AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OP NURSERYMEN. 303 



river in Nebraska. I found only three in the Black hills in Dakota in an extended 

 searcli for the different trees which grew there; found only one in a long ramble in the 

 hills at Las Vegas, New Mexico. Yet this tree has crept across the continent, and is 

 found here and there in a northwesterly direction, between the Platte and the Pacific 

 coast. Only for the resinous coating protecting its seeds, this tree would not be found 

 today scattered over that immense region. 



Pres. Sweet : "Has anything new been learned about insects injurious 

 to the nursery, and insecticides?" to be answered by Mr. Longnecker. 



Mr. Longnecker: I received a paper requesting me to write on that 

 topic, and I found I knew nothing about it, and thinking that something 

 had to be done, I secured all the agricultural books I could and studied at 

 them, delved into the reports of societies, horticultural, agricultural, and 

 nursery societies, and found out, the more I hunted, the more I was per- 

 plexed and bothered and the less I knew about the subject. I tried to find 

 out from other nurseries if they had learned anything new about insects 

 that are enemies to the nursery, and found I was about as wise as these 

 nurserymen, and so was relieved from my perplexities by finally being 

 requested to write upon the subject I had yesterday. 



Mr. xVlbaugh of Ohio: I suppose in other parts of the country as well 

 as in Ohio you sometimes have in apple trees what you call the span-worm, 

 first green and then black in color, two or three feet at each extremity, and 

 climbs from branch to branch and from tree to tree and despoils the tree of 

 its foliage. We have been troubled at periods, two or three years apart 

 (sometimes four or five years apart) with the span-worm in the nurseries. 

 It comes early, just as the first leaves and sprays are forming, and the 

 leaves come off in a few days, before you notice it. Since the insecticides 

 have practical application in the way of killing the moths and other things 

 that interfere with the fruit, we have learned to apply them with a spray 

 upon the nurseries, and it is wonderful what destruction it makes among 

 the insects. If you will notice, at any time hereafter in the spring of the 

 year, a serious amount of these span-worms upon your trees ( and you cer- 

 tainly all ar.e liable to have them ) and if you will spray these trees, by tak- 

 ing two or three rows on each side of the machine ( two or three hands will 

 spray a large tract in a forenoon ) you may rest assured that the end of those 

 span-worms rests in peace, and a very few days will finish them. Careful 

 observation has taught lis that within two or three days after the spraying 

 process, generally, the span-worm ceases to be interested in any earthly 

 thing, although he lives for two or three days afterward. I have often 

 wondered if somebody would invent a sprapng machine to get rid of all 

 that trouble our friends of Minnesota and New York have ordained for this 

 association, arising from a certain species of humanity that seem to be dis- 

 astrous to the tree business. That would work a wonderfid change for the 

 better all over the land. 



Mr. Augustine: I would like to ask Mr. Albaugh what he means by the 

 span-worm — whether he means the skeletonizer, or what does he mean 

 by it. 



Mr. Albaugh: The skeleton worm, also called the fall web worm, spins 

 a web over our pear trees in the latter part of summer; the leaf roller takes 

 a leaf and rolls it up, but this voracious span-worm deliberately travels all 

 over the tree, devouring as it goes. It is sometimes called the canker 

 worm. 



Mr. Augustine : We have no trouble with it. I would like to know if 

 any one has had any experience in destroying what we call the little thrip. 



