September  13,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
243 
food,  it  stimulates  root  and  leaf  growth,  and  enables  plants  to  collect 
in  the  shortest  time  other  essential  ford  elements  from  the  soil. 
The  great  factor  in  gas  liquor  is  the  ammonia.  This  varies  in 
amount,  hence  needs  care  in  its  use;  a  safe  rule  is  to  always  dilute  the 
liquor  with  five  times  its  bulk  of  water  before  applying  to  the  roots, 
especially  when  it  must  be  over  the  tops  of  growing  crops.  It  is 
valuable  manure  for  cereals,  grasses.  Potatoes  ani  Turnips,  and  root 
crops  generally.  In  gardens  it  may  be  used  for  fruit  trees  and 
vegetables,  also  for  flowers  in  beds  and  borders,  or  even  pots  outdoors. 
Its  urn  under  glass  is  almost  precluded  by  smell  and  the  dmgerof 
scorching  arising  from  the  ammonia  to  foliage.  The  effluvium  of 
gas  liquor  is  in  some  cases  a  fatal  objection  to  its  use  in  gardens. 
Grass  Land. 
For  grass  land  gas  liquor  answers  well,  the  distribution  being 
effected  t>y  a  water-ctrt  with  spreader.  It  may  be  applied  at  almost 
any  time  of  year,  but  best  in  the  late  winter  or  early  spring  months 
on  either  pasture  or  meadow  land.  At  this  season  the  gas  liquor 
need  only  be  diluted  with  two  or  three  times  its  bulk  of  water,  as 
the  ground  being  wet  it  will  be  considerably  diluted  in  the  soil,  and 
though  it  may  slightly  brown  the  herbage  it  will  not  prejudice  the 
•vitality  of  the  plants.  On  a  paddock  that  had  become  mossy  and 
the  grass  n  t  liked  by  either  horses  or  cattle  it  had  a  very  decided 
effect,  the  same  amount  of  diluted 
gas  liquor  being  applied  as  in  water¬ 
ing  streets.  I  did  not  keep  an 
account  of  how  many  tons  of  diluted 
liquor  were  applied  per  acre,  but  it 
took  a  man  and  horse  a  week  to 
dress  the  seven  acres,  the  water  for 
diluting  being  near  by,  and  the  gas 
liquor  tank  about  half  a  mile  distant. 
It  was  depastured  by  milch  cows 
from  the  end  of  April,  and  they  eat 
off  the  grass  quite  close,  and  the 
cowman  said  the  cows  gave  more 
milk  than  they  had  ever  done  before 
when  grazing  the  same  field.  The 
grass  and  other  herbage  was  a  deep 
green  colour,  and  grew  very  close. 
So  much  did  the  cows  like  it  and 
thrive  upon  it  that  ground  was 
getting  bare  in  June  and  it  was 
decided  to  turn  them  on  meadow 
as  soon  as  the  aftermath  had  grown 
sufficiently. 
The  hay  crop  being  secured  early 
in  June,  hay-making  all  done  before 
midsummer,  and  the  gas  liquor  tank 
being  lull,  some  of  the  meadow  land 
was  well  watered  with  gas  liquor 
diluted  with  five  times  its  bulk  of 
water.  The  man  and  horse  were 
at  work  a  fortnight  and  got  over 
about  fourteen  acres.  The  dressing 
appeared  to  hive  done  harm,  for  though  more  highly  diluted  the 
liquor  was  either  stronger  or  had  more  effect  on  the  herbage,  the 
great  patch  in  the  forty  acres  of  grass  land  being  conspicuous  by  its 
brownness,  while  the  rest  was  growing,  though  pale  green.  Anon  the 
dressed  portion  changed  from  brown  to  deep  green,  and  grew  in  herbage 
twice  as  much  and  thick  as  the  other  portion  of  the  meadow  land 
— portion  of  a  park.  The  cows  found  it  out,  leaving  all  the  other 
alone  for  this,  and  bung  aided  by  other  cattle,  eat  it  off  so  close  that 
it  appeared  as  newly  mown.  The  herbage,  however,  came  again, 
deep  green  as  before,  and  abided  so  until  frost  came,  when  it  got 
nipped,  especially  the  Clover  in  it,  clearly  indicating  that  one 
effect  of  the  gas  liquor  was  to  render  the  herbage  more  succulent 
and  tender. 
These  records  of  experience  are  not  advanced  as  the  best,  but  may 
serve  some  useful  purjicse  suggestively,  there  being  no  excuse  for 
allowing  so  valuable  a  manure  as  gas  liquor  to  run  to  waste.  The 
consideration  arises.  Does  it  pay  ?  In  our  case  it  did,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  otherwise  the  man  and  horse  would  have  been  idle,  or 
doing  nothing  in  the  sense  of  bringing  forth  an  increase  of  product. 
When  the  gas  liquor  must  be  bought  and  conveyed  a  considerable  dis¬ 
tance  and  witer  is  not  convenient  for  dilution,  there  is  no  question  but 
that  sulphate  of  ammonia  would  be  the  cheaper,  if  not  better,  article. 
Even  in  the  use  of  gas  liquor  where  it  costs  nothing  and  can  b' 
applied  readily  and  without  sfiecial  outlay,  I  should  not  rely  upon  it 
alone  for  grass  land,  but  use  basic  slag  in  the  autumn,  10  cwt.  per  acre, 
and  follow  with  beat  quality  kaimt,  5  cwt.  per  acre.  Tnen  in  February 
drench  t  e  land  with  gas  liquor,  and  again,  if  meadow  land,  as  soon 
after  the  hay  crop  was  off  as  possible. — G.  Abbey. 
(To  be  continued.) 
Tlie  Small  Ermine  Moilis. 
The  genus  Hyponomeuta  contains  a  number  of  species,  most  of 
which  80  closely  resemble  each  other  in  appearance  and  in  mode  of 
life  as  to  be  difficult  to  distinguish.  They  are  all  small  moths 
(Microlepidoptera),  measuring  f-  to  1  inch  from  tip  to  tip  of  the 
wings.  The  general  colour  of  the  fore  wings  is  white  or  grey, 
sparsely  traversed  on  the  upper  surfsce  by  irregular  rows  of  small 
black  spots,  hence  the  name  “  Ermine  Moths.”  The  thorax,  or  portion 
of  the  body  from  which  the  wings  spring,  is  usually  also  supplied  with 
similar  marks.  The  hind  wings  are  provided  with  a  long  fringe,  and 
they,  as  well  as  the  lower  surface  of  the  fore  wings,  are  brownish. 
The  caterpillar  is  abjut  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  length,  of  a  greyish 
or  yellowish  colour,  plentifully  supplied  with  black  or  dark  brown  spots, 
and  possesses  sixteen  feet.  It  tapers  markedly  both  before  and  behind. 
When  disturbed  it  lowers  itself  to  the  ground  by  a  silken  thread  (fig.  65). 
The  commonest  species  are: — H.  padella,  L.  (H.  variabilis,  Zell.), 
with  a  wing  stretch  of  about  four-fifchs  of  an  inch.  The  upper  surface 
of  the  fore  wings  is  bluish  or  greyish  white,  traversed  longitudinally  by 
three  irregular  rows  of  black  spots  (about  thirty  in  all),  the  hind  wings 
being  greyish  brown.  The  caterpillar  has  a  dark  head,  and  a  body 
covered  by  wart- like  tubercles  from  which  hairs  spring.  This  species  is 
met  with  on  Plum,  Apple,  Hawthorn,  Sloe,  Mountain  Ash,  &c. 
H.  evonymella,  L.  (H.  padi,  Zell.), 
measures  nearly  an  inch  across  the 
wings.  The  upper  surface  of  the 
fore  wings  is  lustrous-white  in  colour, 
and  shows  five  rows  of  black  spots 
(over  forty  in  all).  In  appearance 
the  caterpillar  closely  resembles  the 
former.  This  species  generally  feeds 
on  Bird  Cherry,  and  is  the  species 
most  usually  met  with  in  the  north 
of  England. 
The  “  Small  Ermine  ”  that  fre¬ 
quents  Apple  trees  is  generally 
regarded  as  a  distinct  species  (H. 
mallinella,  Zell.),  but,  in  any  case,  io 
so  closely  resembles  H.  padella  as  to 
be  practically  indistinguishable. 
Life  History. 
The  ermine  moths  that  damage 
British  trees  have  all  a  similar  life 
history.  From  about  the  middle  of 
July  till  the  middle  of  August,  for 
the  most  part  they  are  on  the  wing, 
at  which  time  they  lay  their  eggs 
in  clusters  on  the  bads  and  shoots 
of  the  trees  already  indicated.  In 
the  course  of  the  autumn,  or  in  the 
following  spring,  the  eggs  hatch  and 
produce  caterpillars,  which  in  the 
month  of  May  spin  a  veil-like  web, 
under  which  they  live  gregariously 
in  detached  colonies.  At  this  time 
the  caterpillars  feed  voraciously,  so 
that  destruction  of  the  foliage  of  the  food-plant  proceeds  rapidly.  As 
the  creatures  increase  in  size  and  find  it  necessary  to  secure  more 
food,  they  spread  their  webs  over  a  larger  and  larger  portion  of  the 
tree  or  bush  on  which  they  live,  until,  in  many  cases,  but  little  of  the 
plant  may  remain  uncovered. 
When  full  grown  the  caterpillar  spins  for  itself  a  tough  greyish 
cocoon  about  the  size  and  shape  of  a  large  grain  of  oats,  and  in  this 
protective  covering  it  pupates.  This  change  takes  place  for  the 
most  part  in  July,  the  chrysalid-cocoons  being  situated  within  the 
common  web.  A  fortnight  later  the  appearance  of  the  moth  completes 
the  life  history. 
Preventive  and  Remedial  Measures. 
If  the  colonies  of  caterpillars  are  within  easy  reach  they  may  be 
destroyed  by  crushing  by  hand,  the  use  of  a  glove  making  the  process 
less  disagreeable.  If  the  webs  are  too  high  to  ba  treated  in  this  way, 
the  branches  that  they  envelop  may  be  out  off  and  burned,  or  the 
“  nests  ”  may  be  burned  in  their  original  position,  ignition  being 
effected  by  a  torch  on  the  end  of  a  pole.  If  water  under  high 
pressure  from  a  hose  can  be  applied  the  colonies  may  be  effectively 
destroyed. 
Various  solutions  may  be  applied  by  means  of  a  syringe  or  spraying 
machine.  Of  these  one  of  the  best  is  prepared  by  dissolving  7  lbs.  of 
sofcsoap  in  7  gallons  of  boiling  water.  To  this,  w  file  still  hot,  half  a 
gallon  of  paraffin  or  petroleum  oil  is  added,  with  vigorous  stirring,  the 
whole  being  diluted  with  soft  wa'er  to  25  gallons  before  use.  Solutions 
of  tobacco  j  lice  and  quassia  are  also  useful. 
Wnatever  measure  is  employed  is  should  be  pub  in  force  as  soon  as 
the  webs  are  observed.  If  too  long  delayed  the  caterpillars  will  have 
spread  themselves  over  a  wider  surface,  and  most  of  the  damage  wil 
already  have  been  done. — (“  Board  of  Agriculture  Leaflet.”) 
Fig.  65. —  Hyponomeuta  p.\della,  L. 
Moth,  twice  natural  size ;  larvm  and  web  about  natural  size. 
