CRANBERRIES — INSECT PESTS. 173 



incision closes immediatel}^ and the berry becomes sound and 

 glossy while the larva is perfectly secure, until the worm consumes 

 the bcsl part of the l)erry and leaves it for another ; then only can 

 he be reached by water, provided a head of water is accessible. 

 But there is no advantage gained, as the whole crop will most as- 

 suredly be destroyed by the water at the season of the 3'ear when 

 the worms are doing the mischief. 



Very truly yours, Cyrus Cahoon. 



This letter of Mr. Cahoon's is very valuable, and would 

 seem to settle one point ; namely, that tobacco-water has 

 in some instances killed the worm, after repeated appli- 

 cations. 



Beekley, Sept. 3, 1883. 

 Mr. W. A. Stearns. . 



Dear Sir : — Yours of the twenty-fifth is at hand. I have been 

 troubled with the vine worms but two j'ears, and cannot say much 

 about them. The last two years they have destroyed my oops. 

 One of my bogs is now full of berries. I have given this bog at- 

 tention this summer, b}^ flowing often, and have nearly destroyed 

 the worms, but there are some of them at work where the water 

 did not reach. I have been at a loss to know what kind of a worm 

 I have had, and can hardly find the fellow. I have fonnd, by close 

 searching, another kind of worm from that shown me b}'^ Dr. Briggs, 

 that was not so small and active. What Dr. Briggs showed me as 

 the vine worm, he tells me cannot be easil3' caughi, and that they 

 drop off the vine to the ground or foliage as soon as distnrbed ; 

 this may account for m}' not being able to find them, as the foliage 

 of my vinos is much larger than that of his." [Mr. Babbitt men- 

 tions finding the cranberr}' span-worm damaging his bogs : it is 

 probabl}- a species of Ciclaria, and undoubtedly the same mentioned 

 by Prof. Packard, p^ 326, of his " Guide," as " A larva, probabl}' 

 of Cidaria, has been found bj' Mr. W. C. Fish stripping the cran- 

 berr}' plants in Harwich, Mass., late in August." * He also men- 

 tions finding another larvae, " large and greenish, say three-fourtlis 

 of an inch long." From this indefinite description I would not 

 attempt to even gness at its identity. With regard to the vine 

 worm he continues] : " If I am troubled with them another year I 

 shall use paris green, for I think this is the best remedy. One of 

 m)- meadows was destrnj-ed or eaten this summer, the work being 

 done in four or five daj's during my absence, so that it is necessarj' 

 to keep an e^'e to them every da}'. 



Respectfully, 



William Babbitt. 



