122 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTUEE. 



which to place the trough. The troughs first used by Mr. 

 Sawyer had a cover of boards to prevent the rain and leaves 

 from getting into the tar. But he finds the plain troughs just 

 as efiective at less than half the expense, although of course 

 the^ require a little more care. He states that he made his 

 troughs himself, and that they cost from twelve to seventeen 

 cents per tree. Of course they can be made from the cheap- 

 est, coarsest plank, and after they are laid down the tar will 

 help to preserve them many years. The cost of the coal-tar 

 is said to be small, 



Mr. Sawyer states that he found it necessary to stir the tar 

 but two or three times in the spring or fall, and that few 

 troughs required refilling. At the time of holding the annual 

 fair in Gloucester, he told us that by stirring the tar then in 

 the troughs many of them would effectually bar the passage of 

 the grub. These statements seem to show that the trees will 

 require but little labor or expense for several years after the 

 troughs are put down. "We have also made inquiry of other 

 parties who have used these troughs, and the testimony is 

 unanimous as to their efiectiveness when properly used. 



The troughs used by Mr. Leach differ from those of Mr. 

 Sawyer only in having a triangular channel, which Mr. Sawyer 

 admits to be an improvement. Mr. Leach thinks his troughs 

 can be furnished ready for the trees at twenty-five cents each, 

 as orchards average. Of course the expense will largely de- 

 pend on the quality of the lumber used. 



Ordway's Protector is an ingenious metal contrivance encir- 

 cling the tree, and suspended from it by a cloth, and present- 

 ing sharp edges over which it is claimed the grub cannot pass. 

 It was patented some years ago and is quite expensive. The 

 design being simply to prevent the ascent of the grub, it has 

 been found that the grub, finding no way of climbing the tree, 

 lays her eggs on the cloth by which the protector is suspended 

 and on the trunk of the tree below. As soon as the young 

 worms are hatched they ascend the tree and climb over the 

 protector. To overcome this difficulty Mr. Lake covered the 

 trunk of the tree below the protector with cloth, so that after 

 the grubs had laid their eggs, it could be removed and the 

 eggs destroyed with the cloth. The result of his experiment 

 showed that the protector thus used was quite successful, 



