444 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



tree to deposit its eggs but by its trunk. Hence rarious 

 means bave been devised to prevent it, such as the following : 

 Tarring the trees in autumn and spring ; placing a conical 

 mound of sand heaped around the ti*unk of the tree ; encir- 

 cling the trees with gutters filled with oil ; surrounding the 

 base of the tree with a wooden box, and smearing it with tar ; 

 winding around the trunk, tow, cotton and burs ; placing upon 

 the ground around the tree muriate of lime, <fec. But of all the 

 devices with which we are acquainted, for preventing the ascent 

 of the grubs, the most effective and satisfactory is the tarring of 

 the tree in spring and autumn ; we having come to this con- 

 clusion, after having for many years tried various methods to 

 prevent their ravages. In order to insure success, the tarring 

 should be commenced in season, and well and properly applied ; 

 and though it may fail to completely extirpate them, it will so 

 keep them in check that they will cause but little, if any mis- 

 chief. The preparation for tarring the trees, should be made 

 soon after the frosts occur in the latter part of October, by en- 

 circling them with strips of tarred paper, eight or ten inches 

 wide. These should be confined to the trunks of the trees by 

 strings made from rope yarns, or old bale ropes untwisted, and 

 one of these should be tied near the lower edge of the paper, 

 to carry the drip of tar from the tree, should there be any, 

 which will not usually be the case, if the tar is put on the upper 

 edge of the paper, as it always should be, and the paper is of a 

 suitable width. In purchasing the tar, it is best to select the 

 thinnest, and it is much cheaper to obtain it by the barrel than 

 in smaller quantities, as it keeps well, and neighbors can unite 

 in the purchase. The tar can be applied with a common paint 

 brush, but one with a longer handle, called a varnish brush, is 

 more cleanly, and is better. All these materials can usually be 

 found in a ship chandler's store. It may be necessary to thin 

 the tar with oil, but by this process we, in a measure, destroy 

 its viscousness. Should it be desirable to make the tar thin by 

 warming it over a fire, we may use for the purpose an old heavy 

 dinner pot, it being the best for that purpose, as it longer retains 

 the heat. 



In regard to the frequency of tarring, my practice has been 

 to tar every other night, when I observed the grubs were run- 

 ning, and omit to do it on those cold and stormy nights when I 



