9<> TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



They are one of the most hardy of insects, making their ap]jear- 

 ance sometimes before the frost is wholly out of the ground. They 

 seem therefore to be fitted by nature to bear with impunity great vicis- 

 situdes of weather. I have seen them overtaken by cold storms of rain 

 and snow, after they had begun to move in the spring, but without being 

 apparently affected by them, any farther than to be rendered torpid 

 for the time being. 



Though this insect is usually so persistent where it once becomes 

 established, there is a considerable number of cases on record of its rapid 

 disappearance, from causes partly known and partly conjectural. This 

 destruction of the canker worms has sometimes been attributed to a con- 

 tinuation of cold rains after the hatching of the young worms in the 

 spring ; and although, as we have stated above, they are capable of endur- 

 ing great vicissitudes of weather, it is possible that they may be so crip- 

 pled at this early period of their lives, as to fail to attain a healthy matur- 

 ity and the power of propagating the species. 



Much efficacy has also been attributed to several species of birds. 

 Dr. Trimble, of New Jersey, gives great credit to the cedar bird, also 

 known as the cherry bird, as a depredator upon the canker worm. There 

 are four orchards in my own town of Geneva, in which this unwelcome 

 visitor has established its residence. One of them has been utterly 

 destroyed through neglect. In another the insects have not made very 

 serious headway. This is attributed by the owner to flocks of birds 

 which, from his description, I take to be cedar birds, and which have 

 acquired the habit of returning annually to this orchard at the time the 

 canker worms are becoming destructive. The history of one of these 

 orchards is peculiar and interesting. In the summer of 1871, the insects 

 first attracted the attention of the owner by destroying about half of the 

 foliage. In 1872 they had become greatly increased in numbers, and 

 almost completely defoliated it. At this time the owner first called my 

 attention to its forlorn condition. As in some cases of human sickness, 

 the party most interested neglected to call in the doctor until the patient 

 was in articiilo mortis. But as in cases of severe sickness it is the estab- 

 lished axiom that as long as there is life there is hope, so in this case I 

 determined to make a final attempt to save the patient, and I will not 

 deny that I felt a secret pleasure in having this opportunity to try a des- 

 perate expedient which I had long been revolving in my mind, and to 

 which the only objection was, that if the disease did not kill the patient, 

 the medicine probably would. The owner entered heartily into the 

 experiment. He said he considered the case desperate, and he had as 

 lief have the patient killed by calomel or arsenic, as to let him die of 

 worms. He also cheerfully agreed to pay all expenses, and thought him- 

 self fortunate in having a physician who is paid by the State, so that, at 

 all events, he would have no doctor's bill to pay. The remedy here 

 referred to is that of scraping off the scales of bark soon after the moths 

 have deposited their eggs beneath them, and then anointing the trunk 

 and larger branches all over with kerosene oil. I have no doubt that this 

 would prove an effective cure for the canker worm. The expense would 



