ANNUAL MEETING. 41 



this calamity. But to render the operation still more cerlaii] of effect it will 

 bo well to turn in hogs, advice which I am sure will bring an amen from our 

 most worthy Secretary; and to stimulate their scent to greater keenness and 

 activity, it will be well to scatter a few handfuls of shelled corn beneath the 

 trees that were attacked the previous spring. In this way we may hope to 

 greatly thin out these hidden springs of mischief, even if we do not wholly 

 eradicate the evil. If, as I think, it is the vernata alone that gives us trouble, 

 this will be a very valuable aid in the work of extinction. "We shall, too, in 

 this case, receive valuable assistance from the birds and chickens if we only do 

 our part, by plowing under the trees in early autumn. 



TO KEEP TJIE FEMALES FROM ASCENDING THE TREES. 



The fact that the females of these moths are apterous, or without wings, and 

 hence must gain the branches of the trees by passing up the trunks, was early 

 seized upon as the key to the practical solution of this evil ; and as a result, 

 several ingenious contrivances have been invented to render the upward march 

 of the females impossible ; some of the most important of which I will proceed 

 to explain. The most ancient plan, hence one sustained by the trying ordeal 

 of long experience, is to surround the tree with a ring of tar or other viscid 

 material, from five to eight inches wide. That this might not injure the tree, 

 and that it might be easily removed when no longer needed, as it sadly disfig- 

 ures an orchard, a band of canvass, roofing felt, or other cloth or thick paper, 

 was first tacked closely about the tree, and that the connection might be the 

 closer, it has been advised to besmear the inside of the band with a thin clay 

 mortar. The tar is then applied to the band. The objection to this method 

 lies in the fact that the tar dries so rapidly, that it must be renewed each day 

 to secure the desired end. 



Mr. John Tinker, of Clinton, Wisconsin, as quoted by Dr. Le Baron, found 

 that the material remained viscid longer, and was more easily applied, if 

 molasses were added to it. lie found too by carrying the can of tar in a pail 

 of hot water, it was more easily applied. One man could with a brush, make 

 the application to a thousand trees in eight hours. The amount of tar required 

 was from three to five gallons. It has been stated that printer's ink and melted 

 india-rubber is preferable to either coal or pine tar. Now that we know that 

 vernata only comes forth in March, or February at the earliest, and a part of 

 April, this remedy seems less burdensome than when we supposed, because of 

 our ignorance, that the application must be made from October to April. 



Dr. Le Baron found a less expensive method very effectual : Take an old 

 rope, three-fourths inch or inch will do, put this close around the tree, two or 

 three feet from the ground, let the ends lap a little and then tack, with three 

 penny nails. Then put a piece of tin four inches wide around immediately out- 

 side of the rope, making the center of the tin band to touch the rope, and tack 

 this to the rope and tree. Of course, if this is well put on, no moths can pass 

 between it and the tree, and though, says Dr. Le Baron, a few got on to the tin 

 none so far as I observed passed above it. Whether pometaria would be thus 

 easily fooled, is a question to be settled by actual trial. The females thus bar- 

 ricaded, deposit their eggs between the rope and ground. These may and 

 should be destroyed by applying kerosene oil, else the larvas, upon hatching, 

 will still gain the desired position, and do the fatal mischief. We see, too, a 

 reason for having the bands low down, as the eggs will be in more compact 

 •quarters, and more easily destroyed. 



