The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-21
.Cabbage Snakes,

I
 The Bureau of Entomology of the l Department of Agriculture has just is- sued a monolith which may be of con | cern to the gardeners and truck farm
 CTS of those Southern States which have for several seasoIss been disturbed
 by horrid and sickening tales of "cab- | bage snakes"
 The document from the Department | Is devoted to The Imported Cabbage 1 Worm," and was prepared by F. H l Crittenden in charge of breeding ex- periments of the bureau.
 Perhaps this worm is not the snake | which has made so many people sick | in their imaginations-perha it is the
 self same larva magnified into a dead | ly serpent. Anyhow, MT. Crittenden pronounces this larva or caterpillar
 of a white butterfly known to science as Pontia rapae Linn the worst of the
 many destructive enemies of cabbage and plants of that family. The real | cabbage destroyer Is a worm, velvety green in color, much like the leaf it ! feeds on; the surface of the body when viewed through an ordinary lens show | ing roughly and dotted with black spots. It Is about an inch and a quarter long when it Is old enough to | go into business.
 Quitting the exact dimensions and other anatomical data about this cab bage fiend and the terror of the house
 wife who dotes upon vegetable dinners.
 what the investigator says about the
 mischief done by the pest Is of most use.
 Tt begins work early in the season"
 he says, and the principal damage is therefore to young plants. After rid ding the outer leaves which continue afterward attached to the stalk, it at- tacks the more tender inner leaves,
 which are made most unsightly and is
 difficult to reach by insecticides. As a
 result cabbages before being sent to
 market must be carefully examined and
 the damaged leaves plucked away;
 and, before cooking, it is frequently
 necessary to tear the heads apart to see that no disgusting worm Is turk ing within. Even after the dish is
 cooked there is danger of an admixture of the animal with the vegetable food. In cool weather the caterpillar fre- quehtly feeds in free exposure on the upper surface of the leaves in the sun shine.
 "As early as 1869, when this cabbage
 worm was restricted to limited areas in
 Canada. New England and New York, it did great damage. At St. Albans Bay, Vt, in that year it caused the to- tai destruction of crop of 5000 cab bage plants. The worms made their appearance about the first of Septem-
 Der, and there were from ten to fifty d head. The Abbe Provancher estimated | the same year a loss of $240.000 in the vicinity of Quebec alone. One farmer near Montreal lost in a single season over 12, ,00O heads of cabbage. The fol- lowing year, according to MT. Angus the entire crop of cabbage and cauli- flower in some places about New York | City, where the insects had appeared or | the year before, was destroyed. The | loss was estimated at half a million
 dollars.
 The bug, worm, caterpillar or "cab-
 bage snake" appears to have been in' troduced into this country from Europe along with other objectionable immi-
 grafton as long ago, 1t is said. as half a
 century. It showed first in Canada and
 then in Maine, about 1865. In three years 1t got to New York. It followed
 the center of population west
 ward, and by 1880 found fresh food
 in the fertility of the Southern soil. Il
 spread itself until 1t is now known 1T
 every part of the country. i.@
 'It does not appear to be the inhabi.
 tant of any life zone," says Mir. Crit. | tenden, seeming as much of a pest Tn the Gulf States as in Canada and New England"
 The remedy for the pest Is to be found, 1t seems only in a natural in-
 sect enemy-small parasites-also in- | troductions from Europe. One of them was purposely imported from England
 They have tried 1t here in the District of Columbia, and
 successfully. It is a kind of fly
 about the size of the ordinary gnat
 and bears the scientific name of Apan- teles Glomeratus Linn. This imported
 fly killed and destroyed all the cabbage
 snakes that 1t encountered. Other reme- dial works is done with Paris green
 and arsenate of lead. the former to be
 sprayed with water when the plants are first set out. Another simple remedy
 is hot water, which does no serious
 harm to the cabbage and kills all the
 insects with which 1t comes into con tact.
 So much for cabbage snakes. Un-
 less the gardener and the cook are both careful they are likely to superinduce
 indigestion.