186 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



little while, for we find the tree stunted in its growth, and its juices 

 apparently poisoned, for the young wood beneath them, upon being 

 cut into, is found stained. It is important to exterminate them 

 while the tree is young, or upon their first appearance, as they 

 multiply with great rapidity and are soon where it is difficult to 

 reach them. If applied in June, I have found no difficulty in des- 

 troying them by applying whale oil soap dissolved in water, a 

 pound to a gallon ; but at any other season they resist obstinately. 

 Dr. Fitch recommends boiling leaf tobacco in lye until reduced to 

 a pulp, and mixing soap until of the consistency of paint. At the 

 West, tar and linseed oil has been recommended. But the only 

 reliable method is to attack them at the proper time, i. c., just after 

 the eggs hatch, and then I have no doubt that even common soft 

 soap and water would be efiectual. It would appear that in other 

 sections it is a worse evil than here. Dr. Fitch, of New York, 

 says : " The bark louse is, on the whole, the most pernicious and 

 destructive to the apple tree of any insect in our cauntry. Every- 

 where in the Northern States it infests the orchards to a grievous 

 extent, causing the death of many trees and impairing the health 

 and vigor of many more. * * * Badly as this insect is infest- 

 ing our orchards in the State of New York, it is sbourging our 

 "Western neighbors far more severely. In those districts border- 

 ing on Lake Michigan, in particular, it is at the present time mak- 

 ing most appallitig havoc, surpassing anything hitherto recorded 

 of this species. Scarcely a tree is free from them, and unless meas- 

 ures for destroying the insect are resorted to the tree is sure to 

 perish within a few years after it is invaded." 



The tent caterpillar has been very troublesome for a year or two 

 past. The eggs are contained in cylindrical clusters, which encir- 

 cle the smaller twigs and contain several hundred eggs. These 

 clusters are covered with a tough leathery varnished covering 

 which protects them from the weather. They may be easily re- 

 moved by cutting off the twigs ; or as soon as they are hatched in 

 spring they may be brushed off, or destroyed, by soap suds or 

 lime wash applied with a swab on a pole. If neglected they grow 

 rapidly, and strip the leaves and thus seriously check growth. 



I'he Borer (Saperda himUala) is the most destructive insect we 

 have to contend with and this, by a little pains-taking at the proper 

 time, may be eradicated, or prevented by precautionary measures. 

 In my last report is an article by Mr. Currier, pages 25, 26, in 



