274 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



varnish, resembling in color the bark of the tree. This varnish is 

 an effectual protection against heat and cold, sunshine and storm, 

 and also serves as food for the worms in case there is a scarcity 

 when they first hatch out. To the casual observer these bands, 

 these circlets of eggs, of a color the same as the limb on which they 

 are situated, appear like an enlargement of the natural wood of the 

 tree, which is very commonly seen. 



It is in this state that the most favorable opportunity for their 

 destruction is presented. From the time the trees are stripped of 

 their foliage in the fall to the starting of the buds in the spring, 

 these clusters can easily be discovered and removed. A moderate 

 pressure with the thumb and finger will cause them to peel off from 

 the limb, or the twig on which they are placed may be cut off and 

 burned; To one bent on freeing his orchard from this pest, 

 plenty of time during the fall and the long winter and early spring 

 will be found to go over the trees again and again, to make the 

 work of extermination nearly complete. A little practice will 

 enable one looking up through the tree, with the sky for a back- 

 ground, to easily detect these e^s; clusters. A cloudy day is the 

 best time for this work, as it is less trying to the eyes, and the light 

 more favorable. Should this opportunity be neglected, or some of 

 the clusters of eggs be overlooked and hatch out, another favorable 

 time for their destruction comes when the worms are gathered in 

 their nests. In the scanty foliage of early spring, these tiny webs 

 are easily detected as they glisten in the sunlight. Where these 

 nests and their contents are thoroughly destroyed, early in the 

 season, the pest will be effectually annihilated. The time to do this 

 is early in the morning or late in the afternoon, and withiti eight 

 or ten days after the worms hatch out. If done in the middle of 

 the day, the worms will be scattered over the tree, and will either 

 spin a new web or live without one, and when left until they have 

 entered far on the second week of their development, it is impos- 

 sible to find many of them gathered at a time in these tents. 

 Every worm in the nest should be crushed, and the most efficient 

 instrument for this purpose is the bare hand; where a cloth, sponge 

 or stick is used, many will escape. Where both these opportunities 

 have been suffered to pass by unimproved, the time, the labor and 

 expense required for their destruction is greatly increased. Their 

 gregarious tendency, especially while moulting, can be taken ad- 



