  animals,  where  cruelty  and  over-tenderness 
often  run  side  by  side.  Some  people  are  averse  to  see  any  insects 
killed,  though  even  the  gentle  poet  Cowper  admitted  that 
the  pests  of  the  garden  or  the  foes  of  the  human  body  should  be 
destroyed  when  it  is  possible.  What  amount  of  feeling  insects 
At  'Weston  House,  the  Se.\t  of  the  Earl  of  Camperdown. 
WIllE  TRAINED  ESPALIER  APPLE  TREE,  VARIETY,  LORI)  (IROSVEXOR. 
have  must  ever  remain  a  doubtful  point,  but  it  is  allowed  they 
have  more  sensibility  than  was  formerly  supposed.  Something 
depends,  of  course,  upon  the  stage  of  life  in  which  an  insect  is, 
and  it  will  save  the  trouble  of  killing  a  caterpillar  to  crush  the 
egg  from  which  it  will  emerge  in  the  spring,  and  numerous 
patches  may  be  discovered  in  various  places  with  a  little  research. 
More  profitable  still  is  it  to  destroy  the  pupae,  which  live  through 
the  winter,  because  one  as  a  moth  may  be  the  parent  of  hundreds 
of  caterpillars.  A  pupa  or  chi-ysalis  in  its  winter  sleep  cannot 
have  the  sensibility  of  an  active  insect. 
Digging  during  winter  and  spring  is  sure  to  bring  to  light  the 
pupae  of  moths,  amongst  other  things.  They  turn  up  singly,  and 
occasionally  in  little  groups, where  a  party  of  caterpillars  happened 
to  have  fed  on  some  plants.  Elsewhere  we  may  find  pupae,  in 
garden  edgings,  upon  palings  or  walls ;  but  mostly  they  produce 
moths  that  are  not  parents  of  pests — some  are,  no  doubt.  Then 
the  pupae  of  the  common  white  butterflies,  well-known  enemies  of 
horticulture,  may  be  detected  from  September  to  April,  fastened 
up  by  a  silken  band.  Nor  are  all  the  pupae  we  bring  out  of  the 
soil  prolific  in  troublesome  caterpillars.  A  few  are  pretty  and 
harmless  garden  species;  still,  most  belong  to  the  Noctua  tribe, 
the  caterpillars  feeding  often  on  the  stems  or  roots,  much  to 
their  detriment;  also,  sometimes,  they  strip  the  leaves  exten¬ 
sively.  It  is  therefore  quite  justifiable  to  give  such  sleepers  a 
Suietus  that  is  final.  We  are  more  likely  to  turn  up  these 
loctuas  about  the  kitchen  garden  than  along  the  flower  borders, 
but  they  are  distributed  in  various  places,  and  even  an  ento¬ 
mologist  cannot  always  discriminate  the  species.  Therefore  it  is 
needful  to  destroy  all  we  can,  even  if  some  innocent  have  to  die 
among  the  probable  pests  of  another  season.  It  is  not  needful 
to  give  a  complete  list  of  the  possible  finds.  I  will  refer  only  to 
a  few  specially  noteworthy  for  their  abundance  or  their  activity, 
and  no  one  has  a  better  claim  to  the  first  place  than  the  prolific 
Cabbage  moth,  Mamestra  Brassicse. 
Generally,  its  pupa  lies  at  no  great  depth  in  the  soil,  and  it  is 
one  greatly  relished  by  poultry,  so  when  they  have  the  opportunity, 
they  scratch  the  beds  eagerly  to  obtain  this  and  other  pupae. 
Some  people,  indeed,  advocate  turning  fowls  out  to  act  as  insect- 
kiUers  about  a  garden,  but  their  proceedings  are,  on  the  whole, 
undesirable,  since  they  attack  the  crowns  or  roots  of 
many  ^slants  for  variety.  The  caterpillar  of  this  species  is  best 
known  in  the  kitchen  garden,  where  it  revels  in  the  hearts  of 
Cabbages,  Lettuces,  Seakale,  and  other  species ;  also  feeding 
exposed  on  the  outer  leaves.  Amongst  the  flower  beds  it  makes 
havoc,  frequently  selecting  Dahlias,  Pelargoniums,  and  Mari¬ 
golds.  To  escape  detection  it  will  rest  on  the  earth,  or  just  below 
it,  by  day,  and  feeds  at  dusk.  Its  colour  varies  much,  different 
tints  of  brown,  or  dull  green,  with  a  few  black  markings.  Ap¬ 
parently,  there  is  a  succession  of  these  caterpillars,  for  they  are 
to  be  found  feeding  during  two  or  three  months.  The  motiis  fly 
in  May  and  June,  when  some  gar¬ 
deners  capture  hundreds  by  putting 
sugar  on  walls  or  palings,  and  catch¬ 
ing  the  sippers  with  a  hand  net. 
We  pass  to  another  species,  not 
so  plentiful  as  the  preceding,  yet 
probably  better  known  to  the  gar- 
'  dener  in  its  caterpillar  state.  The 
dob  rnoth  (M.  Persicarise)  takes  its 
English  name  from  the  conspicuous 
spot  of  pure  white  on  the  fore  wings, 
and  the  caterpillar  has  markings 
that  make  it  very  recognisable.  The 
general  colour  is  either  green  or 
brown ;  the  head  is  shining  and 
mottled,  behind  it  is  a  velvety  patch, 
and  along  each  side  a  series  of 
stripes,  just  above  the  tail  is  a 
hump.  When  alarmed  this  cater¬ 
pillar  rolls  into  a  compact  ball,  fall¬ 
ing  to  the  earth ;  otherwise  it  feeds 
full  m  view  upon  many  plants,  and, 
1  fancy,  is  not  a  species  often  seized 
by  birds.  We  not  uncommonly  ob¬ 
serve  it  upon  herbaceous  species 
along  the  borders  till  late  in  autumn. 
I  lie  pupa  turns  up  from  a  dejith  of  a 
few  inches  lying  in  a  slight  cell.  If 
allowed  to  emerge,  the  moth  lays 
eggs  during  July.  Frequently,  how¬ 
ever,  we  have  cases  of  Noctua  cater¬ 
pillars  feeding  through  part  of  the 
winter.  For  example,  a  near  rela- 
tive  of  the  Cabbage  moth,  quaintly 
called  the  Rustic  Shoulderknot 
(Apamea  basilinea),  begins  its  career 
as  caterpillar  by  feeding  upon  the 
ears  of  corn  in  autumn.  Carried  to 
barns  or  granaries,  they  repose 
through  the  winter,  and  travel  out 
during  spring  to  devour  the  roots  and 
.  „  ,  ,  ,  ,  underground  stems  of  various  plants 
in  fields  or  hedgerows.  Their  growth  being  slow,  it  is  not  until 
the  second  March  that  they  are  of  full  size,  when  they  enter  the 
pupa  state  beneath  the  soil. 
Spring  digging  brings  to  light  (and  to  death)  some  of  these 
hibernators,  as  pupae,  should  they  not  have  been  disturbed  before 
by  men  or  birds.  But  in  several  instances,  caterpillars  that  pass 
through  the  winter  do  not  sleep,  save,  perhaps,  in  sharp  frost 
but  continue  their  operations  upon  the  roots.  Such  is  the  habit 
of  the  Turnip  moth  (Agrotis  segetum).  Its  partiality  to  the 
Turnip,  above  and  below  ground,  prompted  the  Enghsh  name 
but  it  attacks  a  variety  of  plants  in  fields  or  gardens,  and  Newman 
chronicled  great  mischief  caused  to  China  Asters.  Probably  this 
insect  would  give  more  trouble  to  farmers  if  the  caterpillar  was 
not  hunted  by  the  partridge  and  the  rook.  Since  it  seldom 
becomes  a  pupa  before  May,  it  often  escapes  being  dug  up  in 
that  stage.  The  heart  and  dart  moth,  of  the  same  genus  (A. 
exclamationis) — I  presume  it  got  the  Latin  name  because  what 
some  regarded  as  a  dart-like  mark  on  the  wings  others  called  a 
“  note  of  admiration  ” — -finishes  its  caterpillar  career  by  October 
at  the  latest.  It  is  desirable  to  kill  the  pupa  when  we  can.  It 
lies  Sin  or  4in  below  the  surface.  Not  infrequently 
gardeners  come  upon  the  caterpillar,  bluish  brown,  with  a  pale 
stripe  and  black  head,  during  summer  or  atitumn ;  but  it  is  apt 
to  escape  detection  from  its  habit  of  concealing  itself  in  daylight. 
After  sunset  it  wanders  from  plant  to  plant,  feeding  upon  the 
crowns  or  lower  leaves. 
One  of  the  handsome  garden  moths  is  named  the  Angleshades 
